The sultry night air swept across Farnese’s dry face.

He took out his pocket watch and squinted as he saw that the clock hands had already passed 10 o’clock.

He’s not the type to break a promise.

Just as the thought that something was strange began to irritatingly prick his sensitively raised nerves.

“Your Majesty. Are you getting some fresh air? Or are you waiting for someone else?”

“Come to the upper ballroom and dance with us.”

A few noblewomen who had been lingering at the entrance of the ballroom approached naturally, bringing their daughters who were like flower buds, and struck up a conversation.

It was a moment that revealed their desperate desire to somehow introduce their daughters to the emperor and form a connection, but.

“Excuse me.”

Farnese, who had no interest in balls whatsoever, crossed over to the corridor without even glancing at them.

Duke Ludwig and the knights who had been waiting at a distance followed behind him.

“Your Majesty. The ball has already started. It’s the last event, you should at least make an appearance.”

Farnese seemed not to hear Ludwig’s advice either.

He hurriedly went to Katharine’s room.

“Katharine. Are you in there.”

It seemed like a cute voice would be heard from inside saying “Just a moment!” while fumbling around at this call.

But today it was quiet.

There was no sign of life, to the point that it sent chills down his spine.

He thought she might have forgotten the note and fallen asleep, but he recalled that it wasn’t in her nature to sleep this early.

He didn’t know why, but his instincts were screaming.

To open this door right now and check if Katharine was alright.

Farnese turned the doorknob.

The air in the room was cold, and she was nowhere to be found.

“Ludwig.”

After scanning the darkened room once, Farnese quietly closed the door and said.

“Find out where Katharine is right now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At first, he thought it was nothing.

It could have been a simple whim or change of mood that made her not want to come to the ball, or perhaps another urgent schedule had come up.

However, the news that Duke Ludwig brought was enough to perplex even the great Farnese.

“Your Majesty. It’s strange. They say Lady Katharine is not anywhere in the imperial palace.”

Suddenly, the thought occurred to him that she might have left for the Kingdom of Khan.

If she wasn’t in the palace, that was the only place she could have gone.

Imagining her boarding a carriage without looking back with those tiny feet, an unpleasant emotion twisted his heart.

A violent impulse arose to bring her before him immediately, to embrace her tightly enough to burst his chest, and to inhale the fragrance emanating from her white skin.

‘Why?’

What did it matter to him whether Katharine returned home or not, when she left or not?

Wasn’t she just a momentary amusement to relieve the boredom of daily life from the beginning?

Farnese was confused, finding himself so unfamiliar.

It was the moment when a violent wave arose for the first time in his peaceful life.

Farnese stood with both hands on the windowsill.

When he managed to cool his head and think again, he concluded that she wouldn’t have left this place on a mere whim.

The Katharine that Farnese knew was a woman who was meticulous to the point of being foolish and had a strong sense of responsibility.

If there had been unavoidable circumstances, she would have left some form of farewell.

But she had disappeared ‘suddenly’ to an odd degree.

Like snow melting away after falling to the ground.

Like thick fog suddenly vanishing without a trace.

“Your Majesty. I’ve just heard that several carriages from the Kingdom of Khan and knights following them left through the 6th gate.”

Duke Ludwig approached with an unusually anxious face and said.

Something that was as hot as fire and as cold as ice seemed to seep deep into his lungs.

The festival events were in their final stages, and since they had already bid farewell to the Khan kingdom’s delegation earlier, it wasn’t strange for them to leave at any time.

Farnese closed his eyes and breathed slowly, calming his mind coolly.

If that woman Katharine had mixed in with the delegation and walked out on her own feet, that would be one thing, but.

‘But if that’s not the case?’

If that wretched Charlen Riche had finally crossed a line he shouldn’t have.

Farnese headed somewhere, masking the quietly rising anger with a facade of calmness.

His tightly clenched fist was so swollen that it looked like the thick blood vessels might burst at any moment.

“Listen, all of you. Form a search party immediately and discreetly follow Charlen Riche’s carriage.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Through the gates opening with a heavy roar, Farnese spurred his horse and galloped out fiercely.

As soon as he left the palace, a sharp wind that felt like it might pour down in a sudden shower scratched his cheeks.

‘Katharine. I must find out somehow.’

Why your existence makes me so confused.

I need to know what I want to do with you, whom I thought was just a passing amusement.

Only then can I shake you, this troublesome one, from my daily life as soon as possible and return to being the original Farnese.

Something warm was dripping onto her face, and it turned out to be rain.

It was too warm for a sudden shower, so Katharine thought she must have finally died and come to the afterlife.

Her consciousness, which continued like a thin thread, intermittently broke off and returned like a flickering lamp light.

‘What’s happened to me….’

As the raindrops grew heavier and beat her face fiercely, Katharine realized that this was not the afterlife but reality.

The faint sound of a river flowing could be heard from somewhere.

It seemed she certainly wasn’t dead, but strangely her body wouldn’t move at all.

‘I can’t feel my lower body.’

That simple and clear fact was enough to plunge Katharine into vague terror.

It was hard to believe she was still alive after falling from such a high cliff and being swept away by the river.

