[Edited]

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"Any trace of Yuma?" Fotula asked once the last princess candidate had made it back from one of the many corridors in this castle. Just like they had promised, Camilla, Liliana, Fotula and Loraine went searching for the orphan boy after bidding their goodbyes to your knight division. Myron helped as well, but no one seemed to have found the child. "Nothing here. I even asked the guards, but they didn't see him anywhere. Some guards acted quite weird, now that I think about it..."

"Y-You don't think h-he managed to leave the palace, do y-you?" Liliana stuttered worriedly while twiddling her fingers. "I doubt so. I don't see the reason why he would even want to leave, especially without telling either Kai or Rouen about it." The raven haired female monotonously answered, giving her comrades short glances.

"Guys... I know we should be going soon, but we can't just leave things like this. I'm sure something bad happened to Yuma." Camilla spoke everyone's mind and no one was against her suggestion of staying some time longer. "But he isn't anywhere in the palace... I don't really know what we should do..."

"Perhaps Loraine knows something." Fotula blurted out, staring at the mentioned female with cold eyes. The blonde raised a brow at the sudden exclamation and Camilla couldn't help but frown. "Are you implying that I might be behind that peasant's disappearance?!" Realization struck the rich girl a few seconds later.

"That is not what I was trying to say. I don't know what exactly, but you do know something, don't you? Kai told me to consult with you about some matter." The purple eyed female stated, calming Loraine down for the time being. "What do you mean, peasant?"

"Ah wait, I know." Once again the blonde was quite slow for some reason, but she was now aware of what Fotula was talking about. "I do have suspicions, but I don't have any evidence. That's why you peasants won't believe me." The crystal blue eyed girl grumbled, flashing a glare in Camilla's direction as if to imply something.

"Anything could be helpful." The ravenette snatched Loraine's attention back to her, interrupting her staring-contest with the caramel haired princess candidate. But before the rich girl could even start explaining, Liliana spoke in a slightly frightened tone: "E-Ehm, I hate to interrupt, but..."

"...those m-men have been l-looking in our direction for a while n-now..." The silver haired girl stuttered, shivers running down her spine as she inconspicuously glanced in the guards' direction. There were three of them, and just as Liliana had described it, they were staring at the small group with strange eyes while 'hiding' behind a pillar.

"Do you think they want something? They seem like regular guards..." Myron commented, it being the first thing he said since they all gathered after having searched for Yuma. "Maybe they came to remind us that we should get going soon. I think we should talk to Tristan and his squad and ask if we could leave later."

"If that were the case, then why are they pathetically trying to hide from us? Are those peasants attempting to eavesdrop on us?" Loraine was quite irritated but amused at the same time. There was only one way to find out about the men's true intentions: "You there! What do you peasants want?!"

They couldn't say they were expecting an honest answer, but they much less expected for the three to run off after having been called out to. "T-That was... strange." Liliana commented, instinctively hiding behind the taller Fotula. "Perhaps they were trying to spy on us. Ungracefully."

"We should talk about matters in one of our rooms. Loraine, you have something to say, right?" As much as it pained Camilla to act as if everything was good and solved between them, this was no time for childish disputes. You and the other knights were risking your lives out there. The least the princess candidates could do was to try and actually find Yuma.

And so, in order to avoid any information to get leaked, the girls and Myron established their temporary headquarters in the room Camilla had shared with you up until now. Even though sometimes it seemed like she shared it more with Doni than with you.

"We are all ears." Fotula said coldly after everyone had taken a seat on either bed, chair or even floor. Loraine cleared her throat before she began to mention things she had already talked about. Those things also happened to be the origin of her argument with Camilla. "I've said this already, but I really think that annoying royal advisor is behind some of the weird things that happened here."

"This again?" Camilla grunted, not enthusiastic at all at the mention of this subject. Her comment made the rich girl frown again, but the caramel haired female was asked to please listen to whatever theory Loraine had to tell by Myron. Loraine explained everything she had explained her ex-boyfriend and Rouen to the others as well before telling them about another very recent occurrence: "You asked how any of this was connected to that orphan? Well, coincidentally or not, Sir Rouen and I ran into that tramp Catherine yesterday night. She said something rather suspicious about that boy which makes me even more doubtful."

