TBATE: Blessed by Mana (Dropped)

22. Fated Encounter

Licht Eralith's POV

The news of Tess disappearing nearly sent everyone in the palace into a state of panic. She wasn't seen in or around the palace area. The palace guards were quickly deployed to search every inch of the capital. She couldn't have gone that far but there's always a nagging feeling that there is a chance that she is in some kind of danger. 

"I will take a quick trip of the entire kingdom to see where she went off to." I urgently spoke, grabbing a broom for myself. "Just make sure to not let this news spread outside the palace."

If news of the disappearance of a member of the royal family gets out, it will be sure to cause panic among citizens. And this is no guarantee on who would harbor what kind of emotions regarding this news. Even if I did not want to doubt or suspect anyone from our own kingdom, this isn't the time to be pondering about all that. People are fickle minded and at times there are many factors that can change one's thinking. 

"What are you taking the broom for?" My father curiously inquired,, after having ordered the royal guards to search in the vicinity of the palace. 

"For flying.." With that said I stood on the broom before taking off to the skies from one of the windows of the palace hallways. Right now I was way too concerned about Tessia's whereabouts and well-being to even bother looking back at my father's jaw dropped expression.

"Ah yes, you are new to this.." Grandpa Virion pated his son's back before ushering him to go check on mother who appeared to be in more worry than all three of us. It is natural when it comes to mothers.

"You knew this. That our son can do what needs other mages to achieve the near-impossible white core and that too on a simple broom?" Father was still having difficulty in processing what he saw with his very own eyes. The shock was too much to even trust one's own sight. 

"We can talk about that later Alduin." Grandpa groaned. "Finding Tessia comes first."

"Forgive me father. The shock was just too much." Father shook his head. Finding his daughter is the first priority. "it is just that sometimes I feel Licht hides a lot from us. But as his father, I want him to have trust in us and be free with whatever he has to say. I am ready to wait for as long as it takes for him to do that."

"I understand your worries. And I am sure Licht would one day open up to us." Grandpa assured. "We will just have to give him time."

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Five days went by and there was no luck, not even a single clue of where Tessia went. We search every corner of the kingdom with the aid of both soldiers and mages specializing in stealth so that the citizens don't catch the wind of the royal princess's disappearance. There remained only one place left to search and I hoped that I will be able to find her there safe and sound. And then once I find her, I will treat her to something even better than some pudding.

Everyone of us narrowed down the search area to Elshire Forest. That was the only place left to search in and since the forest covered a very big area, a detailed map of the forest was laid out on the table. Around the table stood me, father, grandfather, the Captain of the Royal Guards and Joshua, where father was assigning various areas of the Elshire Forest to the three of us to cover during our search. 

In the past few years under mine tutelage, Joshua had grown into a fine mage. having reached Solid Orange stage at the age of fifteen, with an affinity for Earth Magic. Not to brag about myself but I think I really am a great teacher. With I was also able to experiment on whether it was possible to incorporate mana utilization techniques from my previous world to this world or not/