I Will Disappear, Grand Duke

Julia, who had been silent for a while, opened her mouth right after she turned her back and looked out the window.

 "Do I deserve to worry about him?"

 There was no life in the voice that came out. Her gaze was the same. Her dark blue eyes were still.  But deep in her eyes, there was a heavy worry that could not be hidden.

 She had been living the past two months as if a day was a year.

 She couldn't stand this situation at first. She was worried about Fernan, and at the same time blamed herself for putting him in danger.

 Fernan had said it would one day be like this with the Emperor, even if it wasn't for her.

 The conflict between the imperial family and Fernan, which has been going on for a long time, had already deepened, and would end only when one of the two sides collapsed.

 Even so, Julia couldn’t help but to blame herself.

 It must be because of Fernan’s last appearance, which was engraved in her mind and never disappeared.

His overwhelming back with him pulling out his sword.

 A calm voice that told her to be happy, and that it was also happiness for himself.

 “…  ”

 Julia held her breath while holding her hands tightly.  It was difficult to breathe whenever she thought of him whom she saw for the last time.

 Meanwhile, Cedric came closer to her.

 “You don't have to hide it.  Feelings or thoughts.”

 Cedric, who was about to reach out to Julia while whispering, stopped and put down his hand.

 Cedric knew it well.  In her life, Fernan was an existence that would never disappear easily.

 In her lost memory before, after, and now.

 The man was always at the center of the complicated time she had been through.

 Good times or bad times, her feelings for Fernan always seemed heavy.  Julia's feelings of guilt or pity were not going to disappear any time soon.

 But Cedric believed that her feelings were never due to love.

 After a little more time and the empire stabilizes, news comes that Fernan is safe……  She will definitely turn back to her old self.

 So Cedric was going to wait.

 Until Fernan finished it all.  And until Julia put all her guilt down and was comfortable.

 ***

 When spring finally arrived, Julia heard the news she had been waiting for.

 It was the news that the civil war of the Empire, which had been going on for half a year, had now come to an end.

[After the ensuing conflict, the Grand Duke finally won.]

 Julia, who was not relieved even after reading the same passage over and over again, raised her head when she heard a chirping voice.

 “Julia!  What are you doing?"

 When she came in, a small girl rushed to the table where Julia was sitting.

 It was Rosemary who had been with her several months before.

 “I want to read that too!”

 Seeing Rosemary in her arms, Julia, who had a serious expression on her face, gradually relaxed.

 Since she had already checked the contents several times, Julia gladly handed the daily newspaper to the child.

 “Here you go.”

 Rosemary accepted the daily newspaper with a bright face.

 Sitting across from her, Rosemary, with her little finger on the newspaper, tracing the texts, read word by word.

 A young voice reading the daily newspaper aloud filled the parlor for a moment.

 After recalling the content one more time in the child's voice, Julia began to relax little by little from the tension that had filled her mind.

 Fernan finally ended a long civil war.

 The daily newspaper featured the fact that he had completely driven out the power of the Emperor.

 Against the corrupt imperial powers and imperial aristocrats, it was said that the vassals of the Geranian Kingdom and the nobles joined Fernan.

 It was half a year.  In a short period of less than a year, the Emperor's powers were completely wiped out.

 However, it must have been a long and difficult time for those who eagerly awaited the news.

 It was the Helinde family, the bloodline of the imperial family, who were appointed to ascend to the next throne.

 It was also the family that made the most significant contribution to this civil war.

 Due to the sudden change of the Emperor's power, the Empire was going to have a chaotic time for a while.

 ‘…I’m glad.’

 More than any other news, it was comforting to know that Fernan was safe.

In the meantime, she received the Imperial daily newspaper once a month from the postman.

 By the time it reached her, it had been several more weeks since the daily newspaper had been published.

 So, now, the Empire was more stable than what was written here.

Fernan was at the center of this civil war, so he was busier than anyone else.

 For Julia, that was enough.

 She hoped he, who returned safely to his place, would live in an environment that would no longer oppress him.

 May he meet someone who really suits him and would be helpful, and live without being threatened by anyone.

 So she hoped to be really comfortable in the end.

 Julia could be satisfied with being able to hear his news even from afar.

 As she once said, and as Fernan reiterated, it was going back to where they had never met in the first place.

 Yes, that was the answer.

 Julia looked at Rosemary who was sitting in front of her, then slowly turned her head.

 Through the window, the rising sun was dazzling.

 The pleasant laughter of children could be heard from outside the mansion, and the smell of Gabrielle’s baked dessert wafted through the door.

 Everything seemed to go back to one year ago, when she was living in the Holy Kingdom.

 Little by little, Julia began to bury all the heavy emotions one by one. It was time to stop thinking about any regrets or feelings for Fernan.  This was the place, and for the best.

For him and for her.

 ****

 The Emperor, who was at the center of this incident, was greeted with a tragic ending.

 Around winter, the Emperor, who had been held hostage at the height of the civil war in the capital, tried to escape when the situation turned against him.

He tried to escape to the palace by himself, leaving behind the many people who supported him, by switching clothes with his servant.

 Had he merely waited patiently, he might have been executed or exiled as painlessly as possible.

 However, because he tried to escape, he was brutally killed on the battlefield by the knights who regarded the Emperor as a mere servant.

 After the emperor returned with a wretched corpse, the date of the execution of his son, the Crown Prince, was set.

 In addition, all those who could be a threat to the new imperial family were also exterminated.

 Except for them, the former imperial family, such as the Empress or the Crown Princess, whose crimes could not be identified, ended only at the level of depriving them of their status.

 There was no need to make meaningless sacrifices, it was a generous treatment of the new Emperor Galliard Helinde.

 However, the House of Marquis Elody, who was deeply involved in this case, was wiped out.  The heir to the Marquis, Grayson Elody, left the Empire after being acquitted.  However, the Marchioness Elody, like the Crown Prince, was imprisoned in the tower, awaiting execution.

 “Hey, hey!  Bring my daughter, Grand Duchess!”

 In the tower of the western part of the Imperial Palace, in the basement equipped with the prison, the voice calling for her daughter continued to resound for a while.

 “My daughter, I can’t let die like this!”

 Even though no food or water was given for the third day, her voice was only resounding.

 However, she did not look like a normal person because she was already emaciated greatly.

 She did not know what she believed, but the Marchioness was proud and confident.  No matter how much Julia hated her, Julia would never turn a blind eye to her dying mother.

 Although it was true that she had abused and despised Julia until now, she was her parents who had protected Julia for ten years.

 So that blind and naive thing would most likely not turn away from her.

 "Hey, you! Can't you hear me?"

The Marchioness, who had been swearing and screaming, was exhausted and sat down.

 She begged to call Julia for days and nights, but no one listened to her.

 As she sat down, holding the bar tightly, she screamed again.

 "Call Julia! No, call Grand Duke, now!"

 The Marquis, who had been screaming on top of her lungs, was exhausted and collapsed after an hour.

 However, when the guard saw her collapse, no action was taken.

 Whether she died of exhaustion or beheaded, one way or another she was going to die.