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-- POV General --

While the Empress of the new Empire was in the process of divulging some of her most precious secrets, the Kingdom of Zal was beginning to lose patience.

For weeks the entire Kingdom had searched, from small villages to the largest cities, and the knights still had not found the Princess Alayna Zal. She was missing and no one knew what had happened. In just a few weeks, this mysterious disappearance had spread throughout the King\'s lands and everyone in the Kingdom was now aware of the situation. In the Church of Humanity, the mission that the Supreme had set up had also been foiled and was also in crisis. No one knew yet that the same person who had taken in Alayna was the one who was disturbing the Church\'s plans. All the worries of the humans were caused by the she-wolf from another world whose existence had not yet been proven.

For the first time in months, a meeting was held between the two opposing camps of the Kingdom, namely His Majesty the King and His Excellency. Most of the time it was just a formality to show the people the ties they had, although secretly very fragile. The Church had crucial information about the Princess and had finally decided to talk about it after much reflection, because the situation was beginning to change and certainly not in favor of Humanity.

In a large room of the castle stood King Theophylactus, Princes Erzian and Iolas, the royal advisor, the Captain of the Knights and the most influential nobles. They were in a windowless room and were waiting with annoyance for the Supreme to show up. The meeting was very important for all of them because the plan to follow would come from it.

"Damn it ! How much longer do we have to wait ? The future and reputation of this Kingdom is at stake and His Excellency is still not here !"

The King still hadn\'t let up and his mental state was getting worse by the day to the delight of the Princes who were playing in the shadows. Theophylactus was sitting at the end of a large stone table and pounding his fist while showing his anger. His golden crown held back his mid-length gray hair that fell over his tired, anger-distorted face.

"Your Majesty ! A little patience I\'m sure the Church is on its way !"

The one who had spoken was the King\'s closest advisor. Her name was Janell and although an advisor she was sometimes much more when the ruler\'s desires became more intimate. Janell was sitting a little further back on the same table and was trying as best she could to calm the King\'s impulsive and angry nature.

"I don\'t care ! When the King calls for a meeting, no one should be late ! The Supreme holds the heart of the people but he is not exempt from his duty as a citizen of the Kingdom !"

No one dared to speak anymore because what Theophylactus had said was true. Officially there was only one power and that was Royalty. However, after years, the Church had intruded and succeeded in weaving its web in the minds of the citizens who now saw the King and the Supreme as the rulers of Zal. Theophylactus represented the one who protected the nation and his Excellency the one who would one day free them from the fear of the inferior races.

"My daughter has disappeared, the Kingdom is upside down and the Church as usual..."

"What has our Church done ?"

Behind the King, a quiet andrgogynous voice came from a figure that had just passed through the doors of the room. The Supreme had finally arrived, accompanied by Sage, a few protectors, and the Chief Paladin. As soon as he arrived, the already tense atmosphere had turned into a heavy one capable of exploding at any moment.

"Your Excellency, what a joy to see you among us ! It seems that you are not used to being on time at the Church, but since you are here, why don\'t you take a seat ?"

"I am delighted to see you again too, your Majesty. Many things kept me for a while but I see that despite the disappearance of the Princess you still have time to be on time."

"Tsk.."

The two Leaders, as in each of their meetings, could not hide the fact that they did not like each other at all behind falsely polite phrases. While the Supreme sat on the stone table just in front of Theophylactus, those who accompanied him sat on the chairs next to him. All parties were gathered and the crisis meeting concerning the Kingdom could finally begin.

"Good ! Today we must decide how we are going to act. The Kingdom is facing an unprecedented situation that has never happened before. The Princess, my beloved daughter is missing and no search has yielded any results ! Captain Myles, how do you explain this ?"

The King turned to the Captain of the Knights who was in their midst. He had been tasked with leading the search with the army he had. Theophylactus had almost blamed him for the lack of information even as the Princes of the Kingdom had participated without result either. Myles, who was 50 years old just like the King, wore gold and silver armor that tinted as he bowed before responding.

