Episode 143

[Impossible. Laila’s death was clearly caused by humans.]

“It was Hertz pretending to be human who did it.”

Bergeus, staring at the lake that no longer showed anything with confused eyes, soon burst into anger.

[You’re trying to deceive me! How could you see something that happened more than a thousand years ago!]

“Hey, you idiot.”

[What…?]

Before I could even stop my mouth that moved on its own, the words spilled out.

“Do you even know how much energy it took for me to witness that?”

Askan, unable to endure the frustration, borrowed my body to speak to Bergeus.

“Stop being stubborn and just admit it already. You, and humans too, were foolishly played by Hertz.”

[Askan, is that you?]

“Yeah, you dumb lizard.”

[……Is it really true, the memories you saw?]

“Have you lived your whole life being fooled? Ah, right, you have. That’s why you’ve been sealed for over a thousand years.”

[Your foul personality hasn’t changed.]

“Same to you. Anyway, what I saw is definitely real. I swear it on the name of spirits.”

[…….]

“Enough, hurry up and take your human form. My neck’s about to break looking up at you.”

At that, Bergeus surprisingly obediently followed Askan’s words.

The enormous body gradually shrank down to human size.

At last, Bergeus became the man seen through the lake.

He had flaming red hair and golden eyes, with a golden emblem marked on his forehead.

Wearing a white tunic, in person, he looked as if a sculpture had come to life.

Moreover…

‘He kind of resembles Ludwig.’

As if proving he was a descendant, even the atmosphere he gave off was quite similar.

Bergeus approached me and said,

[I understand now that my anger was directed wrongly. Then…]

His golden eyes were still flickering with rage.

[Where is that wretch Hertz, who deserves to be torn apart?]

* * *

Early morning at the Karsian Grand Duchy.

In the lord’s office, a suffocating silence had settled.

The aide swallowed dryly while observing his master’s mood.

Ludwig was originally a person who showed little change in expression.

However, Ludwig, who was now reading a pink letter that had just arrived, had completely lost his composure.

The man who always exuded the ease of a top predator was shaken by that letter—what on earth could its contents be?

The knight commander, standing guard alongside the aide, also sensed the ominous atmosphere and stiffened his entire body.

After what felt like an eternity, Ludwig finally opened his mouth.

“Where is Sierra right now?”

After the long wait, the name his master mentioned was none other than the young duchess of Drenihan.

“The young duchess is certainly…”

The aide immediately reported what he had been informed of just yesterday by those stationed at Drenihan.

“She is safely at her residence.”

It was then.

Suddenly, with urgent knocking, a familiar voice rang out.

“Your Grace, it’s Belle.”

Belle—she was Sierra’s personal maid and also an elite knight of Karsian.

She was the very person who had reported Sierra’s well-being to the aide just the day before.

“Come in.”

Upon receiving permission, the grand door opened and Belle, pale as a sheet, entered the office.

The aide instinctively sensed that something serious had happened.

‘Could it be… that something has happened to the young duchess?’

That was the worst possible scenario.

Their lord became an entirely different person when it concerned her.

And the facts that Belle barely managed to utter were so shocking that the aide couldn’t even close his mouth.

“Lady Sierra has disappeared!”

“…….”

Even amidst the confusion, Belle calmly and carefully explained the situation.

In summary, Sierra, who had been fine just yesterday, had suddenly vanished with only a few belongings.

It appeared the incident had occurred while the manor was bustling as the Count and Countess of Chetwind returned to the south.

Even her nanny, Nella, who knew everything about Sierra, was worried sick about her sudden disappearance.

In fact, she had been missing since around noon yesterday.

Sierra had said she wasn’t feeling well and asked for no one to enter her room, and it wasn’t until late evening that Nella, bringing in her meal, found the room empty.

Even the Duke of Drenihan reportedly refused to answer when asked about Sierra’s whereabouts, his face grim.

Instead, he ordered everyone to stay silent to prevent any rumors from leaking outside.

“Judging from the circumstances, it seems she left of her own will… there’s suspicion of a runaway.”

At Belle’s words, the aide said in a bewildered voice,

“No, but why would the young duchess suddenly run away…?”

At that moment, the pink letter in Ludwig’s hand crumpled in an instant.

With cold golden eyes, Ludwig commanded his attendants who were nervously watching him.

“Find Sierra’s whereabouts immediately. You should be able to trace her movements from this letter.”

Leaving those words behind, Ludwig strode out of the office in a hurry, intending to mobilize Queensbury.

Bang— the door slammed shut, and the aide, the knight commander, and Belle slowly approached the crumpled letter.

As the three of them read the contents written in a lovely handwriting on the pink stationery, their faces gradually twisted in horror.

It was clear that the letter had been delivered to the wrong recipient.

After all, even the name of the recipient written on it wasn’t Ludwig.

It was a document explaining the reason for selling a mansion that Sierra had purchased in the Kingdom of Debar.

[I purchased the mansion to live with my lover, but due to my family’s fierce opposition, I have chosen a more distant country instead.]

In other words, right now, she… had run away with some unidentified man for love?!

With the mobilization of Queensbury, the situation unfolded rapidly.

Those who had served Ludwig closely knew better than anyone how important Sierra Drenihan was to their master.

Without exaggeration, Sierra Drenihan’s elopement was an event capable of shaking Ludwig’s entire life.

Queensbury, putting their very lives on the line, quickly tracked Sierra’s whereabouts to none other than the southern Chetwind County.

With numerous testimonies of having seen Sierra there, Queensbury was able to pinpoint her location in just half a day.

Within this empire—or even outside it—there was nothing Queensbury couldn’t find.

Watching Ludwig’s carriage heading southward away from the mansion, Eve spoke to Raven with a still confused face.

“There must be some misunderstanding. The lady I know would never run away for love.”

In fact, even the way the Duke of Drenihan had ordered everyone to keep silent to prevent rumors seemed suspicious.

“Let’s hope so.”

Raven never imagined he would witness such a scandal in Ludwig Karsian’s life.

* * *

When Desar, Peter, Bergeus, and I came out of the barrier surrounding Aisil Lake, quite a bit of time had already passed.

When we first came, it had clearly been broad daylight, but now the sky was dyed red with the setting sun.

“I didn’t think we would stay this long, but time flew by, didn’t it?”

When I said this in confusion, Desar answered.

“There’s a few hours’ difference between inside and outside the barrier.”

“Ah, no wonder.”

I had to hurry back before the count and countess started worrying.

Since it would be a bit much to suddenly bring an unfamiliar man into Chetwind, I planned to have Bergeus stay temporarily at an inn in the village.

While hastening my steps to exit the forest, I soon spotted an unexpected person.

“Ludwig?”

I tilted my head and muttered his name.

At the sound of my small voice, he turned to look this way.

I hadn’t seen wrong.

Standing there was unmistakably Ludwig.

Ludwig Karsian, wearing an unusually restless expression.

Why on earth was he here, when he was supposed to be in the capital?

Ludwig took large strides toward me.

“Sierra.”

He scanned Desar, Peter, and Bergeus behind me with cold eyes, one after another.

Just when I was about to ask what was going on with this unusual atmosphere,

Ludwig grabbed my hand and said,

“After engraving yourself into me like this… are you planning to abandon me? Like trash by the roadside.”

“……Excuse me?”

No, what on earth is he talking about?