Philippe and the butler also told the news to Christopher. Christopher decided to ask help form the king and queen. The three of them went to the palace at once.
Amadea: How is everything in the hospital?
Gerard: How is Mico’s condition?
Philippe: They are trying their best to save him. Anathea donated some blood.
Gerard: So, I guess that’s good news.
Chrstopher: We have another problem.
Amadea: Ok. What can we do to help?
Christopher: Father is missing.
Gerard: What?
Butler: We’ve looked for him all over the mansion but we can’t find him anywhere.
Christopher: We need to find him.
Gerard: I agree.
Amadea: We’ll do everything we can to find him.
Christopher: Thank you!

The king and queen formed a group of experienced men to investigate and find the earl composed of ten members. All are known for their skills in solving crimes. They didn’t waste any time. As soon as they were formed, they began the investigation of the case.

Mico woke up and found himself lying on a bed with apparatuses connected to his body. The last thing he remembered was he covered his body to protect Anathea and after that incident, he can’t remember anything. He looked all over the place to see if there was someone else on the room. When he turned his head, he saw Anathea lying in the other bed. He was confused why Anathea is also lying on a hospital bed. Did he remember it right that he protected her? For a while, he forgot his worries when his eyes saw the face of Anathea. Her face is paler than the usual but she is still beautiful. If only he could touch her…
Mico was stunned when he saw Anathea opened her eyes.
Anathea: Are you feeling well now?
All he can do is nod. He can’t speak because he’s too weak.
Anathea: Thank God you’re now okay. Promise me that you‘ll get well soon. I’m okay now you can rest.
Mico answered back with a smile. He has nothing to worry about anymore.

On an abandoned warehouse, two men were talking in whispers. One of the two men is wearing a suit and is busy with his pipe while the other one is also well dressed. On one of the corners of the warehouse, there is an old man with his hands tied and his eyes blindfolded.
Spy: Lord Gustavo, the king and queen formed a group to investigate about the disappearance of the earl.
Gustavo: You’re one of them, I suppose.
Spy: Yes, sire.
Gustavo: Don’t worry. I already have a plan. They are so predictable. I know how to get away from them. But I will surely need your help.
Spy: I’m at your command.
Gustavo: Good.
And they continue to talk about their plan to mislead the investigation group to the wrong people.

At the hospital, Anathea already revived her strength. Mico was transferred to the recovery room where he will stay for a while. Anathea herself took care of Mico until he fully recovered from his wound while Christopher and Philippe devoted their time in the ongoing investigation.

Until now, Anathea doesn’t want to talk to the butler. She is still blaming him for what happened to her father.

After four days of investigation, the king summoned the investigators for a report about the case. The king was hoping that there would be good news.
Gegard: I sent for you to give us the latest news on hand.
Leader: We are still uncertain who is responsible for kidnapping because we think we have a problem. We think that one of us is a spy sent by the enemy.

When the king heard the news, he was quite surprised.
Gegard: How can that happen?
Leader: I don’t know either.
Gegard: But why do you think someone is spying on us?
Leader: Every time we can get a lead on the case. We have this feeling that someone is manipulating our plan. It already happened thrice and unless we find out who is the traitor, we can’t move on with the case.
Gegard: Okay. Tell the others to go already. We need to figure this out.

After the leader returned…
Gegard: Take a seat. About the traitor, do you know who he is?
Leader: We are not sure but we have a suspect.
Gegard: Good. I’ll tell some of my men to keep an eye on him.

And they talked further on their plan in catching the culprit.

Five days later when the party was held. The doctor already released Mico from the hospital but he said that even if Mico is already out of the hospital, it doesn’t mean that he’s fully recovered.
Doctor: Congrats. You can already go home. I’m glad to see that your recovery is quite fast. But always remember that you have to be careful, don’t always put yourself in danger.
Mico: I’ll keep that mind.
Doctor: I know that you’ll recover easily because she’s always at your side.
And Anathea blushed, who was beside Mico that time.

The king told Christopher, Philippe, Anathea and Mico the news about the traitor and asked them to hold their investigation.
They divided themselves into two pairs. The first pair is Philippe and Christopher and the other pair is Mico and Anathea.
The first pair investigated the rest of the group while the latter pair focused on the suspect.

On the abandoned warehouse again…
Gustavo: Any interesting news?
Spy: They already know that there is a spy. They are not making any moves as of now.
Gustavo: Do they have have you as a suspect?
Spy: No. I blend in so well.
Gustavo: Good! But there are another addition to the team, his daughter and her special friend. You have to be more careful.
Spy: Leave it on me.
Gustavo: I’m counting on you.

The four of them met again in the earl’s house to discuss the observations they had.
Philippe: So, what do you have?
Anathea: Our suspect is not the one.
Christopher: How can you prove it?
Mico: We didn’t find anything to point him as our suspect. We’ve been following him and he’s normal as normal as he can be.
Philippe: I think so too.
Christopher: I observed someone in the group that bothers me. He doesn’t do anything in particular but every time I see him, I can feel that there’s something wrong with him.
Anathea: Shall we do something?
Mico: I have a plan.
Mico told his plan to the team. They were impressed because he is good in it.

Chapter 9