The rumor that Odelia was a survivor of the Rubis family began to snowball.
At first, it was limited to the secret whispers of the imperial court ministers, but as it flowed through the banquet halls of the nobility to the gatherings of merchant guilds and the chatterboxes of taverns, truth and falsehood became intertwined and inflated endlessly.
Someone said that Lady Fabiana had confirmed it herself, while someone else added the speculation that the Emperor was secretly protecting her.
The merchants in the marketplace even added speculations, such as that a jewel engraved with the coat of arms of the Rubis family was found in Odelia's vault, or that she was secretly gathering rebellious forces.
Talamand was no exception.
The able-bodied men of the village secretly glanced at Odelia while standing guard, and uneasy rumors slowly spread. The order and stability she had established remained solid, but an invisible crack was quietly seeping in.
Rumors always spread faster than verification. And this time, the rumor was escalating beyond mere personal reputation into a ripple shaking the balance of the entire empire.
In the midst of this, another ominous sign overlapped in Talamand.
For the past few days, the reports coming up from the guard post have been bizarre one after another. They described someone's footprints and horse hoof prints tangled in the snow, with bloodstains remaining at the ends.
"Lord, another person has disappeared from the village. This is the fourth disappearance this month alone..."
"What about the guards who followed the tracks last time?"
As Odelia narrowed her eyebrows and asked, the patrolman, after a moment of hesitation, swallowed hard.
"Everyone was attacked. Some were injured... and two have not returned yet."
With a trembling voice, Odelia immediately turned her horse around, mounted it, and headed toward the watch post.
As the cold air pierced their cheeks, blood-soaked soldiers inside the watchtower clutched their wounds.
With deep scars left on their shoulders and arms, they poured out the events of that day in trembling voices.
"I followed the footprints at the edge of the forest. Suddenly... arrows flew from all directions. They were not beasts, but people. I could not see their faces. They were all wearing masks..."
The soldier's hand trembled slightly. Odelia gritted her teeth and nodded briefly.
"That's enough. You don't need to say anything more."
At that moment, an urgent bell rang out from the castle's bell tower.
Odelia turned around at the warning sound tearing through the dawn air. It wasn't a signal for a patrol. This time, the air felt different.
The pale face of the servant who had rushed over solidified her premonition into certainty faster than words could.
"Lord! The children have disappeared!"
***
When they returned to the castle, the hallway was already in chaos. Judith lay ill on her bed, her face as pale as a sheet of paper and unable to even stand, and her crying did not stop.
The sight of Cedric trudging in caught her eye. With a rifle slung over his shoulder, his eyes were empty.
"I put the baby down in the cradle and came outside."
Cedric's voice was cracked like dry sand.
"Herse said he would read a book to Eileen, so I left them with the nanny... But suddenly I heard the sound of glass breaking and screams. When I ran over, the nanny was lying on the ground with a head injury, and the two children... were gone. Odelia, the children are gone."
Madness spread in his eyes as he put down his rifle.
"It's my fault, because I let my guard down."
The moment Cedric's voice broke, Odelia gripped his shoulder tightly.
"Pull yourself together, Cedric. I'll find her. Definitely."
Eyes filled with tears looked up at Odelia. Her face was resolute and unwavering.
It was Damian who burst through the castle gates belatedly. He rushed toward Odelia, gasping for breath.
"Odelia, what is the matter?"
"Herse and Eileen... have been kidnapped."
Damian's eyes trembled violently. In an instant, his face turned ashen, and his trembling fingertips flailed in the air as if grasping at thin air. Unable to speak for a long time, he finally lowered his head.
It was Judith's sobbing that broke the brief silence. Half-raised from the bed, she stretched her hand into the air and cried out the child's name at the top of her lungs.
"Eileen! ...Eileen!"
The air in the room was torn to shreds by the scream that reached her throat.
***
They had to find the children as quickly as possible.
Regardless of who had kidnapped them or where, it was the dead of winter outside. It was a season when a blizzard would strike at any moment and freeze everything.
Odelia ran straight up to the castle gate and assembled a search party. Her voice rang out, ordering everyone to wake up and head into the forest.
"Arm all troops! Except for the minimum number of personnel required to guard the gates, set out to pursue without exception. We will thoroughly search the outer forests and foothills!"
The soldiers answered in unison and scattered. Soon, able-bodied men rushed out of and around the gates armed with weapons, and the lights in the civilian houses went out one by one.
It was a decisive move to protect the child, but to the people, it looked as if a state of war had been declared. Anxious murmurs flowed through the alleys. The surrounding soldiers glared and peered into every nook and cranny.
Similar scenes unfolded throughout the fortress. Even the slightest loitering of a stranger resulted in immediate intervention, and the search for the children narrowed inward and outward from the walls, becoming increasingly sharp.
However, despite all the urgent movements, no trace of the children was found anywhere.
"The trail ended at the edge of the forest!"
“What about the footprints?”
As a soldier reported while panting, Odelia asked in a low voice.
"There were some, but... they were scattered here and there. It seems they were deliberately left behind to hinder the pursuit. They might be bait."
A short silence followed. Odelia bit her lip hard.
Deep fatigue settled around her eyes, and a thin layer of anger lingered. However, she soon nodded and hardened her resolve.
Soon, she personally turned her horse and led the search party into the forest outside the castle.
On a midwinter night, the forest of Talamand was as silent as a frozen monster. The snow piled up to the knees, holding footsteps heavy, and the frost hanging from every branch absorbed even the smallest sound.
The light of the torch cutting through it flickered faintly.
Odelia dismounted from her horse without sleeping for a single moment and ventured deep into the forest herself.
With every inhale, a sharp chill pierced her lungs, and a biting wind cut across her cheeks. But she could not stop. She had to find the children.
The hunting dogs barked low in front and searched the ground. When the children's clothes were held in front of the dogs' noses, they confirmed the scent and burrowed into the snow. However, a howl soon burst forth as if shaking their heads.
"The smell has faded, Lord!"
With a face as pale as gray from the cold, the soldier shouted urgently.
Odelia knelt on the snow and lowered her body into the spot where the dogs had scratched.
However, the wind had already swept away all traces. As the biting north wind blew, the sense of direction vanished, leaving only the scent of earth and snow.
"Keep tracking. They may turn to the other side. Never stop."
Her voice was imbued with divine energy, yet it was resolute. The soldiers waved their torches again, struggling to find traces, but even the footprints were slowly being erased by the snowstorm.
Odelia clutched the hem of her cloak with frozen hands. White breath scattered heavily in the darkness.
The silence of the snow-covered forest tightened around her lungs like a huge trap.
The night showed no signs of ending.
Odelia turned a blind eye to the fatigue in her eyes and walked once again into the deep forest, toward a place where the children's warmth might still linger.
The hunting dogs circled over the snow as if they had lost their way again. The wind grew even more biting, and with every breath she took, a pain like her lungs freezing washed over her.
Just as the soldiers hesitated, glancing at each other, Odelia spoke in a low voice.
"They wouldn't have been able to take the children far in this weather. It's also strange that the traces don't continue any further."
The soldiers' gazes turned to her in unison. Odelia pointed her finger at the forest ridge.
At the bend where snow and wind converged in one place, a small gorge stretched out below.
"There are no carriage tracks or traces of other vehicles. In that case... it means there is a place nearby where they can hide."
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