"Missing? What do you mean, Gilbert is missing?"
"Nobody in the palace has seen him since yesterday morning, I've been searching all this time. He was planning to speak to Queen Erzsébet again about Ludwig's behaviour, but she said that never happened."
Feliks glanced around the hallway as Basch spoke to Kiku, while Alfred, Feliciano and Lenka also closely listened in on this unexpected development.
After the other group split off at the royal cemetery, Basch introduced himself to the guards as Ludwig's cousin and as an invited wedding guest, allowing them entrance to the castle. They easily convinced the guards to let them find their own path through the castle to the wedding, without having to announce their arrival to the Queen.
"Is there any chance Gilbert left the palace grounds?" Alfred inquired, "There were all those reports about the Beast of Bueswood, would Gilbert have gone alone into the forest?"
"I already checked at the stables, your Highness, the attendants never saw him," Kiku shot down, "All the horses are also accounted for, including the one he rode here from Inasdiff."
"Are you certain the Queen is telling the truth?" Lenka asked, "Could she have had something to do with the King's disappearance?"
As the others continued discussing the possibilities of where Gilbert had gone, Feliks suddenly heard what sounded like croaking nearby. He looked around the hallway, perplexed at where the croaking could be coming from. They were on the second floor of the palace, it wasn't like there was direct access to the gardens outside.
Feliks shook his head in derision of his own senses, glancing quickly down at the ground afterwards. Before he could redirect his attention back to the conversation, he finally noticed a dark green frog hopping across the floor towards their group, croaking and ribbiting at what seemed to be as loud as it could.
"A frog?" Feliks muttered, "Why is there a frog here?"
The others suddenly stopped talking, and Feliks noticed that they had heard him and were now looking at the frog as well.
"Your poor little thing," Feliciano greeted the animal, kneeling down to collect it in his hands, "How did you get into the palace?"
"I was just wondering the same thing," Feliks said, "We're on the second floor too, it's not like there's an easy path from the gardens for it to take to get here."
"I think we have bigger issues than a frog right now," Alfred dismissed.
Feliciano stood back up with the frog in his hands, and Feliks saw the surprise in his face as he looked more closely at the frog.
"It can't be," Feliciano muttered, "Your Majesty?"
"Feliciano, what is it?" Feliks checked.
"It's King Gilbert," Feliciano declared, "Queen Erzsébet is a witch, she turned him into a frog, and this is him!"
"Gilbert?" Basch exclaimed, prompting the frog to turn in the Duke's direction and start bouncing up and down in Feliciano's hand in recognition, "Why the fuck are you a frog?"
"Sit still, Your Majesty," Feliciano requested, "I can't read your spell while you hop like that!"
Gilbert immediately stopped hopping, and began croaking non-stop instead.
"Okay, this is a weaker spell," Feliciano analysed, "In fact, it's just like one of those stories Arthur told us from his world. It's a frog king this time, though, instead of a frog prince."
"A frog prince?" Lenka repeated, "What's that story about?"
"A prince is cursed by a witch and turned into a frog," Feliciano elaborated, "To break the spell, the frog prince has to convince a princess to kiss him."
"So a princess has to kiss King Gilbert?" Feliks checked, "We'll have to reunite with the others first, before we can have Princess Madeline try it."
"I might have a better idea," Alfred countered, "Feliciano, hand me the frog."
Feliks watched in confusion as Feliciano handed the frog over to Alfred.
"Can't believe I'm doing this," Alfred grumbled, "Sorry, Gilbert, but it is worth a shot."
Before anyone could stop him, Alfred quickly brought the frog up to his face and kissed it right on the mouth. Feliks squirmed a bit as he watched it happen, although not nearly as much as Alfred who was actually kissing a king-turned-into-a-frog.
The kiss seemed like it lasted longer than the one second it did, but Alfred did finally end it and moved the frog away from his face in disgust. A glowing, magical yellow haze immediately surrounded the frog, and Alfred dropped it to the ground moments later as it started transforming. The rest of the group backed away as the haze surrounding the frog became impossible to see through, and grew significantly larger. Once it finally subsided, Gilbert was standing there in his human form, squirming in disgust.
"Really, Alfred?" Gilbert protested, "Did you have to kiss me?"
"Hey, at least it worked," Alfred defended, "Feliciano never said it couldn't be a prince instead of a princess!"
"Oh for fuck's sake," Feliks muttered to himself, bringing his hand to his forehead and shaking his head in it.
"So I see you all make it to Tark," Gilbert addressed as he looked around the group, "Hello miss, who are you?"
