Alice & Alicia: Religious Twin Daughter

Chapter 005: A Nil Search

After giving some orders, Derrick accompanied by Baron Alder visited the survivors. Arriving in front of the house where the victim was being treated, the Young Duke vi Alverio still wished that the person was Alice. It was only after entering and seeing the figure of Solid van Denburg who lay critically, he believed in the reports he received.

Alice was not found. There is a chance that the little princess is still alive. Derrick and Baron Alder also ordered his knights to explore the Kaskas Forest. According to Solid who had muttered briefly, the little princess ran towards the forest. It's the only lead Derrick has. Unfortunately, the knights returned in the afternoon empty-handed.

Solid van Denburg was taken to the Duke vi Alverio residence. As the only living witness left, he will be asked for more information about the tragedy that befell Crown Princess el Vierum when he wakes up.

Later that night, Derrick writes documents to assemble a search team. He also wrote a letter to the king, plus a circular for every landlord bordering the Kaskas Forest to help with the search for Crown Princess el Vierum, Alice vi Alverio.

"Mr Princess!" solid woke up from his coma. His hand immediately tried to reach something, but only the void was obtained. He saw the ceiling of the room painted white that he did not recognize. The dizziness in his head immediately attacked again.

"Calm down, sir," said a nurse who happened to step in to check on her condition, "You just regained consciousness after being in a coma for two days. You still have to lie back and rest a lot."

"How is the princess?" ask Solid to worry. The nurse was silent, then sighed softly. He placed the herbs he brought on a wooden table, then said, "I'll report your condition to the young lord duke first. Please don't move too much and rest right, sir."

Solid tried to guess. In his mind, there was a possibility that Alice could be saved by another knight. However, the allegation only persisted until he knew that he was the only survivor.

Derrick visited Solid in the late afternoon. He hopes to get useful information to find Alice. However, his hope was dashed instantly.

Solid instead provided information that complicated the situation. Wolves magic and the fact that Dominique is a traitor suggests that Alice vi Alverio has indeed been targeted. That means, there's a chance Alice is being held by criminals right now.

"If I find out first, I'll dump the traitor's body far away" Derrick muttered. Solid looked shocked to hear that, "That Dominique Si—sir was also killed?"

"Right, we found a sharp incision in his neck. I thought it was a bandit attack, but there were a lot of wolf corpses there. The situation was so awkward until now," Derrick explained with his cold face, "You're the only survivor. If you didn't kill him, then who else?"

"Perhaps the princess," Solid replied half-confidently, "He carried a pair of daggers as he ran into the forest."

"That's it, huh? His ability cannot be underestimated. Merely, he was still too weak to fight against an adult knight that you could not even defeat," Derrick stood about to leave the room, "However, if what you say is true, it is true, then we still have a chance to find Alice."

"Young Duke," call Solid before Derrick perfectly leaves the room, "Let me join the search team. I make sure to be able to find the princess as soon as possible."

"Recover your body first! You're just going to be a burden on your current condition" Derrick said coldly on the doorstep, "Hopefully, he was found as quickly as possible without having to wait for a useless knight candidate to recover from his wound."

Solid just fell silent to hear the insinuation. What Derrick said is not wrong. He is a useless knight. Presumably, he immediately reported his suspicions to Ferrum upon discovering Dominique's suspicious actions a few days before departure. This is his fault. He was too slow and hesitant to act.

***

"Safety to Mr. Young Duke vi Alverio," Anna greeted respectfully as Derrick came out to meet him. The veil-clad miss was a talented girl from the Saville Family, a family that came from outside the kingdom, but had a large, global-scale trade union that was very influential.

Anna Saville has been working for the late Duchess Evianna vi Alverio since she was 15. His loyalty to the princess was beyond doubt even though he was not a native of the kingdom. After Duchess Evianna died, she gave her loyalty to serve Alice vi Alverio.

"Madam, can I leave the investigation to you?" derrick asked after a long discussion with Anna.

"I will do my best, Your Majesty," Anna replied firmly. Although his face looked calm and cold, his hands clenched violently full of anger.

The talented Princess of the Saville Family immediately returned from her important duty upon hearing the news that Crown Princess el Vierum had disappeared. To her, Alice vi Alverio was already like her own sister. She did not want to lose her little lady.

As the daughter of a merchant as well as a person who actively watched over the world in the shadows, Anna already kept a red list of nobles. They were people who were likely hostile to the Duke vi Alverio family. During his work at this residence, he had obtained a great deal of hidden information.

The king sent a delegation led directly by Crown Prince el Vierum to assist in the search. That young man looks as cold as Derrick. With the knights accompanying her, she travels through the wilderness of the forest, while Anna with the secret bureau she holds investigates the people or organizations thought to be involved in this tragedy.

The search lasted for a whole month. Result nil. The knights found no sign of Crown Princess el Vierum in the forest. Wanting as hard as they searched, Alice could never be found there.

"What do you think of this blank result, madam?" ask Derrick disappointed. He has put in a lot of effort and expense over the past month. However, the result is absolutely nonexistent. They don't even find Alice's body at all so Derrick can bury her properly.

The Young Duke vi Alverio stared at a box on his desk. The beautiful box is coated with dark blue velvet typical Family vi Alverio. Inside the velvet box there is the last relic of his beloved sister, a long dagger decorated with beautiful rose carvings on the blade.

"There is one more item we found in the forest, Your Majesty," Anna said in response to the desperate question, "We are very confident that this object is closely related to the tragedy of the loss of the princess."

"What's that?" ask Derrick. He had broken his hopes and started to accept the reality.

A month has passed. There is very little chance of Alice surviving in the Kaskas Forest. If you say the kidnapping case, strangely no one asked for ransom. The slave traders who had been hiding had been searched, but Crown Princess el Vierum was not there at all.

Anna pulled out a small chest from her pocket. When it opened, a black cloth smelling of carnation sticking out from there. Derrick doesn't like that cloth. However, there was one fact that made him very interested.

"Isn't this the robe of the royal witch? It's even the robe of an elite witch" Derrick guessed. Eyebrows wrinkling. He could not find any connection to the disappearance of Alice vi Alverio.

"Right, Your Majesty," Anna replied with a small nod. His face looked flat, but his heart was filled with the turmoil of anger.

"Then" Derrick said in a voice that sounded annoyed. He doesn't want to hear nonsense. The young Duke asked, “What does this have to do with the case that befell my sister?”