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“The King fell ill?” Alexander asked again, just to confirm if he heard it right the first time.

The messenger looked down and said with a nod, “Yes, Your Highness.”

“W-What happened? Is it something serious?” Alexander asked while clutching his hands together.

The messengers looked at each other. And one of them replied, “I’m afraid we are not allowed to reveal further details, Your Highness.”

“Oh, of course.” Alexander heaved a deep sigh. His hands were starting to get cold because he had already assumed the worst.

He was greatly worried for his friend. He could already imagine Everard getting anxious and even angry.

He glanced at the messengers and then asked, “Why don’t one of you go and meet our teacher and take a leave of absence for him? And... if you wish to head for Xanmar right away, I can also help you in looking around for him.”

The messengers readily accepted the offer from the Crown Prince because they wanted to return to Xanmar at the earliest time possible. Furthermore, they believed that Alexander would be more familiar with the places that Everard might possibly be in at the moment.

.....

All three of them then stepped out of the building.

One of the messengers went to get the leave of absence on behalf of Everard. While the other messenger and Alexander went in either direction to look for Everard.

The first place that Alexander went to was the Chamber of Sallust. That place had become Everard’s favorite place ever since he met Lorenzo.

After asking one of the servers of the Chamber of Sallust, he got to know that Everard wasn’t there.

He sighed and thought to himself, ‘Where could he be?’ He recalled how Ruby was standing beside Everard when he had met him earlier.

‘Could he have gone to her place?’ But he instantly wrinkled his brows and shook his head. ‘No, why would he go there? She is the one who usually comes to his place.’

He slowly walked out of the Chamber of Sallust and thought as he did so, ‘But there’s no harm in checking. Maybe he had to help her with something...’

Keeping that in mind, he reached the place where Ruby was currently staying at. He stood at the door and knocked, “Ruby, are you there?”

He waited for a while for the answer. But when no reply came from there, he decided to walk away.

However, before he did so, he tried calling Ruby once more in case she didn’t hear him the first time, “Ruby?”

He furrowed his brows and thought to himself, ‘What if he is in there and he is prohibiting Ruby from answering because he is angry with me?’

So he further decided to state the purpose of his visit. “Ruby, is Everard in there with you? Tell him that the messengers from Xanmar are here with an important message.”

He then waited for a while to get the reply.

And while he waited, an old woman opened the door from the adjacent room and asked Alexander, “Are you a friend of Ruby?”

Alexander smiled and said, “Er... you can say that. Do you know where she is?”

The old woman then informed him, “Ah! I don’t know where she is. But I do know that she went out in the morning. She hasn’t returned since then.”

“Oh, is that so?” Alexander gave a polite nod and thanked the old woman. He then walked out of there without having any specific destination in his mind.

‘I think he is with Ruby. But where could they possibly go?’ He pondered as he walked down the street.

If Everard was alone, then he was sure that he would either find Everard challenging someone from the University for a duel, or he would be in a large bookstore nearby their University.

However, with Ruby by his side, Alexander didn’t know where to find Everard.

Even then, he walked around the town, peeking inside each and every shop to see if he could catch a glimpse of his friend.

On the way, he stumbled upon the messenger who was also looking for Everard.

“You didn’t find him yet?” Alexander asked the messenger.

The messenger dejectedly shook his head. “No, Your Highness. I looked inside each and every shop in that direction. But he is nowhere.” He looked really restless as well as tired by now.

It would have been easier for the messenger to follow Everard’s scent and find him but unfortunately, the messengers were not werewolves.

Alexander also shared where he had looked, “I looked for him in the Chamber of Sallust, and all the shops on the way back.”

The messenger heaved a sigh and said, “Why don’t you wait by the dorm, Your Highness? The Crown Prince might come there and we might miss him again if he decides to leave for somewhere else.”

Alexander wanted to continue the search.

Alexander could tell that the messenger was asking him to wait by the dorm because the latter was feeling bad for making him roam around aimlessly.

However, he also thought that the messenger had a good point. Thus, he agreed, “Okay, I will wait there. If he comes by then I will let him know that some urgent matter has come up.”

The messenger bowed gratefully and then immediately rush in the direction where both of them hadn’t checked yet.

And Alexander went towards their dorm.

—

It was already pitch dark and yet, there was no sign of Everard. The messengers were also standing by the door of Everard’s room alongside Alexander.

All three of them were tired, hungry, and restless by the time Everard finally decided to show up.

And when he saw Everard at the end of the corridor, almost instantly, Alexander shouted at him, “Do you have any idea how long we have been waiting for you? Couldn’t you have simply told me where the hell you were going when I had asked you instead of starting a fight with me?”

“Relax, Alex!” Everard frowned.

But he didn’t want to start another fight again. So he gently tapped on Alexander’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

Alexander kept on looking at Everard and contemplated whether or not to relay the news. In the end, he sighed and stepped aside. He couldn’t bring himself to say the news to his friend so, he let the messengers do their job.

The messengers bowed to their Crown Prince. And one of them handed over the scroll without saying a word.

Everard furrowed his brows and took the scroll. He wondered why all three of them were looking so sad.

“Why do you all look so serious? What is it?” he asked while unrolling the scroll.

Alexander closed his eyes and hoped that the worst hadn’t happened.