"Y-You don't think... Catherine might have k-kidnapped Yuma?!" Liliana wasn't far from panicking, but being the responsible girl she was, she remained composed. The blonde nodded, glad the others seemed to have more faith in her. "That's exactly what I think. We tried to get in a certain room where Sir Rouen proclaimed that the maid who drugged our drinks was being held, but that peasant stopped us."

"I want to try getting in that room one more time. That might even be the place where they're keeping the orphan." Loraine said before standing up, the others soon imitating her gesture. "Then I'll go find Tristan and get him to help us." Myron offered rather confidently. In the last period of time, he had been shy and hesitant, almost scared to voice his own opinions, but he decided to finally take things in his own hands.

"Y-Yes! Fotula and I are going to search for Sir T-Tristan with Myron as w-well!" Liliana exclaimed, glad they seemed to have a plan and the intent to work together. She was even happier to hear what Camilla said next: "I guess I'll go with Loraine. If it turns out that Catherine is dangerous, it would be bad if she were to go investigate alone."

"I don't see how I'll need a peasant's protection, but you're free to come along if you want to so badly." Even though the chestnut brown eyed female had made an effort to be nice and get along, Loraine couldn't restrain herself from being provocative.

"Let's do this then." Fotula nodded at the rest of the group before they all exited Camilla's room. They split up into two smaller groups and each headed their own way. "Won't it be sorta bad if we get caught sneaking around private areas of the castle?" Camilla couldn't help but ask the blonde while they made their way through the seemingly endless corridor.

"Did you already forget, peasant? My brother is the prince, I doubt anyone will question my authority." Loraine answered cockily, getting a pair of rolled eyes from the girl walking next to her. Quite a while passed by and Camilla was slowly doubting if the certain room the rich girl talked about really existed. "I know what you're thinking, peasant, you're annoying! It's just around the corner-..."

Just before she was able to finish, the two of them almost fell to the ground while dodging what appeared to be a Focus Blast. "What the hell?!" Loraine muttered under her breath and despite being spoiled got into a rather efficient battle stance. Camilla as well was already back on her feet and just as surprised as the blonde.

Once the smoke cleared they were greeted by the sight of two royal guards accompanied by their Pokémon - one of which fired the attack. The men's eyes were dull and gave off a lifeless impression. Their Pokémon Bisharp and Mawile on the other hand showed quite the enthusiasm which in Loraine's and Camilla's case wasn't too good.

"What's your deal?! Do you have any idea whose hair you just ruined?!" Loraine wasn't intimidated at all and she made sure her opponent was aware of it by displaying her usual cocky attitude. But the guards weren't fazed in the slightest: "We must exterminate..."

After having grumbled that confusing yet slightly creepy thing, both men ordered their steel-type Pokémon to attack again. Camilla and Loraine once again dodged by throwing themselves to the side which resulted in the opponent's Focus Blast and Shadow Ball grazing and damaging the walls surrounding them.

"These guys aren't in their right minds! We need to defend ourselves!" The caramel haired female called out to her temporary partner as she fished out her Old ball, freeing her Lopunny from it. "Defend ourselves? Don't make me laugh, we're going to send these guys to oblivion while we're at it." The rich girl smirked, throwing her own Old ball in the air.

"Glaceon, use Ice Beam!" She instructed her favorite Pokémon even though she knew she was disadvantaged by using an ice-type Pokémon against two steel-types. Her Dustox was part poison-type, so half of its attacks wouldn't even be effective against their opponent. Camilla was quick to partake in the battle: "Lopunny, Jump Kick, quickly!"

Even though they managed to defeat Bisharp, reinforcements came as soon as they were needed; More guards and steel-type Pokémon like Skarmory, Lairon and Magneton. "There's gonna be no end to them!"

"Loraine, you go on ahead and find that room! I'll stay here and hold these guys off!" The caramel haired female called out, careful not to get hit by any of the attacks of either side's Pokémon. The rich girl was a little surprised that she was willing to go as far to risk her safety in order for her and their mission to succeed. "It's just like you said, peasant, there's too many! You don't stand a chance!"

"Are you worried about me?" Despite the situation, Camilla smirked to which Loraine clicked her tongue. "Of course not. It would just be bad for my reputation if I were to leave a defenseless peasant all by herself." The caramel haired female rolled her eyes before pulling two more round objects out of her pockets. "Don't you worry about me - I have a few tricks up my sleeve!"

