"Luna! Luna! Luna!" Mia and Thalia ran as fast as they could to catch up with Luna, who was still chatting in the kitchen. The woman was enjoying her breakfast with some whole wheat bread made by the chefs working in Rich's house. When Luna was spreading butter on her bread, everything felt calm—except for the two girls rushing toward her. "Luna! It's a disaster!"
In the middle of Luna's conversation with two female maids, Mia's voice made the three of them turn to the commotion caused by her two younger sisters. Before Luna could ask anything, Mia stepped forward and held out both corners of a white handkerchief she had brought. It was a beautiful handkerchief, adorned with dark blue embroidery along the edges and a rose motif in matching color. But that wasn't what made her sisters so frantic.
"Is this blood?" Thalia asked, standing in front of Luna. "It smells metallic. I think it's blood."
Luna took the handkerchief to see for herself. She brought it closer to her nose, wrapped in her hand, and sniffed it to confirm if it was indeed blood as Mia and Thalia had claimed.
It smelled metallic. Luna was sure—it was blood.
"Who sent this?" she asked her sisters.
"We don't know. One of the house staff handed it over, saying it was specially delivered for you. But the handkerchief accidentally unfolded, and that's when we saw the red stain." Luna tried to estimate how many drops of blood it took to make a stain that large. It couldn't have been just one or two. Maybe five drops, enough to make the scent that strong.
Luna didn't know the exact meaning behind the handkerchief. The only thing she could interpret was a warning. Her thoughts drifted to Rhea, who was still in the palace. They weren't supposed to know Luna and her team had arrived yet.
But dark blue—that was the symbol of the Mierre-Park Kingdom. It was hard for Luna to deny that this might have come from Finn. If they had treated Rhea well all this time, now would be the perfect moment to send a threat.
"Is this from the kingdom?" Thalia asked. Luna nodded. She walked out of the kitchen, followed closely by her two sisters.
"Mia, Thalia, call everyone and tell them to get ready. I'll wait in the library to explain where we're going. Hurry!" Luna said before heading to her room to prepare herself.
****
"I saw Luna leaving her sister's room last night, Your Highness. She was dressed like a palace servant—I barely recognized her," Tom reported what he saw to the man relaxing in the warm pool. It was King Finn's nightly routine—soaking in warm water before bed.
"Do you know where she's staying?" Finn asked without turning around. His back faced Tom as he relaxed in the heat. He smiled—finally, the moment he'd been waiting for had arrived.
"She's staying at the house of a businessman named Rich, located in the complex directly across from the palace. It would only take a few minutes to reach it." Tom delivered his findings completely, the perfect example of a loyal right-hand man.
"And my diamonds? Have they realized that my diamonds are right there? Or did they come here with the others just to look for Rhea?" Finn asked, referring to people he knew well.
"They came to Mierre-Park, Your Highness. Judging by how well they're interacting at the camp, I'm sure they're adapting just fine within the group," Tom replied, based on what he had observed while executing Finn's orders at the camp. "Do you want to summon them?"
"No, they'll come back. I just want to make sure they're safe and haven't been killed out there. Maybe… they'll return tomorrow." Finn finally turned around to look at Tom still standing loyally behind him. "Tell me, Tom, don't you think we should give them a lovely little gift? You never did enjoy competing with Luna, did you?"
"Perhaps I'll send her a beautiful handkerchief. Women usually like pretty things, don't they?" Tom asked, seeking Finn's approval to invite Luna to the palace.
"A handkerchief sounds too plain for someone as fierce as Luna, Tom. It might bore her," Finn replied, discouraging the idea.
"It won't be boring if we add a few drops of blood, Your Highness." That smile bloomed again. Finn was always pleased with Tom's unpredictable ideas. "Won't that make them all panic and start making mistakes?"
****
"Rhea is in danger now," Luna said, showing the handkerchief she had just received from an unknown sender. No one knew who had sent it. "We've been given a handkerchief. I'm sure it's not Rhea's blood. But this is a threat. They all know we're at Rich's house—not to threaten Rich, but to threaten us."
In the quiet library, Luna spoke to her friends, who were all ready with weapons in hand. Mia and Thalia carried bows with quivers of arrows strapped to their backs. The others were equipped with knives provided by Rich.
"At the palace, we'll likely be blocked by dozens of guards. But Rhea's on the left side of the palace, so our focus is just to find Rhea and get out of there as fast as we can." Luna's gaze landed on Leon, one of the youngest members of the group. "Leon, I'm sure we'll be ambushed if we stay here. I need you to guard the carriage at the back of the palace. Once we get Rhea, we'll return to camp immediately."
"Understood," Leon replied before tucking his knife into its sheath.
"The rest of us will split into two groups. Mia, Cal, and I will move in from the left side. Elric, Thalia, and Kael will enter from the central hallway to secure our escape route." Luna's instructions were clear—she believed Finn was toying with her. First, by appearing at the camp, and then by abducting Rhea. "Leon, stay on the back road and wait for us."
****
Luna watched as her three friends prepared to enter through the back of the palace. Leon was already on standby, sitting at the front, ready to drive the carriage as soon as the others returned.
Once everyone was ready, Luna gave a nod, and the six of them got to work. Luna saw no one standing guard at the palace door. It was likely the changing of shifts—a common gap when the palace was briefly left unguarded. A perfect moment. Luna could wrap this up quickly.
"Mia, behind us. Come on, Cal—we need to protect her." Luna pushed the door. As she had predicted, there was no one inside. They managed to slip into the palace undetected.
From a distance, Luna spotted Kael, Elric, and Thalia, equally baffled by the palace's emptiness. But Luna didn't dwell on it—she signaled her teammates to follow her toward Rhea's room, which was to the right of Luna's direction.
Two guards stood in front of the room. Without a word, Luna took them out before they could strike. Her knife was quickly stained with blood. She had no choice—she had to do this for her sister.
The two guards groaned in pain, but no one cared. Luna only wanted to find Rhea, who had been taken to the palace days ago.
Luna's hand pushed open the wooden door, revealing the inside of the room. The woman froze, confused—so did Mia, standing right behind her.
Something was wrong.