"Where is Morgana?" Dante questioned, noticing that the woman hadn't appeared in a few days. In fact, it had been quite some time since he last saw her. "We're not exactly sure... she came looking for you a few days before you returned from 'vacation' with Valentina, but she left to meet her mother, something like that," Nagasawa remarked.
"She didn't say where she was going? I mean, that irrational woman! She could at least tell me where she is!" Dante growled, genuinely worried about her. After all, he cared about all of them.
"And Valentina?" Dante asked directly to Aaralyn, who was theoretically supposed to know where she was. "Well... my lady returned with my mother to the Vampire Kingdom. She wanted... to have a conversation with Vlad, if I understood correctly. You know how Lady Valentina is...
she acts in strange ways, a bit crazy, I would say." She scratched her head, currently not quite understanding how she should treat Valentina.
I mean, Valentina was her Mistress until some time ago, but now... they share the same man. What exactly were they now? Sisters? Romantic rivals? She didn't know, and that was somewhat confusing too.
"Ah~ Of course Kaalindra knew what Elizabeth told me and, as a loyal subordinate, informed my dear, instead of waiting for me to act... Well, at least I know my Valentina doesn't have the capacity to wipe out the Vampire Kingdom with Vlad in it, but the Counts... Ah well, whatever." Dante said, shrugging, genuinely not caring. "Now... where is Sara?" Dante questioned, his eyes gleaming intensely.
In the room were several women: Nagasawa, Aaralyn, and Vex, who still left the two women in shock with her new body, but they were trying to focus on Dante.
"Unfair power-up," Aaralyn thought, seeing Vex's disproportionately large breasts.
"Sinful wench," Nagasawa thought, eyeing Vex's large rear.
"Stop looking at her like that, I did that," Dante said, and the two glared at him. "Pervert," they said. Vex just smiled as she clung to his arm.
"You haven't answered my question," Dante said, seriously, mainly looking at Nagasawa. "Ah~ She asked Simon to teleport her to her home in the East," Nagasawa revealed. "Since when has that man been here? I'm sure I dismissed him after asking him to collect the demon corpses... Did I dismiss him?" Dante wondered, and the answer...
well, he was too busy with Valentina to remember something as trivial as that.
"You didn't dismiss him. In fact, you didn't even contact him. So he took a vacation until you returned. Last week he was enjoying the pool at our mansion," Nagasawa said... "It was strange," she finished.
"Ah~ Of course I forgot about him. I always forget things," Dante murmured, massaging his temple. "Well, you've been very careless with the world since you returned to normal," Aaralyn commented. She had a much greater right to speak than most there; she had seen Dante return as... Ziriel and had accompanied him until he reverted to his true form.
"You're right, but that's because I was taking a vacation," Dante said, and Aaralyn pouted. "Someone like you can't just take a vacation out of the blue! You were supposed to be stabilizing! Have you even gotten used to your body yet?" She said furiously; she seemed genuinely worried.
Dante looked amused at the woman in front of him. It was nice to see her concern-laden affection; she made really cute expressions and reactions.
"Ahem," Nagasawa, who had just been observing, coughed to get their attention. "Are you going to the East?" she asked, and Dante had nothing to say. "My wife is going through a tough situation; of course I'm going. Now... how did she get hurt? Did Sara tell you?" Dante questioned.
"The Grand Palace of the Nation, where the Empress resides, was attacked by the demonic cult. All we know is that Lyrianna... is injured," Nagasawa said, clenching her fists. In a way, she was very frustrated.
"It's my fault... I got lost in this and left Lyrianna alone. Even now, I chose to stay instead of helping Sara with her mother and my friend..." she murmured, genuinely looking sad, and Dante felt nothing but concern, not just for Nagasawa and Sara, but for Lyrianna as well. He had gone through something similar with Aldria and Velryna, and he knew that if this happened to Sara...
she would be utterly devastated.
"How did the message arrive?" Dante asked, and Nagasawa threw a brooch. "Royal Communication Signal. Lyrianna sent this to Sara a few hours ago, and she didn't waste any time. I didn't hear the message, but... I only understood that she was injured somewhere in the Empire..."
