At the Decron's mansion, everyone was seated for dinner except Morgan, and it got Hazel worried. He had left since the morning time and he still wasn't yet back. Surely, something wasn't just right but she couldn't figure it out. Her mind was distracted throughout dinner to which Xavier noticed, and on many occasions, he had to remind her to eat, as she took pauses in between her meal.
Elliot was the first to leave the dining, not like he actually needed to eat human food in the first place. Xavier also noticed that there was some awkwardness between him and Hazel which was quite shocking to him.
Hazel left after some minutes with the excuse that we was full, even though she didn't finish half of the food Xavier had placed on her plate
"What's wrong?" Xavier said after he had entered the room to see Hazel by the window, deep in thoughts "You have been going in and out of your thoughts since dinner"
"Its my dad" she said after some silence
"What about him, I didn't see him at dinner or did he take his to his room" he said coming close to where she stood
"He has been gone since this morning, I heard that from the guards, and he isn't yet back" she complained
"I see... Has he ever been out like this before?"
"None, I've heard of"
"Hmmn" he took a short pause, seeming to think "let's give him till tomorrow, maybe he decided to stay at some of his friends place"
"I have not heard him mentioning anything about having friends before"
"Come on, he isn't a child. We'll give him till tomorrow and if he isn't back by then, then we'll search for him. Okay?"
"Sure" she said huffing out a deep breath
"Now, its time for you to sleep" he said urging her towards the bed
"What about you?" She asked after noticing that he wasn't joining her
"I still have some work to do with Lucas, I'll join you once I'm done" he then placer a kiss by her temple "Now sleep"
She obediently played down and allowed him tuck her in before he left. She thought of her dad a bit and prayed he was safe wherever he was before allowing sleep to eventually take her
Later that night, just after dinner, Dorin had left the mansion to meet with Selles but instead Edith was the one she met with as Selles was presently not available
"Selles is getting angry, what has been holding you from bringing her" Edith stated with a frown in her face. She didn't like vampires, and she wondered why Selles even wanted having anything to do with them. First it was Xavier, and now its his half sister
"Look, I haven't been able to get her to be alone, let alone talk to her or persuade her to come with me and couple with the fact hat Xavier doesn't let me come a meter close to her without a guard by her side. Its not going to be so easy" Dorin explained
"So can you still be able to fulfill your own end of the deal or we'll just find a way to do it ourselves since you're not so competent" Edith said sneering a bit
"Watch your tone, witch. Remember, I could kill you if I wish to, we sitting down here together is because we both need something from each other, do do not forget who I am" Dorin coldly said not liking her tone a bit. They both held their gaze, with no one seeming to want to back down. Some seconds later, Edith casted her gaze away which caused Dorin to smirk
"As I guessed" Dorin said still smirking "Now, you guys will just need to be patient and wait"
"I'll let Selles know that"
With that, Dorin stood and left while Edith followed her with her glare and a creepy smile on her face till she was out of sight
"I'll teach you a lesson when all this is done"
The next day, Hazel and Elliot were still in an awkward situation with both of them not finding in it to talk to each other. It wasn't like they were fighting or anything, it was just an awkward situation. Seeing this, Xavier had to be the one to tell Elliot about Morgan's absence and he had gone out to search for him.
Hazel had gone to the church to have a talk with Connor about the spell book and how she had recently started creating some spells by herself. She had finished all of those spell books he had given her and had thought of creating creating and writing hers, like the white witches before her had created this ones she had read and learnt.
She informed Xavier before she left, taking her personal carriage to the church. When she reached, she immediately saw Connor and went in to meet him
"Lady Hazel" Connor greeted on seeing her
"Good morning, Connor" she greeted back
"I never expected your visit" he said leading them to a more quiet place to sit
"Yeah, I came to return the spell books you gave me earlier. I'm done with them"
"Really? That's great then" he said stretching his hands to collect them
"I know you said I should bring my dad along the next time I'm coming..." Hazel said after some time
"Yeah, I told Lord Xavier to tell you" he said glancing at her after studying the books for some time, his expression was very calm "you didn't bring him? Did you forget?"
