Hazel looked down at the pitifully emaciated queen.

It had been two weeks since they found her. While it was fortunate they found her, seeing her complexion as pale as a dead person made him uncomfortable.

She answered.

“His Majesty will be here soon.”

The king was nearby. After pursuing Prince Reden and his group, they arrived here and split into two groups to search.

Knowing there was a river connected to Egelvamot nearby, the king ordered.

“There must be someone harboring them around here. I’ll block off the port and search, you search the surroundings.”

A knight had gone to relay the message, so he should arrive soon.

The queen nodded at her answer.

The woman blinked her cloudy eyes a couple times and dropped her head. Confirming the queen was asleep, Hazel laid her down. There were small drops of blood dotting her white face.

A servant waiting nearby with a wet cloth approached. Leaving the queen in their care, Hazel stood up. The doctor waiting a short distance away said to her.

“We’ll need to examine her more thoroughly once we reach the capital, but it seems poison was used.”

Logically, it made no sense. Who would harm a hostage?

But from the start, the queen being kidnapped from the royal palace didn’t make sense.

Wasn’t the breach in the palace’s security ridiculous to begin with?

On the day of the kidnapping, which was the queen’s birthday, celebratory wine had been served, and it had been laced with drugs.

Though they were all trained individuals and didn’t succumb for long, even that brief lapse was enough for things to spiral out of control. The queen’s carriage left the capital in an instant. It was possible because of the crowds that day.

“It’s my fault.”

After cutting off the wrists of all those involved, the king said,

“I put her in danger.”

While flaying the flesh of the conspirators to extract information, the man was constantly plagued by anxiety.

“What if something happens to Ophelia?”

But Hazel worried about what might happen to the king who spoke like that.

Though he had improved somewhat after marriage, until recently the king had been far from sane. As if possessed by something, he was obsessed with war and purges. The man torturing the servants from Reden who had leaked information about the palace reminded her of his past self.

Soon it was revealed that the Prince of Reden was behind it. They immediately began tracking him, but were delayed by several major incidents.

As the search for the queen was prolonged, the king stopped blaming himself. Instead, the man gradually lost his words and expressions. He didn’t reveal his inner thoughts, and began to move without notice.

This time, not even Salode and Risana could stop him. It was their mistake for failing to secure the palace while the king was away.

“I will pursue them myself.”

The king formed a special unit and instructed,

“Capture and dispose of the prince before he crosses into Reden or Egelvamot. Plan to behead him and send it to the King of Reden, let that be known.”

Around that time, news came that a rebellion had broken out in Egelvamot. They said the capital was in turmoil, that the second prince who had been in hiding had appeared and seized the throne.

Salode tried to stop the king by mentioning this.

“Your Majesty, you must not leave the capital at this time.”

“Then we’ll have to make sure no one knows I’ve left my post.”

After saying that, the king appointed Penrel as his proxy. That tall, dark-haired knight had a similar build to the king, so he could be mistaken for him from afar.

With things progressing that far, even Salode could no longer protest.

“One month. You must return within one month.”

The king did not answer. Hazel sensed that if he didn’t find his wife, he would not return to the capital either.

Fortunately, after two weeks they surrounded the area where the prince was hiding. It was a village near a river connected to Egelvamot – if they had been a little later, he surely would have escaped to Egelvamot.

Now if only the king returned, they could wrap up the situation and go back to the capital.

Just then, the door opened and a knight rushed in. Seeing the pale face of the knight she had as her aide, Hazel frowned. Soon, words like a bolt from the blue came from his mouth.

“His Majesty has disappeared!”

“So we meet like this.”

Those were the first words of the man encountered in the alley.

Upon hearing that Mahanas was in this city, Idren divided the knights into two groups, leaving one with Hazel, while he led the other to search the port. He had given orders that anyone who encountered the prince could kill him.

But the one he met was an unexpected person.

Idren frowned at the man who was shamelessly brazen despite being in foreign territory.

“…So you really were alive.”

At those words, Netepel Runtalis removed his robe’s hood and smiled.

“It seems she told you about what Ophelia did, since you thought I was dead.”

“She said she had to take action because you were too persistent.”

Though she had never actually said the former, Idren arbitrarily spoke on behalf of his wife’s sentiments.

In fact, if Ophelia were here, she would have gladly said that man was insufferable, so it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Ophelia. Idren furrowed his brow as he recalled the face he hadn’t seen in nearly half a month.