Just as she implied, Lopunny wasn't Camilla's only Pokémon. It was for a long time, but ever since she received more Old balls from the queen and went to all sorts of places with Doni back in Rota, she had made a few new friends; Sawsbuck and Zangoose which had gotten very strong by now.

"I guess I'm leaving things in your hands, then. Don't disappoint me, peasant." Even though it might have not been very visible due to it seeming a provocative smirk, Loraine flashed Camilla a small smile. Then, Lopunny and Zangoose provided the blonde with the necessary distraction in order for her to slip away with her Glaceon in the whole confusion.

The door leading to the mysterious room she was searching really was just around the corner. Those guards behaved really oddly; For them to attack the younger sister of their prince didn't seem like something they would willingly do. What was also strange was their eyes. Loraine was in a hurry, but that didn't mean she had the time to be careless.

The blonde let her Dustox out of her other Old ball and gained a slightly confused look from her other Pokémon. "Listen, if I don't come back in about fifteen minutes, you are to assume that something happened to me. In that case, find either Myron or the other peasants and get help, alright?" Loraine spoke in a silent voice, making sure no one else would hear them in case there even was someone around. The moth Pokémon made a worried expression, accompanied by a small cry before it went to hide itself like her mistress asked it to.

"Then let's get going, Glaceon." The rich girl said, spreading her arms in order for the ice-type creature to jump onto her. Once she had Glaceon in her arms, Loraine pulled the door handle down and opened the door only slightly, getting a good peek of what seemed to be stairs leading someplace lower.

The blonde could hear the sound of her shoes coming in contact with the floor, echoing throughout the cramped area as she descended the stairs. Glaceon was quite intimidated by it. And after what seemed like an eternity to the both, they had finally reached the end of the stairs and a dim room illuminated by only a few candles.

"This must be it..." Loraine mumbled before even inspecting the place she had just gotten to. The first thing after the illumination she noticed were the bars just up ahead. Thinking that was the place they kept the maid hidden, she rushed in, only to be disappointed once she found an empty cell. "Then what is this place even for-..."

"Well, well, well... I had a feeling you'd come down here even after being warned." Loraine was startled by a rather familiar and annoying voice. The blonde quickly turned around and was greeted by the sight of Catherine Fletcher coming down the very same stairs. What worried her more than the royal advisor's presence was the cries of a young boy. Yuma.

Catherine was holding him by his wrist and dragging the poor child along with him. "L-Let me go! You're hurting me!" The blue haired orphan struggled, tears rolling down his cheeks, but never managed to escape the woman's grip. "I knew it was you, peasant."

"Congrats.~ I guess I should have expected you to be sharp, given that you're Luntian's little sister.~" The red haired female hummed teasingly, pushing just the right buttons: "Don't you dare compare me to him!"

"Now, now, let's not get too excited." Catherine said in a warning tone, tightening her grip around Yuma's wrist, causing him to whimper in pain. "Ouch! I-It really hurts, stop! Please help me!" The golden eyed boy cried out, his desperation making Loraine feel on edge and sort of responsible. "Let him go, you have no business with that kid."

"I actually do, as a matter of fact." The royal advisor grinned, only for the rich girl to raise her guard. At first she was wondering why Yuma was crying so hard from only being held with a single hand, but then she remembered when she herself and Rouen ran into Catherine the night before, and how the advisor gripped Loraine without using her aura. Back then she had the feeling her bones would have broken if Catherine hadn't let go when she did.

"I'm guessing there's a reason why you came all the way down here?~" The crystal blue eyed advisor hummed innocently once again, irritating both Loraine and her Pokémon. "Don't play dumb, you know exactly why I'm here. But since you were as kind as to follow me and show up personally, I can confirm things right here, right now."

"You're the one who ordered the maid to drug Y/N's and Sir Kai's drinks, aren't you?" The blonde asked somewhat cautiously. She didn't know if she was supposed to expect an honest confession or not at this point, but she certainly got one. "Wow.~ I guess you caught me.~"

"And you're the one who wrote that fake letter about Queen Rin's poor health and the 'mystery crystals' in the tree of beginning, right?" Loraine continued calmly. Others would probably be shaking or at least scared to be in the presence of someone apparently strong as well as evil as Catherine, but the rich girl held her own. "You're right again!~ I'm impressed.~"

"Since you're as smart as your older brother, I wonder if you're as cooperative as him...~" Catherine hummed before the blonde was able to say anything concerning her prior answer. The girl furrowed her brows and tightened her grip on her Glaceon. "What the hell do you mean by that?!"

