Chapter 78: 77

“You’re saying you didn’t even report this even though you knew?”

When Alexis raised his voice, the Mullen Knights hurriedly explained.

“Your Highness, Grand Duke. We just…”

“Even if an escort was sent with her, have you lost your mind? Being so carefree when your master hasn’t come back even if it’s already so late? Find the Grand Duchess before I start beheading you right now!”

“Your Highness, please calm down. Her Highness sent word saying that she would like to meet her family for a while. She said that Your Highness had given permission so we did not report it.”

“Family?”

She had no family. For Alexis, Kathleen’s only family would have been her husband, herself, and her son, Luci.

“The members of the Winston family.”

“Haa………”

“W-We really thought Your Highness knew……”

The Mullen Knights only knew that Kathleen’s maiden name was Winston, but they were not aware that Winston was ousted and had lost his authority as the North’s Margrave.

‘I’ll need to call the Meyer Knights.’

It was a mistake to let them rest because they were to start with the journey again tomorrow. Had he known this was going to happen, he would not have shown mercy and broke the neck of Count Winston, instead of his arm, and let Isabella Winston roll in the mud like a beggar.

“What happened to the knight who followed her as an escort?”

“He hasn’t come back yet.”

A glimmer of hope rose as he heard those words. Then the door suddenly opened, and the knight in charge as Kathleen’s escort rushed in, panicking.

“Help, I need help! Her Highness the Grand Duchess and the young master are gone!”

His head went cold as if the blood in his veins had cooled. Alexis drew the long sword from the knight’s waist.

“Heuk!”

He brought the blade to the neck of the knight who rushed in and growled in a low voice

“Say more. When did she disappear?”

“Sh-She was shopping around and looking around the night market stalls. She suddenly said that she saw someone she knew and wandered around the market for a while, then found the woman and went to a tea house together. I was told to wait outside because it was private, but she did not come out even though it was dawn, and when I opened the door and went in, she was already gone.”

His hand lost strength and the sword fell to the floor. He wondered if Isabella Winston was up to something, but if she had gone in first, then she wasn’t kidnapped.

He wanted to believe that that wasn’t it.

Alexis clenched his teeth and grabbed the knight by the collar.

“Can you still call yourself a knight?”

“Keu-heuk. S-Sorry, Your Highness……”

Alexis shouted harshly, letting go of the knight’s collar that he had been clenching.

“Wake the Meyer Knights and search every inch of Mullen immediately!”

The Mullen Knights moved in unison and began to run. Soon, the lights in the entire castle were turned on again and the servants began to move.

Alexis found the map kept inside the castle and looked at it frantically. The square where the night market was held was not far from Mullen Castle. However, since it was located at the very center of the territory, there were many roads leading to various places. Where did she go? If she wasn’t kidnapped, where would she have gone, even deceiving the escort knight’s eyes?

With trembling hands, he pointed out various roads leading to the square and stopped at one.

‘She has a child with her.’

He remembered Emily, whom she had taken with her, carrying a big sack. He thought she took it to the night market to put things in, but she must have had packed things to use in the escape.

There was only one path they could choose.

The west gate of the castle.

It was the flattest and most well-maintained road out of Mullen Castle. It was narrow and difficult for carriages and wagons to pass through, but there was very little mud, so it was the fastest way to leave the castle.

“Right now, block all the gates and stop those who are coming in and out. Send the Meyer Knights specifically to the West Gate to search for the Grand Duchess and the heir!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

[T/N: Side note, this reminds me of Code Geass lol]

He pulled his horse out in a hurry and, without a saddle, climbed on it and ran to the West Gate, praying earnestly.

Please, please let me find her there. I hope you’re waiting for me in good health.

‘I won’t ask you anything… please.’

As he recalled the three years he had lost, it felt distant. He didn’t know what he had lost then, but this time it was different.

He was in so much pain that he felt like there was a cut in his heart. The two pairs of pale blue eyes disappeared like a mirage, and he became desperate thinking that he might never see them again.

‘No. She couldn’t have left me.’

She asked him to plant an apple tree because she said that her child liked it. She had also said that she was expecting the fruits to ripen when they came back later.

She couldn’t have possibly left.

He repeated this and brainwashed himself and soon arrived at the West Gate. The dawn was breaking.

“Your Highness Grand Duke!”

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“Did you find her?”

“We haven’t been able to find her… yet.”

