Theo’s face sank heavily as he looked down at the now dark Ricata territory.
Several days had passed since the hunting festival, but there was still no news from the Princess and the Grand Duke.
“It’s already been two days, why isn’t there any news?”
“It’s only been two days. Sir Lionel says the territory is such a ruin that even the soldiers sometimes get lost,” the Count replied.
Even with the Count’s words, the anxiety in Theo’s face showed no signs of disappearing. He wished for a smooth resolution.
Knowing the Emperor’s personality well, he knew it was a baseless fantasy.
Theo glanced in the direction of Sir Lionel, whom the Count had mentioned, then quietly asked the Count.
“Can I trust Sir Lionel? He’s such a frivolous man.”
“He’s in charge of the eastern border. What choice do you have but to trust him?” the Count retorted.
Nevertheless, Theo remained uneasy.
Fortunately or unfortunately, it was easy to persuade Lionel, the officer in charge of the eastern border.
The excuse that they were searching for the Princess, who had gotten lost in the Sendelk Mountains where the hunting festival was held, worked quite smoothly.
Lionel initially accepted their explanation because it was the Grand Duke’s order, and he seemed to completely trust them after seeing the brothers from the Monches County, a loyal family to the Grand Duke, personally come to the border.
[The Princess is in Ricata? It’s quite unusual for the Emperor to allow that.]
That was all Lionel’s impression.
He questioned the Emperor’s intentions but didn’t delve deeply into them.
Nevertheless, the situation was so significant that Theo couldn’t help but feel anxious.
Theo was nervous that Lionel might become suspicious and send a messenger to the Imperial Palace at any moment.
Due to the distance between the capital and the eastern border, they still had several days.
Even if the Imperial Palace sent soldiers to the eastern border immediately, it would take at least a week, and the time the Princess needed to get from Sendelk to this place was shorter than that.
However, even this fact couldn’t alleviate Theo’s anxiety.
As Theo continued his anxious thoughts, he suddenly made up his mind.
“This won’t do. I have no choice but to go myself.”
“Where are you going in this pitch-black darkness?”
“Of course, into the Ricata territory. If there’s no word from the Grand Duke, something must have gone wrong. How can I just sit here when the Princess is nowhere to be seen?”
Theo’s sharp retort made the Count frown. How could he possibly find someone at night when even soldiers familiar with the territory couldn’t find anyone during the day?
But before he could say anything, a booming voice interrupted them from behind.
“If you go in there now, you’ll become prey for the wolves.”
The two men were startled and turned their heads to see Sir Lionel, who had approached unnoticed, looking down at the Ricata territory with an indifferent expression.
“Besides, this isn’t the Ricata it used to be.”
“…What do you mean, not the Ricata it used to be?” Theo, who had been silent out of fear that Lionel might have overheard his earlier criticism, suddenly raised his head. A sense of unease flickered in his eyes.
“Isn’t it obvious? It’s been abandoned by the Empire for so long, so it’s naturally become a ruin.”
“Then I have to go even more! What if the Princess is lost in there…!”
“I don’t think much will change if you go. It’s too dark to see anything. If you’re not careful, there will be two people lost in Ricata territory. It’s better to wait quietly until dawn,” Sir Lionel shrugged.
In contrast to him, Theo’s face turned pale.
“Sir Lionel!”
“Whoa, calm down.” He raised his hand to calm Theo.
“Still, soldiers patrol inside from time to time, so there are places to take shelter. Oh, and there are a few places near the mountains. They often hunt and eat animals that live in the mountains. You know, like how venison is a delicacy in winter.”
Theo’s brow furrowed deeper at his lengthy explanation. Then, Sir Lionel casually smoothed things over.
“Anyway, there’s no need to worry too much.”
Even with his lighthearted words, Theo’s face didn’t brighten.
The fear in Theo’s eyes, as he looked towards the dark Ricata territory, deepened even further.
****
Several days had passed since Sienna entered Ricata territory.
Today, Sienna also failed to reach the border, and as the shadows began to sink into the darkness, she raised her head.
