Of course, Erwin had made sure to take a good look at Lana within the black mist, but when it came to things like this, a live viewing was naturally far preferable to seeing a vision within a cloud of mist. Furthermore, Lana had been unconscious back then, but she was very much up and about now, and the sight of her panicked and embarrassed display would've made for far more enjoyable viewing.

However, Erwin wasn't in the mood to be thinking about that.

He was constantly massaging his own glabella, trying to think of what could've possibly happened in the south to place Lana in peril, but to no avail.

The look in her eyes had been filled with grief, helplessness, and panic, and those were clearly the eyes of someone who was on the verge of death.

After pondering the situation for some time, he went directly to Christine's room before knocking on the door. "Christine, are you there?" 

Christine was in her room, checking through the entries on the accounts. Many expenditures had been made since Erwin decided to begin recruiting for the Four Winds mercenary legion again. She opened the door to see Erwin standing outside with a grim expression, and she immediately asked, "Did something happen, Brother Erwin?"

"I'm still feeling very uneasy. Can I get you to go to Zans and contact the Lodais Organization to enquire about Lana's situation for me?" Erwin asked with undisguised unease and urgency in his eyes.

"Is it that urgent?" Christine asked with a surprised expression.

Erwin nodded firmly in response. "Also, get Onean to come and see me, and tell her that I have something urgent to discuss with her."

He then gave Christine his current address on Flying Deer Street.

"I have to oversee proceedings with the mercenary legion, so I can't leave for now, which is why I'll have to trouble you to make the trip for me," Erwin said.

Christine nodded in response. "Alright, I'll set off right away."

After less than an hour, Onean had already arrived in Lomu. It seemed that Christine had gone to find Onean first before traveling to the Lodais Organization.

Upon arriving on the airship, Onean caught sight of Erwin standing on the deck amid the cold wind, looking out into the distance with furrowed brows, and she asked, "Why did you ask me to come and see you in such a hurry? You haven't instigated a full-blown battle between Onen and the wine trade guild yet, so surely you still won't require my services for now."

"Looks like I really can't keep any secrets from you," Erwin said with a wry smile.

With Onean's intelligence, it no longer surprised Erwin that she was able to see through all his plans.

"What happened?" Onean asked in a gentle voice as she made her way over to Erwin's side.

"Let me ask you something. I recall that it was concluded that Jeff had been poisoned during the Pillow Sword Tournament and that was what had led to his deranged display. The Skycourt Kingdom wasn't actually responsible for that, were they?" Erwin recalled that the Effer Kingdom had officially pinned the blame on the Skycourt Kingdom at the time.

"Why are you suddenly asking about that?" Onean asked as her brows furrowed slightly with befuddlement.

"Haven't you ever been suspicious about the incident?" Erwin asked as he turned to Onean.

"Alright, then you tell me who the mastermind could be," Onean said.

"I asked Gwen about the battle on the Marrod Plain, and she told me that her father was assigned to lead the vanguard, and that he was struck down before we even arrived."

"So? What are you trying to say?" Onean asked as she cast her gaze into the distance with a calm expression.

"I'm guessing His Majesty suspected that General Jenkins was the mastermind behind the incident, so he sent him off to die in battle," Erwin said. "I recall that you told me back in the royal palace that His Majesty suspected that one of his subordinates in the royal court was the culprit. It looks like the prime suspect in his mind must've been Jenkins."

"Are you saying it's not him?" Onean asked as she turned to look at him.

Erwin was silent for a moment before continuing, "Have you considered another possibility? Perhaps General Jenkins was also framed. Could it be that there was another force in the royal court independent of Prince Lazaar and General Jenkins's factions?"

"Why do you suddenly think that?" Onean asked with a surprised expression. She had actually already developed an inkling that this might have been the case after witnessing Fuller's strange actions on that day, but she never mentioned this subject to Erwin.

Thus, Erwin gave Onean a recount of what he had seen within the black mist.

