I Will Disappear, Grand Duke

Determined, Fernan stood up abruptly and approached the man opposite him.

“What, what are you trying to do now…?” the Marquis stuttered, sensing the danger and recoiling.

In one swift motion, Fernan grabbed the Marquis by the neck and slammed him onto the stone floor.

“Argh!”

Blood began to pool around the Marquis’ head as it hit the ground.

Unable to even struggle, the Marquis’ painful, choking gasps filled the reception room.

Fernan looked down at the Marquis with eyes full of malice.

He needed to kill this man and silence that filthy mouth forever.

“Your Highness!”

Hearing the scream, Lloyd rushed in and cried out in shock. He desperately tried to pull Fernan away, but it was no use.

“Please, calm down!”

Even as Lloyd used all his strength to hold Fernan back, Fernan roughly shoved him aside and drew the sword from his waist.

Just as he was about to slash the Marquis’ neck, a sudden image flashed in his mind—Julia’s final moments.

Standing at the edge of a cliff, her slender neck facing the blade. The calm face that seemed to feel no pain, with blood trickling down her white nape.

The way she had thrown herself off the cliff without hesitation, with a faint smile, vividly replayed in his mind.

Fernan’s lips quivered. In that moment, he realized something undeniable.

He was no different from the Marquis.

He had hurt Julia, caused her pain, and driven her to the brink when she tried to escape.

Yet, here he was, pretending to be righteous by killing the Marquis for her sake. He felt a deep hatred for himself.

To Julia, he was nothing but the same kind of scum.

“Your Highness!”

Taking advantage of Fernan’s hesitation, Lloyd managed to push him away.

The Marquis, who had been writhing in pain, finally escaped Fernan’s grasp, but his face was a bloody mess.

Trembling, the Marquis crawled out of the reception room in a pathetic manner.

“Your Highness…”

Lloyd called out to Fernan in a drained voice. When he saw Fernan’s expression, he fell silent.

Fernan stood there, lips pressed tightly together, trembling.

Seeing this vulnerable side of his lord for the first time, Lloyd turned his head away, as if he hadn’t seen anything.

Clang. The sword in Fernan’s hand fell to the floor.

Standing on the blood-soaked ground, Fernan lifted his trembling hand to his eyes.

The Marquis, crawling out into the corridor, clung to the railing, trembling.

The waiting servants gasped in shock at the sight of the Marquis’ bloodied face.

Too humiliated to care, the Marquis shakily descended the stairs.

Once he had fled, an eerie silence settled over the grand ducal mansion.

It was a long time after the Marquis had left before Fernan emerged from the reception room.

With unsteady steps, he headed somewhere, stopping at the end of the corridor.

He stood in front of Julia’s bedroom.

Opening the door with a creak, he silently surveyed the cold, empty room.

Despite having been vacant for quite some time, the room looked almost the same as it had before Julia disappeared.

Books Julia had read and an empty vase still sat on the table.

Fernan stood there, unmoving, without touching anything.

Staring at the floor for a long time, he suddenly lifted his gaze to one darkened wall.

A memory from the past flooded his mind.

“Your Highness…”

A trembling voice, looking up at him with tear-filled blue eyes.

It was the day he had thought Julia had tried to drug him.

He had coldly glared at her as she pleaded her innocence, threatening her as he spilled the contents of the vial.

Even as her eyes reddened, he hadn’t listened to her.

A pained expression crossed Fernan’s usually stoic face.

Whenever he thought of Julia, it was always her wounded face that came to mind.

In their not-so-short marriage, he had no memory of ever being kind to her.

He had only ever thought about how to push her away, how to make her leave him. Such vile thoughts had only caused her pain.

Fernan now knew why she had tried to escape him. He understood it so well it drove him mad.

“…Was I ever your wife, Your Highness?”

Julia’s final question, asked with no expectations.

She knew he couldn’t answer. He had never treated her as a wife.

Indeed, that was true.

Whenever her clear blue eyes looked at him, he had pushed her away with cruel words.

He had to reject her to keep her from seeping into his heart.

But despite his efforts, Julia had quietly settled in his heart.

At some point, he found himself watching the woman he had treated so coldly.

His realization came too late. By the time he wanted to keep her by his side, she no longer wanted him.

The Julia who had once spoken of love was gone.

Not knowing how to keep her by his side, he chose to monitor her and keep her confined in the mansion.

In truth, he should have apologized and asked for her forgiveness. He should have been kind to her and treated her well.

He should have let her go, given her freedom…

Fernan buried his face in his trembling hands. He understood everything now, but Julia was gone.

No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t even find a trace of her.

* * *

After a long journey, Julia finally set foot in a foreign land.

Normally, crossing the border would have been complicated, but thanks to passing through a less guarded territory, she had escaped the Empire without much trouble.

It also helped that Cedric had secured her a new identity in advance.

Her final destination was a holy nation in the southern part of the continent, the homeland of both Mateus and Cedric.

A somewhat isolated country with little interaction with other nations.

Julia planned to stay in a convent there and prepare for a life of independence.

“Try to get some sleep, Julia.”

Cedric approached Julia, who was sitting in the lobby, staring blankly out the window.

They were currently staying at an inn for rest as the journey to the holy nation was long.

Julia smiled faintly and replied, “I can’t sleep. My mind is too cluttered…”

“So many things have happened. I understand.”

Julia nodded and murmured, “…It doesn’t feel real. That I’m truly free. That it’s all really over…”

She felt more bewildered than joyful, with a tinge of anxiety.

She thought she had no regrets, but the painful memories would likely never fade.

She wouldn’t be able to erase the face of the person she didn’t want to remember for some time.

She suddenly thought of Fernan’s desperate last attempt to hold onto her. Instead of feeling relieved, her heart sank.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Julia looked out the window again.

Following her gaze, Cedric suddenly spoke.

“Why not think about what you want to do in the future?”

Julia turned to look at Cedric, who shrugged lightly and continued.

“Is there anything you’ve always wanted to do? Even something small.”

“…Hmm.”

After a moment of contemplation, Julia’s eyes lit up as she thought of something.

“I want to tend a garden. I want to create things with flowers…”

“That sounds nice.”

“And I’d like to make friends if possible… and visit a festival. I’ve never really enjoyed a festival before.”

As she thought, more and more ideas came to mind. Though they weren’t grand plans, there were many small things she wanted to do.

Cedric smiled quietly as he watched her seriously ponder.

“Let me know if you need anything. That’s why I came with you.”

“No. You’ve done more than enough by coming this far with me.”

Julia felt grateful but also sorry for Cedric, who had helped her solely on Mateus’ request. She didn’t want to impose on him any further.

She felt bad for taking up so much of his time, knowing he had his own life to return to.