"Baron, did the princess not give you her regards?" I asked.
The Baron shook his head.
Visible panic must have shown on my face because the people around me immediately grew uneasy.
"Maybe she forgot because it was getting late?"
Thea tried to alleviate the tension. An awkward smile formed on her face.
She was trying—and failing—to convince herself.
Murmurs of restlessness began spreading among the remaining guests. Mostly because it seemed like I was making a fuss.
But the people who actually knew me stayed silent and listened.
"The princess would never forget to give her regards before leaving an event."
Some nobles still looked at me as if I were a spoiled brat causing trouble.
Maybe I was.
There was no sign the princess was in danger. She was with her knight as well, so the chances were close to zero.
Still…
I had an ominous feeling.
The anxious murmurs around the room slowly shifted into irritation.
"When will he change?"
"Poor Count and Countess."
"He's making such a ruckus when they were the last ones to see the princess."
Then it struck me.
I scanned the crowd, searching for the butler. He was struggling to make his way through the commotion.
"Emilton Butler!" I called out.
He was taking too long, so I ran up to him myself. He had been standing near the mansion entrance the entire time, making him the perfect witness.
"Sir, were you standing by the door this whole time?"
My words came out hurriedly.
The butler nodded. He was clearly confused, yet he still cooperated.
Several people in the room realized what I was getting at.
The Baron was already quietly calling over some men.
Viscount Whitmore seemed to be concentrating on something.
Father and Mother remained silent, waiting for me to finish. I knew it was their way of supporting me.
Thea's expression darkened, though not out of fear.
It looked more like she was calculating something.
Amon had already disappeared, though he hadn't gone outside.
"Then did you see the princess and her knight pass through the door?!"
I was practically shouting at this point.
The old butler was visibly startled, but he still managed to answer.
"No one has left the mansion yet."
The air inside the ballroom turned heavy.
Nobody dared speak first.
The nobles were in silent panic.
Several still tried to maintain their elegant smiles, but the fear in their eyes betrayed them.
They were processing the situation they had been thrown into.
Were they in danger?
Should they help?
Or should they already start preparing alibis for themselves?
This was bad.
Soon enough, they would start blaming each other.
To save themselves, they needed someone to blame.
Most likely the Baron.
I didn't know what to do.
The nobles' stares were suffocating. Soon, this would turn into a battlefield of accusations.
I had no hope of calming down a crowd like this.
Mother and Father were discussing something with the Baron and a few nobles willing to help.
Viscount Whitmore was speaking quietly with Thea.
The pressure around me suddenly lessened.
Not because the nobles had calmed down—
but because their attention had shifted elsewhere.
Toward Amon.
And beside him stood the female knight who was supposed to be accompanying the princess.
"Everyone, calm down!"
The knight shouted.
Her black eyes were restless, and her face had gone pale.
"I will request backup from the knights stationed nearby and begin searching immediately! I ask all of you to remain here and send word to the royal castle!"
She spoke firmly, but several nobles still looked doubtful.
"You were the last person seen with the princess! Why should we let you leave?!"
"You're the biggest suspect!"
"Where were you even this whole time?!"
Honestly, I was curious too.
However, the crowd didn't want answers.
They wanted a villain.
The knight let out a tired sigh.
"I will keep this brief. I had been watching over the princess ever since we entered the ballroom. A servant handed me a drink, so I looked away for only a moment. When I turned back, the princess was already gone."
Her expression darkened.
"I searched the ballroom and eventually saw her entering the dining hall. I looked around there for some time until Young Lord Amon happened to find me. He informed me of the current situation, which led us here."
Amon nodded, confirming her explanation.
"And if you're wondering why I happened to find her," Amon added calmly, "I had gone to retrieve my sword from the armory."
Silence filled the ballroom once more.
The crowd had nothing to say.
"Well then, if you'll excuse me."
The female knight took out a hand mirror-like magic item. Just as she was about to activate it—
"You won't make it in time."
Thea stepped forward.