"Her name is Lenka, she was a servant at Inasdiff," Basch explained, "She was the one who danced with me at the ball, it was Francis who abducted her shortly after."
"Wait a minute," Gilbert checked, "Are you the same Lenka that Francis claims Princess Madeline had stolen away from Virside?"
"Yes, that's me," Lenka confirmed, "How do you know about that, your Majesty?"
"Francis was here yesterday, I met him," Gilbert explained, "He and Erzsébet were talking about Madeline freezing over Virside and taking away two girls named Lilli and Lenka. Erzsébet was also plotting to kill me and take the throne of Ixaidel after marrying Ludwig, who is definitely under her spell by the way. They caught me eavesdropping, and that's when Erzsébet turned me into a frog!"
"Erzsébet and Francis are definitely working together then," Basch summarized, "They had plans for Ixaidel after all."
As the others kept chattering, Feliks heard footsteps approaching them from down the hallway.
"Everyone, quiet," Feliks immediately ordered, "Someone's coming, we should hide!"
"This way," Kiku directed.
The group quickly shuffled down the hallway, trying their best to keep quiet and out of sight. They reached the junction where another stretch of hallway connected to a grand staircase, which led down to the main floor. A small parlour was there at the top of the stairs, which they quickly piled into.
As they all got inside, the group split in half and hid on each side of the adjacent front wall, behind the double doors at the entrance of the room. Feliks was to the left side with Gilbert, Lenka and Basch, while Alfred, Feliciano and Kiku had hidden on the other side. They all quietly reminded each other to stay quiet and mind their breathing, while Feliks leaned against the door to peek into the hallway.
A woman came by just then, wearing a pure white ballgown with an enormous skirt, and her long brown hair braided and adorned down her back. A man was with her, wearing a blue suit and his wavy shoulder-length hair bouncing with each step. They were walking right past the door, on their way to the staircase.
"That's them," Lenka whispered behind Feliks, "Erzsébet and Francis."
"Yep, that's definitely them," Gilbert confirmed quietly, "They must be on their way down to the wedding."
"Are we out of time then?" Alfred hissed from the other door, "How do we stop her from marrying Ludwig?"
Feliks was the first to carefully remove himself from his hiding place, moving to the other side of the door, and looking into the hallway to track the steps of the sorcerer and the Queen. He waited patiently to see them heading down the stairs, before leaving the room himself. He kept close to the wall, and used the corner as a barrier to peek down.
Queen Erzsébet was going down the stairs a little slower than she had been walking before, carefully taking each step without being able to see her feet. Francis dallied behind her, chuckling at her plight.
"That's what you get for choosing such an enormous skirt," Francis teased, "How are you even going to sit in that thing later?"
"Be quiet, Francis," Erzsébet quipped back, "I'm about to get married, I can do what I want."
"It's not that special, you know," Francis remarked, "You've already been married once, how many more husbands do you want?"
The Queen finally reached the last steps, where she and Francis immediately increased their speed. Feliks emerged from the corner of the wall, ducking against the railing as he wouldn't be able to see the garden entrance past where the second floor of the castle became the ceiling for the hall below. Just then, he noticed movement from a hallway on the bottom floor, and saw that Tolys was standing there spying on the Queen.
While Tolys kept watch, Madeline approached his side against that wall. She was the first to look up the staircase, and motioned to Feliks that she saw him. She then tapped Tolys, prompting him to also look up the staircase at Feliks. Tolys motioned for Feliks to stay quiet and stay put, and Feliks nodded in understanding.
"Feliks, what's happening?"
Feliks turned around, and saw Alfred hiding along the corner of the wall, waiting for whatever updates there were.
"Tolys and Madeline are at the bottom of the stairs," Feliks reported, "They're watching the Queen, they'll let us know when it's safe to come down."
"Got it," Alfred said before turning back to the others and letting them know.
Feliks looked back down the stairs, just in time to watch Tolys slide off their wall and tiptoe into the hall for a better look. Madeline took his place at the corner, while Arthur came into view to look over her shoulder. Tolys continued holding his hand in a halting position, making sure Feliks waited, while Madeline copied it from the side to let the rest of their group know.
Just then, a trumpet fanfare was given at the gardens entrance, signalling to everyone that the Queen had arrived at the ceremony. Tolys held his hand steady through the fanfare, and a few moments further after it ended, before waving at both Madeline and Feliks that they could come out.
"Let's go," Feliks told Alfred and the others as he stood up straight, "Remember to keep quiet, just in case."
