It was another maid who was serving the princess in the guest room.

“What’s going on?”

“The princess is nowhere to be found.”

Rubbing her eyes, the sleepy maid suddenly sat up. Then she rushed to the princess’s bedroom.

The bedroom door was wide open, and there was no one inside.

“Is she in the bathroom?”

“No, I checked there.”

Once the two maids realized that the princess was nowhere to be found, they thoroughly searched the nearby walking paths from the guest room.

But they couldn’t find the princess.

It was the duty of the maids to look after the princess who came from Solti.

But now, she had disappeared. The faces of the maids who had not properly fulfilled their duties froze.

“Where on earth did she go?”

The two maids looked at each other with bewildered faces. Then one of the maids spoke with difficulty.

“First, should we report that the princess is missing?”

“……Yeah.”

Bang!

Icar slammed his fist onto the desk.

“Damn it, this is driving me crazy.”

Dudan and Vain didn’t look good either.

It was because a report had just come in that the fake princess from Solti had disappeared like magic.

Icar put down the documents he was reading and headed towards the guest room where the princess had stayed.

When the maids in the guest room saw Icar, they bowed their heads deeply.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

When Icar gave them a glance, the maids began to tremble like bamboo in the wind.

Looking down at the back of their heads, Icar spoke coldly.

“How did this happen? Tell me the details.”

The hesitant maid opened her mouth.

“W-Well, the princess suddenly disappeared……”

The maid stammered as she explained the situation.

It wasn’t much different from the report they received a while ago, but there was one fact that hadn’t been conveyed through the subordinate.

Icar paid attention to that part.

“You were told not to come into the room until called, right?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Has this happened before?”

After a moment of thought, the maid nodded.

“No, no such thing has happened before.”

“So, what did you do?”

“We waited until the princess called. But she didn’t have any meals, didn’t come out of the room, so it seemed strange. We thought about it and opened the bedroom door….”

“I see.”

Icar personally went inside to inspect the inside of the guest room.

Initially, he suspected kidnapping. It was just a few days ago that someone had targeted Reneve during the Emperor’s birthday, and it could be the misdeed of someone who did not want an alliance between the two countries of Vasuki and Solti.

However, there were no signs of intrusion from the outside to the inside.

If there had been an intrusion, there would have been some noise, and the maids who lived together would not have been unaware.

What if someone helped from the inside?

That seemed possible. If the maids were involved…

“Is this the bedroom you use?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Icar gestured toward the maids’ bedroom. Following his signal, the knights who came with him began to search inside.

“I’ll conduct a brief search.”

Not stopping there, when the female knight attempted to search the maids’ bodies, the frightened maids cowered and protested.

“W-We really didn’t do anything, Your Highness…!”

“Yes, that’s right! We truly don’t know anything.”

“If that’s the case, there won’t be a problem. We’re just conducting a necessary investigation.”

Although it meant not to be too scared, the maids were already pouring out tears as if the sky was falling.

The knight who was in charge of searching the maids’ bodies shook her head.

“Your Highness, there’s nothing special.”

“The same goes for over here.”

The knight who had searched the maids’ room soon raised her head and said.

Icar judged that there was no suspicion on the maids who did not produce any suspicious items in their bodies.

If someone had tried to kidnap the fake princess, and if the maids had conspired with them, it would make sense that they received due compensation.

Deciding to investigate the maids later, Icar headed to the fake princess’s bedroom.

“Thoroughly inspect the interior.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Upon Icar’s instructions, the knights scattered around the guest room, exploring the dressing room, reception room, bathroom, and various other places.

There was not a single valuable item in the fake princess’s bedroom or dressing room worth converting into gold. As if someone had already swept everything away.

“As expected, is that the case?”

Icar, as if understanding now, muttered softly and shouted to the knights.

“Solti’s princess, no, the fake princess, is now wanted.”

The two maids who had been looking down at the ground raised their heads, their eyes full of questions.

Wanted for the missing princess? A fake princess?

One of the knights bravely asked.

“Your Highness. Could you please tell us for what charges you’re issuing a wanted order for Solti’s princess, no, the fake princess?”

“Attempted murder on Lady Seren Viscountess.”

Not only the maids but also the knights were surprised at Icar’s words.

Inside the imperial palace, there was a commotion due to the disappearance of the Solti princess.

And the people of Vasuki, who heard the news that the king of Solti had sent a fake princess, were furious.

“Sending a fake princess in the peace agreement is not even funny.”

“Is there such a deception as this? This is no different from Solti looking down on our Vasuki.”

Amber, wandering around the palace and collecting people’s stories, quickly informed Reneve of this fact.

“Miss! The entire imperial palace is in an uproar because of the story of the missing fake princess.”

After hearing the complete story from Amber, Kieran sighed as if relieved.

“Well, then, we don’t have to worry about that fake princess harming Lady anymore.”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

Unlike the two people who clearly showed joy at the news of Eshika’s disappearance, Reneve’s mind became a bit more complicated.

‘Eshika knew that the princess’s identity was fake, huh.’