When Ayla first disappeared, Ophelia was literally out of her mind. Where in the world would a mother be sane in such a situation?
Due to Byron’s rebellion, the Emperor was seriously injured, and his life was in danger. The only person who could save him was Ophelia, who was skilled in magic.
So, while leaving the child with a nanny and returning to the palace, Ophelia’s daughter, who would not hurt if put in her eye, disappeared.
She cried to the point of blacking out and even tried to leave the house barefoot in the middle of the night, saying she would go find her child.
There were days when she would just cry in bed all day, and there were times when she would beat her husband’s chest, blaming him for calling her to the imperial palace.
And the next day, she cried in his arms, saying, ‘Rodrick must have been having a hard time; I’m sorry for saying that.’
It took a long time for Ophelia to regain her composure, like now.
However, she found out that Byron was taking the lost daughter with him. He was raising her as his daughter.
It may not be as bad as when Ayla disappeared, but Ophelia expected him to go crazy.
However, Ophelia was frighteningly calm and serene. It was calm and felt like the eve of a storm.
“That’s why I knew. Natalia said that the girl she met on the boat used a dagger.”
“Yes, it is.”
Ophelia asked in a quiet voice, and Roderick, who was still only looking at her, answered in a depressed voice.
And silence for a moment.
When she opened her mouth again, no emotion could be heard in her voice.
“I’m going to the Inselkov Kingdom.”
“Ophelia, that is.”
“My daughter might be there. Our Ayla, next to that horrible man.”
Ophelia’s body trembled as she thought of Byron.
It was unfair. What on earth did she do wrong that she had to suffer like this because of a man named Byron?
From the moment he first saw her, he pursued her persistently, and he felt disgusted every time she acted as if she were already his wife.
He barged into her life and harassed her for everything, and now he even took her daughter away.
“I will kill him with my own hands! I can’t forgive you.”
Ophelia cried out, tears streaming down her face. It was a blood-curdled scream.
She didn’t know why Heaven had taken her magical power away. In the past, she could have set Byron on fire with just a snap of her finger.
Of course, Noah was born thanks to the disappearance of the powerful magic that flowed in her body, enough to prevent the child from taking root in her stomach, but Ophelia’s thoughts, dominated by anger, did not reach that point.
“That’s not possible, Ophelia.”
And the person who stopped her was none other than her friend Candice.
“Is it because of Noah? You can take him with you.”
“Where are you going with your newborn baby? And that’s not why.”
Ophelia argued, wiping away the angry tears from her eyes, but Candice shook her head with a stern expression.
“I heard Ayla say that to His Highness the Crown Prince. She told me to tell it secretly without other people knowing. What do you think that means? It means that there is a spy attached to you by Byron.”
“…”
“But if you, who have just given birth to a child, head to a foreign country. And if Ayla heads to the Kingdom of Inselkov, where Byron might be, wouldn’t that guy, Byron, think it’s strange?”
Candice rationally considered every detail.
It was a good thing that she cast a soundproofing spell before starting the conversation.
Ophelia was screaming like this, and if that spy heard it, wouldn’t it be a big problem?
Rodrick opened his mouth to join the conversation, but Candice held out her palm and silenced him.
“For the same reason, Roderick can’t either. You were going to say, ‘I’ll go instead.’ Are you saying, Where are you going when the Duke is away?”
As if Roderick had hit the nail on the head, he let out a sigh and closed his mouth.
Normally, he would have realized this problem first, but since it was his daughter’s problem, he seemed to be unable to think rationally rather than let his emotions take over.
“Then what should I do? Should I just believe and wait when he says he’ll come back?”
Ophelia ended up burying her face in her knees and shedding tears. It felt like she was going to die of frustration.
For 10 years, she did everything she could to get her daughter back.
At some point, overnight, without knowing why, she lost her magic, and even though she finally had a clue as to where her daughter was, she couldn’t do anything and just wait.
It was a ruthless reality.
