Conquering His Cold Heart
Chapter 478 - 478: Dispatching the Soldiers

*Thump*

A body fell high from the sky, right in front of the main gate of the castle, spreading confusion among the castle guards around.

The guards quickly recovered from their confused state when they saw the King hovering in the sky.

A couple of the guards rushed to the scene in a hurry to check who the body belonged to.

At first glance, the body in question looked like it was dead. The face of that man was beaten till it was unrecognizable. There were deep scar marks on that man's neck and wrists. The legs looked broken, probably from the recent fall from the sky.

"What's going on?"

"Who is this man?"

"Is he responsible for our Queen's sudden disappearance?"

The guards were murmuring among themselves when Caspian softly landed beside them and ordered, "Take that man to the dungeon and lock him up. Bleed him out before you do that so that he won't have enough strength to break out of the cell."

"Y-Yes, Your Majesty."

The guards bowed their heads warily.

One of the guards looked at the unrecognizable man and thought to himself, 'It doesn't look like he has a drop of blood in his body anyway. He doesn't need to be bled out.'

Caspian held his arms behind his back and looked around to analyze the surrounding.

He didn't see the carriage that Anastasia had used to go out in the morning, and neither did he spot any guards who had gone in search of the Queen. And he didn't see any of the guards eager to relay any good news to him either.

Though he understood what that meant, he still looked at the guards who were standing by his side and asked them, "Is there any information on the Queen's whereabouts?"

Everyone was scared to answer that question. They all stayed silent, hoping that the others would answer. And in the end, none of them ended up replying to the King.

Caspian let out a deep sigh in irritation and spoke while grinding his jaw in anger, "I asked a question. Did all of you lose your voices?"

One of the guards hastily pushed the other one forward, prompting the King to notice him.

That unlucky guard gulped dryly. He lowered his head to avoid the King's deadly glare and then replied in a frightened whisper, "I am s-sorry, Your Majesty. Nobody brought any information so far."

Caspian clutched his fists tightly when he felt another surge of painful stings eating him up from the inside.

Although he was maintaining a deadly aura on the outside, it was nothing but a façade. In reality, he desperately wanted to break down right then and there. He desperately wanted to see his wife's face and take her in his arms.

Without saying another word to the guards around, Caspian lifted himself up in the air before the others caught a hint of weakness in his eyes.

He had to stay strong until he found his wife.

He had to find her before it was too late.

Caspian quickly flew to find Jasper, the commander of Sorvando's army, so that he could mobilize them for the search of the Queen.

'I should have mobilized them sooner!' he cursed himself in his mind when he felt the absence of Zenon seriously hindering his decision-making capacity. 'I should have dispersed several squads as soon as I found out that Anna was missing. Maybe she would have been found by now.'

"Jasper!" he landed in front of the commander and as soon as he did so, he ordered Jasper with haste, "Pass down my order to the royal soldiers under your command."

Jasper was already aware of the Queen's sudden disappearance and he was already waiting for the King's order. So, he readily agreed, "Yes, Your Majesty. What should we do?"

"Ask the squad leaders to lead their teams and raid all the properties of Bartholomew. I want as many squads on the ground as necessary. I want them to look for the Queen. If she isn't found in any of the properties of Bartholomew, ask them to search the properties of those who are close to that old man. They can be his recent allies, his relatives, or his workers. Don't leave anything to chance.

Do a thorough search."

Jasper bowed and accepted the command. "Understood, Your Majesty. I will send them out right away."

After passing the order, Caspian also resumed his own search from the sky.

As he kept on rising higher and higher in the frosty air, he suddenly flinched when his vision almost got blinded by direct sunlight from the setting sun on the horizon that hit him right in the eyes.

Caspian frowned and picked up the speed of his flight.

'I have to hurry. It will be dark soon.'

Caspian ground his jaw in frustration and flew over the forest, looking for the signs of his wife, her guards, or the carriage.

He was searching the forest in case his wife's guards had somehow managed to rescue her from the attacker's claws and were hiding her somewhere in the vast forest.

'Probably both John and Henry got severely hurt while protecting Anna. Maybe that's why they couldn't carry her back to the castle. Or they are probably being pursued by a large group and they can't get out without giving away their location. Maybe they are waiting somewhere for the backup to arrive.'

Caspian got even more worried at that thought. 'If she is stuck somewhere in the forest then she might get attacked by the wild animals, if not by vampires.'

All of a sudden, Caspian wished that Anastasia was locked somewhere by Bartholomew and was currently being guarded by Bartholomew's loyal minions.

At least then, the royal soldiers would be able to locate her easily and safely retrieve her.

It sounded less risky and dangerous than getting stranded deep in the forest in the middle of the night, protected only by two of the guards.

Though John and Isaac were among the strongest of the vampires in the Kingdom, there was no guarantee that they could keep on protecting the Queen from any harm, especially if they were already wounded.

'What if they get overwhelmed by a large number of vampires or a horde of wild carnivorous animals? I have to find them before any such tragedy happens.'

Caspian steeled his heart and widened his search.

'Anna, just make sure that you stay alive. I will find you no matter what.'