The orphanage, visited after a long time, was still lively. While Belia was talking with the orphanage director, many people surrounded her, offering words of comfort. The children at the orphanage were no different. They approached Belia, holding her hand tightly, or stood by, whispering words of encouragement.

“Highness! Stay strong!”

“Princess! The Second Prince will be safe!”

“Stay strong!”

As the cheers gathered and grew into a loud shout, Belia appeared outside the building.

“Thank you, everyone. You’ve truly been a great source of strength. I won’t lose hope, so please continue to pray.”

“Of course!”

“Stay strong! We’ll pray!”

With a more emaciated face than before, Belia shook hands with them, smiling. Some of the imperial citizens, who felt pained by her appearance, turned away with tears in their eyes.

The situation was the same when she visited the clinic after looking around the orphanage.

“Highness, the Second Prince will be safe.”

“We pray every day. So, don’t lose hope.”

Those who visited the clinic also offered words of encouragement to Belia. Some of them approached Rachel and consoled her, assuring that Viscount Capri would be safe.

The news of Khalid’s disappearance had made the imperial citizens more sympathetic to Belia. Despite already liking her a lot before, witnessing her efforts to fulfill her duties in her husband’s absence touched many imperial citizens.

“Highness.”

At that moment, the clinic’s administrator approached Belia.

“Take a look inside. The patients want to see Your Highness.”

“Alright.”

Guided by him, Belia went deeper into the clinic, asking, “What about the search results?”

Even in that short time waiting for the reply, it felt like her breath would stop.

Her lips became extremely dry.

Please, please…!

“Nothing was found there.”

Belia’s legs lost their strength at the administrator’s answer.

She immediately leaned against the wall for support.

“Ah…”

He was alive.

Khalid was alive.

He wasn’t buried in cold, damp soil, but somewhere, he was alive.

Belia’s eye area turned red.

“We found no traces of people. It is certain that the Second Prince is somewhere, though. However, heavy rain is still falling in the Schpell region, and considering that his life or death has not been confirmed yet, it seems there might be some problems.”

Hope grew.

If he’s alive, Khalid will surely come back.

So now, Belia had to do what she could.

‘I need a means to restrain Raul.’

Not only Belia knew about future events, but Raul was also predicting future events based on the stories he had seen in dreams.

So she had to do things beyond his expectations.

‘I can’t rely solely on my memories anymore.’

If she moved according to her memories, it would only expose their movements clearly to Raul.

“From now on, Luness will track them.”

“Yes.”

“And one more thing.”

After a moment of contemplation, Belia spoke.

“Please investigate the Eastern Nobles Union. We need to know their weaknesses. No matter how strong the union is, there must be weaknesses we can exploit.”

“Understood.”

After quickly concluding the conversation with the administrator, Belia toured the clinic’s internal ward. Then, she boarded the carriage. Rachel, Susan, and Mia, who had come out for volunteer work, were with her.

“It somehow gave me strength to see so many people supporting Your Highness.”

“With so many people praying, he will surely come back.”

Susan and Mia spoke more confidently to Belia. In response, Belia smiled and replied.
“Surely, he’ll be safe. I’m just waiting.”

As Belia calmly responded, Rachel’s eyes slightly widened. Rachel knew that the clinic administrator was a guild member from Luness. Today, she was aware of whatever news Belia had received from him.

‘Ah, Father…’

Rachel sensed that Belia had heard good news from her words and turned her head to look out the window, holding back tears. Observing Rachel, who opened the window to feel the breeze while suppressing tears, Belia let out a small breath mixed with relief.

Awaiting Belia’s arrival at the palace was an imperial knight. Although Rachel wanted to chat a bit more, she had to bid everyone farewell and walked towards the central palace as led by the knight.

“What’s the matter?”

“…I was ordered to bring Your Highness to His Majesty.”

The knight’s voice was heavy. When they reached the central palace, the knight spoke in a very soft voice.

“Please, don’t be too surprised.”

“What?”

However, before he could rethink his answer, the door to the Alhyeon Room, where the Emperor was waiting, opened.

When Belia slowly entered the room, Khalid’s sword, which he had taken with him when he left, lay on the floor, dirtied with mud. The sword showed signs of being used during a fierce battle, with missing teeth and a blade in a battered condition.

“What’s this…?”

Belia’s voice trembled.

“We found Khalid’s sword buried in the mud during the search.”

“Your Majesty.”

“Examine it. Check if it’s Khalid’s sword.”

The Emperor gestured to the officer.