The Daughter of Illéa [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter Twenty-one - Part Two

Within a few hours, all the commoners are gone. Jess gathers all the Palace staff who were helping. "Did we find anything?"

Much to Jess's disappointment, everybody shakes their heads.

"Nothing came up immediately, Your Highness," the butler Tamika was talking to earlier. "You'll have to look through the photos yourself,"

Jack nods. "Thank you, Lance. Does everyone have their chips? Brilliant, could you please put them on the table as you leave?"

As everybody exits the hall, they place their small black chips on the table, and soon Jack and Jess have a steady pile to go through.

Scooping them up in their hands, they walk back up to Jack's room.

"This'll be a long day," Jess says, sighing as she sinks into a chair.

Jack sits down next to her. "Agreed. Do you mind if I take my shoes off?"

"I mean... it's your room... but I personally do not care,"

Jack sighs as well but thankfully. "Thanks. I'll keep my socks on to save you from seeing my bare feet, though," he leans down and takes off his shiny black shoes, putting them underneath his chair. He plugs the first chip into a computer that Jess got her dad's permission to use. "You ready to get some real second-hand embarrassment from the photos of complete strangers?"

"Ready as I'll ever be,"

A few hours later, Jess blinks slowly, yawning as they finish off one of the last chips. She looks to her side to Jack, who had fallen asleep a while ago, his head resting lightly against her shoulder.

"I think that's all for tonight," Jess murmurs quietly. She sighs. Throughout the whole night, they had found absolutely no evidence of photos of her, not even in the discarded photo collections. "Sorry to put you through that, Jack," she says to the sleeping boy. "I feel like we keep finding amazing leads, amazing ideas, only to be led to nothing. I keep letting you down. I'm sorry," She gets up from her chair, gently leaning Jack against the bed behind them. After placing a blanket on top of him, she exits the room, rubbing her tired eyes.

Back in his room, Jack lets his eyes flutter open. "You know you'd never let me down," he says quietly, staring up at the dark ceiling. He lets out a long breath. "Every moment spent trying to figure out this mystery is another moment spent with you,"