Chapter 130: Shawn Thorne
Sophie Wexler watched the little boy eat, one bite at a time.
Although he was hungry, he didn’t wolf down his food. On the contrary, his movements were unhurried, each one carrying a certain elegance. His dining etiquette was impeccable.
Sophie watched him, thinking, ’To have manners cultivated to this degree, he can’t be from a simple background.’
"Can you tell me your name now?" Sophie Wexler asked, looking at him.
Shawn Thorne’s fingers, holding the chopsticks, paused. He finished eating the piece of food he’d picked up, then set down his chopsticks and looked up at Sophie Wexler across from him.
He answered, "Shawn Thorne."
’Besides, no one outside The Royal Family knows their names, so it doesn’t matter if I say it,’ he thought.
Hearing this, Sophie Wexler’s eyes flickered. ’Thorne.’
’That Shane Thorne from before also had the surname Thorne. Are they related?’
Shawn Thorne didn’t overthink it. After speaking, he went back to eating.
Sophie Wexler asked again, "You said you came to find me. What did you need?"
Shawn Thorne: "..."
"I just heard that Uncle Forrest was matched with a Healer-class, so I came to have a look."
Sophie Wexler let out a soft "Oh."
’That explains it,’ she thought. ’I don’t even know him. The only reason this kid would come looking for me is because of Cillian Forrest.’
"What’s your relationship with Cillian Forrest?" She was quite curious.
Shawn Thorne pursed his lips. He couldn’t very well say that he was the Little Prince of The Empire, that he admired Cillian Forrest, the Imperial Marshal, and wanted to be just like him, which was why he was always chasing after the man.
"Didn’t I already say he’s my uncle?" Shawn Thorne said evasively.
While the two of them were eating, the Royal Family, on the other hand, was thrown into chaos after discovering Shawn Thorne’s disappearance.
"Where is the Little Prince?!" a panicked cry rang out.
The Little Prince had said he wasn’t feeling well this morning and wouldn’t be attending his classes.
With his Disorder Period approaching, it was normal for his Spiritual Sea to fluctuate and cause discomfort, so no one thought much of it.
The Little Prince had been quite well-behaved and obedient recently, so missing class once in a while wasn’t a big deal.
But who would have thought that the Little Prince, who was supposed to be resting, had vanished?
The entire Imperial Palace had been searched, but he was nowhere to be found.
"Don’t tell me he snuck out to find the Marshal again?!"
It was no wonder people thought this; after all, it had practically become a habit.
Previously, whenever the Little Prince disappeared, he was definitely off to find the Marshal. He had only been better behaved for a while when the Marshal himself was away.
’Who would have thought he’d start again?’
This would have been fine on a normal day, but his Disorder Period was imminent. It was difficult enough to get through even with the many Medical Masters in the Imperial Palace, let alone when his whereabouts were unknown.
The Little Prince had snuck out just like that. It was a dereliction of duty on their part.
Fearing something might go wrong, they could only hurry to report it to His Majesty. "Your Majesty, the Little Prince is missing."
The man on the throne froze. He knew Shawn Thorne’s Disorder Period was near—he was the one who had given the order to let him rest. He never expected the boy to actually run off.
The man immediately picked up his communicator and dialed Cillian Forrest.
Cillian Forrest: "Your Majesty?"
’I just left the Imperial Palace this morning. Did Your Majesty have something else to add?’
"Cillian, is Shawn Thorne with you?" the man’s voice was low.
Cillian Forrest paused. "No."
"Your Majesty, did he sneak out again?" Cillian Forrest asked. Clearly, this wasn’t the first time Shawn Thorne had done this.
The man on the other end didn’t speak, but his voice was laced with anger, clearly confirming Cillian’s words.
"His Disorder Period is due in the next day or two, and now we don’t know where he’s gone."
He had assumed Shawn Thorne had run off to Cillian Forrest’s place, but unexpectedly, he wasn’t there.
