A bright light should greet him. But instead, black darkness greeted him.

Seeing a tiny light illuminating the bedroom, Lucian couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

“Kugh.”

Grasping his throbbing forehead, he rose from his seat and retrieved a blanket that had slipped down his upper body. Swiftly realizing that it wasn’t the one he typically used in his own chamber, it was a blanket imbued with Rachel’s fragrance.

Seizing the blanket, he pressed it to the tip of his nose.

As he took a deep breath, the delightful and invigorating scent of her body filled his lungs, and the scent seemed to envelop the walls of his nostrils, blurring his vision.

The large body that stood up silently moved as if looking for something.

He scoured every corner of his bedroom before leaving the space. Without even making a sound of footsteps, he moved swiftly, eventually arriving at the Ducal couple’s bedroom. He was clearly in a mess before he collapsed since he tried to restrain Rachel’s body as he tried to stop her.

Even though his body was tattered like armor that had been pierced by a sword, it didn’t matter. If Rachel came back, he would tend to his wounds as if they had never existed.

Indeed, despite having reached the point of collapse, once he rose, his mobility returned without issue.

However, one perplexing thing was why he was lying in his bedroom and not in that room. While it was plausible that he had moved there on his own, how could his memory be so completely erased? Lucian was utterly confounded.

Stepping into the Ducal couple’s bedroom, he drew in a deep breath as his gaze swept over the disorderly space. When Rachel, who should be on the bed, was gone, his eyes went dark and then it brightened again. Nonetheless, it was premature to resign himself to despair.

With resolve, he accessed the subspace.

On occasions when Rachel eluded his sight, he went there without realizing it.

After entering the space, he followed the scene there. The darkest spot of blood likely marked where he had been. The extended streaks of blood likely denoted the traces of her bringing him out.

With vacant eyes, Lucian traced the course of the bloodstains.

As the blood trails led to the bed, evidence of multiple occasions where pressure had been applied became evident. Perhaps she was trying to get him to bed, and alongside the bloodstains on the bed, fragments of shattered glass were discovered.

Lucian gradually lifted his head. The circular rose window, which once emitted a kaleidoscope of hues, had vanished without a trace. Its abrupt disappearance struck him as oddly conspicuous, leaving him to question why he had only now taken notice.

There were footprints as a sign of someone coming down from above, and a brown feather fell around them.

Even in the absence of direct observation, the sequence of events became apparent. It was a sign that her underlinds, the fox and the falcon, had come in.

“…Ray.”

A harsh voice like that of an animal came out.

“Enzo.”

It was likely that Lucian would be able to solve his problem by questioning Enzo, the owner of the barrier. Even though he called him like a growl, Enzo, unlike usual, didn’t say anything.

— Enzo!

Even when he shouted inside, it was the same. Leaving him silent as if he had disappeared, Lucian started searching all over the place like a madman.

“No way…”

It couldn’t be… There was no way she would leave him.

In front of an unbelievable reality, Lucian was able to stop only after overturning all the places where it was difficult for people to hide.

“Hah, haah…”

Like someone was choking him, his throat was so tight that he couldn’t breathe properly. The mere thought of Rachel disappearing from the nest he had made made him sweat profusely.

“Why?”

…Why did she disappear?

Was it really true that she disappeared on her own? Could it be that she was taken by force?

If that was not the case…

“Obviously something happened…”

Couldn’t come to a conclusion, he was dizzy and couldn’t breathe properly.

As confusion, anger, and anxiety settled heavily on his face. Lucian blankly stared into space as he stood in the middle of a dark room without fire. Even his normally alert head seemed to be not working properly. He trembled, his face as helpless as that of a child who had lost his way.

A chill ran through his body, and his mind boiled.

“Ha, haahk…”

He gritted his teeth.

The feeling of being abandoned in the world was often different from what he had imagined. Despite the fact that his eyes were open, his vision was dark, as if they were closed. Even though he was breathing, only his chest swelled greatly like it was blocked.

Just when it looked like he would turn to dust and disappear came the sound of footsteps. Lucian, who was acutely aware of it, jumped out without even thinking about recognizing who it was.

Jump!

