Chapter 49
He didn’t shout or raise his voice, yet his chillingly frozen face made everyone tread carefully. This left Eldman, his primary aide, to bear the brunt of it. It was during this grim time that a report came in: their hideout had been discovered.
“Your Grace! The search party has located the rebels’ base!”
Upon hearing the news at the first light of dawn, Viern immediately rode to their hideout. However, by the time he arrived at the small mountain fortress, the rebels had all fled.
“It seems they’ve all escaped.”
His subordinates reported, looking around the empty fortress. Items were scattered on the dirt floor as if they’d left in a great hurry.
“There are signs of a fire over here!”
At someone’s shout, Viern strode over. Poking through the ashes, which still held residual heat, with a branch, white steam rose. Seeing this, a cold light flashed in Viern’s eyes. They had been here barely one or two hours ago.
“They seem to have realized they were being pursued and fled in a hurry.”
The path in front of the fortress was under surveillance by the Royal Army’s search party, and behind it was a steep cliff. Of course, for trained individuals, descending the cliff face wouldn’t be impossible, but doing so quickly with a resisting hostage would be out of the question.
“They wouldn’t have been able to take Her Highness with them in their escape.”
Viern’s tightly sealed lips parted.
“Find her. We must find Her Highness.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
The soldiers searched the fortress for Diana. Viern joined them, searching more fervently than anyone. The fortress was so small the search didn’t even take half a day. But the Princess was nowhere to be found.
“U-Um, Your Grace… It seems Her Highness isn’t here.”
“Are you suggesting they descended that cliff with a resisting hostage?”
“…….”
At his fierce question, the soldiers’ mouths snapped shut. As Viern had said, even if the Princess had complied under their threats, descending the cliff with a hostage would be impossible. However, there was one more possibility he was ignoring. Perhaps, just perhaps, the rebels, thinking the now useless Princess would only hinder their escape…
“Perhaps Her Highness escaped and is hiding somewhere.”
Unable to voice that possibility, the soldiers exchanged furtive glances among themselves. It was Viern who, forcing himself, brought up a different, hopeful possibility. Yes, Diana is clever. She might have smartly escaped and be in hiding. So I must find her before her wait grows too long…
“But, Your Grace. If Her Highness truly succeeded in escaping and is hiding… there’s no reason she wouldn’t have shown herself by now… Oof!”
Someone tactlessly blurted out, and a colleague beside him elbowed him in the ribs as a warning. Pretending not to hear, Viern turned away and issued a command in a low, subdued voice.
“Search for any other paths besides the cliff.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The soldiers’ voices in reply were strangely lifeless.
* * *
Two full days had passed since the search began. For these two days, Viern had neither eaten nor slept, scouring the area exhaustively for Diana. Ever since the Princess’s abduction, he had already minimized his sleep and meals, dedicating himself solely to finding the rebels’ base. The worry that he might truly collapse was growing.
“U-Um, Your Grace…”
“Have you found Her Highness?”
At the search team leader’s call, Viern asked in a rough voice.
“N-No, not that… I was wondering if you might… eat something and rest your eyes for just a moment…”
Whoosh—
But Viern turned away before the team leader could even finish his sentence. As if there was no point in listening if it wasn’t about finding a trace of the Princess.
Everyone worried about Viern’s health, but no one dared to stop him under his chilling aura. Even though the Princess was the kingdom’s sole remaining heir and her disappearance, if not found, would be a great tragedy… there was an incomprehensible aspect to Viern’s actions.
“By the way, Captain. If we can’t find her even after searching like this, doesn’t it mean the Princess is probably already dead?”
Amidst the crowd of concerned gazes, Viern, who had been searching deep in the thickets, froze at the voice coming from the opposite side of the bushes.
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, isn’t that the likely situation? There’s no way the Princess went down the cliff with the rebels. They probably killed her and buried the body somewhere, right?”
“You fool, shut your mouth right now. Are you out of your mind?”
“Even if she escaped and hid somewhere, it’s been this long since the search began; she couldn’t possibly be unharmed. How long do we have to do this meaningless… Gasp!“
The chattering soldier suddenly inhaled sharply, startled by the cold blade resting against his neck.
“Y-Y-Y-Your Grace…”
Trembling, he looked up to see Viern’s cold face. His already irritable eyes, worsened by days without proper sleep, added to his menacing presence.
“I-I-I-I’m s-s-s-sorry…!”
“Even if that were the case.”
Viern cut off the soldier’s words with an icy voice, grinding his teeth as he spoke.
“Even if it’s Her Highness’s corpse… we must retrieve it. Find it.”
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