A few days later, the incident where the Crown Prince tried to kill the Prince on the day of the Prince’s wedding caused a stir in the Imperial family and the capital of the Empire.

The capital’s newspapers published articles about the Crown Prince’s actions, along with articles about Ruan’s return alive after even holding a funeral.

The people in the capital were more surprised by the fact that Ruan had come back to life than by the Crown Prince’s incident, and everyone blessed him for not having died.

***

“I’ve been wronged! I was deceived by the Duke! Pretending to be dead when he wasn’t! What a coward! I will never let you get away with this!!”

Deimond, imprisoned by Ruan, cried out that he had been deceived by Ruan and Harman, pleading his innocence, but no one listened to his words.

As Bisseluke said, Cassel and Tablo began to thoroughly investigate the incident of attempting to kill Harman.

And this incident became the catalyst for the collapse of the seemingly impregnable Kaiman Kraft duchy that no one thought could be brought down.

Kaiman, who had been ordered to stay in his castle due to a corpse found in his territory, was also revealed to have lent knights for the Prince Harman incident, making him an accomplice of Deimond.

He protested that he didn’t know Deimond was planning such a thing, but everything turned against him.

Kaiman, who wielded greater power and authority than the Emperor of the Imperial family, began to see what he had built crumble little by little because of Deimond, whom he so desperately wanted to protect.

Deimond was also revealed to be the culprit in the incident of the corpse found in Kaiman’s territory, based on evidence of buttons and cloth fragments, along with the investigation into his attempt to frame Harman for treason.

Throughout the investigation, Deimond pleaded his innocence, but the pro-Emperor nobles who had already lost trust in him turned their backs on him.

“Absolutely, this matter cannot be overlooked.”

“Of course. It’s outrageous enough that he tried to kill the Prince at the Prince’s wedding, but to bring innocent women and kill them because they didn’t please him? If we leave His Highness the Crown Prince as he is, what imperial subject would follow the Imperial family? This is a matter of the Imperial family’s survival.”

The nobles insisted day after day that Deimond should step down from the position of Crown Prince, and eventually Deimond was stripped of his position as Crown Prince even before receiving a trial.

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.

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A few days later. The Empire’s newspapers prominently featured Deimond’s actions, and the imperial subjects were aghast.

Faced with such overwhelming evidence, Deimond was exiled to the Wolfmoar region, the most barren land in the Empire, by Bisseluke’s order even before a trial could be held.

Moreover, Antwart, who knew about Deimond killing women but kept it hidden, could not escape responsibility for this matter.

Although she avoided dethronement due to the pro-Emperor nobles’ persuasion, she was confined to the Empress’s palace, maintaining only the nominal title of Empress.

Kaiman was also stripped of his duke title and demoted to count.

On the day when the punishments for those involved were announced by Bisseluke’s order, late at night, Ruan visited Deimond, claiming it was by the Emperor’s order.

And until dawn broke that night, screams that would make one’s skin crawl continued to be heard from the prison.

The next day, when the knights went to the prison to take Deimond to his place of exile, they couldn’t help but be shocked by Deimond’s miserable state.

According to the imperial physician urgently summoned, all the bones in Deimond’s body were broken, and he kept muttering that he had done wrong, as if possessed by something.

Although he was found in such a miserable state, none of the imperial knights who had suffered under Deimond sympathized with him.

Rather, some knights even felt grateful to Ruan for doing this to him.

Despite such severe injuries, there was no danger to Deimond’s life, so after treating him by wrapping his entire body in bandages, he was loaded onto a carriage and departed for his place of exile.

Thus, the incident was concluded, and a few days later, Harman ascended to the position of Crown Prince.

After Mercian disappeared and Ruan returned, the atmosphere at the Canoloup duchy had changed a lot over the past two months.

When Mercian was there, it was always a warm and laughter-filled duchy, but after Mercian left, there was never a reason to smile.

Ruan searched for Mercian almost every day like a madman, and he reverted to being the cold and aloof duke he used to be.

“Still no news at all?”

Cassel replied with a gloomy expression to Ruan’s question.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace. I’m afraid the Madam might have left the Empire. Most people in the Empire now know that you’re alive, but there’s been no contact for two months, which means the Madam has either left the Empire or…”

“Or what?”

Cassel couldn’t bring himself to suggest that something might have happened to Mercian, and just bowed his head, watching Ruan’s reaction.

“Search for her publicly!”

“Pardon?”

“I said, search for my wife publicly.”

“That’s dangerous. If ill-intentioned people find her, they might kidnap her for ransom or even harm her.”

In response to Cassel’s objection, Ruan sighed and said.

“Haa. Then let’s start with a wanted poster.”

“A wanted poster? But the Madam hasn’t done anything wrong, it doesn’t seem right to put out a wanted poster.”

“No, put out a wanted poster, with the condition that she must be alive and unharmed. Offer 10,000 gold coins for any small piece of information about her!”

“What? 10,000 gold coins?”

Seeing Cassel’s surprised expression at Ruan’s words, Ruan replied with a desperate look.

“Yes, 10,000 gold coins. Come to think of it, we don’t even have a portrait of her yet. Haa, how stupid of me not to have thought of having her portrait painted in those 5 months. No wonder my wife left me and ran away…”

No, it’s not that she ran away, she left thinking you were dead.

