Perhaps it was because a considerable amount of time had passed. The imperial investigation team, dispatched to the south to investigate the explosion, was nowhere to be seen.
As Stilikov surveyed the ruined site, he busied himself searching for potential underground spaces.
“So this is where the Louisette villa used to be,” he remarked, his voice filled with inexplicable thoughts. Even knowing he wasn’t asking for confirmation, Stilikov nodded and responded earnestly, “Yes, that’s right.”
Stilikov began to vaguely understand why Franz was gazing around with such a sentimental expression. What Celeste meant to him was hard to pinpoint—was it a love-hate relationship, or merely an evil necessity? He could not clearly define it.
One thing was certain: regardless of how he viewed her, Celeste was undeniably important to Franz.
From a third-party perspective, it was clear that Franz had harbored private feelings for Celeste. Although he seemed reluctant to admit it, he named her his servant while desperately wanting her heart.
Throwing harsh words at her and threatening her with dark magic curses did not elicit the desired reactions from Celeste, leaving him feeling as if he were merely prodding her.
It was akin to a child acting out to gain attention.
When Celeste left his side, Franz surely trembled with betrayal, claiming he wanted to kill her, yet Stilikov felt that this merely revealed a desire to search for her and bring her back.
He had been a loyal servant to his lord for a long time.
Confidently knowing Franz much more than that, Stilikov understood that Franz, who had never formed healthy relationships, would choose negative methods to possess something.
He believed that by threatening and coercing her, he could prevent her from leaving.
While fear can bind someone like shackles, it can also become poison that drives everyone away if it exceeds a threshold. It saddened Stilikov that Franz was unaware of this reality.
One reason Stilikov pledged his loyalty, even at the risk of his life, was his sense of compassion. How many complex reasons lay behind this irrational and unreasonable loyalty that others could not comprehend?
Franz, who is criticized by everyone and cannot embrace anyone, granted a great favor only to Stilicho.
He saved his family and led him to a high position he could not achieve on his own. However, it was not just these tangible reasons, but rather emotional ones that sustained Stilicho’s loyalty.
“I won’t feel my way to find the path. How do you plan to locate where the magic stones are stored?”
The contemplation ended. Franz, with his gaze cleared of melancholy, recalled his true purpose for coming to Urentum.
“Each mining site where the magic stones are extracted may have its own characteristics and differences, but their basic properties are the same. I will try to identify locations that emit similar energies to those we’ve used so far.”
“What should I do?”
“Please rest, Lord Franz. My companion Chetara and I will scout.”
“No. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to move together?”
“No, Lord Franz.”
“One more person should move. Resting can wait until after we find freedom.”
Now that he thought of it as truly the last escape route, perhaps he felt a sense of motivation.
Stilikov reluctantly nodded at Franz’s unwavering resolve. As he said, it was indeed a moment when every bit of strength was needed.
***
“Are you saying you intend to carry the princess inside?”
A brief scuffle broke out at the cave entrance.
It was a clash between my determination to not part with Valerie and Hannah’s insistence on keeping the princess safe outside, uncertain of what might happen inside the cave.
“I can’t predict the dangers inside. I will escort the princess myself.”
“This inner area can only be entered by those of the Louisette bloodline. If there is danger, it would be even greater outside this cave. Isn’t that so?”
“Even the royal investigation knights cannot accompany us here. I’m very concerned…”
Matthias joined Hannah in her protest.
“Then, does it reassure you that I will enter alone?”
“That is…”
“If you believe this cave is dangerous, how did I plan to get her inside?”
No one could answer. In fact, it was I who insisted on entering the secret underground cave of Count Louisette in defiance of Karl and the royal investigation team.
“Give me Valerie.”
Hannah could no longer shake her head and handed me Valerie.
“Mommy, mommy.”
The cheerful Valerie was excited. She seemed to inherit this joy from someone; she preferred the outdoors much more than indoors.
If she spent too long in the mansion, she would throw a tantrum to go outside. Especially in a place dense with bushes like this, she would sparkle with energy, squealing and laughing.
“Your Majesty, please be careful.”
As I was about to take a step, Hannah cautioned me. Her serious voice and earnest gaze reflected her worry.
“I’ll be fine.”
Hadn’t I been here once before? Thanks to the barrier that only those of the count’s bloodline could pass, the cave felt eerie but was actually quite safe.
“Yay, mommy! Woohoo!”
Valerie’s joyful voice brightened the heavy atmosphere that almost settled in.
“If anything happens or you sense anything, come out immediately. You must not take any risks.”
“Anyone would think I’m heading into battle. I’m fine.”
I smiled at Hannah, trying to reassure her, as if I were being sent into a forbidden place.
“Your Majesty, please be very, very careful.”
I patted Leev’s shoulder, which looked like she was about to cry, and took a step into the cave.
***
Due to the collapse of the building, it was impossible to find a passage leading underground. After looking around for a while, Stilikov concluded that he would have to dig near the site of the house.
Stilikov couldn’t bear to ask Franz to do that, so he told him to wait and disappeared somewhere to find a shovel.
“It won’t be easy to find a shop in such a rural village.”
Franz, casually glancing around, walked towards the wooded area near the house site. With his striking appearance, it was better to hide among the trees when the surroundings were so bright.
In a tiny village mostly populated by elderly people, if a tall young man with blonde hair stood out, anyone would look back at least once as they passed by.
Arriving under a large tree, Franz found a suitably sized round stone to sit on, pushing aside the overgrown bushes that reached beyond his knees.
“……It’s peaceful here.”
The wind, blowing from somewhere, rustled the bushes. Franz looked up.
The large trees had thick, lush leaves as if they had not been touched by human hands for a long time, blocking all the sunlight from above.
Weak rays of sunlight filtered through the leaves and touched his face. Though it was just a single beam, it was blinding.
Wasn’t it said that not much light is needed to conquer darkness?
Even though so many leaves intertwined to block the sunlight, it was still hard to look up at the sky due to its brightness. Thinking of a phrase he might have read in a book somewhere, Franz chuckled.
“What a nonsensical sentiment this is.”
It was an emotion that didn’t resonate with him in this situation.
As another breeze tickled the leaves from a different direction, the shadows that draped over his face and a handful of sunlight swayed together.
It was quiet. And peaceful. An unearthly calm that was entirely at odds with his flight for his life.
The beautiful stillness, unrelated to the life he could not be certain of living even the next day, somehow made Franz feel sad. And frustrated.
He had always been a stranger. Both inside and outside the palace. Within the palace, he was despised as a half-blood royal with dirty blood, and outside, they said he was different because he bore the emperor’s blood.
Thus, he had tried to stand above those who denied him and crush everything with force. But that lifelong aspiration had returned in failure.
Even here, in a place he barely escaped to after throwing everything away and saving just his life, he was still a stranger.
While storms and lightning ravaged his own world, the land he stood on was disturbingly peaceful. He had no place to belong anywhere.
Moreover, even when he lived in his mother’s embrace, he was completely rejected and treated as a foreigner by all.
Even if he runs away like this, can he truly find freedom? If he moves to another country, will he be free then? He would still be a foreigner there.
“…It’s truly despair.”
It’s despair. He had no hope. What he had grasped, believing it to be hope, now appeared to be merely the edge of despair. Franz’s eyes, soaked in emptiness, wandered aimlessly in the air.
Suddenly, something sparkled in his empty gaze. It was a light spreading not from the sky, but from the ground. A momentarily unusual shine flickered in Franz’s once-dark eyes.