“I’ll go. You two are here.”
But Candice smiled like the character she drew and said this.
“What, Candice?”
And the couple expressed their doubts at the same time.
For the past few months, he has been staying here to check on Ophelia’s health, and at the same time, he has also conducted research to track the magic tools that Ophelia made.
He used to be the strongest wizard in the world, but now he is no longer in this world and is using all possible methods to destroy the security magic cast.
As long as Ophelia’s magic power was intact, tracking Ayla’s location wouldn’t have been a problem.
Anyway, I’m grateful and sorry for everything I’ve done so far, but now I’m going to go abroad to find Ayla myself.
“In fact… A prototype tracker was completed a while ago. Of course, the tracking range is very narrow, so you have to be very close. So I would like to experiment with it myself.”
“Candice.”
Ophelia called out her friend’s name in a choked voice.
“You don’t have to say thank you. What’s between us? I miss my first nephew too.”
Candice placed both arms on Ophelia and Roderick’s shoulders and spoke condescendingly.
“Well, it’s time for me to go back now, so no one will be suspicious if I sneak aboard Natalia’s boat. And what does it mean to like your little brother? You can drop me off at Inselkov on the way.”
The Kingdom of Inselkov, located at the end of a long peninsula, is located much further south than the island nation of Tamora Republic, so it was impossible to drop it off ‘on the way’.
It is a road that requires a long detour.
“It may be shameless to ask you a favor, Candice.”
Ophelia said, holding her hand tightly.
‘If I could just find Ayla, it wouldn’t be a waste to give up my life to Candice.’
And Roderick, who had been quietly listening to the story, quietly opened his mouth.
“However… Is that okay? Now, maybe we should go back to Congress and the Academy.”
Since he had been away for several months, Roderick was waiting for Candice in the Republic of Tamora. Candice, upon hearing his words, narrowed her eyes and lowered the arm that was holding the couple’s shoulders.
“Even Roderick will do that? He should resign or something. Oh, I don’t know. I’ll just go pack my bags. I have to go find my two daughters as soon as possible.”
Watching the back of Candice leave the room while waving her hands slowly, I almost burst into laughter, which was out of character for the situation.
“I’m not resigning.”
Roderick asked with a worried voice. He was grateful for the help in finding Ayla, but the thought of quitting his job due to it saddened him.
“Don’t worry. There is no one as talented as Candice, so if you decide to resign, the council and the academy will kneel and hang you.”
Ophelia answered while still wiping her bright red eyes. They say that if you cry and then laugh, something happens. Ophelia thought that thanks to her cheerful friend, she could smile even in situations like this.
The carriage carrying Ayla and Gerald drove for about two hours again and moved to the County of Senospon. The atmosphere inside the carriage was as cold as a midwinter blizzard, and the knights had to look at them with puzzled faces.
When he sent them away, Gerald seemed excited by the joy of being alone with the girl he liked. However, it was unclear what happened while he was away to make him glare at Ayla with such an angry face. Ayla, receiving Gerald’s murderous gaze, looked out the window as if nothing had happened.
No, on the contrary, it was fun. Seeing him glare at her with his nose and cheeks red from sleeping in an uncomfortable position on the table was quite a sight. Before, Ayla thought he had an acceptable face, but when she saw his angry expression, she realized that he was very grumpy and similar to her father.
‘What am I going to do when he glares at me like that?’ Ayla pondered. She didn’t think he was smart enough to tell the truth about what happened today. Knowing she couldn’t defeat Ayla with strength, she expressed her dissatisfaction by snorting harshly.
In such suffocating silence, the carriage arrived at the count’s mansion. As soon as the carriage stopped, Gerald hurriedly got off and walked to the main building of the mansion by himself, without even thinking about escorting Ayla.
When he left, he had been trying to do something to hold her hand, but there was a truly dramatic change. As she snorted and got out of the carriage, Cloud, who had probably been waiting for her, walked towards her with long legs.