Cassel muttered inwardly at Ruan’s words.

“Then, I’ll first call a painter to paint the Madam’s portrait.”

“Yes, we should do that.”

At Cassel’s suggestion, a painter was called, and Ruan had Mercian’s portrait painted and distributed throughout all regions of the Empire.

After posting the portrait, numerous Mercian candidates came and went through the duchy, but the real Mercian was nowhere to be seen.

No way. With ill intentions. No, that’s impossible.

My wife must be alive somewhere.

Contrary to the expectation that she would be easily found, Mercian did not show herself anywhere.

Ruan became increasingly anxious as time passed, but he was determined to find her no matter what.

Another 4 months passed like that.

While searching for Mercian, Ruan gradually recovered his strength to appear impressive when he met her, and he was no longer the thin and sickly duke, but returned to his former appearance as the hero of the imperial people.

And his personality also changed back to being as cynical and cold as before.

“Haa. Are you there again? When the Madam was there, I thought that spot suited her well, but with that bulk sitting there, it’s like a lion stealing a squirrel’s house. It’s scary.”

At Cassel’s words, Ruan, who was absentmindedly eating a pie in the tree, looked down at Cassel and muttered.

“The pie tastes better here.”

Is it really tastier?

And with that appearance. Haa. He’s only gotten bigger, but nothing else has changed since he was in the coffin.

Cassel sighed softly as he looked up at Ruan in the tree.

After Mercian left, Ruan practiced swordsmanship and exercised to build his strength, and ate well to improve his body, but his face was almost reminiscent of a vagrant because he hadn’t shaved his beard.

Ruan’s hair was also not properly groomed, and it had grown to his shoulders.

Moreover, his expression while eating the pie was almost like he was chewing on poison…

After Mercian left, Ruan climbed the tree she often used to climb and spent all day eating cookies, snacks, and pies.

When Mercian was there, the garden was full of cute and pretty flowers blooming under her care, but after Ruan took over the garden, he didn’t tend to it at all, and only weeds grew abundantly, making it almost like a prairie.

“Your Grace. Please. Pull yourself together!”

If the Madam sees you like this now, she’ll run away even if she comes into the duchy.

Just as Cassel was about to scold him to stop being so melancholic, Chef Zhang entered the garden and carefully spoke up.

“Master, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

Zhang hesitated to speak properly, intimidated by Ruan’s terrifying expression as he looked down from the tree.

“Well, that is…”

Ruan came down from the tree and approached the hesitant Zhang, looking at his face and asked.

“Zhang, what do you want to say?”

“Well, you see…”

“If you want to quit or something, tell Ed. If you have nothing else to say, you can go now.”

As Ruan was about to leave the garden, seeming annoyed, Zhang shouted with his eyes tightly shut.

“Master, I… I think I’ve found the Madam.”

“… What? Who did you just say you found?”

As Ruan approached Zhang again, Zhang stepped back and sat down in the garden.

“Say it again. Who did you say you found?”

Zhang shouted with a fearful expression at Ruan’s face, which had come right up to his.

“I said I think I’ve found the Madam!!”

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“Now, first have some tea. Zhang, go ahead and tell us. So you’ve found the Madam?”

Zhang took a sip of tea with trembling hands, watching Cassel who spoke gently while offering tea.

“Zhang, say it again. Did you really find the Madam?”

At Ruan’s question, Zhang slowly nodded and answered.

“Among the people I know in business, there’s someone who sells tea, and since we’ve known each other for a long time, I sometimes made sandwiches for him.”

“And?”

“Well, recently he said he ate a sandwich exactly like mine.”

“What does that have to do with the Madam?”

At Cassel’s question, Zhang took another sip of tea as if his throat was dry and answered.

“My sandwich has a unique sauce, and the only person in the Empire who knows about it is the Madam.”

“So you’re saying that if it tastes the same as your sandwich, the person who made it must be the Madam?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

“Bring that person here immediately!”

As Ruan stood up abruptly with an urgent expression, Zhang restrained him and said.

“Just. Just a moment, Master. I asked him in detail, and he said the person who gave him the sandwich lives in a village quite far from the capital. He said they come to the shop to buy tea once or twice a month.”

“Then find out where that village is right away!”

“Well, he said he couldn’t remember the name of the village. Instead, he said that woman would come back in about two weeks, so maybe then…”

“Are you sure that sandwich is the same as the one you make?”

“Yes, that person has quite a picky palate and doesn’t easily forget tastes he’s tried once, so it should be correct.”

“Alright, then when you hear from him, make sure to let me know.”

“Yes, Master.”

Two weeks later.

“This… This is really made by the Madam. I taught her this sandwich sauce.”

Zhang exclaimed happily, looking at the sandwich given by the tea shop owner who said he got it from that woman.

“Where did that woman say she lives?”

Ruan’s eyes shone for the first time in a long while as he approached Zhang.

A few days later, Ruan and Cassel visited the village of Phenonmenon.

“My goodness, it really is the Madam. But she’s lost a lot of weight and cut her hair, so she looks quite different. And her name is different too.”

As Cassel spoke while hiding and watching Mercian’s shop in disguise, Ruan muttered in a trembling voice, staring at her without saying anything.

I’ve finally found her!