Kelmania erupted in fury after Princess Alice was kidnapped right under their noses — and then they discovered that Éléonore, the bride-to-be, had also vanished. Duke Yanryu was livid. He immediately fortified his position and, after receiving the emperor's orders, mobilized thirty thousand local troops near the border. They conducted exhaustive searches, combing every village and city like a dragnet tightening around its prey.
At the same time, suspecting the flying attackers came from Toristine, he dispatched a sharp letter of accusation to Queen Henrietta. If Toristine was innocent, he demanded they send forces to aid the hunt.
Henrietta, unaware of Sora's involvement, replied firmly that Toristine had no hand in the abduction. She sent orders to the border, instructing Duke Vallière to oversee joint operations with Kelmania to track the culprits who stole both princesses.
Upon receiving the command, Duke Vallière assembled his own soldiers along with private forces from thirteen neighboring nobles — seven thousand men in total — to scour the Toristine borderlands.
Since abducting a princess was no scandal to broadcast, both nations suppressed the news. Only Duke Yanryu and his eyewitnesses knew the truth on the Kelmanian side; on Toristine's, just Henrietta and Duke Vallière. Publicly, two maids impersonated the princesses, traveling in the carriage under escort by a thousand of Yanryu's guards, bound for Kelmania's capital.
Meanwhile, Sora — having claimed he needed a month of intensive closed-door training to rebuild his strength — had obtained Henrietta's permission to take the Griffin Squadron to the Kelmanian border. There, they now camped in the remote mountains and forests, pitching temporary tents amid the wilderness.
Princess Alice's hands were bound, her mouth sealed with tape — removed only when the masked Sora delivered meals of hunted game. The moment her mouth was free, she attacked, silently hurling a fireball at him. But Sora, anticipating it, sidestepped effortlessly and drove a fist into her stomach. Alice doubled over in agony, nearly blacking out.
With a stone-cold expression, Sora ripped off a chunk of scorched leg meat and forced it into her mouth, clamping her jaw shut. As she choked and struggled, he poured water down her throat — two gulps' worth. Once the food and liquid were swallowed, he resealed her mouth with fresh tape, stood, and walked out.
Alice glared daggers at his retreating back, her rage simmering deeper with every encounter.
She had no idea Éléonore was also captive, assuming the gang was solely after her. In her mind, she plotted contingencies: if they wanted gold, she could offer millions; if power, she would recruit them into her personal guard; if women, she could provide hundreds of beauties.
But opportunities to speak never came. Her escape attempts were swiftly foiled by Sora, Tabasa, or William guarding the entrance. After days of failure, Alice resigned herself. These kidnappers didn't seem intent on killing her. Duke Yanryu and her father the emperor would surely come — she just needed to endure.
Éléonore's captivity, by contrast, was far more pleasant. She spent her days wandering the mountains and forests with Sora, free from the constraints of her role as Louise's elder sister and unburdened by thoughts of the future. She savored these stolen moments of intimacy. At night, she gave herself fully to him — blushing but consenting when he coaxed her into exploring her more forbidden desires.
On the fifth day after the kidnapping, Fukai arrived with the intelligence Sora sought.
The bridal procession had reached Kelmania's royal capital. The emperor's wedding to "Princess Éléonore of Toristine" proceeded on schedule.
Yet the border search intensified. Old rivals Duke Yanryu and Duke Vallière shared an unprecedented rapport, shifting their efforts from towns and villages to the uninhabited hills and wilds. A massive net spread across the border — two semicircles expanding outward, soon to merge into an inescapable ring, slowly contracting. Discovery was inevitable.
That very night, Sora, Tabasa, and Éléonore mounted Tabasa's Cloud Dragon and flew straight toward Toristine's search lines.
Ground spotters quickly detected them. The dragon descended.
"I am Sora," he called down. "I need to see Duke Vallière."
The message relayed up the chain. Soon an officer approached, confirming Sora's identity. As a general in the duke's personal guard, he knew the rumors of Sora and Miss Vallière's relationship — and trusted him implicitly.
Éléonore huddled beneath a black cloak, her face hidden.
The officer eyed her curiously. "And this one?"
Sora's tone brooked no questions. "The person your lord wants to see most right now. Don't ask."
The officer wisely fell silent, though his mind wandered to scandalous conclusions. The duke's famously strict with his wife... is he sneaking women in while commanding the search? Better not to know.
Escorted by the officer, the trio reached Duke Vallière's temporary headquarters.
The butler verified Sora's identity and ushered them inside.
Duke Vallière met them in his study. "Please don't blame Sora, Father," Éléonore said at once, shouldering full responsibility. "I begged him to take me away. I don't want to marry that old emperor. I love Sora — I want to be with him."
Sora stepped forward, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Éléonore. Whatever happens, I'll bear it. Besides..."
He met the duke's gaze steadily. "Father-in-law, at this point, our focus should be turning events to our advantage, right? As for Éléonore — isn't she already 'in Kelmania,' married off to their emperor?"
Duke Vallière stared at him for a long moment.
Finally, he exhaled heavily. "How did I never realize you had such nerve? You abducted Princess Alice too, didn't you?"
"Naturally," Sora replied with a faint smile. The duke's willingness to play along lifted a weight from his shoulders.
The duke summoned guards to escort Tabasa and Éléonore to quarters, leaving him and Sora to confer in secret through half the night.