The Debt Of Fate
Chapter 157: Empty

Chapter 157: Empty

The guard sighed inwardly when he heard the question. The princess had been missing for a while without any news. This time, only a box had been found. He was not familiar with the situation and did not know if the princess had been with the box when she fell into the water.

"Come with me," the guard said.

Rosa nodded and followed. She was a bit disappointed that the guard did not answer her question.

The crazy thing was that the commander of the team they had followed to Lowe had also gone missing.

When she asked around, she heard he had been making arrangements for the goods he sent to come by land. Now, it had been a few days without any news.

Rosa took a deep breath, trying to calm her emotions. She remembered that Anastasia had told her not to trust anyone or reveal what she knew.

"If I may, who seeks me?" Rosa asked, seeing that they were walking toward the exit of the camp.

"The guards in charge of finding the princess want you to identify something," the guard replied.

Rosa nodded and thanked him. The two walked quietly and were soon outside the gate, where the two soldiers from the checkpoint were waiting.

"This is the personal maid of the princess. His Highness has asked that she identify the item," the guard said.

The deputy captain smiled when he heard this. He immediately brought out the box from the clothes it had been wrapped in.

"May I ask this lady if she has seen the princess with this box?" the deputy asked.

Rosa’s heart missed a beat. Although Anastasia had taken personal care of this box, she recognized it at a single glance. After all, it had always been close to her.

"Sir, Her Highness, the princess, did take a box like this with her when we left the royal city. She took care of it herself. Later, she fell into the water, and I learned from the lady-in-waiting by her side that the box had been sent by Her Majesty, the queen, to His Highness the prince. At that time, we looked everywhere but could not find it," Rosa said.

The deputy was shocked. Actually, he had not believed that this box was related to the missing princess; he had only thought that after investigating for so long, there might be a chance.

"Are you sure this is the very same box?" he could not help but ask.

"Sir, I might be a maid, but I can recognize the things Her Highness places value on. This box indeed looks just like the one Her Majesty asked the princess to give to the prince," Rosa said.

She did not know how rare the box was, so she could not be absolutely sure it was the same one, but it was definitely identical.

"Since the box was meant for the prince, I beg you, sir, to take it to him. We did not open it, guessing that it might be something important for His Highness," the deputy said.

"Then, you come with me," the guard said.

He only let these men into the camp now. After all, although they had brought their identity tags, there was no guarantee that the tags were genuine or that the people were who they claimed to be.

The deputy and the soldier who had come to the camp dropped all their weapons with the guards at the entrance before following the guard toward the crown prince’s area.

"Report to the Crown Prince that the maid of the princess has recognized the box in the soldier’s care as ’looking’ the same as the one the queen had sent," the guard said to Walter, who was standing guard outside the prince’s tent.

"Where is the box?" Walter asked.

He was the prince’s personal guard, so he knew about the missing box.

"Here," the deputy captain said, still holding it.

Walter took the box.

"Your Highness, I have something to report," Walter announced, standing outside the chamber.

"Come in," Prince Edward said.

"Your Highness, the box has been identified. Please take a look," Walter said.

Hearing that the box was identified as the one his mother had sent, Prince Edward, who had been studying a map with his head lowered, immediately raised it.

"Here," Walter said, stepping forward and presenting the box.

Prince Edward recognized it immediately. It was indeed a box from the royal palace.

He quickly collected it, opened the button, and prayed in his heart that he would find the things his mother had sent inside. His heart was filled with anticipation.

Click.

The box opened.

"Empty," Prince Edward muttered, his face turning pale.

The two most important symbols of the king’s authority were missing.

When he had yet to find the box, he still had hope. But now, seeing the empty box, he could not help but shiver.

Seeing the prince’s pale face, Walter stepped forward and looked into the box.

Seeing that it was empty, he also frowned.

Nobody apart from the queen and the prince knew what should have been inside the box, but seeing the prince frown so deeply, Walter could guess that it was something of great value.

The prince tightened his fists to suppress his emotions.

He wished his mother had used a box more difficult to open.

"Where are the people who brought the box?" Prince Edward asked after regaining his composure.

"Your Highness, they are outside," Walter answered.

"Let them come in," Prince Edward instructed.

He then took a seat and calmed himself.

"Your Highness," the deputy captain and the soldier bowed after entering the prince’s chamber.

"Where did you find the box?" Prince Edward asked.

Although he recognized the box as being from the palace, he was not sure exactly which box his mother had used to send the seal and scepter of authority to him.

"Replying to Your Highness’s question: two nights ago, there was some disturbance at the temporary camp close to the checkpoint the general had commanded us to set up. After the chaos, a man who had noticed those who started the trouble informed us of what he saw.

My captain wanted to investigate, so he asked us to follow the traces from the previous night. That was where we found this box," the soldier explained.

The prince frowned.

"Did you find the box opened?" he asked.

"Your Highness, the box was hidden among the bushes. It was closed.

Seeing its quality, we did not dare open it. Moreover, we are just soldiers; we do not know how to open this kind of box," the soldier answered.