"Shouldn't you watch your language a little, young princess?~ Why tell you what I mean when I can simply show you.~" The red-head laughed maliciously after waving her free hand as signal for something. Or rather someone. After Catherine's hand gesture, prince Luntian came walking down the stairs and the orange haired maid Loraine was originally looking for did as well.

"Luntian?! You knew about this?" Loraine was surprised, almost shocked when she saw her brother waltzing into the underground room so casually. Just as she had mentioned to various other people before, he might have been extremely arrogant in the past, but he would never want to harm anyone. That's the person he became after certain incidents.

"Hmm.~ I wouldn't say he knew about it... Actually he still doesn't know." Catherine pretended to think hard before saying that, but none of it made sense to Loraine. Not until the blonde took the time to notice a certain thing abou her brother, the maid and even the guards who attacked her and Camilla earlier seemed to have in common: The lifeless eyes.

"What did you do to him?! D-Don't tell me... you brainwashed him?!" The rich girl suddenly panicked, only amusing Catherine even more. She made sure to let the younger female know just how much she was enjoying this situation by laughing evilly and loudly. "I wouldn't go as far as to call it brainwashing!~ I just convinced him to cooperate with me, that's all!~"

"Then..." Loraine thought hard about it, until the idea struck her. In that exact moment, a pile of blankets started to move. Those were a few steps away from her for the time being. "Hypnosis?!"

"That's correct!~ Human minds are so simple to crush.~ It's really fun, you should try it sometimes!~" The royal advisor laughed once again, the Bronzong who had stayed hidden beneath the cloths finally showing itself completely. Loraine was wearing the most disgusted face she had ever made at the sight. "You're sick!"

"It can't be helped that you think of me that way... But you certainly won't be able to get any help once I'm through with you.~" Catherine said in a more serious tone this time. The look in her eyes had also changed to a much darker one. One that displayed her evil intents.

Loraine reflexively let go of her Glaceon in order to instruct her to use Ice Beam at Catherine directly, but before she could gesture her Pokémon to do so, she was the one who had been frozen in place. Not literally though.

Blueish turquoise light surrounded Loraine's figure, and seemingly thanks to it, she was now floating in mid-air. Bronzong was using Psychic on her. Its lit eyes gave that fact away, and soon she wasn't the only thing that was being manipulated by its psychic powers; The metal bars behind her opened and the rich girl was thrown inside the small cell.

She got up on her feet as soon as she wasn't being controlled anymore in order to attempt to get out of there, but she wasn't given the time for that. Metal shackles came flying towards her and attached themselves to both her feet and wrists, immobilizing her completely. How practical it must be for a villain to have a partner such as Bronzong.

"So? What are you going to do to me now? Kill me?" Loraine blurted out, glaring at the red haired female as she shook her arms harshly; A sorry attempt to free herself. Glaceon was soon thrown into the cell along with Loraine, and the ice-type creature was restrained as well. "Kill you? Of course not! That would be no fun, now would it?~"

"I've thought hard about it and even came up with a brilliant scenario, just for you! Aren't I too kind?~" Catherine laughed, completely ignoring the cries of both pain and fear Yuma delivered. "Hear this.~ Prince Luntian will torture the little sister he loves so much to death without even knowing about it! Sounds like something one could write in a book, don't you think?~"

"You won't get away with this!" Loraine yelled, the angry look on her face never leaving it. Another annoying chuckle escaped the royal advisor's lips before they curled into a smirk: "Actually, I am. And that's because I have other matters to attend to. I need to pay your friends a visit at the tree of beginning. Want me to greet them in your name? Well, that's assuming they haven't died yet of course.~"

And just like that, Catherine gestured Luntian to get to work before using her free hand to grab an Old ball from her pocket. The Pokémon that came out of it was a psychic-type creature as well. One that was quite skilled when it came to teleportation. The Psi Pokémon Kadabra. "Well then, have a good time!~" The red haired woman hummed before disappearing along with Yuma and her Kadabra.

