I Will Disappear, Grand Duke

After Fernan’s sudden disappearance in battle, his knights calmly dealt with the emperor's soldiers.

 Some were held hostage just in case, and a couple of soldiers who fled were left alone and the knights hurriedly searched for their missing Lord.

 However, it was around that time that Fernan appeared in the temporary barracks on his own feet after two days passed without even finding any traces of their Lord.

 “Your Highness!”

 Lloyd, who saw him running from afar on horseback, rushed out.

 Fernan was riding a horse with a face that seemed to have no serious injuries.

 However, Lloyd found that he was holding the reins with only one hand, unlike usual.

 Lloyd asked urgently, seeing him skillfully dismounting from his horse.

"Your highness, what happened to you?"

Fernan looked at the aligned knights, leaving Lloyd looking at him.

 Fortunately, there seemed to be only a few injuries or deaths.

 Even in his absence, it meant that the battle had ended successfully.

 "Good job."

 As if nothing had happened, the knights silently bowed under the brief descent.  But Lloyd made a loud voice as if lamenting.

  “Effort is not a problem!  Do you know how worried we were?  That right arm is injured, isn't it?"

 Lloyd poured out his rapid-fire cannons. It was a tone that had lost half of his politeness.  Unlike Lloyd, who was panicking, Fernan gave orders straight away with a calmly organized face.

 “I’m injured, so hurry up and get ready.”

 As he sat down calmly, Lloyd, who had just regained his sanity, replied with a frown on his forehead.

 "Yes?  But …  ”

 Lloyd, who was about to ask if he couldn't find the High Priest, suddenly found an old man standing leisurely behind him.

 The tall old man shrugged his shoulders at Lloyd, stroking the mane of his horse.

  “No way, that person….”

 As if to answer Lloyd's doubts, Fernan continued to carry out his orders.

 “End the search. We’ll return to the Temple of Ilion immediately.”

 ***

 While Fernan led his knights on a frantic march, the Emperor faced his soldiers who had returned alive.

 “So, during the battle, the Grand Duke just disappeared?”

 The Emperor looked at the kneeling knight with his eyes wide open.

 He was the Emperor's shadow knight who came back alive after confronting the Grand Duke’s knights.

 Even though the Emperor had chosen and sent competent knights, and he was far superior in numbers, only one returned alive.

 Another survivor died of an injury on the way back.

 But there was no time to check.

  “Yes, I think he might have fallen off a cliff…  I'm sorry."

 There was fresh blood on the forehead of the knight who barely made it to the imperial palace after overcoming his injuries.

 However, the Emperor was concentrating only on the topic of “The Grand Duke who fell from the cliff,” and did not pay attention to such trivial matters.

 Naturally, he did not feel any regret that all of the capable knights were slaughtered.

 The Emperor, unable to hide his wriggling lips, gently covered his mouth,

 “Then you'd better secretly send someone to see if the body has been found.”

 “Yes, I will.”

 As the knight limped out of the audience room, the emperor who tapped the armrest of his throne finally put on a pleasant smile on his face.

 Just the assumption that Fernan might have died made him feel like all the congestion that had accumulated throughout his life disappeared.

 Staring at the golden tapestry hanging across from him, the emperor couldn't stop laughing for a long time.

 Of course, he knew very well that Fernan wasn't going to die so easily.

 Expectations ahead of time were likely to lead to further disappointment later.

 Still, he couldn't help but get excited.

 ‘Even if he didn’t die, it would be nice if he came back crippled at the very least.’

 While the emperor, unable to suppress his low expectations, someone knocked on the door of the audience room.

 "Your Majesty, this is Rochester."

 The Emperor lifted his gaze, and looked at the chief servant as he entered the open door.

 Seeing the emperor's gaze as if he was wondering what was going on, the chamberlain bowed his head abruptly.

 “Marchioness Elody has come again……  What should I do?”

 "What?"

 The emperor frowned. It wasn't until a few days ago that the Marchioness began to visit the imperial palace.

 She came every day and asked to see the Emperor, but she was turned down and was sent away several times. However, she came back again.

 “Tsk, tell her no and kick her out.”

 The Emperor leaned against the backrest as if he was bothered.  It was obvious that she came to beg him to take care of her crumbling family.

 However, the emperor had no intention of forming any further ties with the Elody family.  Because the Marquis died and there was no use for that family.

 “Yes, I will send her out.”

 The chamberlain, who bowed his head, hurriedly went out, and then the emperor relaxed his expression.

 But less than five minutes later, the chamberlain knocked on the door again.

 “Your Majesty.  The Marchioness begged me to deliver this letter instead…”

 In the end, the emperor frowned and shouted in annoyance.

 “Didn’t I tell you to kick her out!  Do I have to check every single letter? Such a fool.. !"

 “I’m sorry. Your Majesty."

 His body trembled greatly, and the chamberlain bowed his head on the floor.

 The emperor, who was about to wave his hand to dismiss the chamberlain, suddenly turned his attention to the letter in his hand.

 "Wait."

 The chamberlain, who was about to turn around, stopped at the word of the Emperor.

 "Bring the letter.”

 Frightened by the emperor's gesture, the chamberlain turned his body and moved closer. The emperor, who had taken the letter, immediately ripped open the envelope.

His intention was to check what kind of urgent matter it was that made the Marchioness acted so rude and persistent.

 The Emperor skimmed the contents with a frown. His head, looking at the letter for a long time, tilted.

 The muttering voice that followed was questionable.

 "What kind of nonsense is this? What does she mean I have to search the Temple of Ilion?"

 If it was the Ilion Temple, it had a deep connection with the Imperial Palace in its own way.

 Although it was not a temple belonging to the Empire, the priests there were widely known, so there were many occasions when they were called to the imperial family's big ceremonies.

 The emperor continued to read the letter, his eyes narrowed.

 Then, at a certain point, he stopped and slowly put his chin on his hand.

 “…ha."

 The Emperor's eyes gleamed in an instant.  He immediately gave the order to the chamberlain.

 “Go and get the Marchioness. She probably still hasn’t left the imperial palace yet.”

 Not like someone who, until just a moment ago, thought it was not worth listening to what the Marchioness had to say, suddenly, interest in the emperor's eyes grew.

 Unexpectedly, it was because the Marchioness had given him a great deal of information.

 ***

 It was early in the morning when Fernan crossed the border after a harsh march. Riding the horse incredibly fast, he recalled what he had heard from Kalosa.

 “Holy water means the blood of my divinity.  When it is absorbed into the body, every blood vessel in the body changes its components. Then, the stopped function will start running again.”

 He averted his gaze and looked at the carriage following a little behind.

 Because of the long march, Kalosa was following him in a carriage.

 Having obtained the holy water of Kalosa, Julia can wake up again.

 But, as he warned the other day, she won’t be able to fully awaken all her functions.

 “Divine power is usually connected to life force, but in fact, it is the closest force to the brain, so even if she wakes up, there is a high chance that she will lose all her memories.”

 Only after hearing those words, Fernan could understand a little bit of Julia’s behavior.  Because Julia had already lost her memory once.

 Fernan raised his dark face and stared at the moonlit wilderness.  Feeling impatient, he accelerated.

 Thinking that Julia would lose all her memories, he had a hard time holding onto reason.

 But on the other hand, he thought it might be better for her.  That way she'll be able to forget all about her past when he made her suffer.  Fernan, who struggled to put aside complicated thoughts, entered the outside of the temple after a while.

 And at that moment, he noticed that the streets were cluttered somehow.