The King Who Won't Marry

OVER

Aspen

I was anxious.

Seeing Isabelle meet the criminals gave me mixed feelings: fear, pride, impressiveness, unease, curiosity, and worry.

That can all be summed up as anxiety, right?

Right now, we're at the royal library, trying to solve our remaining questions, and by remaining questions, I mean the very mystery that started this all.

Who is this kingdom?

"Do we have any leads?" Scar asked Isabelle, who was scanning some books.

Isabelle shrugs, "All we have is the strategist's notebook, and -" she turned to me -"What was that again, Aspen?"

"Quiet Conquerors." I replied.

"Yeah, that." She continued to scan the books.

Daniel jumped, sitting suddenly on a table, making some books fall off , "Well, we could start with big kingdoms. It has conquered 5 already. So, it should've been massive by now."

"There are a lot of other big kingdoms too, Daniel." Scar said.

He frowned as Scar countered his suggestion, "Yeah, I know."

I slumped on a seat, "We wouldn't get anywhere with this. We need to think deeper."

My eyes found their way to Isabelle as she suddenly slammed a book shut, shaking her head.

"I agree with Aspen."

Daniel scratched the back of his head, "Well, where do we start?"

"Quiet Conquerors." Isabelle uttered all of a sudden while holding the strategist's notebook, looking intently on its cover.

I stood up, "They were called that because of the way they conquered lands. You wouldn't even feel their presence or notice them in action. They work their plan of attacks secretly, and before you know it, you're dead in just one bite."

"Sound strange but perfectly reasonable." Daniel nodded.

"Bite?" Isabelle suddenly turned to me. "What did you just say again?"

Scar answered before I could even say something, "He said ,'before you know it, you're dead in just one bite.' Why?"

"Bite. Quiet Conquerors. Bite. Notebook." She kept muttering those words.

We just watched her as she walked back and forth across the room, trying to think.

"What is it?" I asked.

She held the notebook, making us look at its cover. The picture on it was as abstract as it was before, looking like some sort of dangerous boat or a flower. I don't know. It still had unrecognizable pointy shapes and arches. Nothing changed. But she kept looking at it like it did somehow.

"Does this remind you of something?" She said, pointing at the picture.

"Nothing." I answered.

"Not a clue." Scarlett said.

Daniel turned his head sidewards, tilting it a bit. He even took a few steps back.

Daniel's skills in recognizing things and comparing them are very adequate. He is good at judging artworks and the faces of people and stuff, sometimes bluntly, that ends up offending others. Nevertheless, I'd say he's kinda a good critic.

After a few moments of 'examining' the picture, he said, "Nothing..."

Scar and I looked at him dumbfounded, "How surprising."