Hellbound Heart

Unlike in the Black Forest, it had been raining heavily in the town that night. The scent and footprints had been washed away so the search had been unsuccessful.

None of them could find any traces of where Izabelle was. It was as though she had disappeared completely like a ghost.

The day then came and went but even though they had almost literally flipped the entire town upside down, they still could not find Elle or any traces of her.

Because of the heavy rain and unusually intense thunder and lightning, Caelian and the other guards who had been on duty had not picked up any scents or noises that could have alerted them. Caelian had been guarding the front of the house while three other vampires were guarding the other sides of the house. Thus, they could not understand how a single human woman was able to run off undetected.

Their investigation led them to the conclusion that something must have happened to the guard at the back side of the house. And whatever that something was, they still could not figure it out. They had deduced that the vampire might have been hypnotized or something of the sort and that was how he had not caught whoever the culprit was that had taken or helped Izabelle leave the house unnoticed. In fact, none of the guards even noticed Izabelle was gone until Sebastian entered her room.

Everything had been mysterious about Izabelle's disappearance.

The only thing that made everyone feel less hopeless that something bad had happened to her was the fact that there was no sign of any resistance in her room. That should mean that she was not kidnapped by a bad guy.

They were relieved, but... this also ended up like another part of this whole plan. That the princess was truly involved in this entire masterful plot.

Three days had passed since then. The entire country had been under a secret lock down as per the Crown Prince's order. Despite the intensive search, the princess was still nowhere to be found. And the situation was getting tenser by the day.

Somewhere in a dense forest, Sebastian was walking by himself. His face devoid of any emotions. It was raining heavily again. He was not wearing any coat as he silently walked forward.

Soon, a man landed behind him. It was Lucas.

"We have completed the search in this forest, Your Highness. I believe she isn't here or had even set any foot here." Lucas reported.

Sebastian's expression did not even show any reaction. Not even a tiny twitch. His face was nothing but a piece of blank cold stone. It was as though he was a walking and breathing statue, rather than a living being. He had been this way since the moment he was told that his wife was no where to be found.

"Then it's time to move on to the next one." He replied blankly.

Lucas' brows creased momentarily before he shut his eyes, bracing himself as he spoke. "Please have a rest, Your Highness. We will continue the search. At least get some rest tonight. You haven't rested at all for the last four –"

"Shut up, Lucas." That three words were enough to send chills running down Lucas' spine. Sebastian's cold, dangerous eyes could even make a lesser man piss themselves just by looking at it.

Lucas had never seen the Prince behaving like this before. Never. Right now, it seemed as though someone had just awakened a sleeping ferocious monster.

But Lucas could not back off even if he wanted to. This prince was the most dangerous of all the princes he had served. All because this man was not like Prince Ezekiel who weighs the pros and cons first before doing something. Prince Sebastian was the type who would probably decide to burn the world down just for someone and the thought of innocent people getting caught up in it probably would not even stop him one bit. Unlike the selfless prince he had served before him who always considers the future and the people, this Prince Sebastian was selfish. That was why he was a living danger.

"Alexander had sent a message, Your Highness. The queen of the witches has arrived to help with the search. Alexander said you don't need to come to the Black Forest as many witches have returned. He said that you just need to stay put for now and wait for his next message."

At long last, Lucas' words finally convinced him to stop his endless search. The prince has not even taken the time to have a meal nor lay his head down to sleep.

It was unbelievable that this prince who hated witches down to his bones was now even quietly accepting their help. All for the sake of searching for his missing wife. And it was a little scary, because now they know what the princess was in this prince's life. If they could not find her despite their best efforts... or if something happened to her... what would this prince do?

Just thinking about it gave Lucas an intense shiver. He hoped that there would only be good news waiting for them at the end. It did not bode well for anyone if there was only negative news to be reported back to Prince Sebastian about Princess Izabelle's whereabouts.

Soon, Sebastian was finally back in the Reigns castle. He went straight to their room and when he saw her red ponytail on her make-up table, he picked it up and brought it to his nose. He inhaled her scent quietly before he stared at his own reflection on the window. "You better let me find you soon before I go completely crazy, Iza..." he whispered, before allowing his eyes to flutter close. "Please let me find you soon... very soon, baby... because I can't... I don't think I can bear it anymore..."

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A/N: Mass release done!

New goal this month of October: top 1 in GT ranking = 10 chapters mass release