Morning in Antrows City began with a tension that had yet to subside. Tristan Alloire Varda had not been able to sleep well at the Rising Stardust inn. His mind kept racing over his failure to find his younger sister. After a brief and tasteless breakfast, he returned to the streets, ordering his troops to once again comb through the shops surrounding the inn.
Luck or perhaps misfortune for Novalia arrived when Tristan entered a large grocery store to ask about a girl with his sister's description. The shopkeeper, a middle-aged man with a strong visual memory, stared at Tristan's face with a furrowed brow.
"Wait a moment, Sir." the shopkeeper said suddenly. "Your face... it reminds me of someone I saw a few days ago at the inn across the street."
Tristan jolted. He stepped forward, gripping the edge of the store's wooden counter tightly. His eyes flashed sharply. "Tell me, where is she now and who was with her?"
The shopkeeper seemed to tremble slightly at the intensity of Tristan's gaze. "If I'm not mistaken, that girl is an adventurer in this city. She has features very similar to yours, and she wasn't alone. She was with two men who are also her party members!"
Upon hearing this confirmation, Tristan's blood boiled. It turned out his sister really was here, hiding behind the lowly status of an adventurer. Without a word of thanks, Tristan turned and signaled to his forty-three soldiers. "To the Adventurers' Guild! Now!"
The guild lobby, usually filled with the laughter and chatter of adventurers, suddenly fell silent as the troops in Varda uniforms burst in. Tristan walked with heavy steps toward the reception desk, heading straight for Hana, who was on duty.
"Hey, you!" Tristan shouted in a loud voice that echoed throughout the room. "The owner of the Rising Stardust inn says my sister stayed there with two of her companions! Were you lying to me yesterday?"
Hana gasped, but she tried to maintain her composure even as cold sweat began to soak her back. She remembered Robert's order not to give out information for free, but she also knew that lying further in the face of concrete evidence would put her life in danger.
"Forgive me, Sir, I had no intention of lying to you." Hana replied with a voice she tried to keep steady. "But it is true that there is an adventurer named Novalia who is currently a member of Party Noiver."
"Then why didn't you give me that information yesterday?!" Tristan snapped, his hand slamming onto the reception desk, causing several stacks of documents to scatter.
"I wasn't certain if that person was the same one you were looking for, My Lord." Hana answered quickly, trying to find a loophole. "Besides, that person always wears a hood in public, and we never saw her hair color clearly!"
Tristan snorted roughly, his face flushing with suppressed rage. "Now tell me, which way did they go?"
Hana swallowed hard. She knew Party Noiver had already traveled quite far. Giving the correct direction was likely the fastest way to get this terrifying man out of Antrows City.
"They headed for the Kingdom of Fellims through the south gate, Sir!"
"Toward the Kingdom of Fellims through the south gate?" Tristan stared at Hana with a threatening gaze that made the hair on her neck stand up. "You'd better not be lying to me this time. I will destroy you along with your entire family!"
Tristan wasted no time. He led his troops at a gallop toward the south gate of Antrows City. There, he interrogated the gatekeeper on duty.
From the guard's explanation, it was indeed true that a woman wearing a hood had passed through the south gate with two male companions yesterday afternoon.
Hearing this fact, Tristan nearly exploded. "Since yesterday afternoon?! Damn! This is infuriating!"
He realized that a pursuit to Fellims would take a long time, and Fellims Kingdom was not a place where the Varda family's power could be exercised freely. If Novalia had already reached the border, it would be difficult to bring her home without triggering an inter-kingdom conflict.
"It's pointless to chase them south now without proper logistical preparation." Tristan muttered. "Let's head back to the Varda territory and report this to Father!"
Tristan decided to return home through the city's east gate. However, upon reaching the east gate, he was startled by a group of soldiers in a uniform he knew very well. It was a special forces unit from the Varda territory.
"Why are you all here?" Tristan asked in surprise.
The unit leader bowed respectfully. "We were ordered by the Great Lord Marquis to search for Lady Novalia from the opposite direction of the Young Lord, to anticipate if she took a detour."
Tristan snorted cynically. "Continuing the search in this city is useless. My sister has already left this place and is headed for the Kingdom of Fellims! I must report this to my father immediately! Let's all return to the Varda territory!"
With a sense of defeat and wounded pride, Tristan led his entire force out of Antrows City.
All along the way, he imagined his father's wrath. Not only would he be lectured severely, but he also wouldn't receive any achievement or promotion because he had failed the mission given by his father.
Just you wait, Novalia. If you are ever caught, you will receive the punishment you deserve for this stunt! he thought grimly, imagining the discipline he would later inflict upon his sister.
Ten days of grueling travel finally ended as Tristan's entourage entered the grand gates of the Varda family estate.
With heavy steps, Tristan faced the head of the family, Marquis Sylvestre Alloire Varda, in his vast and luxurious study.
Tristan reported everything he had found, including his failure to capture Novalia before she reached the border toward Fellims. He bowed his head, bracing for his father's anger. However, the Marquis's response was unexpected.
"Good work! Now, go and rest!" Marquis Sylvestre said in a very calm, yet bone-chilling tone.
Tristan was stunned. He truly hadn't expected his father not to scold or punish him right then and there. Without daring to ask further, Tristan bowed and immediately left the room to rest.
However, Marquis Sylvestre's calmness was merely a mask for a much larger fury. After Tristan left, the Marquis stood up and walked toward the large window overlooking his domain.
Marquis Sylvestre was enraged. His grand plan to marry Novalia to the Second Prince of the Altoria Kingdom was now threatened with cancellation. The marriage was not just an arrangement; it was the key for the Varda family to strengthen their influence in the central palace.
"How dare they interfere in the affairs of the Varda family," the Marquis hissed.
He was not about to let Novalia's two companions get away. He immediately summoned his head of intelligence to investigate the backgrounds of Keyzier and Donovan in depth. If they came from a remote village, then that village would be the one to pay the price.
"Just look at what I will do to your families and your birthplace! Don't think for a second you can escape me!"
Marquis Sylvestre clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white. A wicked smile played on his aging face. He already had a cruel image in mind of what he would do to the family members and the homeland of his daughter's two companions.
"Anyone who stands in the way of my political ambitions deserves no mercy! And I will make sure those two men regret their actions in helping my daughter escape!"