Chapter 416 - 412: Face To Face

"It also depends on when she turned. If she turned right when we left, she could get back to normal faster. If she turned recently, it'd definitely take longer," Rale said to Ryder.

"Looking at the items on the floor, it seems like she turned not long after we left," he continued.

"Sigh. No matter when she turned. We need to capture her alive and keep her locked until she returns to normal," Ryder said, sighing. 

His feet were still on the ground. There wasn't much blood on the ground, but there was enough that he was standing on a droplet of blood. His curious eyes looked around the room, trying to find clues about Miyali, but she wasn't here either.

Ryder and Rale stepped out of the room and again continued their search.

******

"Thanks a lot, Miku, for coming to help. You are the only one I was able to ask. My grandpa knew the most about these flowers, which suddenly started dying. Unfortunately, he was busy with some other work outside so I couldn't contact him. I could only approach you and ask you to come."

A blonde-haired girl was standing in front of what seemed like strange flowers that were made of rocks.

She was talking to Miku, who was the Royal Maid of Ryder that worked in the Palace.

She was the granddaughter of High Duke Oris, who was the second strongest High Duke in the Demon Realm. She was called Felina.

After Ryder had left the Place to go to the human realm, Miyali had started losing control. She wasn't being given beasts to feed on by the maid she was given.

After Miyali lost control, she sucked her blood and killed her accidentally. She went to find Ryder, only to be informed that Ryder was sleeping. She wasn't able to tell Miku about the fact that she had killed a maid.

Miku thought that she simply wanted a new maid, so she assured her that she would assign another maid to Miyali. 

She was about to do that when Felina entered the Royal Palace. She approached Miku and told her about the problems with her flower and that it was urgent.

Miku left with her to help her, completely forgetting about the maid situation.

Thus, not only did Miyali not get a maid, but she didn't even get any food.

She kept waiting for Ryder to come to get after waking up as Miku had told her that she would tell Ryder after he woke up. Even after a long wait, Ryder didn't come to her. She didn't know that Ryder wasn't even in the Palace.

Her situation kept worsening as hunger, and her first turning overtook her brain before she lost all control and went on a rampage.

Miku was the only person who had the strength to take care of her, but as she was out as well, no one was left to stop Miyali from going on a rampage.

On one side, Miku was taking care of the rate flowers for Felina. On the other hand, Miyali was devouring the people who were in the Total Palace.

"It's no trouble," Miku answered, smiling. "His Highness allowed me to come here, after all."

She knew that she couldn't say no to Felina, or she would have requested to meet Ryder to take his permission for using Miku's help. As Ryder wasn't there, that wasn't feasible, so she had lied that Ryder gave her the permission to come to help Felina. 

"Oh, right. Where is the High Duke?" She asked.

"Grandfather went to Duke Devilia's duchy. There has been some problem," Felina answered, smiling.

"What problems?" Miku inquired.

'If there were problems, it's strange that they didn't come to meet His Highness. Could it be that the problem was small? No, why would High Duke Oris go personally to help Duke Devilia? There is something going on that is significant enough to warrant his attention, but they didn't even try to meet his Highness?' she thought, confused about the whole situation.

"Don't worry too much. It's something that His Highness had already handled. You remember the missing Marquis case, right? It's solved, so it's time for a new marquis to be chosen. My grandfather went there to see the candidates. He would select a few well-deserving candidates. After that, the candidate would be brought here so that His Highness can give him a proper position as well as meet the candidates," Felina explained.

Miku nodded her head as she understood. She also placed her worries to an end. She asked, "Oh. So it's that. I thought it was something serious. It's just tradition. How long will he stay there? When will he come back with the candidate?" 

"He should be back soon since it's been a long time already. Maybe in a few days or a week," Felina answered, smiling.

She started walking towards the exit of the garden.

She didn't notice, but there was some concern on Miku's face.

'If he comes back in a few days, it will be problematic. He would insist on meeting His Highness, and I can't say no. It's going to be a headache. We might be caught,' she thought. 

"I'll take my leave now. His Highness must be waiting," Miku told Felina.

Hearing that, Felina stopped and looked back. "Aren't you staying for tea?" 

"Not really. Since I am done here, it's better if I go back to my work of taking care of His Highness," Miku answered, shaking her head.

"Ah, right. That's important as well," Felina muttered as she nodded her head. "I should thank you for your help. You did so much for me. If you ever need any help, you can come to me anytime."

"I will keep that in mind," Miku said as she turned back. 

She left the Palace of High Duke Oris and flew back to the Royal Palace.

She soon landed in front of the entrance.

"Did someone come?" She asked guards to make sure that no one approached the palace.

"No one came from outside, but His Highness and Master Rale stepped out of the Palace for a few seconds. They soon walked back," the Guards informed her.

"They stepped out?" Miku muttered as she grew stunned.

'So, His Highness is here? Did he come back? That's such good news. Finally, I can relax,' she thought as she stepped forward.

She pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The first thing she did was to go upstairs to find Ryder. 

"Why are the corridors so empty? Blood? What happened here?"

As she was walking through the corridors, she noticed that there were blood droplets on the floor, but there were no bodies to be found.

Strangely, there weren't any people there either. The maids and the guards were all missing.

A deep frown covered her forehead as she grew alert. She started walking more carefully.

The more she saw, the more Suspicious she got as there weren't any people there.

She soon reached the place where Ryder and Rale had passed through. The corridor was going in two directions.

Ryder had selected one side to go ahead, and Ryder followed him, but Miku walked towards the other side, unaware that Ryder had chosen a different path.

She ran for fifteen minutes before she heard a noise coming in from a nearby room.

It was as if someone had just grunted inside the room.

She stopped running and stepped back.

She stood near the door where the voice had come from. It was completely silent now. It was so silent that Miku couldn't help but wondered if it was her misconception.

"No. It can't be that. I definitely heard something. Someone is definitely inside," she muttered as she started walking towards the door. 

She touched the door and slowly pushed it open.

With a creaking noise, the door opened slowly, revealing the inside of the room.

Miku stepped inside, only to see something horrifying.

There were tens of bodies lying on the ground.

Only two people were standing. One of them happened to be a girl while the other one was a guard. The girl's back was facing Miku while the guy's face was facing her.

She could see the lifeless red eyes of the guard, who seemed as if he was dead. The girl seemed like her lips were on the next of the guy.

Miku looked around. She could see the bite marks on the necks of the pale bodies that were lying on the ground.

"A Vampire," she muttered softly as she realized what was happening.

The girl seemed to have heard her words. She threw the man to the side before she opened back.

Her blood-red eyes looked at Miku without a shred of emotion. Her mouth was covered in blood that didn't belong to her.

Miku saw the face of the girl only to realize that she was none other than the girl called Miyali, who was with Ryder.