Dishonored: the Phantom of Dunwall

The Lord Protector Returns

"Corvo! You're back!" Emily cheered, running towards him.

Corvo dropped down to one knee, opening his arms to receive Emily in a tight hug as she all but tackled him, chuckling as she did.

"Will you tell me about your trip? Please? Were there any whales?" Emily asked.

"Maybe later. Right now I need to speak with your mother." he told her.

"Wait!" Emily pleaded.
"Let's play hide and seek first. I'll cover my eyes and you and Lilliane go hide. You have time! Mother is still busy talking to that nasty old Spymaster."

"Best to do as she says, or we'll never hear the end of it." Lilliane told him with a smile as she approached.

Corvo glanced between the two of them. Lilliane knew he was considering whether or not he could afford to indulge the little girl's wishes and shirk his duties for a few moments. But she also knew that the hardened Royal Protector  was completely helpless against Emily's pleading.

"Okay. Go on." he relented.

Emily jumped up and down with excitement.

"Alright! I'll count to ten and you go hide." she said, covering her eyes.
"One. Two."

Lilliane and Corvo exchanged a quick glance before dashing away in different directions. This game was nothing new to her. Whenever Emily asked Corvo to play it with her, he had always made sure to drag Lilliane along. At first she hadn't really seen the point, aside from making the Royal Heir happy. But eventually she understood that this was part of her training too. By learning how to hide from Emily, she would also learn how any dangers to the future empress would try to hide from her. With enough practice, it would be impossible to catch her off guard. The would-be assailants would be the ones receiving an unpleasant surprise.

For this round, she decided to attempt an elevated hiding spot. Emily was an incredibly meticulous seeker. Hiding behind boxes or in empty closets had stopped being effective a long time ago. But for all her attentiveness, the young heir still often neglected to look up. Taking a few steps back, Lilliane ran at the wall, using one of her feet to propel herself upwards. She then quickly grasped the spaces between the stones, pulling herself up until she was holding onto the stone railing.

She smirked when Emily finally came around, certain of her imminent victory. The little girl glanced around herself with a frown. She then focused on a particular spot on the ground. She stared at it for so long, that Lilliane began to wonder what it was she found so special about it. However, before she could solve that mystery, Emily looked up directly at her and smiled.

"Found you!"

In that exact moment, Lilliane realized her mistake: she had forgotten about the sun. She might not have left any physical traces behind, but the little amount of sunlight that slipped past the cloud cover had cast a shadow that had given her away. But Lilliane couldn't find it in herself to be angry. It was practically impossible to do that with Emily.

"Well done. You're getting better at this." she praised as she dropped down.
"Now, how about we go find Corvo?"

Emily nodded with a smile, clearly happy at having found at least one of them.
Unfortunately, finding Corvo proved much more difficult. No matter what crack and crevice they searched, he was nowhere to be found. It was as if he had simply vanished.

"Looking for me?" a gruff voice suddenly spoke up behind them, causing both girls to jump.

"How do you do that?" Lilliane asked, still in shock.

Corvo chuckled.

"I've had a lot of practice. Now come on. We have kept the Empress waiting long enough."