Chapter 161

Chapter 161
Fiona's POV

"You're saying Diana has disappeared?"

Rasen slumped in his chair at the bakery, his hands trembling uncontrollably. "But she... she left the underground city two days ago!"

Alexander had personally brought people here to search for her, which meant they must have irrefutable evidence pointing to wherever Diana's trail had last been detected. I deeply regretted that Diana's departure without even saying goodbye hadn't immediately raised my suspicions.

"Rasen, you need to calm down first." I gripped his shoulder, trying to steady him. "Tell me—what exactly happened that day?"

"That day, she and I talked for a long time. I admit I'm a coward... I can't even imagine what role I could possibly play in her life in the future." Rasen clutched at his hair in anguish. "When she left crying, we both pretended to be calm and composed. We agreed to leave everything to time. But I know I should have run after her—I just hesitated for that one instant, and then my mother came over. She said she wanted to go talk to Diana."

Beside him, Yulia twisted her apron, her face pale.

"I watched her walk out with my own eyes. Along the way, we talked about many things—about Rasen, about their relationship. She was an even kinder and lovelier girl than I'd imagined. I walked her all the way to the city gate, believing they would both learn how to handle their feelings properly."

"Are you certain she actually left the city and didn't turn back halfway?" I pressed.

"I... I can't be certain." Yulia's gaze flickered evasively. "There were many people at the gate. Diana gave me a hug, asked me to stop at the intersection, and then left on her own."

"Could it have been those exile wolf packs outside?" Rasen's head snapped up suddenly, a flash of ferocity in his eyes. "Those hyena-like bastards have been eyeing Sunlight City all along..."

"Impossible." I cut him off decisively. "You have to understand—Diana is an adult Arctic Wolf. She's the little princess of the Volkov family with the purest royal bloodline. Her power is formidable. Even facing a siege by dozens of exiles, she would have the strength to fight back. She couldn't possibly vanish without a trace, leaving not even a sign of struggle."

Unless it was someone she knew.

Or... some method we hadn't even considered.

My heart lurched suddenly.

Because that very night, I had seen Rasen sitting alone on the rooftop, sunk in depression. I remembered that after talking to me about Diana, he had suddenly shown signs of heart palpitations.

Could it be... that wasn't merely due to emotional turmoil or problems with their bond?

What if Diana had been in some kind of danger at that exact moment, causing Rasen to experience the resonance through their connection?

Something had happened to Diana. She must have been trapped for some reason and forcibly cut off from her family's bond.

Could she... still be somewhere in the underground city?

I couldn't fathom how, after the new order we'd painstakingly rebuilt over these past months—something every mixed-blood werewolf living here yearned for—anyone could harbor such terrible and foolish intentions.

If anything happened to Diana, it wouldn't just be a matter of whether I could forgive myself. It would be a question of survival for our fragile new regime.

She was a pureblooded princess of the royal family!

"Raymond!"

I shouted toward the door, and Raymond immediately rushed in.

"Search the entire city. Seal off all entry and exit points—every inch of ground must be turned over." I gave the order in a grave tone. "I'm going to find Professor Claremont and have him mobilize all surveillance equipment."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Raymond departed to carry out the command but quickly returned, his expression hesitant. "Fiona... I have a suggestion. I'd like to try something..."

"What is it?"

"I'm jackal mixed-blood." Raymond pointed to his own nose. "Jackals have extremely powerful senses of smell and tracking abilities. I believe I inherited at least part of that genetic gift—otherwise, during all those years I spent wandering, I wouldn't have been able to rely on this talent to keep myself fed so precisely."

My eyes lit up with excitement. "You're absolutely right! That's an excellent idea!"

I returned to my quarters to search through my important belongings—no matter how much upheaval I'd experienced this past year, I had never let that small box out of my possession. It contained things that were precious to me: my mother's diary, the Freedom Bird brooch, and the letters Diana had written me before...

"Try this. It should have traces of the perfume from her wrist when she was writing."

