Chapter 185
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
There had already been a precedent? Back then, it had been a dull blade, but this time, she held a sharp dagger in her hand.
It was his mistake for not removing the dagger. He had thought she wouldn’t leave the estate. There was no reason for her to do so.
But in contrast, if the family that had bound her to this place disappeared, she had no reason to stay.
Abandoning her family would also erase the guilt she felt as a member of the Loren family.
The emotional turmoil she had occasionally shown toward him wasn’t love or affection—it had been guilt.
It was then that Mikhail felt his heart sink. It was something he had never considered before.
He hadn’t even thought that Emilia might walk away from this estate on her own.
“So I couldn’t stop her anymore. The blood was already flowing from a wound she made on her own wrist.”
“…She knows exactly what can be used as a weapon.”
She was a terrible woman. She couldn’t make a clear decision once, always getting dragged along, yet when it mattered, she was sharp as a knife.
Mikhail turned and tried to leave the estate.
“Your Grace, she left in the Duke’s carriage, so it should be possible to track her.”
“… Search for anyone who might have seen the carriage right away.”
“We will do our best.”
“Find her no matter what. The longer it takes, the harder it will be.”
“With the heavy rain, the carriage wouldn’t have been able to move quickly. I’ll check if there are any places nearby where she might have stayed.”
“Move quietly, so the royal family doesn’t hear about it.”
“Yes!”
Mikhail climbed onto the horse with Byne.
“Be careful on the slippery roads, and notify me immediately if you find anything. Even if it’s something small, if it’s related to her, bring it to me.”
“Understood!”
The knights mounted their horses and scattered immediately.
“Your Grace, how about checking the mountain path in the back?”
“…The back road?”
“Madam drove the carriage herself without a coachman. She probably chose the back route, thinking she’d be noticed if she went through the city.”
Mikhail’s eyes narrowed.
From beneath his cloak, his red eyes gleamed.
“The back road won’t be easy for the carriage, though.”
“Still, if I were Madam, I would have gone that way.”
Mikhail nodded. The two of them immediately turned toward the back road. The sound of hooves quickly faded into the rain.
The rain and wind hit his face hard, but Mikhail could feel his mouth drying up.
Despite the relentless downpour, his gaze never stopped moving to search for her.
The ember of unease that had settled in a corner of his heart refused to die, burning fiercely even in the storm.
After galloping for a while, Byne stopped.
“Is there a problem?”
“…Your Grace, I think we need to dismount and check.”
Byne tied the horse to a tree and hurried off.
Mikhail quietly watched his retreating figure.
In the distance, he could see the remnants of something.
When he looked up, he saw the steep cliff. As he climbed further up, the path aligned perfectly with the view below. His heart raced.
He stayed on his horse, standing still in the pouring rain. Byne, who crouched down to examine the debris, was acting unusually.
As he slowly got up, he approached Mikhail, holding something in his hand.
“…Your Grace.”
In Byne’s hand was a fragment of a carriage, stamped with the seal of Duchy Heinrich.
“This doesn’t make sense. If she didn’t intend to die, she wouldn’t have driven the carriage all the way up here.”
“…But this is the carriage that Madam was riding in, the one from Duchy Heinrich.”
Despite the harsh sound of the rain, Byne’s words came through clearly.
“So you’re saying that the broken carriage here is the one Emilia was in?”
“That’s what the circumstances suggest.”
“…Search the area.”
Byne immediately blew his whistle to call the knights together.
Mikhail slowly dismounted from his horse.
Clutching the carriage fragment tightly in his hand, he walked toward the debris in the distance.
When he reached the site, his face twisted in disbelief.
The carriage had fallen into the middle of the cliff and shattered. Judging by the extent of the damage, there was no chance of survival.
His gaze shifted to the left cliff.
The cliff continued, and below, a rising river, caused by the unrelenting rain, caught his eye.
As the knights arrived, following Byne’s whistle, they passed by Mikhail and rushed to the wreckage.
In a situation where survival seemed impossible, the knights pressed their lips together and said nothing.
Mikhail’s expression as he silently stared at the broken carriage was grim.
Blood dripped from his clenched hand that was still holding a sharp piece of wood. Despite the pain in his hand, he didn’t let go of the shard.
‘It can’t be. There’s no way she’s dead.’
There’s no way she could have vanished so easily, not like this.
Mikhail’s eyes followed the knights as they carefully dug through the debris.
What if she appeared from inside the carriage?
For a moment, an image flashed before his eyes of Emilia, bloodied and collapsed. Just the thought of it caused his chest to tighten.
The pain didn’t subside; it only grew stronger. He twisted his face in anguish and spat out curses, as if chewing on his anger.
The knights were soaked through by the pouring rain, but they didn’t stop.
Perhaps it was because they could see the burning, beast-like gleam in his red eyes.
Mikhail didn’t approach the wreckage. He stood at a distance, barely able to make out its silhouette.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.