Yibo's pov~

The first place that I went to was the Hargreve estate.

"Commander." Hazel's father Kennedy said, "please come in."

Once I went inside, I could feel that the atmosphere of the house was very solemn, the servants stood in the hall looking all tense and worried, and in the middle of the room stood Mrs. Hargreve.

She was crying and shaking as she stood in the middle of the room. I turned to Mr. Hargreve, "From where was Ms. Hazel kidnapped?"

"In the morning her maid went to her room and she was gone, we searched everywhere but could not find her."

"Then can I see her room?" I asked and Mr. Hargreve took me there.

Once I reached her room, I saw that there was nothing unusual, no signs of forced entry, no signs of any struggle, everything was normal.

"Did no one hear anything?" I asked Mr. Hargreve, and he just shook his head. I felt that something was off, I stared at Mr. Hargreve but something about his expression told me that something else was going on here.

"Can you all go out?" I asked and Mr. Hargreve nodded, but he hesitated for a second before he and the others finally left.

And once he was gone, I looked around the room more carefully, I touched the walls and looked in the cupboard before I checked the bed.

So far there was nothing, I was just about to leave but then I thought of the carpet on the floor, I removed the carpet and looked at the floor, and there was nothing unusual except a tile that seemed a little off. I sat down on the floor and knocked on the tile, before I picked it up and just as I thought it turned out to be a secret compartment.

And there were letters, several of them. I picked the letters and went through them one by one.

They were love letters.

I sighed when I saw them.

~~

"Care to tell me what these are Mr. Hargreve?" I asked, however Mr. Hargreve could not look at me, he clenched his fists and said, "I had no idea about this."

"Your daughter might not be kidnapped, she might have run away with Azarael."

Mr. Hargreve seemed furious when he heard this and glared at me, "How dare you Valerian! How dare you slander my daughter like this! She has been kidnapped you get that? And if you cannot find her then tell me and tell the emperor, no need to slander her name like this!"

Mr. Hargreve's anger was valid, if the news went viral that Mr. Hargreve's daughter ran away with a rebel, the entire family might get into trouble, they might lose everything.

This could be a great loss for them. Mr. Hargreve was not just angry, he was also scared, his daughter falling in love with a rebel was a matter of great shame.

No wonder he said that she was kidnapped, that was much better than telling that she ran away. I understood his situation.

"I will find your daughter." I said before I turned to leave.

"What about the letters?" Mr. Hargreve asked.

I stared at the box in my hand, these letters could kill Mr. Hargreve's entire family, ruin his business, so many innocents would be affected because two people decided to love. Besides my orders from the emperor were to find Hazel and kill Azarael, not find out what actually happened.

Why should I poke my nose where it is not required.

"I did not find any letters." I said before I added, "but did you know anything about this love affair?"

Mr. Hargreve looked at me, "Nathan is an old lecherous man, everybody knows his treatment of women, everybody knows how he captures women and what he does to them, the whole capital knows that his wife committed suicide because she could not take his abuse anymore. He literally buys and sells women! My daughter is only eighteen!

And I love my daughter, why would I send her to marry that man! I told Nathan countless times that my daughter was not ready for marriage but he would not listen, and finally brought in the emperor!

My poor daughter tried to commit suicide because it was better if she was dead, at least she would be safe then, but her lover saved her and took her away.

I had no idea that she was going to elope but I do not blame her and I am not angry at her for saving herself!"

"Nathan sells women?" I asked as I was shocked to hear this.

Mr. Hargreve was breathing heavily, "he buys them as slaves and sells them to foreign lands! He goes to local tribes, abducts women and children, sometimes he just kidnaps anyone he sees, and not just women, men and children are not spared either!"

I was shocked to hear this. Slavery was banned in the kingdom. Human trafficking was also a crime in the kingdom. The emperor supports Nathan so much, did the emperor know? Was this really true?

My heart sank as I looked at Mr. Hargreve before I walked away.

~~

"Adrian."

"Yes, Commander."

"I want you to find something about Nathan Aberdeen."

"What is it?"

"I want you to find out if he is involved in human trafficking."

Adrian was shocked to hear this, "Commander, Nathan Aberdeen is close to the emperor, if it is discovered that we are investigating him without prior order then..."

"We are not investigating him."

"Still even if we are spying on him then we might get into trouble!"

"I know, but I still want you to do it and make sure that you do not get caught, be careful."

"Yes, sir." Adrian spoke, "and sir I have sent our men to go and find all of Azarael's old friends and acquaintances, the soldiers who served under him and his family as well.

They all will be brought in for questioning."

I nodded agreeing with him, I also looked at the box in my hands. These letters might also tell me where they could be.