The Disappearance

[In Miraculum, at the Royal Palace - 3002] 

"What do you mean you could not find them?!" The King shouted at the top of his lungs. 

The royal guard fell to his trembling knees, "Your Majesty! I deserve the most painful death!" He expressed loyalty. "With all due respect, Your Majesty! Her Royal Highness seems to have gone to the Mountains of Death!" 

"Shut your mouth!" The King stood up from the throne. 

All the court officials shared glances. The disappearance of the Princess had caused an uproar in the capital. The Royal Palace wasn't able to bury the news and every citizen knew about the disappearance. 

"Her Royal Highness cannot go to the Mountains of Death on her own." The King said after taking a deep breath, "Her Royal Highness' bodyguard, Killian Schneider, is suspected in my eyes. What do you think?" He asked the Royal court. 

"Your Majesty! I think you might be right! Killian Schneider and Her Royal Highness had argued before the disappearance according to a court lady who serves Her Royal Highness." One of the Ministers spoke. 

"I agree, Your Majesty! Please hold the General accountable!" Another Minister said out loud. 

All the court men unanimously said, "Please hold the General accountable, Your Majesty!" 

The King frowned. He had trusted the General with the borders at the moment. There was a great possibility that the General knew what crimes Killian had committed. 

"Killian Schneider is the main suspect of Her Royal Highness' abduction." The King said, "I want him alive. Use all resources to find him and Her Royal Highness. Send a delegate to call the General here at once!" 

"Yes, Your Majesty!" 

[In the Holy Roman Empire - 1617] 

The Princess and Killian were sitting in the carriage, reading history books that they had taken from the main library. Initially, they were told that the main library wasn't for the use of servants. However, after the Great Father had permitted them to use books from the main library, they were able to enter easily and take as many books as they wanted. 

To their surprise, the main library had more material than the servants' library. If they had gone straight to the main library, almost all of their questions would have been answered - not all, but most. 

"This is so different from the history we knew back in Miraculum." The Princess said in awe. 

"I do not think what we knew there was actual history." Killian said, "We could only ever find fragments of information." 

"People say that information right before the apocalypse used to be on a different medium. When that very medium got destroyed in the apocalypse, how could we know everything there was to know?" 

"You are right, my lady. There are a lot of things we do not know." 

The Princess and Killian had traveled centuries back in time. Though it was hard to believe at first, every piece was falling in order. 

"Perhaps that man knows about the future…" Killian raised a hypothesis. 

"Huh?" 

"The Great Father." Killian specified. He felt uncomfortable speaking about any of his titles. 

"I mean, he travels through time. I think he knows about everything." The Princess was quick to agree. "How the apocalypse happened, how the humans survived, what will happen next?" 

"He was not surprised when we showed up in his house out of nowhere." Killian added with suspicion, "He had always expected us to show up." 

"By any means, we must get him to favor us. He must send us back to Miraculum. Imagine the ruckus caused over there!" The Princess raised a concern. 

"I do not know if we will be welcomed even if we return," Killian added. "My lady, if we go back, do not mention anything. Just tell everybody that I abducted you." 

"Why would I do that?" The Princess looked away. 

"Because if you did not, the Royal court will likely dispose of you as the Princess." Killian frowned. "I must take the fall to protect you." 

The Princess shook her head, "I cannot do that to you." 

"My lady-" 

"This is not up for discussion. Focus on our current task for now." 

Killian's mind was occupied during the long journey. While the Princess only focussed on getting Heinrich's favor, Killian was busy plotting against everything that the Princess was thinking. He wanted to find a way back to Miraculum without having to resort to Heinrich's help. 

As much as taking his help could really make a difference and even speed up the process, Killian wanted to remain cautious in a foreign land. They were standing where Miraculum would be established centuries later. Hence, there must be a way back without taking Heinrich's help. 

So far, the journey was quite comfortable. Although it was a new ride, it wasn't as comfortable as the palanquin. It was more spacious but due to the rough paths, the wheels jumped quite a lot. With the palanquin being higher than the surface, fewer jumps were experienced. 

Either way, horses and carriages were faster than humans. So, maybe this was for the better. The journey continued with them reading the history books as if they were students and were going to have an exam. 

"When we will go back to the mansion, I want to ask Heinrich-" The Princess shook her head, "The Great Father about the future. Will you come with me?" 

"Do you think he will tell us if we just ask?" Killian asked. 

"He is a nice person, Killian." The Princess said, "Yes, he looked down on me… But he has every right to do so. We are living in his residence. We should trust him." 

"You should do that." Killian said, "I will do what I must." 

No matter what Heinrich would turn out to be, Killian wanted to stay as cautious as possible. That meant keeping a distance from the man while earning his favor. Killian wasn't sure if Heinrich already predicted him to act cautiously, but he was confident that he would be able to outsmart him.