Chapter 181
Upon hearing the secretary’s report, Rufus and Crown Prince Viren rushed to the banquet hall. The secretary’s frantic words kept echoing in Rufus’s mind.
‘Prince Tarek has been… murdered!’
Iruel.
So, he died…
“……”
Rufus quietly followed the Crown Prince.
The banquet hall was utter chaos. Nobles frozen in shock, children crying in terror, elderly women fainting—everyone seemed as if they had been struck by some invisible calamity, leaving the scene in shambles.
Where is Sarubia?
Rufus instinctively searched for her.
But she was nowhere to be seen. The sight of Sarubia in her pure white dress was conspicuously absent.
Why?
“Make way!”
Crown Prince Viren pushed through the crowd, heading toward the center of the hall. The nobles quickly stepped aside.
“…Ah.”
When the Crown Prince reached the center, he froze in place.
There lay Prince Tarek, still and lifeless, his body cold and pale, unmoving like a withered tree. His corpse rested on the cold marble floor, and two rapiers lay discarded nearby.
Behind him, the sobbing of Princess Sordid could be heard. Next to her stood the King, staring blankly, his expression vacant.
Crown Prince Viren struggled to comprehend the scene before him.
“How… how did this happen?”
He stammered, barely able to get the words out.
This was supposed to be a celebration for Prince Tarek’s return. So how was it possible that Tarek was lying dead, a lifeless body on the cold stone floor?
“Rufus!”
“Baroness.”
Baroness Inferna rushed over to Rufus, her face unusually tense.
“It’s a disaster. Prince Camus killed Prince Tarek and fled.”
The baroness clutched Rufus tightly as she spoke, but Rufus remained unresponsive.
“The rapier with poison. It was a blunt rapier, yet just a small graze on Prince Tarek’s skin paralyzed him completely.”
Baroness Inferna did her best to speak calmly.
“That’s not all. Prince Camus took the Saintess with him and fled.”
“…He took Sarubia?”
Rufus’s heart dropped.
Sarubia!
His entire body trembled with a sudden, uncontrollable fear.
“What are we going to do, Rufus? What will Prince Camus do to her?”
Rufus didn’t wait for the baroness to finish speaking. He immediately bolted from his spot.
Prince Camus had taken Sarubia and fled!
Rufus knew that several attempts had been made to visit Sarubia at Prince Tarek’s palace, but now, after murdering his half-brother, why had he taken her?
“Where did Prince Camus go?” Rufus demanded, grabbing the collar of a nearby royal guard.
“T-To the forest, Your Lordship!”
“Get me a horse!”
“A h-horse? Why would you ask me for a—”
“Damn it!”
Rufus shoved the guard aside.
There was no time to descend the long staircase one step at a time. Charging his body with mana, Rufus leaped straight down to the ground below.
Boom!
A jolt of pain shot through his muscles where the mana couldn’t protect them, but he ignored it.
Spotting a nearby horse tied up, Rufus mounted it at once.
Startled by the sudden weight, the horse reared up, neighing wildly, but Rufus had no time to calm it down.
He gripped the reins tightly and kicked the horse into a gallop. The horse let out a shrill cry and surged forward.
Rufus urged the horse in the direction Camus had fled.
Sarubia!
Her face flashed before his eyes. And with it, the words she had spoken last night came flooding back.
“What if something happens that prevents us from staying together?”
“No one can predict the future, Rufus.”
He had dismissed it as a passing remark.
But it wasn’t.
I was a fool.
He had promised to stay by her side, and yet now this had happened.
He thought she would be safe if he left her with Baroness Inferna. A grave miscalculation.
Sarubia.
I’m sorry.
I should never have left you alone.
“……”
Rufus clenched his teeth hard.
Despite his desperation, the horse couldn’t run fast enough.
Don’t go.
Please.
I can’t bear to lose you again.
If I lose you this time…
I won’t be able to live.
So, please…
The fierce wind lashed at Rufus’s face like a whip.
***
Prince Camus was on the run.
“Damn it!”
He cursed sharply, kicking the horse’s side, forcing it to gallop even faster despite its cries of protest.
“Where are you taking me!”
Sarubia, who had been forcibly pulled onto the horse with him, asked sharply. But Camus didn’t have the time or energy to answer her.
He kept urging the horse forward, his fists trembling in frustration.
—How did it all come to this?
Earlier, Camus had grown suspicious of Tarek’s behavior and insisted on swapping rapiers. They had begun their duel before the eyes of the audience.
He had been confident of victory.
He intended to humiliate Tarek, aiming the rapier at him without much thought. He had barely grazed him, but then, to his shock, Tarek had screamed and collapsed.
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