After the meeting ended, Veylara returned to Arlan’s Home. Since Kael wasn’t here anymore, she no longer stayed in the Royal Palace and decided to stay at Arlan’s instead.
The minute she walked into the house, she was quickly surrounded by the siblings and was showered by their endless questions,
“What happened?”
“Where did Lavinia go?”
“Was it really Kael who freed her?”
“Where are they now?”
“Did you find anything about Kael?”
Hearing the series of questions, Veylara’s mouth twitched in annoyance, she glared at the siblings and,
“Have I been too lenient on you two for the past few days?”
“You were worried about Kael, so yes. You didn’t have time for us.”
Elira nodded bravely.
“…”
Once again, Veylara’s mouth twitched.
Soon, however, an annoyed grin appeared on her face and,
“Alright then, I will give you all the time I have now.”
She spoke, cracking her fingers as if preparing for something.
“You can beat us if you want, but first answer our questions.”
Arlan spoke up, looking right into his mother’s eyes.
“We are worried.
That brat disappeared without a word and now Lavinia was abducted. People I care about are disappearing and I do not like this.”
Arlan spoke, tightly holding Elira’s hand as if scared that even she would disappear as well. Surprisingly, this time Elira didn’t free her hand or bash him, she just stepped closer to her brother and glanced at her mother, waiting for an answer.
Even she was worried.
Veylara stared at her children and stayed silent for a while, the siblings continued to stare into her eyes, waiting for an answer and Veylara finally gave in.
“We still do not know who was behind it, there was no evidence whatsoever. Nobody knows how it happened, they say one of the spies lured away the Legendary Level Tamer. By the time they realized it, the Princess had escaped.
They tried capturing her again, they used their entire spy network that they had built for three years—inns, bars, gates, alleys—they had men everywhere, but no matter how desperately they looked, the Princess couldn’t be found.
Almost as if she disappeared into thin air. They say a Teleportation Crystal was used.”
“A Teleportation Crystal?”
The siblings were taken aback, soon however, Arlan frowned,
“Where did that brat get his hands on a Teleportation Crystal?”
“You seem convinced that it was him.
There is a chance that some other force is at play here, you know?”
Veylara added. Arlan, however, just laughed at those words,
“Stop trying to fool me, Mother. I am not young now.
This is clearly Kael.
Illusion was used, the spy that lured away their Leader and the state the rest of the guards were in when the leader returned made it clear.
Kael’s Dreamveil Kitsune has the power of illusion.
Plus, there were no deaths,
It was definitely Kael.
Any other force had no reason to play such games, they had more than enough power to slaughter all the guards and take Lavinia.”
“What if they are doing it to misdirect people like you and make them believe it was Kael to hide their tracks?”
Veylara questioned back.
“Mother, you can ask hundreds of counter questions and I probably won’t have the answer to that, but I know you know it was Kael.
You are just trying to protect him as much as you can.”
Arlan smiled as he glanced at his mother. He knew how much the woman cared about that brat, and it wasn’t just her—he and Elira were the same.
Once again, Veylara turned silent.
Maybe it was indeed time she stopped underestimating her children.
In the end, she decided to be honest,
“I do not know why he did what he did, but I am sure he had his reasons. For now, I can only keep everyone away from him like he wants it to.”
“I doubt that was easy.”
“It was not.”
Veylara shook her head.
“The King himself participated.
He wanted to find Kael.”
“I can imagine.”
Arlan nodded.
“He must be angry since his beloved daughter is now put in danger.”
Elira nodded as well.
“That is true…
Or… that should be true…”
Veylara nodded.
“What does that mean?”
Elira frowned.
Instantly catching that something sounded wrong.
“I do not know.”
Veylara shook her head, she seemed a little… confused.
“The King… he wasn’t acting like himself today.”
“His little girl is now in danger, of course he wasn’t acting like himself. Wasn’t that expected already? He is the same man who went against the entire world to save his daughter.”
Arlan didn’t understand.