"No. Actually, we haven't seen my dad since yesterday and its getting me worried"
"He's missing?"
"Yeah"
"When last did you see him yesterday?"
"I didn't, but the guards said they saw him leaving the mansion that morning. It wasn't until the evening time I noticed he wasn't back yet"
"That's serious. What has Lord Xavier said about it?"
"He has conducted a search party"
"You once told me he was a switcher right?"
"Yeah"
"He'll be fine, don't worry too much" he tried consoling her
"I want to help in searching for him"
"And how do you plan on going that?"
"I want to learn how to cast the location spell"
"A location spell? But that can only be done by black witches"
"I'm partly a dark witch, so I can"
"You are?"
"Yes, you know this right?" She said giving him a suspicious look
"Yeah... You are... Things has just been skipping my mind lately" he tried to cover up
"Hmmn" she said, still not convinced "so do you know what is need to cast this spell?"
"But you do know that as a white witch trying to perform spells meant for dark witches, it will affect you right?"
"I can purify myself"
"Purify yourself?" He said shocked seeming to have heard of that, the first time
"You are supposed to know this Connor... And you have been behaving weird lately"
"What? No. I'll just see if I can help you get what you need for the spell you want to do, okay"
"Okay. Thanks". She said leaving the church, trying to shake off the weird feeling coming from how he has been behaving
"Purifying abilities" Connor murmured to himself after she was gone "Selles needs to hear this" he concluded
When Hazel reached the mansion, she went to see Xavier at the council room. He was at a meeting with the councilmen, so she had to wait a bit.
Soon they were done and the councilmen made their way out, it was then she saw Jordan and they exchanged greetings
"Councilman Jordan" she said first
"Ms.... I mean, Lady Hazel" he corrected himself
"How are you doing?"
"There has been a lot going on recently with Borreve, so it has been quite stressful" he said
"That's bad... But..." She wanted saying but was interrupted by Lucas
"Lady Hazel, the Lord is free and he's inside waiting" Lucas said as he stepped out of the room, he greeted Jordan before leaving there
"I'll see you around then" Jordan said, tipping his imaginary hat before leaving also. Hazel then made her way into the room and looked around since it was the first time she had entered this section of the mansion.
"What brought my rabbit here? Perhaps you missed me." He said with a grin
"Maybe a little" she played along
"Just a little?" He complained "but I missed you more" he said standing to hug her and it made Hazel's face redden a bit
"I heard there has been pressing matters going on in the Land" she said remembering what Jordan had said earlier
"Yeah, there has, but its not something to worry yourself about. You're already worried about your dad"
"Is Elliot back?" She asked since the matter of her dad was brought up and this made her remember what brought her here, to talk about Connor
"No he isn't. I thought you guys weren't in talking terms"
"Something like that but I need to tell him something about Connor"
"What about him?" Xavier asked interested in her statement
"I just noticed he has been behaving weird"
"How weird?"
"He acts like he isn't the one, like he's not the Connor I once knew"
"——"
"I just feel that way, like something's wrong with him"
Xavier gave it a thought because the too hasn't like the new Connor but decided to just watch him from afar
"I'll see to it" he finally said after some time
"Okay" she said making herself comfortable in his embrace "I hope Elliot has a lead on where my dad is"
"Hmmn"
They stayed there in each others embrace for some time, with only the sound of their breathing heard between them. Later on, Xavier decided to take them to their room so thy would be more comfortable but found out she was already asleep. He then took them both toward their room and gently placed her on the bed before joining her
Some hours later, Xavier jolted up from his sleep, his head immediately snapped towards Hazels direction where she laid while he accessed her with his eyes for a bit, his nose also sniffed a bit trying to get her scent before eventually whispering to himself
"She's gone"