After hearing the assistant’s report, Ernant openly contorted his eyes.

“…Are you certain?”

“Yes, this is a report from the soldier who was monitoring them with special abilities. We are indeed unable to contact the Imperial Guard.”

Ernant’s brow furrowed even more.

If Martin had killed all the Imperial Guards and was rushing to the palace, there could only be one reason.

“Tsk, did he find out about Yulia’s abduction? Raymond and Karl are surely dead then. Useless fools.”

He had ordered Raymond and Karl to kidnap Yulia and make it look like she was killed by monsters.

But judging by Martin killing all the Imperial Guards, it seems they had been found out.

If the kidnapping plot was discovered, the probability of Raymond and Karl surviving Martin was approaching 0%.

“Well, it’s fine. The fact that he’s coming to the palace means he doesn’t know where Yulia is hidden. There won’t be any clear evidence that I kidnapped Yulia either. Without evidence, he won’t be able to cause too much of a disturbance.”

“And now for the second piece of bad news.”

“…What else?”

“Just now, Lord Willich von Kudenheim contacted us via communication item.”

Willich von Kudenheim.

That was the name of the person in charge of monitoring Yulia on the island.

The moment he heard that name, Ernant bolted upright.

“…Speak. What news is it? Has something happened to Yulia?”

Despite Ernant’s urging, the assistant chewed on his lower lip, unable to easily open his mouth.

It was because he could vividly imagine how Ernant would react the moment he heard this news.

Only after Ernant slammed his fist on the windowsill with a bang and urged him again did the assistant finally open his mouth.

“Lady Schnester… has escaped from the villa, they say.”

As expected, the secret passage was connected to the outside of the villa.

Thanks to that, I was finally able to safely escape from the villa.

Judging by the commotion from the villa’s direction right after I got out, it seemed Willich had already noticed my escape.

He must have peeked into the bedroom and found no one inside.

Anyway, if they had already noticed the escape, there was no time to dawdle.

I had to hurry to the western coast before they could dispatch soldiers to thoroughly search the island.

If my prediction was correct, there should definitely be a ship there.

I lowered my body as much as possible to hide and began to move quickly westward.

Fortunately, the soldiers seemed to be stationed only around the mansion, so I didn’t encounter anyone while crossing the island.

It would have been good if I had safely arrived at the west like that, but—

“A river…?”

A huge river was cutting across the center of the island.

This meant that to get to the western coast, I would have to cross this river.

With no special abilities or small boat available, I would have to swim across, but unfortunately, the river was not small.

Could I really cross it?

With this tired body, such a wide river?

I was hesitating for a moment, questioning myself like that.

Unluckily, Willich, who was searching the area, spotted me and came running.

“Lady Schnester!! Don’t move an inch!! His Majesty has a message for you!!”

He says Ernant has something to tell me.

Hearing that cry from Willich, I temporarily postponed jumping into the river.

When I turned to look at him, his expression relaxed a little.

“You’ve thought well, my lady. Huff, huff… At least you should hear what His Majesty has to say. Huff… He might promise to reward you if you behave quietly. Huff, huff…”

Even while out of breath, a shallow sense of relief was embedded in Willich’s expression and voice.

He seemed to have judged that he had succeeded in calming me down for now.

I’m sorry for him, but I had no intention of sitting down to have a long conversation with him while being calm.

I only paused for a moment to leave this one message for Ernant.

“Tell His Majesty that I threw myself into the river because I detested the thought of facing him so terribly.”

“…?”

Leaving Willich with a dumbfounded expression, I immediately threw myself into the river.

Splash!

With a refreshing sound, the fierce current enveloped my body.

Although the river water was bitingly fierce and cold, fortunately, the sun was just rising.

Under the gradually brightening sky, I swam vigorously towards the west.

From behind, Willich’s shout, uncharacteristically excited, could be heard.

“Don’t let her escape! She must not be allowed to reach the western coast!”

“But the current is too strong! If we jump in now—”

“It’s an order! Jump in immediately and capture that woman!”

Listening, it seemed that the subordinates were hesitating to jump in because the current was too strong.

Unlike them, I was desperate and continued to swim vigorously, facing the fierce current with my whole body.

However, the soldiers’ claim about the strong current was not a lie.

My vision shook chaotically, and strength gradually seeped out of my already tired body.

The thought suddenly occurred to me that I might die being swept away like this.

“…”

But even so, I had no regrets.

After all, dying by drowning would be a better end than falling into Ernant’s arms.

Yes, I would try to live, but even if I died, I wouldn’t regret it.

Thinking that, I endured for a long time in the fierce current, and finally slowly closed my eyes.

“You stupid fools!!”

At Ernant’s shout, the assistant, servants, and guard soldiers all stiffened.

As if still not satisfied after shouting like that, Ernant yelled again.

“You let a single woman with her abilities sealed escape because you couldn’t monitor her properly?!”

Just earlier, Ernant had received a report from Willich through a crystal ball.

That Yulia had thrown herself into the river without even listening to Ernant’s message.

He had tried to persuade her well with words so she wouldn’t escape, but Yulia didn’t even accept that attempt.

In front of the subjects who were hanging their heads like criminals, Ernant thought while clenching his fist tightly.

Is it that terribly disgusting to fall into my arms?

I was going to treat her kindly if she waited quietly.

However, Yulia chose to throw herself into the river rather than receive such kind treatment.

She willingly risked her life to escape from Ernant.

That fact grated sharply on Ernant’s nerves.

“Hah…”

As he let out a deep sigh, the shoulders of the subjects bowing their heads in front of him flinched.

Ernant swept his gaze, frozen coldly, over them and ordered.

“For now, tell them to thoroughly search the downstream area of the river. She’s not a woman who would die easily, so she must be alive.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will convey the order to search downstream. Then, how shall we handle Lady Schnester if she is found alive?”

“Then…”

Ernant trailed off as if pondering.

He dragged out the time a bit more, then spoke in a much heavier voice.

“Cut off her left leg so she can’t escape. Below the knee.”

“…Yes, I will convey that to Lord Willich von Kudenheim. We should be able to find her soon, so please don’t worry too much.”

The assistant bowed his head and retreated with the guard soldiers.

Left alone, Ernant quietly closed his eyes.

The image of Yulia swinging her sword with graceful movements appeared in his mind.

If he caught Yulia this time and cut off her leg, he would never be able to see that sight again.

Even so, it couldn’t be helped. It was always better to obtain something even if slightly damaged rather than losing it entirely.

When I barely regained consciousness, I once again realized the fact that my life was incredibly tenacious.

I thought I would die helplessly swept away by the river.

But I was alive.

I must have drifted downstream while unconscious.

Surviving after drinking poison, surviving after being attacked by monsters, and now surviving after falling into a river.

At this rate, I thought my life might be so tough that even cockroaches would call me “elder sister”.

But I couldn’t feel at ease because of that.

I had to find a ship before the soldiers caught up.

If I was caught, I would truly suffer a terrible fate.

Hugging my shivering body with both arms, I moved my steps towards the upstream of the river.

Thud. Thud. As I walked, I kept rubbing my cold forearms.

Not only the soldiers, but the cold and hunger were also quite troublesome problems.

Of course, my soaking wet clothes were stealing my body heat, and my stomach was empty too.

I had skipped about two meals, hadn’t I?

I felt like my stomach was about to stick to my back, as I had moved my body a lot despite not having eaten much.

It was then that I found something very welcome.

“Ah.”

I let out an exclamation and quickly approached the bushes visible ahead.