"I was wondering what had you looking so worried, I should've known it was that red-haired witch," Onean said as a disdainful look appeared on her face, but internally, she was quite impressed that Erwin was able to extrapolate so much just from an ambiguous vision.

"Lazaar has just seized the throne, so he's at the height of his powers. At a time like this, who would dare to go against him and attack Lana?" Erwin murmured to himself with tightly furrowed brows.

"That's not all that remarkable. Isn't Gwen still in Fooz? Who says Lazaar has no enemies?"

"Don't tell me you're actually counting on Gwen's army to amount to anything," Erwin said as he turned to Onean. "Besides, who in Fooz would be capable of defeating Lana?"

Onean nodded in response. "That's true. That red-haired witch is no less powerful than myself, so there are very few people in the world who are capable of putting her in a situation as dire as the one you described."

Erwin cast his gaze toward the distance as he fell into deep thought.

"You're never going to be able to achieve anything like this," Onean suddenly said to Erwin with a disdainful expression.

"Why do you say that?" Erwin asked as he turned to Onean with a surprised expression.

"Shouldn't you be focusing on taking care of the matters at hand? Why are you going around being concerned for others at a vital juncture like this?"

"You're right, but this is just the kind of person I am," Erwin sighed with a self-deprecating expression.

"Sometimes, I would really rather you cared less," Onean said as she glared at him with a cold expression.

"What? You like it when I'm more cold and uncaring?" A faint smile appeared on Erwin's face as he wound an army around Onean's delicate waist before pulling her toward him.

"Why do I feel like you like them more amorous and sentimental?" Erwin said in a shameless manner as he leaned in toward Onean's swan-like neck to inhale her captivating scent.

"I think you need to be taught a lesson again," Onean said with an indifferent expression as she crossed her arms in front of her own chest, allowing Erwin's hands to roam as they pleased over her back.

"You're clearly worried sick about her, yet you're rubbing up against me right now," Onean said with a disdainful expression. "Are you trying to put on an act for me or are you trying to assuage your own concerns?"

Erwin heaved a resigned sigh as he put away his lecherous expression, then released Onean with a displeased look on his face. "What did I do to deserve having a mind-reader like you in my life?"

"That was enough to get you mad?" Onean asked as a hint of mockery appeared on her face. Throughout this entire process, she had maintained the same elegant standing posture with her arms crossed, not moving so much as a single inch from her original spot. In contrast, Erwin had invaded her personal space and run his hands all over her, yet she was still able to embarrass him with ease.

Of course, the reason for this was because there was something on Erwin's mind.

...

Atlas Empire, Sarus.

Inside the Holy Spectacle Cathedral, Archbishop Sirius of the True Light Church was standing in front of the statue of the True Light Holy Lord in a state of deep thought. At the moment, the entire hall was completely empty aside from him.

He had been pondering a question this entire time, which was how had Lana managed to escape.

He was unable to come up with an answer to this question, and that made him feel extremely uneasy.

He knew that if Lana were still alive, there was a very good chance that he would be doomed, and the True Light Church would also fall along with him.

However, to his surprise, he didn't receive any news of any actions taken by Lazaar. Even Fuller was telling him that all was peaceful and well in the imperial court.

He had thought that the True Light Church was going to be uprooted with devastating brutality and violence, but everything was as peaceful as peaceful could be so far.

That was until he received a piece of news from his informant at the prince's manor, which stated that Princess Lana had disappeared.

It sounded like a piece of good news, but Sirius knew that as long as she was still alive, there would be potential for her to bring about the downfall of the True Light Church, so he had to find a way to put an end to her life no matter what.

However, the root cause behind his inability to track down Lana was the fact that he had no idea how she had managed to escape.

He clearly recalled that at the time, he was just about to crush Lana to death, but a cloud of boundless black mist suddenly erupted out of the staff that she was holding, and the black mist somehow repelled the power of his Fall Crystals.

After that, the black mist and Lana disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Everyone in the divine temple was left feeling completely dumbfounded, and of course, there was also Brad, who felt immense relief.