Feliks turned to the stairs and led his group down. At the bottom of the stairs, Arthur and Madeline had emerged to speak to Tolys, quickly followed by Lovino. Antonio was last to emerge, and had an unfamiliar blonde woman with him who looked up the stairs at their group.
"Gilbert?" she called, "Is that you?"
"Katya?" Gilbert called back, "I thought you were dead!"
Feliks was the first of his group to reach the bottom of the stairs, and he immediately stood back to allow the room for the others to congregate. Gilbert immediately accepted a hug from the mystery woman, while the other royals looked on. Seeing Tolys was still backed away from the crowd with Lovino and Arthur, Feliks went to join them and was followed by Feliciano.
"Took you all long enough to catch up," Feliks remarked, "Who's the lady?"
"She is Princess Katerina of Stulikya," Tolys identified, "It turns out she never was actually dead that whole time, her birth spell made it so she was only in a death-like sleep. Antonio awoke her with true love's first kiss."
"A magical kiss, what a coincidence," Feliks noted, "We were lucky to find King Gilbert, he had been turned into a frog by Queen Erzsébet. When Feliciano found that a kiss from a princess would break the spell, Prince Alfred gave it a try and it somehow worked."
"Of course it did," Arthur muttered, "That boy likes breaking all the rules, even those of traditional fairy tales."
"Two kisses in a row to break spells," Lovino flagged, "What's next?"
While Lovino spoke, Feliks heard the familiar caw of a bird, so he and Tolys both turned to see that Naktakė had flown through the outside doors into the room. Tolys stretched his arm out, and she was already chattering away as she landed on it.
"Dwarfs?" Tolys said, "How many did you see?"
"Dwarfs?" Feliciano repeated, "Does that mean Princess Natalya is here?"
"Natalya?" Katerina echoed, overhearing them and interrupting the other discussions, "Did you just say Natalya's here?"
"You mean she -" Tolys spoke as Naktakė finished cawing, "Okay, that actually works well for us."
"What's happening, Tolys?" Madeline demanded, "What did Naktakė see?"
"Erzsébet is walking into a disaster as we speak," Tolys interpreted, "Princess Natalya and her band of seven dwarfs have already been here. They crashed the wedding, abducted Prince Ludwig, and took him into the forest."
"What?" Feliks gasped as several of the others muttered the same in various stages of disbelief.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Arthur exclaimed as he, Alfred and Gilbert all immediately burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"So Ludwig is safe then?" Basch checked, "Relatively speaking, of course."
"Yes, Prince Ludwig is safe from Erzsébet's grasp," Tolys confirmed, "Lilli has followed Princess Natalya and the dwarfs into the woods, tracking where they're taking the stolen prince. Naktakė can lead a group of us there after them."
"I should be among those who go," Kiku pointed out, "Natalya has already met me, she'll know I mean no harm."
"Basch, go with Kiku," Gilbert directed, finally calming down, "Your familiar face should be good for Ludwig to see, and you can help explain everything to Natalya."
"Lovino, Feliciano, you two go as well," Alfred ordered, "If Ludwig is still under the effects of Erzsébet's magic, you can figure out how to free him from it."
"Take Lenka along with you, she can stay close to Basch," Madeline recommended while Feliciano took Naktakė from Tolys, "Feliks, you will stay here with the rest of us."
Feliks glanced down the hallway where Lenka, Feliciano and Naktakė followed Basch, Kiku and Lovino. He then looked back at Tolys, Arthur, and all the royals who stayed behind.
"Shall we, then?" Katerina proposed.
Antonio offered his arm, which she gracefully took as they strode forwards the door heading out to the gardens. Madeline was next to move, with Alfred and Gilbert at her sides.
"What's the plan, Maddie?" Alfred requested, "Why are the rest of us staying behind?"
"Katerina wants to have a word with her wicked sister-in-law," Madeline answered, a knowing smirk on her face, "And if Francis is here as well, we may have a magical confrontation on our plate."
"Now this should be fun," Gilbert chuckled.
Once the three royals passed, Feliks took up the rear with Tolys and Arthur as their entire group made their way to the doors outside.
"Let me guess," Feliks said, "We're on bodyguard duty, aren't we?"
"We sure are," Tolys answered, "Got anything to warn us about yet?"
Feliks focused on his birth spell as the group reached the doors, where Katerina ordered the herald to make a royal trumpet fanfare. Extending the range to search for any complications resulted in no warnings of imminent death.
"Nothing yet," Feliks confirmed, just as the fanfare started, "Let's hope none of us do anything stupid to trigger it."