Rebirth (Trinity Blood Fanfic)

Chapter 4: Missing

5 years later...

Hugue awoke suddenly to the sound of kitchen utensils and the pleasant smell of eggs. He slowly and reluctantly removed himself from the comfort of his bed and was surprised to find that he was still fully dressed in his cloak and boots. He was surprised he'd made it into his bed in the first place because he was so tired. He shook his head in bewilderment before heading to the kitchen to investigate.

Hugue chuckled when he discovered that it was none other than the young Duchess, Seth that had invaded his kitchen.

"Good morning Your Majesty," Hugue said before taking a seat at the table. A plate of eggs and a cup of hot tea were already laid out however, just as Hugue had lifted up the fork, the Duchess stopped him.

"And what do you think you're doing Captain? Who said those eggs were for you?" Seth teased as she quickly dragged the plate away from him. Hugue sighed as he watched her take some egg on her fork and place it in her mouth. "So," she began with muffled speech. "Late night Captain?"

Hugue frowned for a moment, wondering how she knew. Then he realized that she must have noticed that he'd gone to bed fully dressed in the same clothes he wore for his night watch. This worried him for surely, Seth would have suspected something. It is never usual for a man of his status to be wearing all black unless he was mourning or was up to no good, which is relatively ironic because in the eyes of the law, he was up to no good.

Every night, he would go on a night watch accompanied by one of the members of his secret army he created 5 years ago. They would simply observe the city just to make sure there was no suspicious vampire activity occurring. However, if anyone knew about their antics, not only would Hugue's army be immediately disbanded but death may be in store for them due to distrust.

Although, Hugue had to commend the vampires for the peace that had been successfully maintained for 5 years, which was 5 years longer than what Hugue had first predicted.

During these musings, Seth stared at him intently, wondering whether she was ever going to get an answer. Instead of waiting though, she passed him the plate of remaining egg. "Never mind, here. Esther wants to speak to you. She says it's urgent however, she also said to take your time and that there's no need to rush. Honestly though, that woman needs to make up her mind. Now that I think of it, I've just realized how contradictory all of that was..." Seth babbled on as Hugue continued to finish his breakfast.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Before entering the throne room, Hugue took one last look at the state of his uniform in the reflective surface of the polished gold doors. He adjusted himself a little bit, fixing his hair and straightening out his coat, until he was satisfied enough to enter and present himself to the Empress.

But Hugue found himself in an empty room. He frowned in confusion and scratched his head. How odd, he thought to himself.

"Good morning Captain!" a voice boomed from behind him. Hugue turned, startled to find that he was being saluted by one of the guards stationed in the throne room.

"Good morning soldier. Say, you wouldn't happen to know where the Empress is?" Hugue asked as he returned the gesture of respect.

"Ah, yes sir, as a matter of fact I do. She has been waiting for you in the gardens."

"The gardens?" Hugue asked, bewildered once again for the third time today. The Duchess only ever called her closest friends to the garden, and it would only ever be on special occasions, like when she first announced her engagement with Abel. This filled Hugue with hope for a moment, then a different thought lingered. What if it wasn't good news? What if it was another situation like that of Sister Noelle's brutal murder? Well, there's only one way to find out, Hugue thought to himself before he headed off to see the Empress.

When he found her standing before a rose bush, he was expecting that all their friends would be there also. But alas, she was alone. This confirmed that he was going to be receiving bad news.

"Ah Hugue, you're here," she said as she turned with 6 red roses in her hands. She looked radiant as the roses accentuated her scarlet hair and her white dress showed off her pale skin. As beautiful as she was standing before him, there was sadness in her eyes. Did something happen to Abel perhaps?

Hugue bowed to her and greeted her with an impartial smile to show his concern. "Good morning Your Majesty."

"Actually Hugue, it's afternoon now and you can stop referring to me as 'Your Majesty'. We're friends," she said with a cheerful smile. It wasn't hard for Hugue to see why Abel had fallen in love with her. If he wasn't so emotionally detached from the world, he had no doubt in his mind that he too, would have fallen for her, given that Abel had not gotten to her first and if she was slightly younger.

Hugue chuckled as he bent down to draw a weed out from under the rose bush in front of her. "So then Esther, what troubles you?" he asked, still crouched.

"Have you heard anything from Gregory as of late?" Esther asked anxiously. At this, Hugue stood up immediately but could not face her properly yet. "I apologize if this is causing you angst but it's been almost 2 weeks since anyone's heard from him and, well, it just isn't normal for him. I contacted one of the head councilors from Bethalza and they told me he never arrived."

Hugue was unable to look her in the eye. He knew for a fact that Gregory did not leave for Bethalza at all. Instead, he had gone on a secret rendezvous with one of his many lovers outside the city borders. But Hugue's guilt was not due to his illicit knowledge of this, but more so, it was he fact that the night Gregory left was one of the nights he was ordered to patrol, however Hugue allowed him to leave the city. Now he was missing and there was a possibility that Hugue was to blame.

Esther sighed, as Hugue was lost in his musings. "I knew something was wrong." Her voice broke the silence, causing Hugue to face her. He put one hand on her shoulder to comfort her, and that was the most physical contact he was ever capable of with her when no one else was around.

"Don't worry Esther. I will find Gregory and I will bring him home."

The Empress smiled at her friend. "Thank you Hugue and good luck," she said as she handed him the roses she had plucked from earlier. Hugue chuckled at the strange gesture. "Yes, Seth told me your house needed something to make it look a bit more... classy," Esther said with a quiet laugh as she made her way back to the palace.

  

With that, Hugue immediately departed in search of his friend. Although he already knew that the worst was yet to come.