Raymond held the letter to his nose and inhaled deeply. However, after a few seconds, his brow furrowed and his expression grew confused.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I..." Raymond scratched his head somewhat awkwardly. "The scent is too faint. I can't quite distinguish a direction."

Of course—this letter was nearly a year old, with barely any residual scent remaining. I regretted deeply that when Diana had visited this time, I hadn't taken some small personal item of hers as a keepsake.

"Perhaps Rasen has something of Diana's? A gift she gave him before, letters they exchanged, or—"

But my hope was quickly dashed, because Rasen hadn't seen Diana for half a year either. And this time, during their brief meeting, perhaps there was only the cup she'd used at the coffee shop? But cups would be promptly washed clean to serve new customers, taking on new scents.

Raymond looked dejected, deeply apologetic that his moment of hope had come to nothing. He said that as merely a mixed-blood jackal, perhaps such high-difficulty tracking was still too much to ask of him.

"I've never wished so badly that I could be a pureblooded werewolf with stable power..."

But just then, there came a slight sound from the doorway.

"Awooo!"

A small chestnut-colored jackal squeezed through the crack in the door. It looked somewhat cumbersome, with a round belly that made its movements sluggish.

I froze.

The little jackal slowly approached me, rose up on its hind legs, and began to transform. The sound of growing bones filled the air as fur receded and human skin emerged in its place. Within seconds, a young woman with a prominent belly stood before me.

"Kelly?!"

I was so shocked I couldn't speak, tears instantly welling up in my eyes.

"Fiona!"

Kelly opened her arms and we embraced tightly.

"How are you here? My God, I'm not dreaming, am I!" I touched her swollen abdomen, filled with both surprise and joy. "Diana told me about your pregnancy when she came to see me before. I was just planning to find a chance to visit you in a few days!"

"Shh—" Kelly raised a finger to her lips, blinking mischievously. "I snuck in. When I learned from Cyril that His Majesty was coming to the underground city, I crawled into the luggage bag of one of the military escorts and followed the convoy all the way here."

"You're crazy! That was too dangerous—your husband must be worried sick!"

I scolded her, though warmth flooded through my heart. I couldn't imagine that after all the upheavals we'd been through, our friendship could remain so pure from beginning to end.

"I've already sent him a signal through our bond that I'm safe. Besides, Fiona, you need to understand—Diana isn't just your friend."

As she spoke, Kelly carefully drew something from inside her clothing. It was a small wolf plush toy, not particularly finely crafted but clearly sewn with great care. Its eyes were made from two black buttons, giving it an endearingly naive appearance, and it wore a tiny dress.

"Diana gave me this when she came to visit a few days ago." Kelly stroked the toy, her gaze tender. "She said she made it herself as a gift for the little one about to be born. It's covered in her scent."

Kelly brought the toy close to her face, her nostrils flaring slightly as she inhaled deeply. As a pureblooded jackal, her sense of smell was many times more powerful than Raymond's mixed heritage could provide, and the hormones of pregnancy had made her senses even more acute.

"Got it."

Kelly opened her eyes, and what had been a somewhat languid gaze instantly sharpened. "The scent is fresh, and... distinctive."

She stood up, and though her large belly made movement inconvenient, she tracked the scent with compass-like precision.

"Follow me."

We trailed Kelly out of the bakery and began weaving through the underground city's labyrinthine alleys. Kelly moved slowly, stopping every few steps to confirm the direction. Raymond and I followed close behind, hardly daring to breathe.

But as time passed, Kelly's frown deepened.

"What is it?" I couldn't help asking.

"This route... it's strange." Kelly pointed at the ground. "Look."

I followed the direction of her finger, mentally sketching out the path we'd just traced.

The starting point was the city gate—where Yulia claimed Diana had departed. Then the route doubled back, heading west all the way to the bakery. Next, the trail led from the bakery back to the city gate once more. Finally, it looped back to the bakery again!

It was a perfect, closed elliptical circuit.

"She never left the underground city at all."

Kelly raised her head, her expression grave as she looked at me. "She went back and forth between the gate and the bakery once, and in the end, she still returned to the bakery!"