Too Lazy to be a Villainess novel Chapter 362

Chapter 362: The Missing Captain —Part 2

[Lavinia’s POV—Imperial Palace—Moments After]

The word "missing" did not echo.

It sank.

Like a stone dropped straight into my chest—heavy, sudden, dragging everything else down with it.

I did not move. I did not sit. I did not ask him to repeat himself.

"Missing," I said again—not a question. A confirmation.

Zerith nodded, his jaw tight. "Yes, Your Highness. Captain Haldor did not report to morning formation. He sent a letter requesting leave." His voice hesitated for half a breath. "But his quarters show no signs of departure. His armor, sword, and cloak are still there."

Still there.

My fingers curled slowly into my palm. A leave request meant nothing when the man who wrote it vanished with everything he considered expendable—and left behind the only things he would never abandon unless forced.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

I clenched my fist, an unfamiliar sensation spreading through my chest—tight, unsteady, almost painful.

Why does my heart feel like this?

This wasn’t anger. This wasn’t fear. It was something sharper. Something instinctive.

"Sera."

She stepped forward immediately, startled by my tone. "Y–Yes, Your Highness?"

"I want you to summon Rey. Immediately," I said coldly. "Tell him to abandon every cursed experiment, spell, and indulgence he’s drowning in—and come here now."

She didn’t hesitate. She turned and ran. "Yes, Your Highness!"

I looked back at Zerith. "How many people know?"

"No one except us, Your Highness," he replied. "I made sure of it."

Good.

"Keep it that way," I said. My voice was calm—but lethal. "No rumors. No whispers. No heroic tales sung by bored servants."

I stepped forward, past him, already moving.

"Because I am bringing back my captain," I said, each word sharp with promise. "Wherever he is."

The doors of my office opened before me, and I strode out into the corridor without slowing—my pulse steady, my resolve absolute.

I don’t know where you are, Haldor. But I feel it—deep, instinctive, undeniable. You need me right now. So wherever you are... I hope you are holding on because I am coming.

***

[Later—Hallway]

Rey arrived like a tear in the air.

One moment the corridor was empty—torchlight flickering against stone—and the next, the space warped, light bending inward with a low hum that made my skin prickle.

He stepped out of nothingness, boots hitting marble, expression already alert.

"You don’t summon me like that unless the world is ending," he said lightly—then stopped.

He looked at my face.

The humor vanished.

"...Who’s gone?" Rey asked.

"Haldor," I said.

One word.

Enough.

The air around him shifted. Not magic—focus.

"Missing?" he asked quietly.

"Yes."

I turned toward him fully. "I want to know where he is."

Rey inhaled slowly. "Princess—"

"I don’t care how," I cut in, every syllable edged with steel. "I don’t care what it costs. I want to know where my captain is."

He studied me for a long moment, then sighed, running a hand through his hair. "He will return."

Something in his certainty irritated me.

"I don’t think so," I said quietly.

He frowned. "Why?"

"Because," I continued, voice dropping, "yesterday—the vase. The one that rolled down the hallway." I looked straight at him. "It wasn’t Marshi. And it wasn’t Solena."

Rey stilled.

"It was Haldor, I think," I said.

The realization clicked behind his eyes. His posture shifted, alert now, calculating. "Then..." he murmured slowly, "...he must have heard everything."

"Yes," I exhaled, a tight sound. "And this is not how I wanted him to find out."

Not through whispers.

Not through shadows.

Not alone.

Rey was quiet for a beat. Then he said carefully, "Princess... give him a moment."

I looked away, jaw tightening.

"This is not a small truth," he continued. "If he learned about his past—about Luke—about what he might be—he needs time. To think. To breathe. To be with himself."

My fingers curled into my palm.

I hated that he was right.

Silence stretched—thin and brittle. Then the question slipped out before I could stop it.

"What if he doesn’t come back?"

"NO ONE," I snapped, the word cracking through the room like a whip, "CAN EVER TAKE HIS PLACE. I WILL NEVER LET THAT HAPPEN."

"Listen to me," I said, voice low, dangerous, and absolute. "If Haldor does not return by tomorrow morning—"

"—I will drag you by the collar if I have to, and you will find him. By spell. By blood. By fate itself."

"Whether you want to or not."

This was about mine.

***

[Haldor’s POV—Beyond the Palace Walls—Before Dawn]

Valencourt.Astreyon.A child.A carriage rolling down a hill.

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