"Lily, you’re here!" Third Prince Nathan Xiao’s eyes were bloodshot, full of worry. "Something bad might have happened..."
"What bad thing?" Lily Bai asked.
"Secretary Grant, you tell her," Nathan Xiao said, gesturing to his aide.
Everyone turned to look at Secretary Grant.
He looked utterly exhausted.
"Six days ago, I accompanied the President to the Parliament building," Secretary Grant said. "Everything seemed normal, but after the President went to the restroom, he never came back. He disappeared. When we called his phone, we found it abandoned in the restroom."
"I sensed something was wrong, so I quietly notified Captain Leo Long. We checked the security cameras, searched the cars, looked everywhere—but couldn’t find him... We think he might have been kidnapped."
Nathan Xiao nodded and continued, "Secretary Grant immediately notified me. I contacted General Lan and asked him to mobilize the military for a covert search."
I’ve been waiting day and night for the kidnappers to call.
And I’ve waited six days already!
But there’s still no word from him. No one has called, either.
As of today, I have no choice but to make this public. My second brother... he’s probably met with disaster!"
At this point, Nathan Xiao’s tears flowed, raw and heartfelt.
Princess Consort Emma Xiao’s face was ashen, her eyes rimmed with red.
But her three children weren’t there.
Lily Bai quietly asked Sandy, "Can you check where the Third Prince’s three kids went?"
Sandy replied, "Xena Xiao and Shawn Xiao both went abroad. As for Kieran Xiao... there’s no record."
"What does ‘no record’ mean?"
"Probably just means he didn’t go anywhere, just stayed home," Sandy said. "After all... he’s disabled."
Lily Bai nodded.
Everyone started talking at once, panicked and furious: "What on earth happened? How could he just vanish from the Parliament building?"
"Did you check all the surveillance footage?"
"Who could possibly have the skill to kidnap His Majesty the Supreme Emperor from the Parliament building without anyone noticing?"
"Weren’t His Majesty’s guards with him at the time? That’s a massive failure!"
...
Captain Leo Long stood there, head hanging, looking like a man awaiting judgment.
Nathan Xiao sighed and said, "No one wanted this to happen, and blaming them now won’t help. A country can’t go a day without its ruler! At this point, I had no choice but to gather everyone here—first, to mobilize more forces to search for the President, and second, to introduce His Majesty’s heir."
"His Majesty’s heir?" someone in the crowd asked. "Who do you mean?"
"Some of you already know, some of you don’t," Nathan Xiao said. "Crown Prince Evan Xiao has actually been here all along, but to avoid a fated disaster, he was sent away from the Supreme Emperor’s Estate and grew up in Haicheng."
"So where is he now?" that person asked again.
"He..." Nathan Xiao looked at Lily Bai. "Lily, at this point, you should bring the Crown Prince back."
Lily Bai answered calmly, "He can’t come back right now."
"Why not?" Nathan Xiao asked.
"Because... I’m afraid he’s been killed too," Lily Bai said.
"What! Him too..." Nathan Xiao’s face changed dramatically. "It must be those terrorists! It has to be the Godslayer Syndicate!"
Lily Bai said nothing.
For once, the Third Prince didn’t seem to be acting.
"In that case..." Nathan Xiao looked at the baby in Lily Bai’s arms. "Then let the Crown Grandson inherit the Supreme Emperor’s throne! By tradition, until the Supreme Emperor turns eighteen, the Crown Princess will serve as regent."