It was still too early to judge. It was procedure to restrict access at night, so most of those who were trying to get out must have been inspected.

He got off his horse and began to examine the faces of those who were passing directly at the gate one by one.

The Meyer Knights also began their search, carefully examining each and every one of them.

But Kathleen was not found even as the sun rose above their heads.

“Your Highness, they said that even at the other gates that were blocked off, no one who looked like the Grand Duchess and the young master could be found.”

The reports of the knights were even more despairing. Alexis clenched his teeth and ordered.

“For the time being, close all the doors and restrict access.”

“What about the merchants, Your Highness? If they don’t get out…”

“Did you not hear me? I told you to block the exits until we find the Grand Duchess and my heir!”

He couldn’t lose her again. Alexis was determined to find his wife, even if he had to follow her all the way to hell.

***

“Madam, I’m so glad. I thought we would be trapped in Mullen.”

Emily murmured from inside the high-ceilinged wagon covered in white cloth.

“Can we go safely like this?”

“It’s been easy so far, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Kathleen first dyed her and Luci’s hair after escaping the escort. This time she chose brown rather than scarlet, and waited for Alexis to check the gates of the castle.

After ten days passed, news came that the Grand Duke had left the estate. It was around that time that the Mullen Knights, who had thoroughly sealed off the gates, gave permission to merchants.

Unlike 4 years ago, when she ran away with only old things, she now had enough spare funds and daily necessities. If the search continued in Mullen, she planned to hide for up to a year, but she left sooner than expected. Upon hearing the news, Kathleen and Emily were finally relieved.

Since the Grand Duke Walten was the lord and could search each and every house if he wanted to, she also enlisted someone who had a way so that she could go unnoticed.

Most of the merchants were heading towards Meyer, but only this one was heading north. He said that he would bring specialties from the South and Central regions and sell them in the North.

Upon hearing this, Kathleen recalled her experience working as a maid and told him about the popular luxury items with the northern ladies and commoners’ daily life items.

“He said he would drop us off near the Carmine Mountains, so I hope we don’t get caught in the search.”

Emily was pretending to be calm but her face showed tension. Carrying the sleeping Luci, Kathleen held her hand gently.

“If you’re scared, you don’t have to follow me.”

“No. Wherever Madam goes, I go too.”

“Emily.”

“Once was enough to let a friend go.”

As she said that, she clasped Kathleen’s hand tightly.

“It doesn’t make sense to go to the North alone with a child. I’m definitely going with Madam, so please don’t tell me to go back now.”

“……Yes.”

She was a friend whom she thought was inevitable to drift apart as her status changed, but she was always there for her even though her name and the way she spoke to her became different.

It was comforting to know that she was not alone. Kathleen held the hem of her robe tightly as she looked down at her sleeping child and prayed earnestly.

‘We have to get there before the troops arrive in the North as well.’

Fortunately, the power of the Margrave still remained in the North. The Imperial Army was not in complete control, so even if the Grand Duke came with an army, it would not be the same force as in Meyer.

Moreover, he would not expect Kathleen to go to the Carmine Mountains. At best, he would think that she was heading to the Northern Temple.

She had spent dozens of days with a mind filled with anxiety.

There was an official search every time they passed several estates. However, the compassionate merchant carried Luci instead or pretended to be family each time, so they were able to pass safely.

There were times when they slept in the rough mountains, but it was tolerable. In particular, Luci, who was used to the well-manicured flowers and trees in the mansion’s garden, widened his eyes when he first saw the lush trees that stretched vastly in the forest. Whenever he saw a squirrel jump on a branch or hares run through the bushes and disappear, he clapped and even cheered.

When Kathleen saw her child like that, she was finally able to relieve the guilt in the corner of her heart.

‘He will soon forget about his father.’

After all, he was not the person who stood by the child when he was growing up. It was Joseph who raised him, and the only thing he did was pass on his poisoned blood.

It was Joseph, not Alexis Walten, who saved the child.

That’s what Kathleen repeated to herself whenever she recalled that night when he and  Luci played with water in the greenhouse garden.

Suddenly, a cold wind began to blow in the direction the wagon was moving. Shortly thereafter, the wheel of the wagon creaked and made marks on the accumulated snow, when the merchant called Kathleen.

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“We have entered the North. Now, in the Carmine Mountains you see over there, there would be an outpost.”

She saw a steep snow mountain as she looked in the direction where the merchant’s finger was pointing.

‘I’ve returned to this place.’

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