"Have you still not found her?" Ardhis asked in a deep voice.

The soldier in front of him shook his head with a heavy sigh.

"Not yet, my lord. Young Lady Catrine is still missing—even after I searched the entire mansion. The city guards are also looking for her, but they haven't found anything."

"Damn..." Ardhis gritted his teeth and clenched his right fist. "I never thought something like this would happen. I was so stupid to leave Catrine home alone."

His face was flushed with sadness and anger. A few days ago, when he returned with his wife from the royal palace, he discovered that Catrine had disappeared.

Maya and the other servants had already searched for her, but they still couldn't find her.

Furious, he issued a search order throughout the city. But until now, the girl's whereabouts remained unknown.

"Go. Search again. Don't ever stop," Ardhis ordered in a cold voice.

The soldier didn't dare argue and immediately left the living room.

"Catrine, where are you?" Ardhis muttered, massaging his temples.

Livia appeared beside him, feeling depressed as she watched her husband looking so dejected and sad.

"Don't worry too much, dear. Maybe Catrine went to the city or somewhere else," she said softly.

"No, that's impossible." Ardhis shook his head. "If she went to the city, she should've come back a few days ago. But she hasn't shown up. So most likely she was kidnapped. This is all my fault. I broke my promise to my friend. I'm a complete failure."

His friend's last request was for him to look after Catrine until she got married.

But he had failed to do so and ended up breaking that promise. Guilt overwhelmed him as tears welled up in his eyes.

Livia wanted to say something, but in the end, no words came out.

She could only stay silent while gently rubbing her husband's back. What she feared most now was how they would explain this to Merlin later.

He would surely be even more devastated than Ardhis.

"Hah..." Livia sighed deeply and muttered in sadness, 'Catrine, where are you, dear?'

...

About forty kilometers from the city of Droswen, there was a fairly dense forest.

It was a wild forest untouched by humans, and many ferocious creatures were said to live within it.

Because of that, most people avoided the forest—merchants even chose a longer route.

They didn't want to risk their lives by passing through an area that could kill them if they were careless.

At this moment, about three kilometers from the forest's edge, there was a well-hidden cave.

The cave was quite large, but it was covered by trees and grass, making it look like nothing more than a giant rock.

The interior was spacious, covered with frozen rocks. The temperature was extremely low—below five degrees Celsius.

And the low temperature wasn't without reason—it was all caused by a nine-year-old girl.

The girl sat cross-legged with her eyes closed. Her hair was silver, with a flower-shaped ribbon on her right side.

If Ardhis were here, he would have been shocked—the girl was his daughter, Catrine.

"Very good. In just four days, the activation of her bloodline has reached twenty-five percent. With more time, this girl will surely awaken the Sovereign of Winter bloodline within her," an old woman said, looking at Catrine with clear appreciation.

The woman was short, with pale white hair and a face full of wrinkles.

Yet anyone perceptive could still see traces of beauty in her features. She must have been extraordinarily beautiful in her youth.

"The Bloodline of the Sovereign of Winter is incredibly powerful. I never expected this girl to possess it. This is truly a great fortune," she muttered with a broad smile.

That bloodline existed only in legends, and even if it did appear, it should have been in the northern continent—not here.

However, she had heard rumors that the strongest kingdom there, the Kingdom of Snow Night, had been destroyed.

All members of its royal family had been killed to the last. But there were whispers that a newborn princess had survived.

Inevitably, the woman connected those rumors to the little girl in front of her. It sounded impossible, yet the possibility still existed.

The Kingdom of Snow Night had long been connected to the owner of the Bloodline of the Sovereign of Winter.

From that royal line, the next true heir to the bloodline would almost certainly appear.

"If my guess is correct, I wonder how those people will react. Will they come hunting for this little girl? If so…"

A playful, mocking smile spread across her face. "Hehehe… they'd better be prepared to face my wrath," she whispered.

...

"Damn! My luck really sucks."

