It was midnight, and the 27th King of Shin Makoku, Yuuri Shibuya was asleep in his bed- his adopted daughter Greta on one side- his fiancé, Wolfram on the other.
Aside from the occasional sleep-kick from his bed partners, Yuuri was safe- and Conrad could finally rest, if only for an hour or two.
It had been a long day and he was exhausted as he made his way towards his chambers.
He'd been in over-drive for weeks and had hoped he'd finally find a moment of peace tonight-
However...
Peace rarely came to soldiers, there was always something to haunt their minds.
Conrad was no different- and even though he tried, he couldn't wash his brain of the current worries and stresses he had been battling.
There was a serial killer in Shin Makoku's capitol.
Someone- they didn't even know if it was a man, woman or beast at this point- was targeting children in the capitol, luring them away or kidnapping them.
The ones they found were never alive.
Conrad, who adored children, was heartbroken to know that the children he visited in the orphanages, or played with on his rounds in the city, or stopped to help tie their shoes- were the same children being slaughtered.
The monster responsible was very careful and clever, which made them extremely difficult to track or lure.
They couldn't even catch a glimpse of this phantom menace.
Yuuri was not aware.
The stubborn justice-seeking king just wouldn't rest if he knew what was going on right now, and with no leads it just didn't make sense to stir the youth up about it.
In fact, the entire castle was under a strict rule of silence when it came to the subject.
Alone, in the washroom nearest his room- Conrad washed his face, and then slide down the cold, stone wall until he was seated on the floor.
He held his throbbing head in his hands.
It was going to be a long night.