Her ocean-blue eyes hardened with determination.
She had a plan.
No one dared interrupt her.
After all, even if she was still a child, she was a mage from the Magic Tower.
A genius.
The female knight—and every influential adult in the room, including Mother, Father, the Baron, and Uncle Henry—turned toward her.
"The nearest knights stationed nearby will take more than thirty minutes to arrive. The abductor most likely anticipated that. By then, they would already be long gone."
Thea explained calmly.
"If the knights block every route leading out of the area, we may still be able to intercept them. An operation of this scale would require multiple people stationed outside to secure an escape route."
The knight offered the suggestion immediately.
However, Thea shook her head.
"I said abductor."
The room fell silent.
"There was most likely only one person involved in this kidnapping."
Disbelief spread across the ballroom.
How could a single person infiltrate a gathering filled with nobles and disappear without being noticed?
"That's not all."
Thea raised a small torn piece of paper between her fingers.
Viscount Whitmore narrowed his eyes the moment Thea revealed the torn paper.
"I found traces of mana near the place where the princess disappeared. It was so faint that I couldn't detect it until I was only a few centimeters away."
Several people in the room immediately understood what it meant.
I didn't.
"This is a teleportation glyph," Thea explained. "It activates once the paper is physically damaged. The larger the glyph, the farther the teleportation distance."
I see.
Which meant the small paper could only teleport someone a short distance.
Probably somewhere just outside the estate.
"That's not all," Thea continued. "I suspect the abductor prepared a larger teleportation glyph somewhere farther away from the estate—but still within the surrounding area."
Thea slowly glanced toward four different directions.
As though she could see something none of us could.
"I can sense large amounts of mana gathering in four separate locations. Quickly! Someone get me some papers." Thea ordered.
In a matter of seconds, the servants brought her sheets of paper.
Thea hovered her hand above two of them and infused them with mana.
Marks slowly appeared on the once blank sheets.
"I made glyphs of my own. These papers contain mana detection spells. Once torn, they'll point toward a large concentration of mana."
Even while explaining, she was visibly out of breath.
"Don't tear them now. Make sure to do it far away from one another, or they might point toward the same direction."
Thea raised four fingers.
"North, South, East, and West. Those are the directions where I sensed the mana."
Mother couldn't hold herself back anymore.
She knelt down to meet her daughter's eyes and spoke calmly.
"You did well. Rest for now."
For a brief moment, Thea struggled to respond.
The determination in her eyes wavered.
Slap!
Ethea smacked both her cheeks.
The hesitation vanished from her gaze.
She had forced herself back together.
"Twenty minutes. That's all the time we have to save the princess!"
Her voice echoed across the ballroom.
"I can only make two mana detection glyphs, and I'll act as the third guide myself. That means one direction will have to be searched without guidance."
Mother forced a smile.
But the worry in her eyes refused to disappear.
For a brief moment, she simply stared at Thea.
Not as the Countess of Spades.
Not as one of high society's finest flowers.
Just as a mother looking at her exhausted daughter.
Yet despite that…
She still chose to trust her.
Mother quietly reached into her purse and took out a small mana potion.
A bitter smile formed on her lips.
"Good thing I always carry one."
Thea accepted it without hesitation and quickly drank its contents.
Seeing her daughter recover slightly, Mother finally let out a small sigh of relief.
Then, almost instantly, the softness in her expression vanished.
The Countess of Spades composed herself once more.
Soon after, she began calming the panicked noble ladies, frightened children, and even some of the restless men.
Father was already rallying noblemen and women willing to help with the search.
The Baron had started dividing the available knights into groups.
Amon looked both impressed and inspired by Thea. Earlier, his eyes had practically shimmered.
Now he was bringing her water, comfortable shoes for movement, and words of encouragement.
Normally, I would've gone over to help Thea myself.
And I definitely wouldn't have let Amon near her.
But I'll let you off for today, rake.
After all, I was too busy trying to remember the novel.
Somewhere in my memories…
there had to be something useful.
A clue.