I Will Disappear, Grand Duke

The Duch has fled. It happened while the Duke was away on a campaign.

“Your Grace, according to the maid, only a few garments are missing from your chamber,” the aide reported.

“No valuables or jewelry?”

“It appears they’ve been left untouched.”

At the aide’s words, the Duke’s brow furrowed slightly, twisting up one side of his mouth.

They took nothing but a few clothes as they fled.

His wife had left, leaving behind everything he had given her. He had an intuitive sense of what this meant.

She was trying to erase the time she had lived here as his wife. Perhaps hoping to be forgotten forever by him.

The Duke spoke in a chillingly subdued voice.

“Was there any other contact from the knights?”

“A messenger reports they continue to track Her Grace’s carriage. They expect to surround her soon.”

“If she resists, they are to bring her back, even by force.”

The Duke’s sharp gaze landed on the wedding ring on his little finger.

She had evaded his servants for days, but the Duke had managed to locate her within half a day of his return to the castle.

She would soon be back in her place. There was no need to be anxious anymore.

Yet a lingering restlessness nagged at him from the depths.

She should never have fled like this. Once she became his wife, she should have suffered by his side, even if it hurt. Even if it was agonizing, she should have been in agony in his eyes.

Yulia Caesar should die within his domain.

The Duke, his eyes bloodshot, forcibly suppressed his conflicting emotions.

“Your Grace!”

At that moment, a knight burst into the study, still panting.

“Your, Your Grace… She’s disappeared!”

“What nonsense is this?”

The Duke demanded sharply.

“We’ve repeatedly confirmed she was in the carriage, but after we surrounded it, she wasn’t there. We can’t fathom what’s happened…”

“Damn fools.”

The Duke threw his sword from his waist carelessly, running his fingers roughly through his hair.

“I will go myself. Prepare the horses.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The Duke couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t entrust this to incompetent fools.

He wasn’t casually assuming that he would quickly retrieve Yulia even if he didn’t act himself.

“Your Grace, could Her Grace have had an accomplice? Evading so many knights alone doesn’t make sense.”

The Duke’s aide cautiously spoke up from behind. And in that moment, a scene flashed through the Duke’s mind.

A few months ago, a priest from Illyon had come to bless the duchy. His wife seemed quite familiar with that priest.

“Lloyd, go to the temple of Illyon and find the priest who came to bless the duchy. He may be hiding, so search thoroughly.”

“Yes!”

If that priest had collaborated in Yulia’s escape, he would surely have used magic.

Using magic, he could easily hide his presence or divert attention momentarily.

The veins on the Duke’s hand holding the reins turned blue. Just the assumption that Yulia might be with another man filled him with indescribable rage.

But beneath that was a self-loathing that had persisted within him for Yulia’s entire time with him.

He knew it. Yulia’s departure was ultimately the consequence of his own actions.

—

“Search everything thoroughly.”

The Duke meticulously searched every building in the city center.

Still uneasy, he had some knights search even the small cottages.

The Duke, along with the remaining knights, exited the castle walls. As they entered the area near the carriage station, people crowded in the direction of another area.

As the path was blocked, the Duke’s procession stopped.

“Your Grace, perhaps turning back…”

“Just a moment.”

His gaze lingered near the ticket booth, where a woman was mixed in with the crowd.

It was a fleeting glimpse, but he was certain it was Yulia.

“Your Grace?”

Ignoring his words, the Duke urgently plunged into the crowd. He grabbed the shoulder of a woman in a robe, who turned out to be someone else.

“Yulia…!”

He cursed under his breath at her bewildered face, and the hesitant woman took a step back.

Just as the woman was about to turn completely, the pendant around her neck caught his eye.

Without pausing to think, his body reacted first. The Duke grabbed the woman’s arm and severed the pendant’s chain in one swift motion.

“…!”

The metal pendant’s chain shattered into pieces. With a surprised look, the woman pushed away the Duke’s hand. Simultaneously, a light filled with magic surrounded her.

Soon, the unfamiliar face transformed into the face of a woman he knew well.

Pale as snow, with low-saturation auburn hair and frightened blue eyes.

Staring back at him with a firm face was his wife, Yulia.

“Ha…”

The Duke let out a hollow laugh with a complicated expression. Instead of anger upon seeing his bewildered wife’s face, he felt nothing but misery.

How should he look at his wife, who went so far as to disguise herself to escape from him?

“How did you know?”

Yullia murmured in disbelief, her expression crestfallen. She seemed entirely unprepared for being apprehended so abruptly.

Clutching the pendant in her hand as if she were about to crush it, he spoke firmly.

“I could faintly sense a trace of magic from this pendant.”