“Did you kidnap her?”

“My, I thought the Prince of Reden was behind it. How strange to suspect an innocent person.”

“The Prince of Reden may be stupid and reckless, but he doesn’t have the ability to sneak into another country’s royal palace and kidnap the queen.”

Though the situation overlapped in several ways, there was a brief breach in the palace’s security. They couldn’t have prepared for long, so it must have been backed by wealth, but Mahanas didn’t have that kind of money.

Of all days, it happened on Ophelia’s birthday. Idren vowed to grovel before his wife when he met her. This time it was undoubtedly his fault. He would have nothing to say if she got angry.

The man who was surely the mastermind behind this still spoke with a gentle smile.

“When one’s life is at stake, what can’t a person do?”

It was as if implying he had threatened Mahanas with his life. Idren didn’t probe further into that.

“I’ll hear the rest in the palace dungeons.”

It wasn’t too late to hear after cutting off a few fingers. Idren drew his sword. The knights waiting behind him likewise raised their weapons.

It was then that a blade grazed past his ear.

Idren quickly twisted his body to dodge and turned around with surprised eyes. The royal knights were pointing their swords at him.

A bewildered Idren called their names. There was no response. While dodging a few more incoming blades, Idren realized they were not in their right minds.

“What is this…”

As he frowned, Netepel Runtalis said,

“Aren’t you curious how I survived after Ophelia killed me?”

And the man, having learned it from somewhere, pulled out a fan from his breast and spread it wide. Covering his mouth, he said with narrowed eyes,

“Well, I don’t need to tell you right away… I’ll tell you when you survive.”

Though his teeth clenched involuntarily at the clearly mocking words, he had to deal with the immediate situation first. Idren grabbed the wrist of a knight pointing a sword at him.

It was tricky to subdue them since they were hand-picked elite knights he had brought. Especially trying to restrain without killing them took a lot of effort.

His own body didn’t come out unscathed either. When the last remaining knight’s sword grazed his face, Idren sensed his flesh had been cut.

Ophelia wouldn’t like that much. Thinking of the woman Hazel would have found by now, he knocked out the knight and wiped his cheek. As expected, red stained the leather of his glove.

Frowning at the thought of a scar – a well-maintained appearance was very helpful in maintaining domestic peace – he heard the Second Prince’s voice from behind.

“As expected, you’re different, probably from killing so many people.”

Turning to face the man still holding the fan, Idren said,

“I have a policy of not touching what belongs to another’s wife, but Ophelia would prefer your corpse.”

“Well, I’d like to show her your corpse too.”

No further conversation was necessary. Having come to that conclusion, Idren adjusted his grip on his sword.

Ophelia opened her eyes.

Hazel was looking down at her. The knight’s warm brown eyes fixed on her field of vision.

“Are you feeling more lucid?”

Her head did seem a bit clearer than before. Ophelia blinked, recalling her memories. On the evening of her birthday, she was kidnapped by Mahanas, and when she next opened her eyes, she was in an unfamiliar space.

Then she sat by the fireplace because it was too cold, hit Mahanas a bit when he said strange things, and Hazel entered the room…

Realizing again that she had been kidnapped and rescued, Ophelia asked the knight,

“…Where is His Majesty?”

Though her voice was a bit better than before, it was still hoarse. Ophelia frowned. She thought Hazel had said Idren would be here soon, but he wasn’t visible.

He’s not the type to leave me alone. Wondering if she had somehow missed seeing him, she tried to sit up, but Hazel quickly moved to support her.

“You should eat something first. It’s been too long since you’ve had anything…”

The knight had a point. Ophelia tried not to dwell on her uneasiness. Let’s eat something first. Idren would prefer her to do that as well.

Soon, a thin porridge was brought into the room. They seemed to have chosen foods that would be least burdensome on her stomach. Even that felt rough going down, and Ophelia could only manage a few spoonfuls.

Perhaps because she wasn’t feeling well, her skin looked as pale as a dead person’s. Looking down at her wrist, Ophelia realized it had become much thinner than usual.

It was strange. She had been taking good care of her health recently. Partly to show Idren, and partly because she knew it was good to live healthily.

Frowning, she asked the knight,

“How long has it been since I was kidnapped?”

Her body couldn’t have deteriorated this much in just a day or two. Even consuming a deadly poison wouldn’t cause such rapid weight loss.

The knight hesitated briefly before answering.

“It’s been two weeks as of today.”