Raised From The Wild-Chapter 436: The Missing Princess

Vasquez and the rest of Princess Amaya’s royal guard swept through the dense pinewood forest surrounding the Mount Latvana resort, their flashlights slicing through the misty darkness. Dried leaves crunched under their boots as they scoured the ground for footprints, broken branches—anything that might explain how the Princess of Lireya vanished without a trace. Their breath steamed in the frigid air, and the silence was broken only by the murmurs of frustration and urgency.

At the same time, deep within the command chamber of the chalet, Prince Raquim stood before a wide screen facing Albanya’s elite security council which were pulled from their beds by a code red notification from their phones.

The emergency meeting had been called at the stroke of midnight, and the prince looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. The fatigue showed in his posture, the dark circles under his eyes stark against his normally composed face.

Vitara, quietly entered and handed him a cup of steaming coffee. She hesitated before speaking. "Why... why are you so invested in the Princess of Lireya, my Prince?" Her voice was cautious, uncertain. She felt uncomfortable and jealous.

Raquim didn’t answer at first. He took a sip of the coffee and stared at the hologram of the of the map flickering with sensor data from the chalet grounds.

"Lady Vitara," he finally said, his voice low but sharp, "I hope you understand the gravity of this. Princess Amaya was kidnapped under my watch, in my territory. We’ve always prided ourselves on the security of this resort—and yet she was taken, right under my nose." He turned to face her, his eyes fierce. "And she is not just any dignitary. She’s Lireya’s precious first princess. How do I explain this failure to King Duncan... or to Crown Prince Ibarra?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Vitara’s face reddened, ashamed of her pettiness and shortsightedness. She hesitated for a moment. She remembered how good Princess Amaya was to her and how sincere she was in wishing her and Raquim happiness. Looking at the man she loved wholeheartedly, wouldn’t it break him if he will be blamed for Amaya’s demise?

She breathed deeply, then she spoke in a voice that was just above a whisper, "Raquim, the other day I received a strange call and these are the words that the man uttered.."

’I know you don’t like Princess Amaya. If you want... I can make sure she never comes between you and the crown prince again.’

Prince Raquim narrowed his eyes as he held Vitara’s gaze.

Vitara’s heart skipped a beat. The intensity of Raquim’s gaze made her almost breathless.

"I swear, I didn’t say anything. I dropped my phone."

"Give me your phone." Raquim commanded, his tone sharp and icy.

...

Across the border, in Lireya, the alarm had already been raised. Within hours, the head of Lireya’s elite Alpha Security Team and a select unit from the royal military were airborne. Their destination: the isolated landing strip nestled in Mount Latvana’s resort.

Meanwhile, at the international airport of Usturia, Marx was preparing to board his flight when a red alert flashed across his wrist-embedded Twixtzar AI assistant.

"Master," the AI said, its synthetic voice tinged with urgency. "I just received an emergency transmission from Princess Amaya’s AI assistant ExZee. Then... nothing. I’ve tried every protocol—tracking, signal rerouting, AI failsafes. She’s... she’s gone dark."

Marx’s eyes narrowed. "Last known location?"

"The Royal Chalet at Mount Latvana Resort. Signal was lost precisely at 01:00 hours."

Without hesitating, Marx dialed a secure number. The man on the other end answered immediately.

"Why didn’t you call me when it happened?" Marx’s voice was as cold as the snow drifting past the terminal windows.

"I... I’m sorry, boss. It skipped my mind. Everything happened so fast. We’re still trying to figure out how she could just vanish. We had guards posted—cameras, drones. No alerts were triggered. I was just about to call you..."

Marx hung up and called another number. "I’m taking Mercury T02 for a test flight. Arrange for it. Layover at the Bleu island, four hours from Lireya."

The moment he ended the call, his wrist buzzed again. This time, it was his grandfather—Hendrix Skylar, patriarch of the Skylar Tech dynasty.

"Marx, are you insane?" Hendrix barked. "Mercury T02 isn’t fully tested. It hasn’t even been through its full atmospheric stress trials! And Bleu Island? The facilities there aren’t ready."

"You’re wrong, Grandpa," Marx said coolly. "Bleu Island is more advanced than any Skylar lab on record. I upgraded it before my last disappearance. I placed a cloaking shield over the island—it’s invisible to all current detection tech."

Hendrix paused, clearly stunned. "I handed that island over to you two years ago to develop in secrecy... I had no idea you were that far along. But weren’t you heading straight to Lireya to pick up my future grand daughter in law? Why the detour?"

Marx’s voice dropped, hard as steel. "There is no Amaya to retrieve. She’s missing, Grandpa. Someone had the audacity to abduct her. And whoever it was—they’re not amateurs. Her watch is equipped with next-gen defense protocols and sent out an emergency beacon... but then everything went silent. Not even my AI assistant can trace her."

A tense silence followed. Then Hendrix whispered, "Could it be... remnants of the Dark Phoenix?"

Hendrix Skylar was worried. His grandson just came from a dangerous mission and just when he thought that he could already settle down and give him a great grand child, there was another storm coming.

"I don’t know," Marx replied. "It could be them. Or it could be something worse. Something smarter."

"Alright. Be careful. We will monitor your flight path and a backup will be sent to escort you."

Hendrix exhaled slowly. "Alright. We’ll monitor your flight path. I’ll have a backup aircraft launched behind you. It’ll be an hour slower than Mercury, but if anything goes wrong..."

"Understood," Marx said.

Hendrix Skylar heaved a long sigh. Their newest high-speed aircraft could cut travel time in half, but it was not officially unveiled yet and needed a few more test flights. But his grandson was stubborn. He could only send a backup military aircraft that would be an hour slower than Mercury.

As the Mercury T02 prepped for takeoff, engines humming like a predator waking from slumber, Marx stared out at the snow-swept tarmac. His jaw tightened, his thoughts haunted by the silence left in Amaya’s absence.

This wasn’t just a rescue mission.

It was a declaration of war.