Atheline was quiet for a moment considering the options. Lilith didn’t seem the least bit fazed by any of that and she looked bored already.

He smiled against the rim of his cup.

"You don’t want to go, do you?"

"Of course, it’s a waste of time."

"How about we go to Gladia for the diplomatic talk?" Atheline said.

They had gotten distracted before he could fully talk about his worries.

"I’m sure news of his death reached the kingdom by midnight, if what Igrad told is true then they have probably gone into hiding. I have a feeling that if we do not hurry, we might miss them."

Lilith was silent for a moment, "I could just declare war on the whole continent if they don’t produce the royal family."

She had a small smile on her lips. Atheline shook his head.

"That would be a waste of your power, and you’ll be breaking the interspecies pact. You don’t want to catch the ancient dragon’s attention. We have to be the victims in this whole situation. "

"It will depend my love, I think most have forgotten my reputation that they think I will take it lying down the fact that someone tried to take your life over and over again."

Atheline agreed with her but waking most of these sleeping beasts wasn’t a good idea. Dragons were a sort of peacekeeper among the species.

War can be declared among species but they do not allow full extinction. That had been played in the treaty after the intercontinental war.

"Will our inattendance affect anything?"

"No."

"Okay."

.

.

.

Atheline’s feet landed on the red carpet with a soft thud as he appeared in Gladia’s throne room. Lilith followed moments later and the portal closed quietly behind them.

Looking around, the throne room was empty. The curtains had not been lifted, and the only illumination came from the little spaces left from the wind blowing inside from some of the still-open windows.

Atheline waved his hand and Igrad’s body hit the floor with a small thud. He head rolled down a little further away from the body but neither of them reacted.

Lilith slowly looked around the large throne room again.

"They fled."

Atheline’s gaze remained on the corpse.

"They knew we would probably come to settle the score."

A swirl of wind drifted around Atheline as he inspected the whole palace. His eyes widened at what he found.

"Not only is the royal family missing, but there isn’t even one servant," he said, his tone incredulous.

This was more ridiculous than he wanted to admit. It wasn’t even midmorning yet. He could already imagine the rumours that had already spread about the royal family’s abandonment.

Lilith walked forward slowly, her heels clicking softly against the carpeted floor until she stopped directly before the abandoned throne.

Even now, the royal crest hung proudly behind it. A silver wolf beneath a burning sun. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

’Cowards’

Atheline exhaled quietly.

"This is bad. We should have just come the moment the competition was over, we might have caught them before they left."

"You don’t have to panic over something so trivial, " she quietly said, "we’ll find them."

Her gaze went to a half-open window." The nobles are still present."

"How exactly did they run so fast without their nobles knowing?"

Lilith rested one hand lightly against the throne armrest.

"They knew exactly what would happen."

Atheline looked towards her.

"You think they intended this?"

"No," she sat down slowly upon the empty throne," I think they panicked and just ran. There are still gold and sunfire crystals in the treasury."

That sounded both worse and good.

Lilith looked down towards the dead prince again. With what he had done, this was basically an assassination against the dark elven future king but at the moment, it looked as though they were the ones who committed the assassination.

This had basically become an international provocation between the two kingdoms.

A noble stumbled into the throne room moments later surrounded by knights, but they didn’t have any crest. They had probably sensed a change in the throne room not like Lilith, and Atheline, who were trying to hide their presence.

The elderly man immediately froze upon seeing the corpse. His face turned white instantly.

"No..."

Lilith watched him calmly.

"Where is your royal family?"

The old man collapsed on his knees while shaking violently.

"Y... Your majesty... "

"That was not permission to speak uselessly."

The pressure in the room instantly increased. Cracks spread across the marble beneath him. The man nearly choked trying to breathe.

Atheline sighed beside her. He had basically gotten used to her antics, so none of them surprised him. He felt a little sorry for those at the receiving end.

The noble’s eyes darted desperately towards the dead prince before lowering them immediately. The shock point that Atheline had been going for was achieved from his reactions.

"They left during the night."

"Who ordered it?"

"I don’t know. The king ordered us to leave the throne room and only spoke with the head Manipulator after we were informed of the Prince’s death."

Lilith tilted her head slightly but her eyes were filled with fury.

"You don’t know?" She repeated softly.

"I believe the palace was evacuated shortly after the news was spread. We were ordered to leave the palace grounds a few moments after leaving the throne room."

’So they got screwed over?’

Atheline finally spoke.

"Who knew about his death before we arrived? Who was inside the throne room during the announcement?"

The noble froze. The silence was enough of an answer.

Lilith smiled faintly but it wasn’t her usual calm smile.

"Information really travels fast these days."

Nobody answered.

Atheline’s expression hardened as well. The time in which the information had gotten to reach the kingdom had been incredibly fast.

It was probably before the competition ended. Teleportation between the two continents wasn’t easy unless you’re Lilith.

This meant they also had someone strong enough to man a Teleportation spell that could cover the sea in one jump.

Apart from that, there could only be one extra plan.

"They were already planning to disappear," Atheline quietly said, " Igrad is nothing but a disposable pawn."