"I'm sorry, it's all my fault," Grace said to Leon Zane and the others. "I got you all hurt."
"Miss Lawrence, don't take General Evan Shaw's words to heart," Quentin Chin said. "Even without you, this battle was bound to happen sooner or later!"
"That's right!" Louis Lin chimed in.
Grace took a deep breath and turned to Leon Zane. "Where's the General? Isn't he with you guys?"
Leon Zane was injured too, though not as badly as Evan Xiao.
He couldn't even muster the energy to make up an excuse, so he just shook his head weakly.
Grace figured Evan Xiao was still busy dealing with the envoys, so she didn't dwell on it. She went over to check Leon Zane's pulse and gave him the same medicine Cutie Pie had just taken.
"Grand Elixir?" As soon as he took the pill, Leon Zane exclaimed, "A fifth-tier healing medicine for internal injuries! How did you get this?"
Grace shook her head. "I'd rather not say. Please keep the pill thing a secret, Master Zane. I don't want any trouble."
Leon Zane raised his eyebrows at her, then nodded after a long pause. "Alright!"
"Master Zane, was General Evan Shaw with you guys too?" Grace asked again.
"Actually, we're all the General's men. We came to Blue Moon Kingdom for one reason—to find someone."
So that means... all Colin Gu's top aides were actually Evan Xiao's people...
Grace looked at him. "Besides her, who else?"
"Just us! And the attendants we brought along."
"All these people, just to find one person?"
"Yep."
"Who exactly are you looking for? With your skills, finding someone shouldn't be that hard, right?"
"Sigh!" Leon Zane let out a long breath. "Let's not talk about that! I need to rest for a bit."
Grace nodded, then turned to Louis Lin. "Louis, send someone to find out where the General is, and ask when he'll be back."
Louis Lin glanced at Master Zane like he was having a spasm.
He'd just sent the General back to Drake's Sanctuary—where was he supposed to find another General now?
Leon Zane sent Louis Lin a telepathic message: "Just make something up! Say he's missing!"
Louis nodded and shuffled out with steps as constipated as his mood—pure agony.
Why did he always end up in these messes?
If it wasn't handing over Cutie Pie, it was handing over the General...
What if one day she wanted Cutie Pie and the General at the same time—then what?
......
Soon enough, Louis Lin came back to report to Grace. He said he'd searched everywhere, but the General was nowhere to be found—no clue where he went.
"I saw him at the palace today!" Grace said. "Maybe he went back to report in again?"
"Nope, I asked around at the palace too. Weird—nobody knows where he went! It's like he just vanished..." Louis Lin said, looking genuinely worried.
When Grace heard the word "vanished," her heart skipped a beat.
Could it have happened today?
"Louis, go check if the Windspire Kingdom envoys have all left yet."
"They're gone," Louis replied. "I saw them leaving the city just now."
Grace went quiet and said nothing.
Evan Xiao... was probably taken away by people from Windspire Kingdom.
Just like in her previous life.
Turns out, when she spoke to him at the palace, that was the last time before he was taken.
If only she'd hugged him a little longer...
......
Compared to the General's Manor, which was full of injuries and gloom, the Prime Minister's Residence was a whole different world.
Everywhere was decorated with lanterns and streamers, everyone was smiling, and the place was bursting with festive cheer.
After Grace got back, she was called to the Lawrence Ancestral Hall.
On the way there, she happened to run into Queenie Zhu and her mother.