"Your Majesty. Please forgive my glaring lack of skill in this matter. My soldiers and I have turned the entire Kingdom, the entire capital, upside down, but there is no trace of Her Highness the Princess. No one has seen her and especially no one knows how she could have disappeared. We don\'t even know how long she\'s been gone. If...if we knew the exact day she disappeared it would be easier to trace her path or that of her kidnappers."

The nobles around the table, four in number, nodded at the Captain\'s words, seeming to understand, but the King obviously did not.

"Isn\'t that what you are paid for and what you serve the crown for ? A Princess disappearing is unheard of and not one of you can find a single clue !!"

Once again, Theophylactus had slammed his fist on the table causing his crown to fall on his face red with anger. Janell, the Captain and the nobles were nervously swallowing their saliva while the two Princes didn\'t even seem concerned by the situation. The Supreme watched the scene with a satisfied smile on his face, hidden by the black cloth. While Janell was about to calm the King, his Excellency spoke up.

"You seem to be as sensitive as ever, your Majesty. A ruler should not be guided by anger, especially in the presence of these most loyal souls. That said...I have some interesting information regarding Princess Alayna."

​ The words he had just spoken had plunged the dark room into a frightening silence. Sage, the protectors and the Chief Paladin were not at all surprised by this statement and stared at the others almost with a superior smile. The Supreme did not move and almost seemed to enjoy this moment when only he was able to come to their aid.

"What..."

"Impossible..."

The nobles didn\'t believe what the head of the Church had just stated, but the King did. He knew full well the strength that the Supreme represented, his information network and the means he possessed as great as those of the castle.

"YOU !! Speak !! Where is my daughter ??"

"Father calm down..."

"Father...listen to him, time is running out"

Theophylactus had stood up with a threatening look on his face, knocking his seat back and slamming his big hands on the huge stone table. For the first time since the meeting began, the Princes had acted to calm their father. The disappearance of their little sister was not their priority, but the Supreme\'s announcement had aroused their curiosity. Compared to his father, Erzian did not have a strained relationship with the Church and even shared the same vision as its leader. As for Iolas, he didn\'t care much about the Supreme, but he was aware of his power, which could be decisive in the selection of the heir.

His Excellency was still smiling and as the King sat down again, suppressing his anger, the head of the Church spoke again.

"Princess Alayna ran away a month and a week ago. If you still haven\'t found her it\'s because her Highness is no longer in the Kingdom at all but somewhere else."

No one could believe these words and it was Janell\'s turn to exclaim. For the royal advisor, this assumption could not be possible. How could the Princess have run away so far without anyone knowing ?

"Impossible ! It\'s all lies the Church made up for..."

"Shut up ! How dare you question the words of His Excellency ? You who have no leads from the beginning, the least you could do is listen when help is at hand ! Tsk !"

Sage had cut her off, unable to bear the slander hurled at his superior and the Church he protected and supported with all his soul. In this large room, sheltered from the citizens, the real nature of the relations between the two powers was revealed.

"Let\'s all calm down. Aren\'t we here to find the Princess ?"

The Supreme had spoken in his calm voice and as he finished his sentence, the suspicious King replied with a frown, sensing that there was something else. Why was he suddenly so concerned ? Theophylactus wanted to find out.

"Your Excellency...I would be curious to know why the Church is so involved. Would you have the idea of accusing these weak half-humans by making the people believe that they are the kidnappers ? Tsk..."

"I\'m not claiming anything at all..it\'s actually happening...sort of but first things first. First of all, did it ever occur to you that the Princess might have had some help ? Indeed, Her Highness Alayna fled on her own with the help of three protectors in order to pass herself off as an adventurer !"

A new bomb had just exploded in the room, plunging the place into a deafening noise of confused, angry and lost voices.

"How ? Would the Church have behaved like this ?"

"Why ?"

"That\'s implausible, why would she run away of her own accord ? It\'s impossible!"

The King and Princes said nothing as they waited for the next part. Theophylactus didn\'t believe the story at all and remained strangely quiet while Sage asked for silence so that his leader whom he believed to be divine could continue.

