Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 353: Bid Good Riddance

Chapter 353: Bid Good Riddance

"Your Highness!"

A guard scrambled over, nearly tripping over his own two feet. His face was red and puffy as he panted, his shoulders heaving up and down as he desperately tried to regulate his breathing. When he finally arrived by Leonora’s side, he had to lean over, his hands pressed against his knees to support his own weight.

"What is it?" Leonora asked.

She had just arrived in the section of town that had been assigned to her and was just about to start her search. This guard was part of the scouts that had been sent out for preliminary investigation in hopes of finding news about Alistair’s whereabouts.

After all, he wasn’t in the underground labyrinth anymore. The chances he was up and around running about town were much higher since that was where there was fresh blood up for grabs.

Since Silas was out of commission, that meant that his assigned area now fell on Leonora’s shoulders as well. How ironic it was that it was the red light district, her brother’s favorite hangout.

"Did you find Prince Alistair?" she questioned again, her eyebrows furrowing in impatience. When the guard still didn’t respond, she bent over and grabbed him by the collar, furiously shaking him. "Spit it out already!"

"There were no reports of Prince Alistair in the vicinity," the guard responded, gasping. "However, we did find something that would help with the investigation."

"What is it?"

"It’s... It’s Princess Daphne, Your Highness," the guard said, a little hesitant. No doubt, even he knew how ludicrous it was. "We found her dead body in one of the buildings in the red light district."

"Daphne?" Leonora echoed. Her eyebrows scrunched up further, fine lines appearing on her previously smooth skin. "That’s not possible."

Leonora just exchanged words with her sister back in Reaweth’s palace. Daphne was safely in the infirmary with Silas, Prince Nathaniel, and Healer Sirona. Even if Daphne had wanted to secretly help out in the search, there was no way Healer Sirona and Prince Nathaniel would’ve allowed her to.

She was sure that if there was a need, those two would’ve just knocked Daphne out cold to prevent her from running away secretly.

To top it all off, even if she somehow managed to sneak out from under their noses, it was nearly impossible for her to have reached the red light district ahead of Leonora and somehow gotten herself killed― all of that just in time for the advanced search party to find her dead body and report it back to Leonora.

That could only mean one thing.

"That dead body, whoever you saw, that’s not the crown princess," Leonora firmly said. "Lead me to the corpse."

"Yes, Your Highness," the guard immediately replied.

He saluted and began to lead the way, all while Leonora pulled out a piece of sodalite from her pockets. She held it to her lips, patiently waiting for it to glow before she spoke into it.

"King Atticus?" she called out. There came a hum on the other side, enough for her to know that Vramid’s king was listening to her. "There has been a development here on my end."

"Did you find Prince Alistair?" asked King Atticus. His voice was snappy and cold — nothing out of the ordinary — but that was enough to say that he had little to no progress so far.

"Not yet," said Leonora. "But my men have found a dead body. They said that the body looks just like Daphne."

There was a long pause from the other end, and Leonora pulled the sodalite away from her mouth. It was still glowing. That meant that the call was still connected. However, King Atticus was oddly quiet. She was just about to speak into it again to check if he could still hear her when he suddenly spoke. His voice was oddly calm, as though he had already expected it.

"Where?"

"The red light district," Leonora answered. "I’ll meet you at the west entrance, right in front of Eden’s Lace."

There came a sound of agreement from King Atticus before they both cut the call. Leonora’s eyes turned to the road ahead immediately, urging her horse to change its direction. She waited in front of their meeting spot — one of the brothels right at the entrance to the red light district — patiently for the king to show up.

He did soon after, with no accompanying party with him, most likely having ordered his men to stay back and continue with their search.

As usual, his expression was stone cold. If it was even possible, the glare of his eyes held more frost than all the other times Leonora had ever seen him. With the news of Daphne’s possible death, Leonora wasn’t surprised to see the murderous look in King Atticus’s eyes. However, he was a little calmer than she expected.

Hopefully, it wasn’t the calm before the storm. Leonora wouldn’t want to be on his war path when King Atticus decided to wipe this portion of town off of Reaweth’s map.

"Daphne was still in the infirmary with Silas when I left," Leonora said, trying her best to placate what she assumed was his anger. "There must be some mistake. It can’t be Daphne’s body that my men found."

"I wouldn’t blame them for mistaking the body for my wife’s," King Atticus replied. The corners of his lips even curled into a sadistic smile, making the hairs on Leonora’s arms rise with chills. "The woman is no doubt wearing Daphne’s face, after all."

"Huh?" Leonora reeled back in shock, not quite understanding his words.

However, King Atticus waited no more for Leonora to connect the dots. He walked forward, speaking directly to the guard that had led the way.

"You," he said. "Bring me to the dead body. It’s time to say farewell to a family member." He ignored the poor knight’s shivering body, continuing to smile maniacally. "Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say ’good riddance’."