"Your Majesty, please don’t worry. I’ll take some men and search for him," Cillian Forrest said.
As he spoke, he halted his steps, having planned to go home early. He turned and ordered Ethan Cross, "The Little Prince is missing. Assemble a team and find him."
After saying that, he began searching himself.
If it were just a normal Disorder Period, it would be manageable. Although painful, it wouldn’t be life-threatening.
But Shawn Thorne was different. He had Starbug poison in his system, something he’d carried since birth.
Because of this, every Disorder Period required specialized Medical Masters to suppress it. If it weren’t for the prince’s young age and the soothing from the Queen, he would have been long dead.
He was usually mischievous, but he knew his limits and would never act so recklessly during a Disorder Period. This time... this was truly outrageous!
As time ticked by, minute by minute, the search parties returned one by one, all reporting they hadn’t found the Little Prince. Cillian Forrest’s expression darkened.
’What if his Disorder Period really starts?’
Suddenly, Cillian Forrest seemed to think of something. He ordered Ethan Cross, "You continue leading the search in the places he’s likely to be."
As for himself, he turned, boarded a flyer, and headed for home.
Cillian Forrest’s eyes were cold and hard. ’He’d better be there.’
Meanwhile, after asking a few questions, Sophie Wexler realized that he would answer some questions but remained tight-lipped about others.
’I wonder where he was trained to be so tight-lipped.’
In the end, Sophie stopped asking. She just watched the boy eat, thinking she should send a message to Cillian Forrest to let him know a child named Shawn Thorne had shown up at the house.
But just as she picked up her communicator, before she could even send the message, a loud THUD echoed through the room.
Sophie Wexler froze, her eyes snapping up to see that the boy who had been sitting on the stool just a moment ago was now lying on the floor.
Startled, Sophie immediately jumped up, ran over, and caught him.
"Shawn Thorne! What’s wrong?!"
Sophie had no idea what had happened. The boy who had been perfectly fine moments ago was now pale, his lips bitten tightly together. Beads of sweat were even starting to form on his forehead. It was clear he was in immense pain.
"Shawn Thorne!" Sophie was starting to panic. She gently shook the boy in her arms. "Shawn Thorne, can you hear me?"
Shawn Thorne struggled to open his eyes. The pain was unbearable; he felt as if his Spiritual Sea was under a massive assault.
He gritted his teeth and forced out the words, "Dis... order... Disorder Period."
This morning, he hadn’t felt anything unusual in his Spiritual Sea.
Although he knew his Disorder Period was due any day, he’d figured he would just go see Uncle Forrest’s matched partner and come right back.
He had even specifically checked his Spiritual Sea this morning to make sure everything was fine before he left.
He never imagined this would happen. Rampant spiritual power was relentlessly battering his Spiritual Sea, and the poison mixed within it was corroding him further.
Immense pain enveloped Shawn Thorne. It hurt so much.
The last thing he thought before he lost consciousness was: ’Father is going to be furious this time.’
Sophie Wexler looked at the boy who had fainted from the pain in her arms, her face filled with anxiety. She immediately lifted him and placed him on the living room sofa.
She hadn’t forgotten Shawn Thorne’s last words before he passed out.
’Disorder Period.’
’If I’m not mistaken, his Disorder Period has started.’
Sophie Wexler immediately mobilized her spiritual power. During a Disorder Period, nothing was more effective than the soothing of a Healer-class.
As Sophie Wexler channeled her spiritual power into him, a flash of surprise crossed her eyes. "3S!"
’He’s so young, yet his spiritual power has already reached Level 3S!’
’Fortunately, my spiritual power has reached that level too. If this had happened before, I really wouldn’t have been able to soothe him.’
Sophie Wexler cleared her mind and released more of her spiritual power. But in the next second, her expression froze, filled with even more disbelief than when she had detected his 3S level. "Poison!"