As things stood, there were only two possible outcomes.

Either being torn apart by wild dogs, or dying from excessive blood loss.

No matter how calmly she thought about it, it seemed there was no one who would come running to save her before she died.

She didn’t even know herself how far she had been swept away.

‘I guess it’s fortunate that I can’t feel the pain.’

Drowsiness crept in.

Her eyelids kept getting heavier.

Just as the sound of rain pouring down refreshingly grew distant and she was about to slowly close her eyes.

Through her narrowing field of vision, the face of someone who couldn’t possibly be here began to appear faintly.

“…rin!”

The unclear, distorted sound gradually became clearer.

“Katharine!”

Even in her hazy consciousness, she could clearly recognize the owner of the voice.

In the distance, Farnese was running like mad through the heavy shower.

Seeing his face, wet with what could have been tears or rain, strangely sparked an intense will to live.

Katharine desperately pulled out her hand, half-buried in the gravel.

“Your Majesty.”

She called his name in a small voice, as if squeezing it out, while reaching out her hand.

“Katharine! How could this… How!”

Unbelievably, Farnese looked like he was about to lose his mind, half out of his senses.

Throwing aside the reins and leaping off the back of the black griffon, Farnese embraced Katharine’s body with a suppressed roar.

His whole body was shaking madly.

It was clear fear.

“It’s alright. Now that I’m here, it will surely be alright. It’s not too late yet.”

He who had never lost his composure like a seasoned beast, muttered incoherently.

Katharine was puzzled.

“Why…”

“Shut that mouth! Please don’t speak. Please.”

Farnese struggled to catch his breath that kept bursting out, as if trying to regain his composure.

Then he carefully lifted Katharine in both arms.

Just how serious must her condition be for him to act so unlike himself?

“Your Majesty! What in the world has happened!”

A voice presumed to be Duke Ludwig’s was heard from afar, followed by the sound of several people rushing over.

They all screamed in shock upon seeing Katharine.

“Oh heavens, the blood!”

“Make way! We must move this child to the imperial palace at once!”

“Your Majesty, this way!”

Curses mixed with shouts rang out from here and there, saying they must hurry and ride at full speed.

Fortunately or unfortunately, her memories became intermittent after that.

She had clearly been on a cold, windy roadside, but when she regained consciousness, she was lying in a room that reeked of disinfectant.

People in medical gowns surrounded her, muttering something.

It felt like something sharp and metallic was digging into her skin, but she couldn’t understand what was what.

However, one thing.

“She is a precious woman. We must save her at all costs.”

She could faintly sense that Farnese was staying by her side, never leaving for a moment.

Late dawn.

A time when not only people, but even animals with keen night vision were starting to seek their beds.

A high-class inn in the suburbs still had its lights on, with no intention of turning them off.

The search party leader, who had returned with the dawn wind on his clothes, strode past the dining room and up to the restricted upper floor.

Charlen, who had been sitting with his head bowed and his interlocked hands on his forehead, spoke in a trembling voice upon hearing the search party leader’s report.

“So, there was only a pool of blood, and Katharine couldn’t be found…?”

“I am ashamed, Your Highness.”

“And you dare call that a report!”

Charlen’s voice rose as if it would pierce the ceiling.

The soldiers flinched.

“I regret to say, but it seems Lady Katharine has already…”

The search party leader hung his head low, unable to finish his words, and Charlen paced back and forth in the room, repeatedly wiping his face drenched in cold sweat.

His face, pale as a corpse, was filled with fear and despair.

“This can’t be. It must be a lie. It must all be a dream.”

The tragedy had occurred so suddenly that his memory was as vague as if it had completely flown away.

With a feeling like he had just woken up from a short dream, it seemed as if Katharine might burst through that door at any moment, looking perfectly fine.

If something had really happened to Katharine, Charlen thought it was all the fault of the incompetent guards.

If only those following behind had saved her a little faster, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.

Thus, Charlen began to avoid responsibility and turn a blind eye to the terrible reality.

“Your Highness! I heard from the servant. What in the world happened? How could my sister have fallen?”

Likewise, Rose rushed into the inn, clearly in a state of considerable shock.

Just before at the imperial palace, Charlen had told everyone to prepare to depart, saying an urgent matter had come up and they needed to return home earlier than planned.

He had disappeared somewhere in a flash, as if his feet were on fire, leaving only a notification, so they had to hurry out without time to wonder.

That wasn’t the only strange thing.

Charlen, who usually rode in the same carriage, had for some reason said he would take the lead alone in a carriage this time, and the rest of the people followed behind, keeping their distance for safety.

The time was late at night, and the surroundings were naturally pitch dark.

In that darkness, Charlen’s scream, as if he was about to lose his mind, suddenly echoed through the mountain road, leading to the current situation.

Rose had never once imagined that Katharine would die before her.

There would be many difficult times ahead during her reign and troublesome problems would arise, so how could she live without her sister’s help?

‘But at least now I won’t have to worry about her taking what’s mine…’

As this absurd thought arose like a small wisp of smoke in her heart, Rose was startled and covered her mouth.

At this moment, Charlen looked at her with a sickly pale expression and said.

“Hey, Queen. Did you just smile?”