A tense silence hung in the air for a few seconds after the high-pitched rebuttal slipped from Lionias's mouth.
King Estadian stood transfixed, quite surprised to see his third son daring to speak in such a high tone for the very first time.
The King then realized that Lionias was not speaking nonsense. The fear and panic radiating from his son's body language were far too real to be a lie or the remnants of a nightmare.
Something extremely fatal had truly occurred.
Wasting no time arguing about it, King Estadian immediately stepped out of the room, walked past his son, and strode quickly toward the library to see it for himself.
The King's footsteps echoed heavily along the palace corridors. Throughout the walk, he hoped that everything his son had said was nothing more than a mere nightmare.
However, the moment King Estadian finally arrived and set foot past the threshold of the main library, his steps instantly halted. His body froze right where he stood.
His eyes swept across every corner of the spacious room. The shelves stretching from end to end now stood completely empty. Hundreds of magic books, precious parchment scrolls holding state secrets, and the historical literature of the Victoriaz Kingdom, all had vanished without a trace.
The room that housed hundreds of years of his kingdom's foundational knowledge was now nothing more than a pitiful, empty space.
Both of King Estadian's hands slowly clenched tightly at his sides. His eyes glared sharply, filled with mounting anger, at the empty shelves.
"Insolent!" the furious King growled. "At a time when my kingdom has just lost so many soldiers because of those two fugitives and that mysterious assassin, now... all the precious books in this library have vanished into thin air!"
Not long after, the sound of hurried footsteps was heard from the corridor. Lionias, who had come following his father, finally arrived at the library's threshold, still panting heavily.
Realizing the Prince's arrival, King Estadian turned around and glared sharply at his third son.
"How could all this madness happen, Lionias?!" the King demanded, his voice echoing loudly in the empty room.
Lionias swallowed hard, returning his father's gaze with absolute fear.
"I... I don't know either, Father." the Prince answered with a trembling voice, trying to explain what he had experienced. "When I entered this library last night, all those books were still in their places. I was reading one of them. But, when I woke up from my sleep this morning and intended to return the book I had read... everything on the shelves in this library was already gone."
King Estadian closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath to suppress his emotions that were on the verge of exploding. He knew that Lionias was not lying and felt it would be a mere waste of time to interrogate his son any further.
"I will summon Franz Hualimand to the palace to investigate this matter." the King finally decided. He stepped forward, walking toward the library exit, and stopped right next to his son. "Listen to me carefully, Lionias. You had better keep your mouth tightly shut. Don't ever say anything about this incident to anyone! We must not further worsen the situation, which is already highly critical in this kingdom after those prisoners put up a fight during their escape!"
Lionias deeply understood the fatal consequences that would occur if the news of the disappearance of all the books in this library were to spread to the public.
Currently, the Victoriaz Kingdom was being struck by massive chaos after the battle had wiped out almost 90% of the core troops guarding the royal capital.
The situation was worsened by the exposure of a series of dirty scandals involving one of the core members of the royal family.
The scandals started from the despicable actions of the late Second Prince Wiltan, who arbitrarily snatched someone else's fiancée, all the way to the depravity of the royal soldiers who raped the prisoners inside the underground prison.
The public had now learned of this rottenness. The people's trust in the kingdom was shattered to pieces, replaced by disappointment, disgust, and anger ready to explode at any moment. That sense of distrust was now spreading like a plague.
Amidst the capital's military strength, which was currently extremely weak, it was not impossible that certain parties would take advantage of the dire situation to fan the flames of a massive rebellion.
"Yes, Father. I understand." he replied, promising earnestly. "I won't say anything about this incident."
...
Five hours later, the sun had risen quite high. Inside the throne room, the silence was broken by the sound of steady and firm footsteps.
A tall and well-built middle-aged man stepped inside. His facial expression was calm, cold, and calculating.
He stopped right in the middle of the room, then bowed and paid his respects to King Estadian, who was sitting on his throne.
"I have come to answer your summons, Your Majesty." the man greeted in a very polite tone, yet it carried the firmness of a veteran.
"Raise your head, Franz Hualimand!" the King commanded.
The man immediately straightened his body, raised his head, and looked straight into the face of the Victoriaz Kingdom's ruler.
Franz Hualimand was no ordinary man. He was the best tracker and investigator the kingdom possessed, someone capable of seeing even the slightest trace of mana left behind in a place within his domain.
"For what reason have you summoned me to the palace so urgently this morning, Your Majesty?" Franz asked straightforwardly, getting right to the topic without any political pleasantries. "Is there an incident I need to investigate here?"
"Yes, you are correct!" King Estadian answered in a tone laden with authority. "I want you to examine what exactly happened inside the royal library."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
King Estadian then stood up and stepped down from his throne. He walked with steady steps toward the double doors of the throne room. As soon as the King passed through them, Franz immediately took a step, trailing right behind the supreme leader of the Victoriaz Kingdom.
Upon their arrival inside the library, the middle-aged man's eyes widened slightly, deeply surprised to see the unnatural sight before him.
Thousands of books that should have filled the shelves had vanished without a trace. The room, which was steeped in historical value, now looked like nothing more than an empty, abandoned warehouse.
No wonder His Majesty summoned me here. Franz thought while staring at the empty shelves in front of him. I didn't expect that someone would dare infiltrate the palace and steal all the precious books in this library without being detected.
Franz turned his body toward the King, bowing his head briefly with a serious expression.
"Your Majesty, please allow me to begin the investigation immediately."
"Yes. Carry out your duty immediately, Franz!" King Estadian commanded, granting full permission to the investigator.
After obtaining direct approval from the King, the middle-aged man walked calmly right toward the center of the library room.
When he reached the middle of the room, Franz stopped and then crouched down. He placed his right palm flat against the floor, preparing to carry out his task from the King.