“Your Grace. Please take a look at this.”

What one knight handed over was a torn piece of dress. Splattered blood was on the thin piece of fabric.

“It was caught on a rock midway down the cliff.”

It was a luxurious fabric that neither commoners nor poor nobles could afford.

So it must be Elodie’s.

The evidence in hand confirmed that Elodie had fallen off this cliff. The Duke, who was staring at the piece of fabric, soon issued another command.

“Expand the search radius. Is there a village nearby?”

“Yes. There is a small village at the base of the nearby mountains.”

“Include that in the search area.”

“Yes!”

The knights dispersed again to resume their search. Among them, one knight glanced at Duke Ferdia, admiring him.

‘Indeed, His Grace the Duke is composed.’

Despite his daughter having fallen off a cliff and gone missing, he remained so unshaken.

But no one on the scene knew. The Duke was gripping Elodie’s bloodstained fabric so tightly that his veins were bulging.

Outwardly calm, but not inside.

‘Elodie.’

The Duke frowned, recalling his daughter’s face, always tense in his presence.

How much time had passed?

Yansi and the Duchess arrived at the scene, having heard the news.

As soon as Yansi dismounted from his horse, he strode roughly toward Carlo.

The nearby knights widened their eyes at his relentless steps. Yansi’s hands roughly grabbed and shook Carlo’s shoulders.

“Carlo Ferdia!”

“……Brother.”

“What were you doing as her escort! What exactly!”

“……. ”

“Do you even know what you’ve done?”

Yansi’s eyes glared at Carlo, as if to kill him.

With his frenzied gaze, Carlo trembled in extreme fear.

Yansi, who never got excited about anything, was actually angry.

His eyes shook with shock as Yansi held him.

“I, I……. ”

Yansi’s words unleashed a guilt that finally exploded within Carlo.

The Duke and other knights didn’t say anything, but they knew.

That it was his fault that Elodie had fallen off the cliff.

“Even alone, I should have let her escape, but I, I was foolishly……. ”

Carlo lowered his head, continuing his words as if confessing.

Yansi looked down at Carlo’s crown with cold eyes.

Intervening between the two was the Duchess.

“Yansi. That’s enough.”

“Mother.”

Yansi looked sharply at his mother as if to say not to interfere, but she elegantly smiled, ignoring her son’s gaze.

The Duchess’s sharp eyes scanned Carlo from top to bottom.

Hmm.

“You are addicted, Carl.”

“……. ”

“Leave the search to your father from now on and go back for treatment.”

Carlo nodded his head.
The characters in the passage do not seem to have been previously listed, so I will proceed with the translation while adhering to the other guidelines you provided.

“I will…… I will help with the search as well. Since this is all due to my failure to carry out my duty, please allow me to take responsibility.”

Carlott’s appearance as he spoke with a trembling voice, fists clenched, looked quite pitiable.

To those who knew Carlott, who used to tremble with fear, this reaction from him was unbelievable if it were Elodie.

Duke was adamant with Carlott, who insisted on joining the search until the end.

“If you really want to search, finish your treatment first.”

“It’s okay.”

“If you insist it’s okay and then collapse, it will only hinder the search.”

“Yes, I understand…….”

Carlott, still with his head bowed, turned his back to the cliff.

Hope sprung up in vain at the news that the body had not been found.

He might still be alive.

He might be alive……

‘Yes. He’s alive.’

He had to be.

He had to be for Elodie……

“Ugh…….”

Waking up, I grimaced at the muscle aches and mild feverish feeling throughout my body.

What greeted me was an unfamiliar landscape.

The simple bedroom with only the necessary furniture felt empty despite its size.

‘Where is this?’

Without realizing it, I tried to get up in this unfamiliar space but grimaced in pain.

“Ugh…….”

An immense pain spread from my right shoulder. It seemed I was injured when I was hit by the carriage during the attack.

With my left hand clutching my shoulder, I stepped off the bed.

‘It was that man.’

That man, who suddenly appeared during an outing a while ago, muttered my name from my previous life and then disappeared. A startlingly beautiful man with black hair darker than shadows and deep red eyes.

I had him investigated, but ultimately failed to identify him.

‘To appear just before my death and save me.’

Did he have good intentions towards me? Even so, I couldn’t completely dispel my doubts. Since I didn’t know his identity or intentions.

Anyway, I had no intention of staying in an unknown place for a long time.

As I reached for the doorknob, it turned on its own.

“Uh…….”

I blinked in surprise at the sight of the man through the opened door.

But the other party also had a surprised look on his face.

Was that all?
문고리에 손을 올린 자세 그대로 굳어서는 숨소리조차 내지 않고 나를 가만히 바라보기만 했다.

“저기.”

“…….”

“저기요?”

“네.”

이제야 정신을 차렸는지 남자는 문을 열고 안으로 들어오더니 다시 문을 닫았다.

달칵.

실내에 단둘만 있다는 사실에 어쩐지 목이 타는 기분이었다.

“다치셨습니다. 앉아 계시는 게 좋겠습니다.”

“그래.”

사실 서서 멀쩡히 돌아다닐 정도의 몸 상태가 아니었기에 남자의 말에 냉큼 침대에 가서 걸터앉았다.

약을 가지러 갔던 건지, 그의 반대편 손에는 약통이 들려 있었다.

“치료해드려도 되겠습니까?”

“응.”

대충 내려다보아도 곳곳에 생채기가 셀 수 없을 정도로 나 있었다.

내가 멀쩡한 왼팔부터 건네자 남자가 내 손을 조심스럽게 붙들었다.

어째서인지 경건한 태도에 민망함은 내 몫이었다.

하지만 그것도 잠시, 나는 냉철하게 남자를 바라보았다.

분명 며칠 전 처음 본 얼굴인데, 마치 오래전부터 알고 있었던 것처럼 익숙한 느낌이 드는 이유는 뭘까.

나는 내 생채기에 약을 바르는 남자에게 물었다.

“당신, 마법사야?”

“아닙니다.”

분명 빠르게 추락하던 내 속도가 점점 느려졌었는데. 마법이 아니면 불가능한 기적이었다.

그도 아니면 황가나 4대 가문의 혈족으로서 권능을 쓰는 방법도 있었다.

직계가 아니더라도 방계라면 권능을 쓸 수 있으니까.

“앙겔로스, 세베레스, 윌렌티아, 페르디아, 크룬델. 어디야?”

“어느 곳도 아닙니다.”

거짓말을 하고 있다기엔 목소리에 망설임이 없었다.

‘크흠.’

정정한다. 얼굴이 너무 잘생겨서, 내가 그렇게 믿고 싶은 걸지도 모른다.

괜히 헛기침한 나는 다음 질문을 꺼냈다.

“어떻게 그 상황에 나를 받았어?”

“당신을 찾아가겠다고 했으니까.”

“머지않아 당신을 찾아가겠습니다.”

홀연히 사라지기 전 남자가 했던 말이었다.

내가 바랐던 답은 분명히 아니었다.

사실은 아까부터 그랬다. 무슨 질문을 하든 이 남자는 내가 원하는 답을 내어놓지 않았다.

‘애초에 알려 줄 생각도 없어 보이고.’

그런 주제에 대답은 꼬박꼬박하니, 그 부분에 오기가 생겼다.

나는 다시 질문을 건넸다.

“이름이라도 알려 줘. 계속 애매하게 부를 수 없잖아.”

그러자 내 팔에 시선을 고정하던 남자가 고개를 들었다.

두 눈이 마주쳤다.

“레이안.”

“…….”

“레이안이라고 부르시면 됩니다.”

나는 저도 모르게 숨을 멈추었다.