“Oh…”

Yullia bit her lower lip with a defeated look on her face. The Duke roughly pulled her hand towards him.

“Enough running. You’ve caused me enough trouble.”

Suddenly, knights closed in around them from all sides. There was no escape now.

Yullia closed her eyes tightly and obediently moved towards him. With the pendant taken from her, there was nothing more she could do.

They were escorted to a predetermined location. The Duke lifted her up in one swift motion onto his horse. Naturally, he mounted behind her and pulled her tightly into his embrace.

“Yullia.”

“…”

The Duke looked at her silently, wanting to know what expression she wore. He longed to hear her voice, to confirm her existence.

“Your Grace.”

At that moment, she called him quietly. The end of her gentle voice trembled slightly.

The Duke slowed his urgent pace and leaned in to listen. Yullia turned her head to look at him.

“I… I’m tired. Can we rest for a bit?”

Her weariness was evident on her face. He hesitated for a moment, then stopped speaking altogether. The knights who had been riding nearby also came to a halt.

They still had hours ahead of them to reach the castle. It was undoubtedly too much for her to endure.

The Duke whispered something to a nearby knight. The knight immediately departed towards the opposite direction.

“I’ve ordered a carriage. It won’t take long.”

“Thank you.”

Yullia dismounted and sat down on a grassy area nearby, ignoring the knights and their formalities.

The Duke pushed past the approaching knights and approached her.

Yullia sat huddled, absentmindedly twirling the hem of her worn-out robe. The Duke murmured as he looked at her thin, delicate hands.

“You seem even thinner now.”

“…”

“Where have you been all this time?”

Yullia raised her head slightly, still offering no response. The Duke continued his questioning, speaking in a chilling tone.

“Were you with the priests from Illyon?”

“…”

“And the pendant… It must have been given to you by him.”

At his words, Yullia’s hand twitched. Noticing her reaction, the Duke spoke in a colder tone.

“If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine. I’ll find him and get the answers myself.”

“Please don’t harm innocent people. He has nothing to do with me.”

When Yullia finally spoke after a long silence, the Duke furrowed his brows slightly. She lifted her gaze from the ground and met her husband’s eyes directly.

“Why are you looking for me?”

Her expression conveyed confusion. There was even a hint of anger. The Duke, feeling a twist in his gut, replied icily.

“Shouldn’t someone who’s disappeared concern her husband?”

“…Did you really consider me your wife?”

Yullia raised her weakened voice. The Duke’s lips twitched briefly before he clenched them shut. His heart twinged as if struck by something sharp.

As he stared at her, Yullia rose to her feet. Without another word, she walked away.

He understood she wanted to be alone. But they couldn’t part like this. The Duke followed her, keeping a slight distance.

After walking silently for a while, Yullia stopped. The Duke also halted, frowning at the vast open view ahead.

Below the steep cliffs, a turbulent river flowed. He wondered if such a place existed in this forest.

“Yullia, come over here.”

He called her, a foreboding feeling stirring as he did. Yullia turned around, and from within her embrace, she produced something.

“You…”

The Duke looked at her with slight astonishment. Yullia was pointing a knife at him.

Her hands, gripping the handle, trembled slightly. Startled, the Duke approached calmly. She hesitated, stepping back.

“Don’t come any closer. If you do, I’ll really stab you…”

“Do as you wish.”

He knew she wouldn’t harm him. Yullia Caesar would never do anything to hurt someone.

That was the woman he had known all along.

As the Duke took a few steps forward, Yullia retreated further, nearing the edge of the cliff.

If she stabbed him here, she would surely regret it and return to his side. Then, he could endure any number of wounds, whether from a knife or a gun.

“Wait, Yullia.”

The moment his calm face turned to horror, the direction of the blade reversed.

The knife that had been aimed at him was now pointed at her own throat.

“Damn it, put down the knife!”

As the Duke moved forward as if to rush her, she pressed the knife closer to her neck.

A thin line of red blood trickled down her white throat. With this sight, she slowly stepped back.

The Duke hesitated and stopped. If he went any closer, she might really stab herself.

“Jegirral… Don’t move! I… I was wrong. Please…”

As Yullia spoke unexpectedly, the Duke looked at her with a slightly flustered expression. She withdrew the knife and took a few shaky steps back.

“I’m sorry… Please don’t do this. I’ll do as you wish. Yullia, please…”

The Duke trembled visibly, his eyes wide with panic. It was hard to believe this was the same cold and indifferent husband.

Yullia smiled sadly. His gaze softened, the words in his eyes…

There was a time when he meant everything to her.

Days when she would yield to him with just one glance.

Times when she loved him despite her loneliness.

Standing at the edge of the cliff, Yullia engraved her once world in her eyes.