The Debt Of Fate
Chapter 160: Treated as traitors

Chapter 160: Treated as traitors

The Crown Prince led the soldiers and a few personal guards out of the camp with urgency. The group quickly rode to where the box had been found.

"Spread out, look for any clues around," Prince Edward instructed. "You two, go back and ask your captain to find out from the people if any servant girl has gone missing since the chaos," the Prince said to the deputy and soldier who had brought the box.

"Yes, Your Majesty," the two bowed.

"Send a list of the people—focus especially on every female servant," the Prince added after a short pause.

The two bowed again and hurried away.

The search continued for a few minutes, but there was no solution. After searching for about an hour without results, the soldiers became anxious.

"Your Highness, I think we should send a team to Lowe to check if any maid entered the village in the last two days," Walter suggested.

The Prince paused. "Divide the team into four. Let two teams head straight for Lowe. One team will search house to house, and the other will guard the two exits of Lowe.

As for the other two teams, one should investigate from here towards Lowe, and the other should investigate back towards the checkpoints," Prince Edward said, quickly forming a plan. They needed to find clues to understand the situation. After all, what if only the box was sent this way and Anastasia was somewhere else.

"Yes, Your Highness," Walter moved sharply, and soon the teams were divided.

Prince Edward decided to join the team heading toward Lowe. As they proceeded, they found a dead snake on a bush path and faint footprints.

"This snake was hit on the head with a stone," a soldier said, examining the injury and frowning. Although hit twice, the impacts were not strong.

The faint footsteps seemed to have been made a day or two ago. This path also led toward water.

"If the person was weak, their hits might not have killed the snake," another soldier observed.

"Follow the path to the river and take a look," another soldier suggested. ,

Anyone could have killed the snake, but they could not afford to ignore any clues. Three soilders immediately followed the path to the river, which other continue to check the area.

It was already getting dark. Looking around the riverbank, they soon noticed footsteps, the ground was wet, so the prints were still clear.

"There are at least two people here," one soldier noted, seeing another set of footprints larger ones that likely belonged to a man.

"Is it possible the other person is a woman? The steps are lighter," another added.

After checking for a while, they noticed the larger footprints led into another path, while the smaller ones disappeared after leaving the riverbank.

"I think someone rested here," a third soldier pointed to marks beside a large tree not far from the river.

The other two came over to check. "The large footprints are here too," another soldier noted.

After discussing for a while without finding further clues, one soldier was sent back to report to the Prince on the main road, while the other two followed the larger trail.

These soldiers were not professionals at tracking, but during training, they had learned a little.

When Prince Edward heard the report, he frowned. He remembered from earlier reports that two men had fled from the checkpoints, and their whereabouts were still unknown.

"Send a few more men to follow that trail," the Crown Prince instructed.

---

Meanwhile, at the temporary camp, Gavin was having a conversation with Commander Eldric, who had finally woken up.

"What happened? Who were those men?" Gavin asked anxiously. He was feeling panicked. The princess had gone missing. Even when he went to investigate the previous evening, he had found nothing. After returning late at night, he had carried the still-unconscious old doctor back to his house and taken care of Eldric through the night.

Eldric’s fever had lessened by morning, but he had still not woken up. Gavin had sent another message to Aldan that morning. He found out that the princess had only asked the man in charge of managing the caravan to rent an inn; there was no further news about her, though one servant had reportedly seen her walking toward Lowe. Gavin had wanted to investigate but feared alerting the enemy.

"After I got your message, I took a horse that night, but I realized I was being followed. All my efforts to shake off that person failed. Seeing that they were not making a move, I thought to return to camp and prepare a team before returning. But I got kidnapped," Eldric explained patiently.

Gavin’s gaze turned cold. They had traveled safely for days, and now, with just half a day’s journey left, such a major problem had arisen.

"What happened? Where is the princess?" Commander Eldric asked the most important question. Of course, he realized he had been at the same checkpoint as the princess. He hadn’t dared contact her, worried it might expose her location.

"The princess is missing," Gavin explained grimly.

"What?" Commander Eldric was alarmed. He had been worried since agreeing to stage the act with the princess, but he had not expected things to go so terribly wrong when they were so close to succeeding.

"Then, let’s go into the village and inquire," Eldric said after hearing the results of the investigation.

The princess did not know the way to the military camp in Lowe. Even with a map, she would likely only find her way into the village assuming she hadn’t fallen into the kidnappers’ hands.

"I saw two men from the checkpoint riding toward the military camp yesterday evening. This afternoon, a group of soldiers also rode past this place. I feel the princess’s identity has been exposed, and perhaps she is in danger," Gavin said. He had seen the soldiers and hidden from them. Fortunately, they were in a hurry and did not search the area.

"Commander, what should we do?" Gavin asked, swallowing hard. He was deeply worried about the princess.

"Let’s continue to pretend we know nothing. You and Aldan only followed the supplies here," Commander Eldric said after a while.

"If we do that, what about the princess?" Gavin asked, reluctant. He had a good impression of Anastasia and did not want her to be hurt.

"The princess is wise; she will find a way to survive. But if anything happens to her, we will immediately become suspects," Commander Eldric said grimly.

He feared that without the princess’s presence, he would be accused of deceiving the king. In that case, death would be his punishment. Especially now that the princess was missing, if she could not be found, the three of them who knew the truth might be treated as traitors.