Rowan was being held in a separate room as the interrogation began, guards stationed firmly outside the door to ensure there was no chance of escape.

Earlier that morning, the maids had entered Rosalind’s chamber to carry out their usual duties and Rowan had not attempted to stop them.

Jae was the first to notice something was wrong when she approached the bed and found it cold and untouched. "Lady Rosalind isn’t in her room," she said, confusion crossing her face. "Where could she be?"

One of the other maids answered thoughtfully, "Maybe she went out for a walk or something. You know how she is sometimes. Not every morning do we actually find her in her room."

Jae hummed softly in response and after waiting a while longer, they eventually began leaving the chamber again.

"We’ll return later to serve Lady Rosalind," she informed Rowan before stepping outside.

Rowan gave no response. He stood there looking completely unbothered because unlike everyone else, he already knew Rosalind was gone and by now, far away from the palace.

While Verity and Thalia had breakfast that morning, Rosalind never arrived to join them. Verity remained quiet for most of the meal, her thoughts consumed by what had happened the previous night. She wanted to ask Rowan about Rosalind, but she had no idea how to even approach him properly when he barely spoke to anyone.

"Is Rosalind skipping breakfast this morning?" Thalia eventually asked while cutting into the chocolate cake served before her.

"I guess so," Verity replied absentmindedly.

"She barely ate anything yesterday morning and now this again." Thalia frowned slightly before adding, "Do you think it’s her monthly cycle? These mood swings are becoming frightening."

She continued eating while shaking her head lightly. It was unfortunate because Rosalind was going to miss the strawberry cake Thalia had specifically reserved for her.

Verity did not respond but deep down, she had a strong feeling Rosalind was no longer anywhere inside the palace.

And if that was truly the case, then Rosalind would become the first person to ever successfully flee this place.

Too many things had aligned in her favor. Alaric himself was absent from the palace and although the regent had taken temporary control, he could never be as observant or calculating as the king. Then there was Rowan’s involvement. Having the footman assisting her would have made everything far easier than it should have been.

****

Rosalind missed her lessons later that morning and even Lady Evelina complained openly about her absence, though at first no one thought too deeply about it. But by the time lunch approached and Rosalind still had not appeared, concern finally began spreading properly through the palace.

Jae and the other maids noticed and soon after, word reached the regent.

Rowan was immediately brought before him for questioning.

"Lady Rosalind is missing," Cassian, the regent, said coldly while narrowing his eyes at Rowan. "What exactly is happening?"

"She was in her room," Rowan answered calmly, his voice low and steady.

"But she has not been seen since morning," the regent pressed sharply. "Where is she?"

"I don’t know."

Rowan’s calm answer only fueled Cassian’s anger further.

"What do you mean you don’t know?" he snapped. "You are her assigned footman. You are supposed to know every movement she makes."

"I was not stationed inside her room," Rowan replied evenly.

None of his answers were helping and the worst part was that he seemed to be doing it deliberately.

The regent rose abruptly from his chair. "Summon the guards. Search every exit, every corridor, every chamber in this palace. Find her immediately!"

"Yes, Lord Regent," the guards answered together before quickly marching out of the hall to carry out the order.

Cassian’s gaze returned to Rowan afterward. "Detain him for further questioning."

The guards immediately forced Rowan’s hands behind his back and began leading him away. Rowan offered no resistance at all. He simply followed silently as though none of this concerned him.

The moment he was gone, Cassian lowered himself back into his chair slowly, his fists tightening at his sides.

It was not only anger he felt. Fear had begun creeping into him as well.

Because if Rosalind was missing under his watch, the king would never forgive such a failure. Alaric would not care for excuses or explanations. He would only see incompetence and Cassian knew exactly the kind of punishment that could follow.

The guards searched everywhere throughout the palace.

They checked every exit, questioned servants and guards alike, searched the kitchens, the gardens, the servants’ quarters, the back passages, and finally Rosalind’s chamber itself, but they found nothing.

"Rosalind is missing?" Thalia asked in disbelief while she and Verity stood at the doorway watching guards tear through every corner of the room, leaving everything completely disorganised behind them.

"You’re only realizing that now?" Verity muttered dryly, though even she was beginning to worry about what would happen next.

"How did this even happen?" Thalia asked again. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Verity merely shrugged her shoulders.

One of the guards crouched to search beneath the bed and eventually found a single pearl. He held it up briefly before pocketing it, though aside from that, nothing else suspicious was discovered.

The guards finally stepped toward the door and bowed respectfully toward both Verity and Thalia before leaving the chamber in complete disarray.

From her own room nearby, Sabine watched everything unfold alongside Claire, though her anger came from an entirely different place. "How is Rosalind missing?" she thought bitterly.

She had not yet exposed Rosalind’s affair to the king. She had not yet humiliated her publicly the way she planned to.

So what use was the evidence she possessed now if Rosalind had already disappeared?

Inwardly, Sabine prayed that Rosalind would be caught wherever she was hiding or wherever she had run to.

****

"There is no sign of her, Lord Regent," the guards reported.

Cassian slammed his hand hard against the arm of his chair and the sound echoed through the hall sharply enough to make several of them flinch.

"I... I found a pearl beneath the bed while searching the chamber," one of the guards stammered nervously as he stepped forward and presented it.

Cassian descended the stairs of the throne platform furiously and the moment he reached the guard, he slapped the pearl straight out of his hand.

The pearl bounced across the floor.

"What exactly am I supposed to do with this useless thing when the lady herself is missing?" he demanded harshly.

The guards lowered their heads immediately beneath his anger.

"I do not care how you do it," Cassian continued coldly. "Find her and find her quickly. Make sure word of this spreads no further than it already has."

"Yes, Lord Regent," they answered quickly before hurrying back into action.

Once the guards left, Rowan was brought back into the throne hall again where Cassian now sat waiting for him. Rowan kept his head lowered slightly, though his expression remained calm despite everything happening around him.

"She still hasn’t been found," Cassian said tightly. "Only a pearl was discovered beneath her bed."

Cassian’s gaze darkened at the footman. "For your own sake, it would be wise to speak now."

Rowan remained silent.

Cassian then stopped directly before him. "If the king discovers this situation, everyone inside this palace will suffer for it. Are you truly willing to place everyone in danger because of one woman?"

"I know nothing" Rowan muttered.

Cassian clenched his jaw so tightly it almost hurt.

That was all Rowan had offered since the questioning began. Either he claimed ignorance or gave answers too useless to mean anything. But Cassian knew there was something hidden beneath all of this and he was determined to drag it out of him one way or another.

"Since you insist on remaining foolish," Cassian said coldly, "you will be taken to the dungeon and tortured until you finally speak."

At once, the guards seized Rowan again and began dragging him away. This time they were no longer returning him to the holding room from earlier. They were taking him to the dungeon.

They had barely gotten far when someone suddenly came rushing into the hall, breathless and sweating heavily.

"The king is back," the man gasped out.

Cassian’s heart stumbled violently at the words.

"And..." the messenger continued while trying to catch his breath, "he brought a beast with him."