Chapter 33

Julia chose the morning when everyone was awake so that it would look like a normal day out.

So she left the castle and headed for the square, the center of the city.

There she changed to her private carriage. It was her intention not to leave any clues.

Then she headed for the monastery where Cedric was.

"You're here. I've been expecting you."

Once inside the small monastery, a tall man greeted her as if he had been waiting for her.

It was Cedric, not in child form, but in his true form.

Julia nodded and stepped towards him. The green eyes looked at her gently.

"Julia, the people who were with you are not your companions, are they?"

"What?" 

Julia’s eyes widened at the sudden question. Cedric then nodded as if he understood the situation.

“There are people who have followed you here. I think they’re armed knights."

Still widened eyes, Julia looked back at Cedric. Could it be that the knights whom she thought disappeared was still there?

Innocently, she thought Fernan really removed his surveillance. 

How could she not have realized that there was a possibility of surveillance behind her back? Julia touched her lips in annoyance, and Cedric gave her a small smile, as if it was okay. 

"Don't worry too much. Master Matheus sent me here just in case something like this happens."

Eventually, Cedric gestured for her to follow him. Julia nervously followed. It was late in the evening when the knights noticed  strange signs.

After some time, Julia did not come out of the monastery. As the evening deepened, the knights eventually entered the monastery. 

A priest, who was tidying one side of the chapel, approached a knight who was looking around with a serious face. 

"Excuse me, sir. How may I help you?"

The knight answered the priest's question quickly. 

“I understand the Grand Duchess of Caesar visited here, where is she now?”

“What is your relationship with her?"

"I am the knight who’s in charge of guarding the Grand Duchess. The time is very late and she has to go back. Where is she?"

The priest stared at the knight with suspicious eyes, then spoke.

"The Grand Duchess left the monastery before the evening came, sir.”

"What?"

The knight, who was blinking dumbly for a moment, gradually turned pale.

Eventually, the knights asked for the priest's approval, and then looked around the monastery for Julia. They even checked the every single priest's face just to be sure, but Julia was nowhere to be seen. In the end, the knights left the monastery without any success, and they scattered and began to search the area.

***

Two days have passed since Julia disappeared.

The servants at the Grand Duke's castle were in a panic due to the hostess not returning.

Bennett hurriedly contacted the border regions, but as they were in a battle, no information could reach Fernan.

Two more days passed without any progress. It was around that time that communication reached Fernan. After several all-out wars, the soldiers under Fernan succeeded in invading the enemy's base.

As they returned to their base and were finishing up border maintenance, Lloyd rushed into Fernan’s barracks.

"Your Highness!"

Fernan, who was wiping his bloody sword, casually turned around. Lloyd, who was catching his breath, struggled to open his mouth.

“We received a message from the castle, the Grand Duchess….”

Before Lloyd could continue, Fernan snatched the letter in his hand. His eyes gradually hardened as he read the contents. The letter stated that Julia had gone out two days ago and had not been seen since. 

"…the letter arrived two days ago, so the Grand Duchess has been missing for four days."

Fernan fixed his gaze only on the letter, as if he couldn’t figure out the situation. He couldn’t believe Julia disappeared.

After standing motionless for a while, Fernan handed the letter Lloyd. His dim eyes revealed, Fernan strode out, speechless.

"Your Highness?"

Lloyd, who was urgently trying to catch Fernan, paused. It was because he realized that his lord was unusual. 

‘'Lloyd, I'll leave the rest to you.”

With those last words, Fernan left the barracks and headed for the place where his horse was kept. With a lean gesture, he mounted the horse and took off.

Fernan had a calm face, as if he didn’t realize the situation. Suddenly, the last time he saw Julia's face came to his mind.

“I’ll be waiting."

The blue eyes that smiled and looked at him clearly contained no lies.

‘She said she would wait. I’m sure she'll be waiting….’

Fernan had no choice but to think like that and tighten his grip on the reins. The road from the border to the estate took at least half a day.

He made his way through the unlit wasteland at an unusual speed.

The anxiety that came at once filled his heart. His heart began to beat like crazy.

***

Fernan finally arrived at the estate in the morning. As soon as he returned, he began to search the estate.

He summoned the knights who had lost Julia at the monastery and interrogated them.

"Tell me the details of the situation, where and how you lost her."

The knights opened their stammering mouths under Fernand's momentum.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but we didn't take our eyes off the Grand Duchess for a moment. So i don’t know when Her Grace disappeared…"

“I asked you how and where you lost her! You dare to make excuses!”

Fernan shouted with a look as if he was about to pull out his sword. The knights, who shrank, urgently answered.

"It's….it’s a monastery in the Ladel district."

"Ladel district?"

"Yes, I saw definitely Her Grace enter the monastery, but strangely enough, she didn’t come out when the evening passed. I went in directly to check, but the priest said she left the monastery long ago…."

Fernan replied slowly, glaring at the mumbling knights with murderous eyes.

"The priests of the monastery may be involved, so find traces even if you have to arrest them.”

"Yes, yes!"

The knights left for the monastery again and Fernan headed to Julia's room.

The undisturbed and tidy room had a slight chill in it, probably because it had been empty for several days.

Fernan went through everything, from the bedroom to the dressing room to the bathroom. However, there was no way to know what disappeared.

Because he didn't know anything about Julia.

He thought that Julia could not have escaped on her own, but that was just another unsure judgment.

Biting his lip in complication, Fernan suddenly remembered Julia’s personal maid.

He immediately went outside and called Bennett to inquire about the whereabouts of the maid, to which Bennett replied with a somewhat troubled look.

"That's the thing… the maid is currently on vacation at her parents' house.”

Fernan’s brow furrowed. She took a leave of absence at this point, of all times.

Fernan, who was hold the railing with the momentum of breaking it, tried to calmly order.

“Find the maid. Right now.”

"Yes, yes."

Bennett, who hurriedly bowed, disappeared downstairs, and Fernan began to quietly sort out the situation.

Everything was dubious. The servant who went on vacation as if to accommodate Julia's disappearance. The knights who foolishly lost Julia, who was in front of their eyes.

However, it was Julia herself who disappeared during his absence that was the most difficult to explain. As such, Melissa's return came not more than a few hours later.

Melissa shivered and bowed her head before Fernan.

"Did you know your master disappeared?"

“Oh, no… I just heard.”

Melissa's face went pale, as if in shock. She returned to the castle as soon as she got the news from Bennett, throwing away what she was doing.

Fernan opened his mouth in a gruff tone.

"Tell me all you know. Did you notice any strange signs in Julia?"

“That, that…”

Melissa forced her white, annihilated head to remember. She was afraid of Fernan in front of her, and she was very worried about Julia, who disappeared.

Melissa's lips quivered in thought, but she soon answered with a stammer.

“Actually, I was a little curious when she suddenly gave me a vacation…”

“And.”

"And…"

Melissa, who closed her eyes, suddenly remembered something and slowly continued.

"The day I left… I saw her come out of the bedroom on the second floor. I have never seen her go in there before….”

Fernan's eyes narrowed. The bedroom on the second floor was built for them to share.

It was also a place he had never used before. After passing Melissa, Fernan headed straight for the second floor. Then he saw that the door was locked and swore wildly.

Breaking the locked with a single kick, he quickly entered.

His cold gaze roamed every corner of the room.

He quickly entered the next room, searching madly for storage boxes and shelves. Inside a gorgeously decorated jewelry box, one of the grooves was empty.

Fernan took out a ring that was inlaid in the remaining groove. It was his wedding ring, with a gem in the middle.