The Superior Rebirth: A Hero's Awakening

Unspoken Goodbyes

March 2nd, 1810

Daybreak arrived, but instead of the usual tranquility, the Ivanovich household was in chaos.

"Where is Xavier?!"

The panic started early that morning when the maids, tasked with waking Xavier and cleaning his room alongside his personal maid, Anastasia, sensed something was wrong. Anastasia was nowhere to be found.

"Perhaps she went ahead to wake him earlier today?" they reasoned, trying to dismiss the unease creeping up their spines. But they were far from the truth.

They hurried to Xavier's room, pushing past the guards. The moment they entered—

Nothing. No one was there.

At first, they assumed Xavier had simply gone out early, but the realization struck hard. It was only seven in the morning. His lessons began in an hour and a half. Where could he have gone?

One of the maids, feeling a sense of dread settle over her, turned to the knights stationed outside Xavier's door. "Did the young master leave? Did you see him go anywhere?"

The knight, caught off guard, furrowed his brows. "Leave? Young Master didn't go anywhere. We've been standing guard all night. No one entered or exited this room."

The maids' blood ran cold. Their faces turned pale, hands trembling as they put the pieces together. Xavier had vanished. Anastasia was gone as well.

The knights couldn't be mistaken. They were trained from birth for this kind of vigilance. If they said no one had come or gone, then it meant Xavier and Anastasia had disappeared without a trace.

The panic spread like wildfire. The maids alerted the other staff, and within minutes, the entire estate was in an uproar, searching frantically for any sign of the missing prince.

The commotion stirred Violet from her sleep. Her drowsy voice carried through her chambers as she rubbed at her tired eyes. "What's going on? Why is it so loud this early...?"

Her personal maid, Irina Kuznetsova, hesitated before answering. "Young Lord Xavier is missing, My Lady."

Violet blinked, her exhaustion vanishing in an instant. "Xavier is what?!"

"Missing," Irina confirmed, panic evident in her voice. "The young lord has disappeared from the estate without a trace."

Violet's face lost all color. The air in the room suddenly felt thin, and a pit formed in her stomach. "No... he wouldn't... He wouldn't just leave like that." Her voice wavered as if saying it out loud made the fear settle deeper.

Meanwhile, in his study, Graviil Ivanovich was filling out state papers, with Viktor Mirovich, the head butler, standing beside him. A knock at the door disrupted the quiet moment.

"Come in," Graviil instructed, barely glancing up.

The doors burst open, revealing Aleksander, followed by several heavily armed royal knights and his butler, Nikolai Petrov. Their faces were drained of color, expressions grim.

Graviil's brows furrowed. "What's wrong, Aleksander?" There was an edge of concern in his voice, though he tried to remain composed.

Aleksander stepped forward, but the words stuck in his throat. He swallowed hard before finally speaking, voice cracking under the weight of his emotions. "Grandfather—Xavier is missing!"

Graviil and Viktor froze.

"What...?" Graviil's voice was barely above a whisper, but it carried the force of a storm.