Chapter 106 - Your Highness, You’re Big Brother Vaughn Right Now

Zenia got down and handed Thunderbolt's reign to the ostler. Vaughn did the same. Zenia walked and behaved like she had gone to Luna Inn several times. Even the people there behaved like they had accepted a job from her before.

"Gentlemen, welcome! What can we do for you?" A burly man greeted them by the door.

Vaughn was about to act when he saw that the man seemed to be drawing something from his back. Zenia held Vaughn's arm to stop him.

"We came here today to do business and nothing else. Surely, a frequent customer of this joint like me will always be provided with superb service, is it not?" Zenia slipped a gold nugget in the man's hand.

The man's eyes shone brighter than the sun when he saw the gold nugget.

"This gentleman surely knows how to do business in our establishment. Please follow me inside." The burly man led them to the area where they conduct their  business . 

Zenia and Vaughn looked at each other and nodded their heads. They were to search for the door that Zenia had seen before. They should try to let the head of the mercenaries take them to the Big Boss.

When they arrived, there were other clients. The area was buzzing and Vaughn was surprised that it turned out to be a lucrative business. He saw gold nuggets being laid down as if they were mere stones. Some were begging the mercenaries to take on the job. 

Zenia looked around and tried to remember where she saw the door. The layout changed a bit, and it took some time to find what she was looking for. Vaughn followed her line of sight and saw the inconspicuous the door.

"Please be seated gentlemen. What can I do for you?" Another burly man signaled the attendant to send in refreshments.

"We come here because we want you to look for someone. She's the heiress of an influential family from our kingdom. She was supposed to marry a very important person in our kingdom then we received reports that she was kidnapped. We waited for the ransom note to arrive, but it did not. We tried to trace her whereabouts and still found nothing. We believe that she eloped with her lover, and they staged a fake kidnapping incident. We need to find her no matter what happens." Zenia's voice cracked for a bit to show her distress.

The burly man tried to analyze the story and concluded that the woman could be a princess who was supposed to marry a prince in another kingdom. She could also be a daughter of a noble family who was supposed to marry the prince from their own kingdom. No matter how he looked at it, they would profit greatly.

He looked at the two gentlemen who dressed plainly, but they had imposing auras. The burly man believed that the two gentlemen could be the missing woman's brothers or the fiancé's relatives.

'These rich men could try to disguise themselves as ordinary merchants, but they can never disguise their auras. They have the aura of very rich men.'

"Rest assured sir that we will find the woman you are looking for. Do you have her portrait?"

"Portrait?" No matter how careful Zenia was, she still forgot to prepare a portrait.

"Yes, it can help us a lot if we know what she looked like." The burly man smiled and showed his tartar-rich set of teeth.

"I can just describe her for you. We were in a hurry that we forgot to bring along her portrait. It is also best if you can pretend that we have not been here."

"Of course, sir. We wouldn't put our important clients in a dilemma."

Zenia began describing the imaginary lady. Vaughn could not believe how vivid she could describe someone that she only created in her mind. He knew that she had not met such a woman before. She was surrounded by men most of her life, unless…

Vaughn looked at Zenia, and his face darkened. He remembered receiving a report that Zenia would sometimes go to brothels with the other military men to watch some women dance and sing. Most of the time, they would go there to monitor the  guests of Ishelon who came as merchants or had other suspicious identities. She could be describing someone she met in the brothel.

The burly man's eyebrow twitched when Zenia finished her description. He could not say if the woman had beauty beyond compare or extremely ugly. He tried to picture her on his mind and asked Zenia if he had the correct image. Zenia described her once more.

In the end, the burly leader just agreed and accepted the down payment. They still managed to grab some nuggets even though the mission wouldn't be accomplished. It was too difficult to find the woman with such a description, and they must search for her in different kingdoms. They had no lead where she had gone to. Even the identity of the man, whom she eloped with, was uncertain.

"How do we know that you have found her?" Vaughn suddenly asked out of curiosity.

The business looked profitable, and it gave him an idea to start something similar. He already had a pool of talented people who could gather accurate, reliable information. He could also ask for some help from his wife. Tissuria's technology may be advanced, but the messaging system of Ishelon was still the best.

Zenia glared at him, and he just ignored it. His curiosity got the best of him.  

"We can send a message to you when we have news. Where are you staying now?"

"We rarely stay in one place for a long time. We are afraid that the people from our kingdom might trace our whereabouts. We still did not tell anyone that we had a lead that the young lady had eloped. If worse comes worst, we have to come clean and just reveal the truth."

The burly man smiled. He already confirmed what he needed to confirm. The mission was not really that urgent. It was impossible for these naïve gentlemen to conceal the truth from the relatives of both parties. Soon, they would learn the truth and the mercenaries were off the hook. They could no longer take back the down payment.

"You can just come back to us from time to time gentlemen so we can update you."

"That works too. I hope to gain some good news when we returned."

They shook hands and the duo left the establishment. Zenia and Vaughn just stepped out of Luna Inn when someone called.

"Junior Commander, over here." The voice was very soft, but Zenia heard it just fine.

She immediately recognized it and knew that it was one of Zander's men. If she was not mistaken, it was the man called Johan.

"Johan is that you?"

"Yes, Junior Commander. Please follow me."

Zenia and Vaughn followed Johan to a safe place. They only talked for a few minutes, and Johan understood what Zenia wanted to do there. He assured her that they would find the doc.u.ment for her and sent it to her as soon as they retrieved it. Zenia told him to send it to the Anisen Manor instead. Someone might intercept it on the way to the Palace of the Crown Prince.

Vaughn couldn't believe that they were able to accomplish the mission so fast. Zenia assured him that Zander's men would deliver it. They rode their steeds and went out of Lunaria immediately. Damien's men did not suspect anything and the duo escaped unscathed.

They finally reached the forked road. The trail on the left would lead them back to Solaria while the trail on the right would lead them to the Principality of Ismund.

Zenia suddenly stopped Thunderbolt. Vaughn thought that Zenia would like to take a look around. He nudged his silver steed to take the lead. Vaughn was feeling light and happy. He was alone with his wife on a beautiful night. The night wind was just right. Even the sounds that the crickets made were like music to his ears. 

It seemed that he had forgotten something important that he must do, but everything was too beautiful to trouble himself of other business. Whatever it was, it could wait. At that moment, he just wanted to spend a peaceful time with his wife strolling around while riding their horses.  

"Your Highness!" Zenia called from behind.

She knew she was taking a gamble, but she must put an end to it.

"What is it, my wife?" Vaughn flashed his beautiful smile as he turned around to look at her.

"You're Big Brother Vaughn right now. You are not wearing your mask."