Chapter 193: A Smart Child from a Young Age
The Duchess's face was grim. If it were just Syanna, perhaps... But Anna Henrietta was already the designated successor, the next ruler of Toussaint.
If anything happened to Anna Henrietta, the bloodline of the first Duke, "Grand Duke of the Lance" Ludovic, would be severed.
Suddenly, the Duchess noticed the witcher, who wore a thoughtful expression. Like a drowning person grasping for a lifeline, she asked hopefully, "Master Lynn, I hear witchers are experts at tracking. Could you please help find Syanna and Anna Henrietta?"
"Of course," Lynn said, his gaze falling on the servant who had brought the news. "Where did you last see the two young ladies?"
The servant didn't answer immediately but looked to the Duchess for permission. The Duchess impatiently waved him on. "Answer whatever the Master asks you."
So the servant began, "The last time I saw Miss Syanna, Miss Anna Henrietta was taking her to the palace's playroom."
"The playroom?"
Fringilla explained, "It's a room specifically for children to play in."
After the sorceress finished explaining, the servant continued. "Because Her Grace the Duchess had given orders that Miss Syanna must always be accompanied by guards, wherever she went, two guards were with the two young ladies when they went to the playroom."
Lynn frowned. So far, he hadn't heard anything amiss. "And then? Two girls, barely ten years old, just vanished like smoke under their very noses?"
The servant swallowed. "Of course not, Master Witcher. Actually, Miss Anna Henrietta asked the guards to leave. She... Miss knew that Miss Syanna didn't have much time left in Beauclair."
"The two guards understood Miss Anna Henrietta's meaning, so they didn't refuse her request... But when the guards realized something was wrong and rushed into the playroom, the young ladies were already gone."
Duchess Carolberta was first startled, then said furiously, "Anna Henrietta... how could she know? Didn't I order that no one was to mention anything about Syanna leaving in front of Anna Henrietta?"
The servant again trembled with fear. "I... I don't know, Your Grace. Please calm your anger."
Again, it was Fringilla who interceded. "Most likely, Anna Henrietta figured it out herself. After all, Anna Henrietta has been a smart child from a young age."
Duchess Carolberta sighed helplessly.
Meanwhile, the witcher's questioning continued. "So, how long ago did Miss Anna Henrietta and Miss Syanna enter the playroom, and when did you realize the young ladies were missing?"
The servant answered nervously. "The two young ladies entered the playroom a little over an hour ago. As for the two guards, they remained at the playroom entrance the whole time."
"It wasn't until close to dinnertime that the guards, worried the young ladies might be hungry, called for them to come out. But they called several times, and the young ladies didn't respond."
"That's when the guards realized something was amiss and rushed into the playroom, but the young ladies were nowhere to be found."
Next, Lynn asked a few more questions, and the servant answered them all. Seeing that there was nothing more to ask, the witcher said, "I largely understand the situation. The rest requires a visit to the playroom to investigate; perhaps we'll find clues the guards overlooked there."
"Your Grace, I suggest you immediately dispatch men to all the city gates of Beauclair to conduct strict searches."
"Although I personally believe this might be a prank by the two young ladies, we cannot rule out the possibility that something truly sinister has occurred. If someone has indeed kidnapped the young ladies, they must still be within the city. If all the gates are secured, that person will have no way to escape, even with wings."
Lynn, in just this short amount of time, had devised a feasible plan, which brought a measure of calm to Duchess Carolberta's distraught heart. She said to the guards beside her, "Master Lynn speaks wisely. Did you all hear him?"
The guards responded in unison, "We heard, Your Grace."
"Then why aren't you carrying out the orders immediately?!"
The guards then hurried away.
Fringilla stepped forward: "Witcher, I'll go with you. Perhaps I'll discover some subtle clues that a witcher might miss."
Lynn hesitated for only a moment, then smiled: "That would be a great help."
The two excused themselves to the Duchess and headed towards the playroom. As they walked, Fringilla suddenly asked, "Lynn, do you truly not believe in the Black Sun Curse, or did you just say that to please the Duchess?"
Ever since that passionate night at Orianna's estate, Lynn and Fringilla's relationship had grown closer. Lynn had already made several contributions since arriving in Toussaint, which had made Fringilla take notice of the young witcher.
Then, Lynn had brought Fringilla a stroke of good fortune. Exposing Pregmund as a fraud earned her the goodwill of the deceived nobles, allowing her to gain significant favors.
In all her years as a court sorceress, she had never accumulated so many favors at once. Coupled with the witcher's outstanding performance that night, it made the sorceress experience sensations she had never felt before.
Thus, the sorceress asked the witcher to no longer address her as "Lady." And the witcher, in turn, allowed the sorceress to call him by his first name.
Hearing Fringilla's question, Lynn turned his head. He didn't answer directly but smiled: "Is that important to you?"
"You're right, it's not important at all."
"You know what? I've practically watched Anna Henrietta and Syanna grow up. In my eyes, there's really no difference between them. If you didn't know beforehand, I bet few people could tell which one is the child of calamity."
The witcher remained silent.
Fringilla glanced at him: "Do you really plan to train her to be a witcher? But I've never seen or heard of female witchers existing."
Lynn thought for a moment and finally decided to tell the truth: "It's certainly harder for women to become witchers, but honestly, I haven't decided yet whether or not to teach her to use a sword."
For Lynn, who was familiar with the plot, his primary thought wasn't to train Syanna into a powerful individual, but rather to first cultivate good character in her.
From the original plot, where Syanna could be persuaded by Geralt, it's clear that Syanna isn't an unyielding extremist who is completely set on a dark path. He believed that with proper guidance, it shouldn't be difficult to resolve the hatred in Syanna's heart.
Some might wonder if such an elaborate effort is truly necessary. It actually is. Syanna is Anna Henrietta's sister. In the original plot, after Syanna was sent away, Anna Henrietta lived with deep self-reproach.
She later sent people to find Syanna on multiple occasions, but they always failed because Syanna was unwilling to appear.
Anna Henrietta is the future Duchess of Toussaint, and Toussaint is centrally located on the Continent. By "conquering" Syanna, it would be possible to indirectly control the entire Duchy of Toussaint.
The immense benefits of this are clear to anyone. No one, regardless of who they are, could easily let go of such a prize.
....
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