Camilla, who was standing right in front of the door, was also startled by the sound of the door suddenly opening though her heart skipped a beat when she saw Lucian looking down at her with an out-of-focus face.

“…Lucian?”

As she stood there, relying on one small magic lamp, Camilla raised the magic lamp towards her son, who didn’t answer. Only then did his face, half immersed in darkness, come into view.

“Lucian…!”

Her words paused for a second as she saw her son’s face. Although Lucian’s face was usually insensitive, he used to show his emotions at first glance with subtle differences.

Camilla, who had seen more with her eyes instead of telling the words, couldn’t help but notice how strange her son’s current condition was. She didn’t expect him to wake up while she went back to the annex to change for a very short time.

Naturally, she was surprised when she saw an empty room.

She hurried to find Lucian.

It was thanks to the story Rachel had told her that she was able to find her son who didn’t even make the sound of footsteps. Rachel mentioned she stayed in the Ducal couple’s bedroom. If so, Camilla wondered if Lucian would have gone there to find her.

Just as expected.

While it was good that she found him popping out of there, she couldn’t open her lips. Her son looked down at her with a face more dry than when he collapsed with a bloodless face.

“Child.”

The goldenc eyes that had been scanning her surroundings, ame back to her low call. Camilla, who watched him all the way, lost the magic lamp that she was holding. His eyes were glowing… the golden eyes that seemed to have widened were shining.

No, could a human’s eyes shine that much?

Still, Lucian was her son, and she wanted to do something for him. She didn’t want to be left as a nobody anymore. Whether that be to her son or husband, she wanted to be something to them.

“Lucian, why are you walking around with your shirt. Your body temperature had dropped a lot. Let’s go back to your room…”

“Where is Ray?”

He cut her off and asked impatiently.

Although she wanted to pick up the magic lamp that rolled at her feet, Camilla’s eyes met her son’s through the dim light and she couldn’t move. She felt as if she had met a wolf in the mountains—the one that was ferocious after starving for several days.

Then, he grabbed her arms as she did not respond before askingthe question again.

“Ray, where did you hide her?”

He wasn’t angry that she had hidden Rachel, but he seemed to be begging her to please tell him that she hid her. Camilla remembered Rachel leaving the mansion in the morning. Her navy blue eyes never seemed to fall away from Lucian.

“…Rachel said she was going somewhere for a while.”

“How could you let her go like that?”

Having finally figured out the reason, he softened his voice.

“I stopped her too, but she said she has to go there.”

“Where is it?”

Camilla just shook her head at her son’s impatient question. Instead, she told him what Rachel had left behind.

“She asked me to tell you she took the ring. She said you would know if I told you this.”

“….”

Hearing the words, Lucian released the strong grip on Camilla’s arm. It wasn’t his intention, but it was because he ran out of strength. Even though he was worried because she didn’t wear the ring he gave her as a proposal, he wasn’t anxious because he knew her heart.

But right at this time, she took the ring…

…What was I supposed to accept, Ray?

Lucian, covering his face with his large hands, lowered his head. Nonetheless, the eyes hidden in it shone terrifyingly. He felt waves distorting in his stomach. While he understood what Rachel was trying to say, he couldn’t quite understand it.

His limp-spread hands slowly curled, and veins rose above the clenched fists. Then, he strode past Camilla and went down the stairs.

“Lucian!”

His mother’s voice, calling her mournfully, did not even reach his ears. He could only think of Rachel.

Returning to his room, he hurriedly changed his clothes. With his tousled hair left unarranged, his shirt and jacket, roughly tucked into his body, were disheveled. There was no hint of his neat features that she liked, and he didn’t have the insensitive expression he usually did.

As Lucian lowered his voice, his expression crumpled as if to quietly swallow his anger.

“You’re telling me to wait without knowing when you’ll be back, Ray. Do I still look naive in your eyes?”

It was quite absurd, yet he didn’t know that she looked at him like a child.

“…Who the hell is naive?”

He thought of Rachel and glanced at the ring on the ring finger of his left hand. She didn’t have to run away with this ring on, she didn’t have to wear it for the rest of her life… all she needed to do was to just stay by his side right now.

At the Duke’s command, the dark Duchy became bright like midday. The knights gathered at his command, and Lucian was at the forefront.

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