at the end of ch 27, we see a panel of someone whispering “they’ve taken the bait” to kelaira, possibly indicating she knew even then that sayi was in the north. we haven’t seen eliott in a while, and we knew kelaira was suspicious of him and even mentioned that a maid had disappeared to bait him, so it’s possible something else happened that we weren’t shown.
remember—konnie died in the first timeline. But sayi has gone back in time to when she was 18, and she managed to save konnie’s life by treating the ambassador’s assassination attempt on her differently than before, investigating it rather than seeing it as treason by the north.
padie (pink hair) has previously covered for sayi’s absence by pretending to be her, so she would still be in kaizeliah right now.