n

n

nZaos pretended that he didn't hear the conversation since his eyes were on the magic book, but he didn't miss a single piece of information in the end. They were only a couple of minutes away from the castle, but he realized that he didn't live in a peaceful kingdom once more.

n

"First my grandfather, then the previous king… and now this,

" Zaos furrowed his eyebrows.

"Something is definitely happening in this place.

"

nLyra would get worried if Zaos suddenly takes an interest in the subject, so he stayed the whole time focused on the magic book. However, he was determined to investigate those weird incidents. Now that his mother wanted some time alone for herself, he had more than enough time to do that kind of research.

nLater that night, the mansion's lights had almost been extinguished, Zaos headed to the library. Fortunately, he didn't meet Nyana at that time. Now more than ever, he didn't need someone to disturb him. While his father barely spends any time inside the library, the number of books was impressive. However, none of them were magic books. The vast majority talked about history, and others talked about certain specific subjects. Politics and economy were a few examples. It took a while, but Zaos eventually found a book that talked about strange crimes.

n

"Month 01, day 22 of 2552… in the Eastern side of the slums of the capital, a newborn baby disappears from a certain house… the parents were found dead,

" Zaos hesitated while reading the rest of the paragraph.

nZaos didn't think that the first crime he would find would be so similar to the one of that day… some seriously messed up people lived in that world. Killing an entire family and kidnapping a newborn baby? That was only something the worst type of psycho would do.

nZaos looked in the other parts of the book, but he didn't find anything similar to the first one. Most likely, the writer wrote about that first to make the readers buy the book. The other weird crimes mentioned could be easily explained as unfortunate incidents. However, Zaos also found some weird rumors about kidnappings. The victims were always kidding who were younger than five. Certain people began to blame the parents for those kidnappings since the kids had wounds on their bodies… due to violent parents. Weirdly enough, after a few months of those kidnappings, the case was never sold, and the family involved also disappeared without a trace.

n

"This is like some sickling bad horror story…

" Zaos closed the book and then rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

nAfter thinking for a while, Zaos began to wonder if the families involved didn't have anything in common aside from having young kids. Unfortunately, Zaos didn't find much about the families. However, he had a certain idea… What if he researches the most famous criminals of the history of the kingdom? Would he find anything about kidnappers?

n

"It looks like I am trying to find a reason not to fall asleep for many nights…

" Zaos shook his head.

nDespite that, Zaos looked for several hours for a book about the subject, and he eventually found it. However, the most famous criminals weren't kidnappers but deserters who abandoned their position in the army and became bandits. For some reason, the book talked a lot about how many soldiers they killed… while that seemed something obvious to do to show how hateful they were, Zaos thought that something was off. Yet, he couldn't pinpoint what that was.

nZaos didn't want to stop his research, but he decided to continue the other day since he had to train early in the morning. The next day, it was one of those days where he would have a spar with his father. Although Zaos didn't sleep all that much, he still was looking forward to it since he had a new strategy to use. However, his father wasn't waiting for him at the training ground. Laiex was talking with the captain of the guards. When he noticed that Zaos and Lyra had appeared, Laiex headed toward them.

n

"I heard that you two went to the commercial district yesterday, and it looks like you two heard about that incident,

" Laiex said.

"Don't do that for a few weeks.

"

n

"Why?

" Zaos asked.

n

"The criminal might still be nearby, so it is dangerous,

" Laiex said.

"Besides, I am going on a mission and I won't return for several weeks. I gave the order to Tarcis to keep you two at home at all times, so don't cause him trouble.

"

nThat was way too weird… Why would Laiex leave now when a criminal must still be lurking around in the city? Zaos quickly realized that the knights already found the criminal traces, and they were preparing a whole squad of knights to hunt him. Laiex was probably leading the group. Still, why couldn't he tell the truth?

nWhile he watched his father leaving, Zaos thought about certain possibilities. First of all, regarding those grotesque crimes, there was too little information about them. Adding Laiex's behavior to that, Zaos concluded that the kingdom itself was trying to keep information about those incidents as hidden as possible. No wonder Zaos had such a hard time researching the subject…

n

"Things are getting too suspicious,

" Zaos thought.

"I don't know if this is a subject I actually need to worry about since I am no longer at an age where those sick kidnappers would try to do anything to me.

"

nWhile Zaos wanted to believe that, he knew things weren't that simple. His father and his men were acting as if that wasn't something rare to happen. Considering the registers in the books, it certainly wasn't the case. Zaos will someday take his father's place as the head of the family and protector of the royal family. So, maybe he will have to deal with something similar in a few years… in the end, preparation was the key.

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