Chapter 76. Everything You Love

2023.12.15.

After Yuan Pelliese closed the bedroom door and left.

The sound of the grand carriage and procession had faded far into the distance.

Clade Euphris’s eyes, fixed on the enormous bouquet lying on the floor, sank into a distant, dark abyss.

The pitifully scattered flowers brought back memories of that day ten years ago.

The nursemaid Margaret’s severed head rolling across the floor.

Her lifeless eyes staring toward him.

The corpses of knights he had trained with since childhood, like friends.

Even the cruel voice pouring over them.

“If life worse than death exists, then this is it! The Euphris treasure has become a crow!”

The night this mansion burned black and strange armed men trampled Clade’s people.

The night young Clade could do nothing but look up at his uncle Igor Euphris’s towering shadow.

“If your mother were alive, how despairing she would be to see you—like a snake caught in a trap. How pitiful and beautiful it would be to see her burst into tears, shaking her head. I would have gladly done this before her very eyes, if only I could have.”

The man who killed everything Clade loved had laughed as he said this.

The wide, grotesquely stretched corners of his mouth.

The gleaming white teeth beneath.

The hoarse voice that tore through Clade’s churning insides.

The eerie fever burning within those icy blue eyes.

The moment when a pain as if his body were split in two and his entire body aflame overwhelmed young Clade.

The only person laughing while everyone else stood in horror at that scene.

Igor Euphris’s face was vividly clear, as if right before his eyes.

“I will keep you alive, if I wish. I’ll announce to the world that the so-called treasure of Euphris, born of Alexei and Eleonore, is nothing but a crow!”

He leaned down personally toward Clade, who was screaming in agony.

“So become even more wretched, Clade Euphris. Live like a crawling insect, stripped of dignity and beauty. Make people regret ever calling you the treasure of Euphris, make them wish to tear their own lips apart as they endure the world’s scorn and pointing fingers.”

Igor Euphris had leaned close, whispering so only the young Hena hiding on the floor and Clade could hear, unheard by the knights around them.

“No matter how hard you struggle to rise again, it’s useless.”

Even amidst the agony, that voice remained clear.

“Clade Euphris, everything you love will die.”

“Just as everything Alexei Euphris loved has died.”

***

After the magnificent procession of the First Prince Bollonico had disappeared.

For a while, a cold silence enveloped the front of the black mansion.

“I knew this would happen. What did I say?”

The silence was broken by Eddie Rev.

His flushed face had cooled to icy calm, but he still breathed heavily, his chest rising and falling violently.

It was extremely rare for Eddie Rev, who always tried to maintain composure, to show such a reaction in public.

“Didn’t I tell you that woman was Bollonico’s pawn? I told you not to trust her! Everyone except me was blind and deceived. Didn’t you just see? That bastard Bollonico took her away so tenderly.”

“There might have been some misunderstanding.”

“Stop spouting foolish, soft nonsense, Lancelot! How can you still not understand after seeing that?”

Despite Eddie’s sharp rebuke, Lancelot’s gaze remained fixed on the countless hoofprints and carriage tracks imprinted in the muddy ground.

Lancelot believed the humane side of Yuan Pelliese he had seen until now was never false.

But after witnessing this scene, he found it difficult to dismiss Eddie’s words, and confusion overwhelmed him.

“Even if she came here by Bollonico’s order at first, maybe she grew to care for Clade while staying here! This isn’t something for us to judge! Bollonico is always impulsive, and we should consider the lady’s circumstances too. This… this isn’t the woman I’ve known until now.”

“Was I the only one who saw her confidently nestled in Bollonico’s arms, riding in that golden carriage? Have you all truly gone blind and deaf? You and Clade alike lose all logic the moment that woman is involved. The world calls women like her seductresses. To witness a traitor right before your eyes and still make excuses—disappointing, Lancelot Rev! Don’t you dare claim to be of the House of Marquis Rev ever again!”

“Clade has only just started coming outside! Honestly, the lady didn’t even harm Clade! Clade is alive and well, even recovering from his curse! Would Bollonico want that? What matters is Clade’s heart. If there’s a misunderstanding, we should clear it up and ask Clade first whether he wants her back or not! That’s what I mean! Don’t you understand? This isn’t something for us to interfere in. It’s their issue.”

