Chapter 186: [MISSION: CREATE CHAOS IN THE CAPITAL]

"Prepare the horses," Alaric ordered. "I don’t care about what the Emperor has planned. We’re moving him now, and as soon as we get back, make preparations to leave for the North."

Kaelen nodded, a flash of relief crossing his face as he heard they would be leaving for the North right away.

They had stayed in the capital for far too long, and trouble somehow seemed to find them at all times.

"Understood, Your Grace."

They spoke for no more than two minutes, and then, Alaric turned back into the room. But what he saw made his entire body go rigid.

His heart sank instantly, vanished into a cold, hollow void.

The bed was empty.

The heavy blankets were tossed aside, trailing onto the floor. The spot where Julian had been lying was empty, and he was gone.

"Julian?" Alaric’s voice was a low, disbelieving breath as he called out to him.

He spun around, his eyes wild as they scanned the dim, firelit room. "Julian!" he roared, the sound echoing off the vaulted ceiling.

This caused Kaelen, who was about to leave, to pause.

He turned his head, dread filling his heart as he interpreted the Duke’s tone to be that of danger. What had happened again?

Alaric hurried to the washroom, his mind screaming that Julian had simply woken up disoriented and gone to splash water on his face. He burst through the door, but the marble basin was dry. The room, and here too, was empty.

"Julian!" He roared as he stepped out of the washroom, only for his eyes to spot something on the floor.

There was a pale, thick, telltale trail of Alaric’s own semen which had leaked from Julian’s body, drop by drop, marking a path across the floor.

His eyes followed the line, his breath hitching in his throat as it led straight to the balcony window.

The heavy glass door was swinging wide, caught in a sudden, sharp draft of the night air.

Alaric sprinted to the balcony, his hands slamming onto the stone railing so hard it groaned. He looked down into the darkness of the palace gardens, his heart stopping at the thought of a broken figure lying on the cobblestones below.

But there was nobody. Only the swaying shadows of the cypress trees and the distant, mocking glimmer of the flickering lights in the forbidden garden.

Julian was gone. He hadn’t jumped, Alaric concluded. He had been taken. Or he had walked out on his own, driven by a force Alaric couldn’t comprehend.

Alaric’s heart seemed to stop as the memory of the ’other’ Julian flashed through his mind.

There was no way Julian would walk away without a word. But then again, his body was weak. Even if the ’other’ Julian had taken over, he couldn’t have gone far with that body.

So, someone took him.

He was sure of it.

Someone had kidnapped Julian.

"KAELEN!" Alaric’s roar ripped through the room and the entire Jade Wing, a sound of raw carnage.

He turned back to the room, his eyes dark with a terrifying, focused rage.

He didn’t know how they had done it. He didn’t know who could have slipped past him and his best knight in a mere two minutes, but the realization was a physical blow.

Kaelen burst into the room, sword already drawn as he sensed the threat in the Duke’s tone.

"Your Grace?"

"He’s gone," Alaric hissed, his hand white-knuckled as he grabbed his discarded mantle. "Someone took him. Right from under my nose."

He stepped onto the balcony, looking at the open air with the eyes of a hunter who had just lost his heart.

"Search the perimeters! Every inch of the gardens, every secret passage, every cellar! They couldn’t have gone far with him in that state!"

Alaric threw his mantle over his shoulders and then jumped over the railing, dropping toward the grass below without a second thought.

"Find Julian! Bring me everyone who was on duty in this area! And question every passing personnel. Make sure you find my Julian!"

The hunt was on, but as Alaric hit the ground running, the red status window flickered one last time in the empty bedroom, invisible to the world.

> [TAKEOVER: 100% COMPLETE]

> [IDENTITY CONFIRMED: JULIAN VON ASTREA]

> [MISSION: CREATE CHAOS IN THE CAPITAL]

Then, it flickered shut.

While all this was going on, Julian, No, and Kim Jowoon found himself sitting in a dark room.

He was watching a square box television that kept screeching black and white frequency. There was nothing on.

But this black and white frequency was the only light that shone in the darkness surrounding him.

He sat on the floor, hugging his knees with his chin resting on top of his knees.

What was he doing? He didn’t know. But he couldn’t bring himself to look away from the static that kept blaring and the screeching noise filling his senses.

Then, a hand dropped on his shoulder. He turned his head, but there was no one. It was total darkness.

"Who...?"

"Teacher Kim," a familiar voice called from in front, and he turned his head back to where the television was screeching, only to find a scene he was one too familiar with.

It was his classroom.

Kim Jowoon got confused for a second and turned his head again to look at the darkness he had just been staring at, but there was no darkness, just the bright and cheery classroom he taught in every weekday.

"What’s got you absent-minded today, Teacher Kim?" The one asking this was one of his colleagues, Teacher Seo, who taught English.

He had a bright smile, looking like how he usually did.

For a second, Kim Jowoon’s senses were a bit disoriented, but then he laughed.

Right, this was how his everyday life was. What had he been thinking about anyway? What was he doing before now?

He pressed his hand over his face, thinking deeply but... I can’t remember.

"Is something wrong?" Teacher Seo asked, tilting his head, and Kim Jowoon shook his head.

"No, I’m just a bit under the weather." He said.

"Hm, no wonder you look pale. Did you catch a cold before now? Or are you still ill?"