* * *

"This is just ridiculous." Fotula grumbled, sighing for the sixth time ever since she, Liliana and Myron sent out to look for Sir Tristan and his division. There was no trace of any of the four men, and what was even stranger, was that the castle seemed to be isolated. There should have been guards stationed here and there, but there were none around.

"T-This is a little s-scary..." Liliana blurted out, referring to how a huge place like Grona's royal palace was empty and silent. The silver haired female sticked close to Fotula by instinct and was put more at ease the moment the ravenette grabbed the younger girl's hand and held it while they walked.

"You don't think they left without us, do you?" Myron couldn't help but ask, causing Liliana to gasp as fear took over. With everything currently going on, the least they needed was to get stranded in a different kingdom for who knows how long. Once the white haired male saw the girl's frightened look on her face, he quickly dismissed the idea, saying he must have been exaggerating.

"Quiet! Someone is coming..." Fotula silenced the other two, gesturing with her arm for them to not move and stay silent. Due to personal reasons which she only told Liliana about, Fotula had grown to be a very perceptive person in all sorts of ways. That was the reason she could even hear someone approaching them from such a distance, and for some reason she had a bad feeling about it.

Soon after her warning, a guard came from around the corner. At first, it didn't look like there was something out of the ordinary, but given that they hadn't run into any people since almost thirty minutes now, the three of them considered the man's sudden appearance odd. Another odd thing about him were his dull eyes which went unnoticed by Liliana and Myron, but not by Fotula.

"P-Perfect! Now we can ask him about S-Sir Tristan and the others!" Liliana exclaimed positively, clapping her hands together as she let her gaze travel from the ravenette to Myron. But her optimism was soon replaced when several more guards appeared from all sides of the hall the three were currently in. All of them sent out their steel-type Pokémon, and all of them looked at the three with unreadable expressions. Scary ones.

"W-What's going on-...?" The silver haired female stuttered, but wasn't given an answer due to one of the guards' Scizor using Flash Cannon on the three. "Liliana, careful!" Relying on his protective instincts, Myron threw himself onto the younger female, getting them both on the clean floor and out of the attack's range.

Fotula was quick to grab for two of her Old balls and free her Absol and Accelgor in order to counterattack as quick as she could while giving Myron and Liliana the necessary time to get up again and ready for the fight. "Accelgor, use Bug Buzz and Absol, attack with Night Slash!"

"Are you alright?" Myron asked the silver haired female after getting up and helping her get on her feet as well. "Y-Yes... T-Thank you." She replied, avoiding eye contact with the older male as she tried to hide her teary eyes. Those weren't caused because of the impact or because she had gotten hurt, but rather because she was touched by a man so casually. Even though she knew it was only Myron and that he had no foul intentions, she couldn't help herself from being overly on edge.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." The white haired boy quickly apologized, assuming Liliana was playing strong even though she had been harmed in the whole process. But he couldn't waste any more time by being the gentleman; There was a much more serious situation at hand. "Why are they attacking us?!"

"My guess is that they're being controlled. Take a close look at their eyes. A Pokémon able to use the move Hypnosis would be enough to cause all this." Fotula filled  him in quickly, more like she made sure he was ware of her own suspicions and theories which didn't necessarily have to be the truth. "Seriously?!"

"Perhaps your girlfriend was right about the royal advisor all along." The ravenette added, making Myron feel a little awkward for some reason. He shook the thought off and called for his Gallade. His faithful Pokémon used Protect in order to intercept the attack that was being aimed at the currently defenseless Liliana.

"T-Thank you again, b-but I'll be fine now!" The silver haired female called out, grateful for Myron's gesture once again after she had thrown two Old Balls in the air. The purple eyed boy was a little surprised at the display of two rather powerful Pokémon, especially since given Liliana's shy and humble personality, he was expecting her to have cute Pokémon such as for example Togepi and Jigglypuff. Instead he was given a Noivern and a Garchomp.

"Let's get rid of them and regroup with Camilla and Loraine!"

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A/N: I don't know why, but I sort of like this chapter? MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE I'M ACTUALLY A SADIST AND NEVER KNEW??? o.o'

Here a few of the mentioned Pokémon in case you're unfamiliar with some~ (More like because I like to post gifs^^):

Bisharp:

Mawile:

Skarmory:

Lairon:

Magneton:

Glaceon:

Dustox:

Lopunny:

Sawsbuck:

Zangoose:

Bronzong:

Kadabra:

Thank you for Reading!