"Silence !"

"Thank you Sage. As I was saying...three protectors who are no longer with us today shamefully helped the Princess escape thinking that this action would serve our Church. She went outside the Kingdom under the pretext of being the messenger of a particular guild mission and fled under everyone\'s nose. Her Highness Alayna was aided by these three people and the adventurers she deceived to help her disappear..."

The King who could not see the face of the Supreme looked at Sage and his attendants and seeing their serious faces, began to believe his story as his anger suddenly rose.

"Did you have fun watching us go around in circles even though some of your followers were involved ? How can you talk about the half-humans when the fault lies with the Church !!!?"

Theophylactus shouted, prompting the Chief Paladin to stand up to protect his leader in case of an outburst. Captain Myles was then doing the same as Erzian spoke up to calm the tensions.

"Father, these protectors paid with their lives for their mistake. What matters is where my dear sister has gone. The actions of these three traitors demonstrate that for once we must help each other. Getting upset won\'t get us anywhere, we have to react quickly and for that the help of the Church is indispensable !"

The first Prince saw this as an interesting opportunity to gain favor with the Supreme, whom he rarely met. Iolas, the second Prince, watched the scene with undisguised disgust, fully aware of what his older brother was trying to do. As the head of the Church nodded approvingly at Prince Erzian\'s words, he continued his explanation.

"Your Majesty, although I deplore the participation of three of my followers, the situation is much more serious than you imagine. You all know here what the position of the Church is towards these subraces of half-humans and I did not tell you about them earlier for nothing. Several months ago, mercenaries and adventurers went to the East in a forest along the territory of Zal in order to capture all the possible subraces, especially the most dangerous ones, filthy beasts capable of taking human form. The last I heard, there were more than 50 of them and they had no difficulty in fulfilling the mission I had personally entrusted to them."

"What happened to this expedition ?"

Prince Iolas had straightened up in his seat and was now caught up in the conversation, which was more intriguing than expected.

"It never returned. More than 50 men and women suddenly disappeared in this forest populated by subraces that were previously imprisoned and controlled."

The King, who was repressing his anger, spoke up as he seemed bored by these long drawn out explanations.

"I don\'t see what you\'re getting at, Your Excellency. What does this have to do with my daughter ? If you want to chase away these weak beings that you think are strong, good for you but come to the point !"

"Sigh. The protectors we executed were responsible for this expedition and hid its failure from me so that they would not be punished. So they secretly prepared a way to fix the situation in their corner thinking that nothing would be discovered. What this has to do with your daughter Your Majesty, is that the Princess Alayna, took part a little more than a month ago in the second expedition aiming to reach this same forest and discover what happened there."

As the Supreme spoke these words, everyone instantly understood that Alayna\'s chances of survival had been greatly reduced. The more they listened to the Church leader\'s account, the more this story seemed to fit and answer the questions surrounding the Princess\'s disappearance. The King had come to believe this hypothesis in spite of himself, and even though he saw the half-humans as weak and far from dangerous, something was wrong.

"Your Excellency, if what you say is true, then there is something going on in this forest. Who could make so many battle-tested men and women disappear ? Are they all dead ? How did they die ? And above all...what happened to this second expedition ?"

"Your Majesty, we have no news of the second expedition either. Just like the first, it disappeared and the 10 adventurers assigned to investigate were last seen in Yarlford. If the Princess stayed with them, then she also disappeared into the forest."

Everyone understood the gravity of the situation and for the first time, the King seemed to put aside his grudge for the sake of the Kingdom. The answers were all there and Theophylactus knew that the Supreme although very troublesome was not the type to joke. The situation was indeed more serious than expected.

"So...what do you propose ?"

At Theophylactus\' question, the Church leader raised his head in his direction before answering. He had an evil smile on his face but no one knew that as the words he spoke left everyone speechless.

"Let\'s create a cohesion. You want to find the Princess and I want to exterminate these subraces. The reason I joined you here today is to propose that we march the Paladins and Knights together towards the Dark Forest !"