“You are right…”
Veylara nodded slowly.
She was still uncertain, suspicious even, but… she couldn’t explain her thoughts.
Kael’s sudden disappearance—it was too suspicious.
The reason behind his disappearance wasn’t clear, nothing came up during the emergency meeting that was held after everyone received his message.
There were no clues or signs, even as Kael’s mentor, she didn’t notice anything. It was almost as if Kael decided to disappear randomly.
Some of the Council Members thought he had run away, unable to take the pressure anymore. Veylara, obviously, knew that wasn’t the case. The other Council Members who knew a bit about Kael didn’t believe this either.
Kael was brave, he was the Hero, and he was chosen by a Dragon.
Someone like him wouldn’t run away.
He probably went to train on his own, just like he stated in his message.
And honestly, some of the Council Members like Varyon agreed with that decision—a Hero cannot be brought up in a sheltered environment.
He needed to grow on his own. It was risky, yes, but it was necessary.
Veylara would have agreed with that as well…
Just that…
She knew an important detail that no one else did.
Kael was about to break through and become an Adept Level Tamer. He had told her about how every time he broke through, he saw a Vision.
The timing couldn’t be a coincidence.
If Kael wanted to leave the Royal Palace to train, he would have told her about this, but he didn’t.
His disappearance was too silent.
Almost as if… he didn’t leave.
He escaped.
And if he escaped… then it must mean that he saw something.
Something serious enough to make him vanish without warning.
Something so urgent, so personal, that he didn’t even consult her—or anyone—before making his move.
And that… disturbed her.
Veylara was confident that she knew Kael more than anyone in the Royal Palace, and from what she knew,
There was only one reason she could imagine that would push Kael to act like this:
His Vision must have shown him a betrayal.
A betrayal by someone close, someone he trusted.
And if the Visions he sees were indeed true, which, according to Kael, all were till now, then this could become something much bigger than what everyone believed it to be.
Adding to the fact that they knew there was a traitor amongst the higher-ups of the Drakthar Kingdom—a traitor they couldn’t find till now—
This made things even scarier.
As Veylara continued to follow her thoughts, she decided to think of all possible betrayals that would make Kael react like he did.
It couldn’t be her—Veylara was certain she would never harm him, no matter what.
It couldn’t be Elira or Arlan either. The two treated Kael like a younger sibling. More than once, they even stood up against her just for his sake.
The only other person left, a person that Kael somewhat trusted…
It was the King.
The King was someone Kael respected. His opinion got stronger when she herself vouched for the King. The two even had many frequent chats in the past week.
But if Kael’s Vision showed the King as the traitor…
Then Kael’s silence and sudden disappearance made a lot more sense.
Of course, it was just a theory.
A highly unlikely theory.
And yet… once the thought had taken root in her mind, Veylara couldn’t let go of it.
The more she thought about it, the more it haunted her.
What if the King wasn’t as trustworthy as she believed?
What if he was hiding something?
What if… because she vouched for the King, Kael had started doubting her as well?
All these questions filled her mind as something that started as a small possibility started getting stronger and stronger.
What if… the King was the traitor they couldn’t find?
Veylara felt a chill down her spine as she thought about it.
“Mother?”
Arlan, who noticed her strange expression, called out with a frown.
His voice brought Veylara out of her reverie,
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking something.”
Veylara shook her head, not telling them anything.
The fact that Kael saw Visions was a secret—a secret he hadn’t told Elira and Arlan, so Veylara was going to respect his decision and do the same.
Even if she trusted her children not to reveal anything, she didn’t want Kael to get in trouble in any way either.
The secret will die with her unless Kael decides to reveal it himself.
For now, Veylara just made the preparations,
“Anyways, have you done what I told you?”
She questioned.
“Yes, I have sent Lyria, Valencia, and Elara back to Stormhold Palace. We are prepared to leave anytime you tell us to as well.”
“Good.”
Veylara nodded.
Yes, she had indeed started making preparations.