In his room, Merlin cursed as he gritted his teeth.

He had just opened two Pandora's boxes, but the results were terrible—complete junk.

From the first box, he got a C-level healing potion.

If a B-level potion was already considered trash, then this C-level one was even worse.

And from the second box, he got something slightly better—a small camera.

But it didn't look like the cameras from his old world.

It was shaped like a small box with a tiny lens on the back. It was red, with strange engravings covering its surface.

Its function wasn't to record or take pictures, but to reveal the whereabouts of other people.

With that thing, he could even find the location of someone on the other side of the world.

But of course, there were several conditions that had to be met. He needed to have an item related to that person.

And most annoyingly, the camera could only be used three times a day and required a large amount of mana to activate.

If only those last two conditions didn't exist, the item would definitely be a very powerful artifact.

"[Master, you're really ungrateful. That camera is an epic-level artifact, you know? And it's not even a perfect one. If you can find its missing parts, it can be upgraded to a legendary or even mythic-level artifact!]"

The system's dissatisfied voice echoed in his mind.

Merlin took a deep breath, trying to calm his irritation.

Annoying as it was, the system wasn't wrong. At the very least, he hadn't gotten a completely worthless item.

"How do I use it?" Merlin asked, leaning back against the headboard.

"[It's simple—just place an item related to the person you want to check, then look directly at the front of the camera.]"

"Hmmm..." Merlin rubbed his chin, wondering whose condition he should check first.

Several people crossed his mind—Catrine, Margaret, Luna, his father and mother, and Linda.

However, his conscience held him back. In Japan, spying on others was both illegal and immoral.

But then he reminded himself that this wasn't his home country, so he pushed that thought aside and settled on two names—Margaret and Catrine.

As for Linda and Luna, he wouldn't do it. Linda was extremely strong.

It wouldn't be impossible for her to notice if she was being watched.

And Luna hadn't been separated from him for very long. So Margaret and Catrine were the most reasonable choices.

"In that case, let's start with Margaret first."

Since Margaret was the furthest away, he decided to begin with her.

Quickly, Merlin took out the five-star card she had given him. It was the only thing Margaret had left behind.

He attached the card to the back of the camera, then channeled his mana into it.

Suddenly, a red light shone from the camera. Merlin immediately pressed both eyes against the front.

The darkness changed into the view of a very luxurious room.

The room was large, spacious, and no less extravagant than the one he was currently staying in.

"Huh? Where's Margaret?" Merlin asked in surprise.

He pointed the camera to the right, and the view shifted accordingly.

Then he saw Margaret lying on the bed, wriggling slightly like a worm.

"That's Margaret!" Merlin smiled happily—only for his expression to twist in confusion a moment later.

"Huh? What is that girl doing?"

He pressed the button on the right side of the camera, and the view instantly zoomed in on her.

"Merlin… Umm… Merlin… Yes… There…"

In that instant, Merlin realized what was happening—Margaret was masturbating.

"Damn! That girl is doing something perverted!" Merlin exclaimed, his face turning bright red.

Most surprisingly, Margaret was doing it while calling his name.

Inevitably, Merlin became even more embarrassed.

His heart pounded, and his body reacted naturally.

He never expected Margaret, who used to be very reserved, to do something like that.

Then again, she was still human, and it was possible for her to do such a thing.

"Ahem!" Merlin cleared his throat shyly and shook his head.

"If that girl finds out I was peeping on her, she'll definitely be angry, right?"

He quickly removed the gold card from behind the camera and put it back into his storage ring.

Although he had just seen something unethical, he was still relieved to know that Margaret was fine.

Moreover, the curse that had afflicted the girl seemed to have been completely lifted, making her look incredibly beautiful earlier.

"Alright, now let's check on Catrine."

However, before he could retrieve the item related to her, a system notification suddenly appeared before him.

"[Reminder! The story has undergone a drastic change! The Master of Illusions has appeared!]"

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