Seeing the sun begin to disappear beyond the horizon, she dismounted with a heavy heart.
The leaves, not yet fully decomposed, crumbled under her feet. These were almost the only sounds she had heard for days.
Afraid of the terrible silence, Sienna would go to the river and repeatedly check her reflection in the water.
It was as if she needed to confirm she was still alive to maintain her sanity.
Even though it was her mother’s land.
Ricata, about which Sienna had no memory, was nothing more than ruins to her. She had succeeded in escaping the Sendelk Mountains, but she couldn’t tell where she was, no matter how much she looked around.
There wasn’t even anyone to ask. The only things she could use to gauge her direction were the rising sun and her own shadow.
After entering Ricata territory, she rode her horse from the moment the sun appeared in the morning sky until it disappeared beyond the mountain ridge.
However, Ricata was like a ghost territory.
The scenery of a territory with traces of people but no one actually there was eerie and unsettling.
Even as she headed in the direction of the rising sun, the sight of the territory before her blurred her certainty.
With a wary expression, Sienna tightened her grip on the reins and moved forward.
Remembering Declan’s warning that there would be many animals coming down from the mountains since the land hadn’t been properly maintained for a long time, she never let go of her rifle.
Before complete darkness fell, Sienna found a shabby warehouse that seemed sufficient to keep out the cold and led her horse inside.
Amidst the silence, the sound of insects was quite clear.
The shed, with its walls partially collapsed, was better than the outside, but it didn’t completely block the cold.
Sienna leaned against a corner of the shed, shivering and constantly rubbing her arms. The night temperatures were very chilly as it was nearing early winter.
Perhaps due to the season, her body felt cold, and she couldn’t put strength into her fingertips.
She wasn’t naturally strong, and even though she had been training her body through horseback riding recently, there hadn’t been a dramatic change.
Moreover, since leaving the Sendelk villa, Sienna had only eaten familiar fruits and drunk clear river water, so she hadn’t had a proper meal.
It wasn’t like she had a comfortable place to sleep either.
In these ruins with traces of people, she could have found a place to rest, but after riding a horse all day, she didn’t even have the strength to look for one.
Besides, her exhausted body didn’t care about the place. She would fall asleep as soon as she leaned against something.
Although she woke up with terrible muscle aches every morning, it was enough that she had safely passed the night without encountering any wild animals.
It was more surprising that she had been riding a horse non-stop for several days in that condition.
Sienna huddled her shivering body. The flames that had blazed in the darkness flickered in her vision.
Was he dead?
The fire seemed ready to swallow Joseph whole. It was a fire so intense it felt like it would blind her just by looking at it.
Even she, standing nearby, could feel her skin burning. How much hotter would it be for the person engulfed in it?
Even if he had narrowly escaped death, he would have suffered fatal injuries.
So… I ultimately…
Sienna covered her head with her trembling hands.
It wasn’t so much guilt towards Joseph as it was shock at having harmed someone.
I had no other choice.
If she had stayed still in that situation, her body would have become prey for wild animals by now, disappearing without a trace.
Sienna hugged her knees tightly and closed her eyes. And she tried hard to erase Joseph’s screams from her mind.
She struggled to divert the flow of her thoughts, which had been pouring in one direction.
That’s how he came to mind.
I wonder how Declan is doing.
In the end, her thoughts always returned to him. But even so, her mind, which had been consumed by the shock of harming someone, gradually calmed down as soon as she thought of Declan.
The hunting festival must have been a mess. Judging by the fact that she hadn’t seen any soldiers for days since entering Ricata, it seemed clear that Declan had done something.
It felt like a distant memory that she had fallen asleep in his arms a few days ago.
I wanted to go back.
Being driven to such an extreme situation, she couldn’t help but think that she had done something foolish.
At the same time, a strong sense of self-hatred for her own weakness surged within her.
Her longing for Declan and the despair of her current situation mixed together, blurring her vision.
After several failed attempts to swallow her tears, she buried her face in her knees and cried throughout the night.
Sienna, who had endured the cold night with her eyes open, began to move again as soon as day broke.
