CHAPTER 172: LIARA MIGHT BE IN DANGER

Kaelric’s POV

I was quiet, she studied me, knowing that I wasn’t going to give her a reply to that information, she pressed on.

"I said that a student in Ashwood is missing, and all you do is stare at me. What if that person was Liara?"

"Aria, the school will look into that. Besides, nothing goes unnoticed by me in this school."

She nodded her head and walked out of the council room. I breathed out the moment she left.

My phone beeped, and I took it.

Me: What news have you brought

Unknown contact: The rogues are growing in strength, and they plan to overthrow each park’s Alpha and then target the Alpha king.

Me: What do you mean, have they overthrown any park yet?

Unknown contact: Two packs in the west, Sir. There’s a rumor that they have a spy and a movement at the heart of the kingdom.

Me: Where precisely?

Unknown contact: Probably at ’the den of coins’ or...

He paused. Ashwood, the den of coins, and the Crescent Hall, which serves as the museum. These are the strategic places that are in the heart of the kingdom, close to each stronghold and the palace, even.

If they have infiltrated the centre, as they claim, that means they are somewhere among these three.

Unknown contact: Sir, are you still here?

Me: Yes, sure, I’m still here, you were saying something.

Unknown contact: Yes, sir, I think that since the den of coins was recently investigated and the traitors executed, it is now free. However, in Ashwood, we already have a suspect. It could be him or even more at the museum. They sound like it isn’t just one spy.

Me: Yes, that one suspect, but he is a student and a dumb one at that; he can’t be the only one, he has helpers.

Unknown contact: He has got the princess under his control. What else does he need?

Liara’s mention made my stomach churn. She was under some manipulation, but she thinks she understands it all.

Unknown contact: He is smarter than we think or expect him to be. I don’t know you to underestimate anyone, especially not an obvious enemy. Jackson is an obvious enemy, the son of a rogue.

Me: I understand that he is the son of a rogue. I’ll look into that. Meanwhile, a spell was recently used to chain Allison and Becca. I want to know its source. It could be a witch’s spell or a sorcerer’s spell. I firmly believe the latter because witches are said to have gone extinct, except for the white witch Lady Eskareth, whose whereabouts are unknown to everyone.

Unknown contact: Rumor here has it that they are in direct and constant contact with a black wizard.

Me, A black wizard?

A black wizard, that is not good. All black wizards and witches have been sent to the underground and sealed there forever, along with the vampires and demons. But I guess some weird things escaped the underground with the vampires the last time the sigi was compromised, and I trust the rogues to use them to start a revolution.

Unknown contact: Yes, a black wizard, his name is Brian. That’s all for now. I’ll continue to look for more information.

Me: That’s good, I’ll make do with this information. Lie low, and don’t forget to use the signal whenever you are in danger. You have six days left. Gather meaningful and substantial information that we can use to shut down these rogues for good.

Unknown contact: Sure, I will.

I put my phone away. Liara was in danger. I don’t even consider that mate bond as real. As usual, Jackson was already used to faking mate bonds. He could have found a way to mimic the mate bond with the help of the wizard.

These are unmistakable signs; she seems more lost, and doesn’t have her own thinking anymore. She follows his command like she is his puppet, and it’s growing worse every day the mate bond seeps through her.

She gets more devious, carrying out his evil plans, when he sits back and watches her destroy herself.

I put my phone into my bag and walked out of the council room. The field was complete, and the students were preparing for the sports carnival.

Ari was indeed a great event planner. There was never a week that wasn’t packed with interesting events, keeping all the students busy and excited.

I spotted Aria and the Alpha successors; there was tension between them. Behaving as if they were enemies.

I chuckled under my breath. Michaela watched from the side. The group wasn’t cooperating at all, and that was a recipe for failure.

I glanced all over the field in search of Liara, and she was nowhere to be found. I called her phone, and she wasn’t picking up.

On the third ring, her phone went off, and she was unreachable again. I gulped. What was wrong with Liara?

She was becoming increasingly strange and unrecognizable.

I rushed out, and from the corner of my eye, I caught Aria following my movement.

I was heading to her apartment, and next, I’ll check Jackson’s apartment.

When I got to her apartment, she wasn’t there either, and then at Jackson’s apartment, she wasn’t there either.

I had failed to protect the princess, one of the primary reasons why I was sent on an undercover mission to Ashwood.

I was more frustrated because I could recall Aria’s hurtful words concerning Liara, but I called her bluff; I wasn’t paying attention, so I let such important information slip by.

"Why are you following me?" I said, turning to face her.

"Well, for the first time, I noticed Sir Kaelric standing and observing the field, and then the next thing, he panics and walks out in a hurry, frantically, which is not something you get to experience on a typical day except that something is actually wrong, which my instinct tells me so," she replies.

Aria is so intelligent, strong, assertive, outspoken, and sometimes very troublesome. But I can’t deny the air of peace she carries with and within her.

"I’m guessing that not only Jackson is missing, but two other students are missing. Otherwise, Liara will either be in her apartment, which we had checked or at Jackson’s. Jackson is not in any of those, as mentioned earlier, either. Something is amiss, isn’t it?" Aria continued.

"Something is amiss, I agree. I would solve it," I replied to her.

"Although I don’t care much about Liara, I think she might be in danger, or might even be the one perpetrating danger this moment to Jason. I want to join you on the hunt, I’m the student president, remember."

"Aria, you are partly right. However, my primary concern now is the whereabouts of Jackson and Liara. There is something more strange about them than Jason. And I don’t think the disappearance of Jason has anything to do with the sudden disappearance of Liara and Jackson," I replied to her.

"You sound so sure and nonchalant at the same time about the whereabouts of Jason. Something in me tells me that you know something about his disappearance," she pressed.

"Well, Ari, I suggest you stop whining about him; Jason must have left for something important. Has it ever occurred to you that he is a vice president to the student council, and could be summoned at any time by the school council?"

"Then if that is the case, you should know where he is; you are the vice president of the school council," she replied.

"And that is where you are wrong. I’m representing the actual president of the school council, which is not your headmistress, as you all think, but the king."

"So you are actually the king’s nephew? I thought it was all insinuations, probably because of the way..."

She paused; she didn’t want to complete the words. Heat crept to the side of her cheeks, and I guessed she was embarrassed about what she was about to say, so I let her be.

"Yes, I’m, only a few know that, the others are speculating that it might be me, while others just don’t know. So I suggest you keep it to yourself."

"Well, I know someone who has already told a lot of students that you are the king’s nephew. She has blown your cover already," she replied, folding her hands and twisting her mouth to the side.

Liara. She may not know how to keep another’s secret, but she can keep her own. What a butterfly.

I turned to continue my search.

"I still insist on joining you for the hunt," Aria spoke up again.

"Aria, I suggest you join the others in the field. Things are messy right now."

"I’m doing nothing there, the Alpha successors are all acting like scumbags, and the cheer dance steps are impossible to learn," she answered, her face twisting into a frown.

"Aria, this is risky, involving you, makes you a target to whatever took them. Besides, you aren’t best of friends with them."

"That’s if they are in danger or they are the danger themselves," she replied, and it was apparent she wasn’t backing down anytime soon.