“Bring her back? From where? Should we chase after that circus procession and snatch the lady away? Then shove her back into Clade’s bedroom? Their issue? Is Clade some farmer picking apples in an orchard in some distant territory? Clade is one of us—half royal blood, half of the House of Marquis Rev! Clade’s problem is our problem!”

Lancelot, who believed judgment should be suspended and follow Clade’s decision, clashed sharply with Eddie, who insisted Clade’s judgment could no longer be trusted and that they must believe only what their eyes saw.

The servants were equally confused.

At first, stunned into silence, they had simply stared as the golden carriage procession vanished. But gradually, unease began to spread among them.

“Our lady would never leave the mansion.”

“Exactly. Would someone who leaves really have tended the garden so carefully? And how kind she’s always been to us?”

“How much medicine she made for our families last winter… and it’s only been a short while since the master and the two of them went out together…”

“Quiet! How can the likes of us understand the affairs of our superiors!”

Amid the confusion, head cook Ralph shouted loudly.

“There must be a reason! Our lady is so talented—do you think places aren’t seeking her out? Even high-ranking people recognize her worth! Gossiping among ourselves won’t help! Until our lady returns, we should just focus on our duties!”

“But our lady has seemed a bit strange lately.”

The murmuring among the servants ceased.

Hena mumbled blankly.

“Ever since the master nearly died from poisoning in the palace and returned here, the lady hasn’t smiled much, hasn’t eaten well, and seemed deeply depressed.”

“What? Really? Why are you only saying this now?”

“What if people in the palace have been tormenting our lady? What if, like last time, His Majesty the Emperor harassed her again? If our lady truly fled this mansion because of that…”

Hena covered her face with both hands and burst into tears.

Monica, who had just returned from Yuan’s room, pushed her way through the group of servants.

“The lady didn’t take any luggage at all.”

In Monica’s hands were all the accessories Yuan had worn that morning when she went out—

the very ones the servants had admired and given thumbs-up to as she left.

“She left behind the clothes she wore today, and all her accessories too… the ones we picked out together. She took nothing, as if she never wants to be tied to this place again…”

Monica clutched the accessories and began to cry.

Ralph’s firm resolve to unconditionally believe and wait for their lady began to crumble.

The servants, gathered in small groups, started recalling the reality they had forgotten while living with Yuan.

This was the northwest of Euphris.

To the north, the sea; to the west, desert; to the east, dense forest—

a desolate, isolated territory, no different from a place of exile: Roxenhardt.

A place where the exiled former emperor, who had relinquished the throne to his uncle, resided—

a castle known as the Monster’s Keep.

Simultaneously, a place where the imperial family and nobles concentrated their eyes and ears to watch and restrain that exiled emperor.

A breeding ground for every terrifying rumor.

A place with too bleak a history for their young, delicate lady to continue living here with peace of heart.

The previous brides who had fled had also left without properly packing, abandoning everything as if leaving this place was more important than anything else—

more important than precious jewelry and splendid dresses.

The servants’ faces turned pale.

Their sobs and sighs joined the quiet argument between the men of the House of Marquis Rev.

And that restless atmosphere was silenced in an instant—

much later, when the sound of heavy front gates opening echoed from the mansion’s entrance.

“…Clade.”

Marquis Rev murmured, almost to himself.

At last, Clade Euphris appeared outside the entrance.

Contrary to Marquis Rev’s and Lancelot’s worries, Clade’s face was perfectly composed.

Lancelot, who had held back Eddie as he gritted his teeth, vowing revenge, froze at the sight of Clade’s cold expression.

Clade’s eyes, devoid of warmth, turned toward the carriage tracks of Bollonico imprinted in the muddy ground.

His gaze, following the tracks that vanished beyond the black iron fence into the white forest, scattered into empty air.

Clade’s slow footsteps passed Marquis Rev, Eddie, and Lancelot, stepping over the carriage tracks.

The direction of Clade’s steps was the west wing of the mansion—

the wing that had long foreshadowed change.

The servants stood frozen, unable to bring themselves to follow, as the men of the House of Marquis Rev hurried after Clade, whose pace gradually quickened.

“What… what happened? There must have been a misunderstanding.”

“Shut up, Lancelot. Clade, I won’t tolerate any more soft thinking. I told you—she’s clearly…”

Eddie Rev’s mouth stopped moving.

Clade, entering the west wing courtyard, had drawn the sword from Eddie Rev’s waist.

The event happened so fast that Eddie could only stare blankly at his own waist for a moment before seeing Clade’s retreating back.

“Clade!”