"You're telling me that Sara went to the Eastern Empire without knowing her mother's exact location, just with an old teleporter?" Dante questioned. Nagasawa shrank back. "I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen. She was really desperate to get to Lyrianna. Well... anyone would be; it's her mother." She explained.
Dante put his hand on his temple and began to massage it. "What a big problem... Yeah, there's no way around it." Dante said and turned to the wind. "Evangeline, where are Voralith and Aldria?" he questioned. Out of nowhere, Evangeline appeared from invisibility. "Voralith is with Eldrax in the garden, and Aldria is with Velryna in the throne room," she informed.
Feeling the urgency growing, Dante turned to Evangeline again. He needed to get to Sara as quickly as possible. Dante knew that Lyrianna wasn't weak, and her being injured was really a troubling matter. He was genuinely worried.
"Evangeline, please communicate with Aldria and Velryna. Tell them that I'm heading to the Eastern Empire and ask them to stay alert. We don't know what we might encounter there, so we need to be prepared for anything," he instructed, his voice firm. "Understood, my master," Evangeline replied before disappearing again.
While waiting for Evangeline's communication, Dante turned to Nagasawa and Aaralyn, "You're coming with me. Nagasawa, prepare your things. Aaralyn, to my shadow." He ordered, and they nodded, sensing that Dante was now very serious. Nagasawa then left the room to get her swords.
After seeing her leave, he felt his shadow being filled by Aaralyn's presence and decided to head to where Voralith was, ready to start the preparations for the journey.
As Dante prepared to go after Sara...
"What are you doing?" Sara questioned a cultivator who was looting bodies in the Palace.
"Mi-lady~!" His head was severed from his body without any remorse. "You're picking up Dante's habits," Simon said as he walked behind her. "Habits I should have. I can't let people who don't even think about their companions before looting and desecrating their bodies live. That's dishonor.
It's not as if our capital is poor; this is just greed." She said, very seriously, while the blood-dripping Durandal Clone was in her hand.
"I can't feel my mother," Sara said, trying to fully expand her mana domain throughout the Empress's Palace. "Nothing," she said. "Maybe she fled to the mountains," Simon commented. "Besides... are you sure it was a good idea to come without Dante?
He was already on the cult's trail in the Empire; it would be foolish to come alone." Sara pondered Simon's words, but she felt that if Dante were with her, he would immediately...
"He wouldn't let me do anything... His protective nature is sometimes annoying. He wouldn't let me make my own decisions, and besides... He distracts me very easily," she murmured the end of the sentence. "You may be right, and it may be a mistake to come without him right away... but that bastard must already be on his way here." She said, looking at the night sky...
"We need to find my mother and ensure she's safe." Simon nodded, understanding. "If you want to go back, I~" she began to say but was interrupted. "If I go back without you, I'm a dead man, that much I'm sure of," Simon said, smiling, though his smile was somewhat...
"It's true, sorry for putting you in this position." Sara gave a faint smile as she continued to look at the ruined palace.
"Let's keep searching. Maybe there's some clue we've missed," Simon suggested. He had seen many scenarios like this and knew that attacks often left many clues behind.
Sara nodded, and they proceeded inside, through the destroyed corridors of the palace. Their steps echoed on the marble floor as they searched rooms and passages, looking for any sign that could point to Lyrianna's whereabouts or the attackers.
Sara stopped in a room, observing the wreckage of a hall that had once been majestic. Among the rubble, she found a royal brooch identical to hers, partially covered in dust and blood. "This belongs to my mother," she said, holding the brooch up for Simon to see.
"She must have dropped it while trying to escape," Simon deduced. "This confirms she was here during the attack. We should check the adjacent areas. If she left traces, we can find them."
As they examined the area, Simon noticed fight marks on the wall and a blood trail leading to a side door. "Look at this," Simon pointed out, leaning in to analyze the trail. "It's dried up, but we might be on the right track."
Sara approached, tension visible in her eyes. "We need to follow this immediately," she declared. "We can't waste any more time."