Lina’s plan to head straight to the south if she got about 2 gold coins was disrupted.

“I have to find some work somewhere…….”

Lina muttered as she thought for a moment.

“Shall I go to Hadenber?”

There must be plenty of work for her in Festius, the capital.

She might even run into the Duke there, but what were the chances of encountering him in such a vast place, she thought.

Quite naively.

(This is a time separator.)

A night when darkness weighed heavily. Into a cold room lit only by a single candle, Lawrence entered.

“Your Grace, a message from the Crown Prince.”

Valige gazed at the letter that was gently placed before him. Without reading, he slowly scanned the letter from Alex that he had slit open with a knife.

I’ve heard about the grace of Dinamis. I cannot sleep well these days thinking of the tragic event that happened between her and you. My heart aches for her misfortune, and I understand your grief over losing your fiancée. But I think we can’t delay any longer.

I feel uncomfortable urging you, who are struggling more than anyone, but understand that I have no choice. Valige. I don’t want to lose even my one and only friend. So please carry out the matter as quickly and safely as possible.

P.S. Lastly, I will do everything I can to help you find Dinamis’s grace.

Your old friend Alex. ]

Valige held Alex’s letter near the candlelight. The paper that ignited in an instant turned into black ashes and fell beneath his desk.

“Is there still no contact from the forest?”

Valige asked Lawrence in a cavernous deep voice.

“……Yes.”

With a small voice, unable to lift his head, Lawrence looked at Valige, whose face was worn with deep fatigue.

A month since Lina’s disappearance.

During that time, he gathered all the manpower he could and searched the canyon and nearby forest like crazy but couldn’t find a single strand of Lina’s hair.

Valige, who had been leaning on his desk with both arms and brushing his head, let out a heavy sigh.

It had been a long time since he spent his days in a village near the Stokos forest, postponing the Crown Prince’s mission.

‘I can’t delay any longer, just like Alex said.’

Valige took out a ring from his desk drawer.

The ring handed over by Lina’s maid had long lost its original form to the point where it could no longer be called a ring.

‘I treasured it so much.’

As he recalled the past when he had kept Lina by his side using this ring as an excuse, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

‘I thought you wouldn’t leave me as long as I had this.’

But in the end, only the ring was left behind.

Valige clenched his fist as if it was hard to look at it any longer. Then, as if he had made some decision, the Duke raised his head.
“We will depart for the capital of Festius, Hadenber, as soon as day breaks tomorrow. But, only you, me, and Philip will go to Hadenber. The others will continue the search here.”

“Yes? But, the Empress has already attacked. We do not know what danger awaits us in the capital, and it’s dangerous for just the three of us to go.”

Since the Empress had already noticed the plan to place the Princess of Festius as the first Prince’s wife, it was impossible to head to the capital with a noticeable large number of people.

Rather, it might have been a wise method to deceive their eyes and secretly go to and return from the capital.

“We will make it look like we continue to search for Lina here, then secretly depart for Hadenber. And then…….”

The Duke, who was commanding Lawrence, suddenly frowned and pinched his forehead with his hand.

“Duke?”

“……Find someone to act as if you picked the Ninth.”

Lawrence looked at the Duke, who was sweating with a pale face, and forgot to answer.

“Duke, you look pale. Shall I call the physician?”

“No need.”

“But…….”

“Get out.”

Lawrence’s lips quivered as if he was about to say something in response to the Duke’s firm command, but he ended up not saying anything.

Bang[Dash].

As soon as the door closed and Lawrence disappeared, the Duke’s body slumped forward as if collapsing.

“Ugh[Dash].”

The Duke, groaning in pain and tearing at his hair, looked extremely agonizing.

Valige hadn’t slept properly in recent times.

Nightmares that had returned after Lina’s disappearance had become more severe, strangling his throat, and headaches that came without warning tormented him.

“Lina…….”

His body and mind had long since become tattered like rags.

Valige staggered to the bedside and raised the bottle of alcohol to his lips.

However, nothing came out of the already empty bottle. Valige, angry at this, threw the bottle to the floor in irritation.

Crash[Dash].

The now shattered bottle left a dent in the wooden floor.

The despair of possibly never seeing her again, the guilt of not being able to protect her.

And the terrible regret was tearing his heart to shreds.

“Where on earth are you, Lina…….”

Everyone had said that she must be dead, but Valige did not even want to hear it.

He would never give up until he saw her body with his own eyes.

“She couldn’t have died.”

She wouldn’t have left his side so easily. Valige’s shoulders collapsed weakly as he muttered in a trembling voice.

“You couldn’t have left me…. Lina.”

It had been a month since Lina went missing.

He still could not accept it.

Perhaps, the fact that he might never see Lina again.