Soul Nexus. Volume 1: Before Dawn

14

"Tick, tock, tick, tock." The hands of the king's pocket watch moved in step in that there was less than five minutes left for them to line up at number XII. Time was beginning to run out so that the "hunters" would reach the castle after a long investigation in the town.

It was logical this would happen. What I did not imagine was that the king would rule the search that way, leaving the punishment in the hands of one of those two fearsome military, which was not good at all. Even though Rask is Shun's instructor, there was no guarantee that the king would forgive him. That's what I get for trusting that idiot. He ends up hurting himself and makes mom nervous.

Both my mother and the queen looked very uneasy, they were both of the few people knew what was going on. They tried to maintain their usual composure and not get upset so as not to reflect their restlessness. The maternal instinct of both was present in their suppressed behavior. Honestly, I never thought I would see that reaction from her majesty. It made me realize that there are many types of mothers, in her case, a very distracted person who emitted a strange, clumsy and quite tenuous affection towards her daughter; Even so, you could see that mother's love, a love that Lidia hadn't noticed, nor had we.

The band finished playing and the dancing stopped. Guests proceeded to applaud to which was the last piece of the night. The huge pendulum clock on the first floor echoed through all the rooms of the palace, announcing twelve o'clock of the new day it started. Officially it was Novembris 11th, the birthday of the princess of Haiza. It was a shame that she was not present (though not for me).

Time was up, not even Sergeant Rask nor Commander Laurens had returned yet. The king closed his watch and stood up from his seat, about to leave the dining room. However, Mom's trembling voice stopped him, begging him to wait a little longer, hoping that Rask, whom she had placed her trust on, would manage to find them. The queen did the same, showing solidarity with mom, since she also appreciates her, and she was also one of the few people who did not dismiss the relationship that Shun and I had with Lidia, something quite strange.

Queen Mireya: 『 W−Why don't you give them a little more time, dear. They probably won't be long. 』

King Van Laar: 『 I already gave them enough time. I can't keep waiting for those kids to keep playing− 』

Young guest: 『 Hide-and-seek? Ho, ho, who would have thought that a princess, at her age, still likes to play those kind of games, don't you think..., Your Highness...? 』

King Van Laar: 『 Sevan Narek. 』

And so, the prince of Tikalt appears on the scene. A lad two years older than us, with strenuous blonde hair and strange reddish-brown eyes which seemed to be those of a vampire due to his pale skin, only missing a pair of fangs on that cocky smile of his. It was unbelievable that he was making an appearance until that moment. I don't know if he had waited on purpose until it was the official time or because he's someone who doesn't know what the word punctuality means.

King Van Laar: 『 How may I help you, young prince? 』

Sevan: 『 Oh, you know, I just wanted to properly congratulate the dear princess for her birthday, but it seems that she is not here... Ha, ha, could it be that she's hiding from me?... Or could it be that...? 』

Sevan seemed to realize there was a problem about Lidia and played with it, as if he were making fun of how stupid the kings and their guards are for not noticing her disappearance and not resolving it immediately. I think he wanted to provoke the king with that; knowing that he was a very cold man and little reactive, he sought to check if it was true and at the same time have fun with it. But in the end he would get nothing, the king didn't even flinch and just answered with his same tone as always: 『 No need to worry about her, she just needed to get some air. She will be back soon to greet you. 』; evading the comments of the presumptuous subject.