As a time and space magician, Sirius was clearly able to sense that the cloud of black mist was also a type of time and space magic, but Lana wasn't a time and space magician!

With that in mind, Sirius was completely lost, unable to find an explanation for what had happened.

...

Not only was Sirius feeling very uneasy, Emperor Lazaar was also in a state of distress.

Both Aiden and Jeff had already arrived in Lazaar's study.

Aiden's expression was as grim as the darkest of clouds before a storm, while Jeff's brows were furrowed as tightly as the screws on the axes of his wheelchair.

"How could she have suddenly disappeared out of the blue?" Lazaar asked as he scratched at his own head in a frustrated manner. He had already been stretched very thin recently overseeing the matters of the newly established Atlas Empire, and the disappearance of his daughter was adding even more to his plate.

"I went to speak with Mistress Faye earlier," Aiden said.

"What did she say?" Lazaar asked.

"She didn't say anything concrete, but judging from what she told me, Lana's disappearance may have something to do with Count Friar's son," Aiden said as he turned to his father.

Lazaar gave a cold harrumph upon hearing this. He knew that there had been something on his daughter's mind lately. He had thought that the relationship between her and Erwin would naturally be severed after he escaped from Sarus, but it seemed that things weren't as simple as he anticipated.

"So you're saying that she went to go find that bastard?" Lazaar asked with a cold expression.

Aiden nodded in response. "I think it's a possibility."

"I don't think that's the case," Jeff suddenly said, breaking his silence.

"What do you think of this?" Lazaar asked as he turned to Jeff.

At the moment, Jeff was wearing a wig, which concealed the horrific scars and burns on his head. As for the scars on his face, those were somewhat covered up by the parts of the wig that were trailing down on either side of his face, so he didn't look as hideous as he had in the past.

"Lana isn't that type of person," Jeff said in an assured voice. "Even if she really did go to search for Erwin, there's no way she would've left without saying anything. She's not the type of person who would shirk her responsibilities like this. No matter who it is, there's no way she would leave like this without telling anyone over a man. She knows that we'd be worried about her, and I'm sure she wouldn't leave like this despite knowing that."

Lazaar nodded in response, clearly in agreement with Jeff's assessment of the situation. "I feel like you have something else you want to say. What is it?"

Jeff's brows furrowed slightly as he replied, "For some reason, I just feel like this is all very... suspicious. I get a really strong feeling from this that Lana was attacked in secret. There have to be some circumstances surrounding this that we're completely in the dark about."

Jeff's words seemed to have struck a chord with Lazaar, and he also began to consider various possibilities. All of a sudden, a cold look appeared on his face as he said, "It looks like we have more enemies here in Sarus than we anticipated."

"But given Lana's powers, who would be able to abduct her like this without kicking up any fuss?" Aiden asked with a concerned expression. "The more disturbing thing is that we have no leads whatsoever. It seems like she disappeared without a trace! I went to all of the places that she's been to recently, and I haven't been able to find anything."

"Don't make a big deal out of searching for her. We should keep this a secret as much as possible," Lazaar said as he turned to Aiden.

"I'm aware of that. I've been searching for her in person these past couple of days, and I haven't alerted anyone else," Aiden replied.

"If they're trying to profit from this situation, then they wouldn't take her life," Lazaar mused with tightly furrowed brows. "But given the circumstances, it really is difficult to say what the perpetrator's objective could be."

"Father, should we postpone the attack on Fooz?" Aiden asked.

"There's no need for that. All of the preparations have already been made, you can pick a date that you like to lead the young men in the city to march for Fooz," Lazaar replied. "As for the matter surrounding Lana, I'll get Jeff to keep an eye on the situation."

Both Aiden and Jeff nodded in response.

By young men, Lazaar was referring to the ambitious sons of the nobles, such as the sons of Duke Shreesan, Duke Nandoon, and Duke Renshaw. Thanks to their fathers, these young men were able to avoid the battle of the Marrod Plain, but they were naturally eager to earn accolades for themselves on the battlefield, and what better place to do that than in Fooz?