Mother

"Lodrick?"

A soft, melodic voice echoed through the grand hall. A young man stood motionless, head bowed, hands clasped tightly behind him as if to brace himself for what was to come.

"Yes, Mother?"

Prince Lodrick's voice was steady, but there was an unmistakable tension beneath it. It was rare—almost unheard of—for his mother to summon him personally, and he knew exactly why she had called for him now.

"Where is your servant?"

The moment the question was uttered, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

He had expected this.

He really had.

It had been a month. A full month since Yuriel had gone missing.

At first, he had sought answers from his sister, the very person to whom he had entrusted his servant's care. But her response had been infuriatingly curt.

"I sent him on the very errand you originally planned to send him on."

That was all she had given him.