~Chapter 115~
Since it was a small village, there was no separate post office. The general store handled both letters and carrier pigeons.
Though Nathan wasn’t sure how reliable it was, thanks to Bianca’s introduction, he scraped together all the money they had left.
Sending pigeons was very expensive. And because he had to send letters to both the Duke’s house and the Count’s house, his purse emptied quickly. Still, just being able to let them know they were safe made his heart much lighter.
If the skies stayed clear, he would soon receive a reply from one side or the other. Even if the pigeons failed, just knowing they had a storeroom full of dried food gave him peace of mind.
The house was small, with only two rooms, a storage space, and a kitchen attached to the living room, but life here was oddly joyful — so much that Nathan felt lighthearted every day.
Clearing snow, sorting the food they gathered, helping with village work, and then chatting with Ancia — every moment felt special.
Bianca wasn’t shy with him despite his noble status. She scolded him boldly, shoved a broom into his hands, or demanded he do things properly. Yet whenever Ancia showed even the smallest change, she dropped everything to run to her side, fussing over her with affection.
Nathan realized that even this kind of simple life could be pleasant.
He thought, maybe next year, instead of refusing holidays like always, spending it like this wouldn’t be so bad.
Of course, the princess could never live this way.
He had hesitated about whether to send a letter to her as well, but decided to save the money. In his letter to the Count’s house, he simply asked about her well-being.
“How long has it been since I’ve seen a sky this blue?”
Even in midwinter, birds puffed up their feathers and flew across the clear sky. Watching them, Nathan prayed they would deliver his news safely, then returned to Ancia.
At the Duke’s estate, the winter winds howled, making the atmosphere desolate as always.
Ellie, cleaning the Duchess’s room, wiped away tears. She couldn’t bear the silence.
Every day she blamed herself for not being able to protect her lady.
Recently, one of the guards who had ridden with the Duchess’s carriage had been found dead in the Black Forest. The body was mangled, likely by wild beasts, but the clothing identified him.
Ever since hearing that news, Ellie lived in constant worry and fear. She wiped her tears quickly so they wouldn’t fall on the blankets, and cleaned the already spotless room with care, praying for her lady’s safe return.
She wanted to clean the Duke and Duchess’s bedroom too, but she dared not enter. Everyone in the estate knew the Duke sat awake there night after night, staring at the bed. No servant wanted to meet their master in such a state.
Richard’s face was haggard as he sat sleepless in the bedchamber.
Since returning from the East, he had doubled the search parties scouring the North. When they discovered the mutilated body of one of Ancia’s guards, his heart filled with both hope and despair.
They eventually found the carriage that had carried Ancia and Nathan.
It was intact. Under the snow, they uncovered traces of a campfire.
Hundreds of men overturned the forest searching for even the smallest clue.
They uncovered a bandit hideout, clashed with neighboring lords when they crossed borders, but Richard never stopped.
Even when blizzards buried the paths, he pressed on. But no further traces appeared.
The Black Forest was too vast. Snowstorms covered every trail.
Even so, he refused to stop.
When the knights struggled, Richard slaughtered monsters with his own hands, cutting their numbers in half.
He was ready to search the entire continent if that was what it took to find his wife.
And yet — not a hair, not a shadow could be found.
At first, he feared he was mistaken. Then came anger: had she run away?
Fear and rage tore through him again and again each day.
She had been sunlight. A beautiful woman. The only one who had ever given him warm smiles and gentle care. In his arms, she had been nothing but beloved.
But now — there was no trace.
“Did she even exist…?”
Richard began to doubt her very existence.
“…Must I go mad for her to return?”
His wife, who hated the cold, was somewhere in the endless northern snow, alive or dead he couldn’t know.
She had vanished with those two others.
Had she chosen them over him?
Dark, poisonous thoughts rooted deep inside him. His eyes grew colder and darker as he stared into the shadows.
Each morning, Julie’s first task was to sort through the flood of letters and reports about the missing Duchess. Countless notes piled up every night.
She was quick and cautious. She only needed to do a light sorting — Sir Arthur would come later to inspect them more closely.
As she sorted, she found a soaked, damaged note. Luckily, it had been specially treated, so the message was still legible.
(Eastern Black Forest. Snow-nun Village. Trapped by winter storms. All three safe. Request visit. –Nathan Leslie)
Short, but clear.
It was Nathan’s carrier pigeon. He and Ancia were alive, together with Bianca, in a hidden village Bianca had often boasted about.
A place not marked on maps, so remote no outsider would ever stumble upon it.
Julie let out a breath of relief — but only for a moment. Then she folded the note back neatly and slipped it beneath the desk, where no one would easily see it.
She did not give it to Arthur. She hid it in a place where, if discovered later, she could claim it had fallen during sorting.
Julie’s action was no accident.
Once just a maid, then a lady-in-waiting, now head maid — she was also a spy for the Crown Prince.
Her old job had been to secretly pass letters between him and Rosa, the former head maid. Since Rosa’s disappearance, that work had become meaningless.
She had thought herself free. But after Ancia vanished, the Crown Prince gave her a new mission:
“Block any information about the Duchess — even once or twice.”
The hatred he bore toward Richard was buried in even this small command. He wanted influence over the Duke’s household, no matter how.
Julie knew that the Count’s family surely received Nathan’s letter too. She told herself that hiding this one wouldn’t matter. She forced down the guilt rising in her chest and continued sorting letters with perfect posture.
She didn’t realize how deeply Richard would sink into despair from this small act.
Back in the village:
“This is strange.”
“Yes, very strange.”
“No reply to the pigeons I sent, not even to the last one. Isn’t that odd?”
“Well, bad luck can pile up. Maybe the carriage carrying mail had an accident in the forest. Or maybe a pigeon froze to death or got eaten on the way.”
Unlike Nathan, who worried, Bianca was unconcerned.
“Then what exactly seems strange to you?”
“My sister’s belly.”
“Bianca. Titles.”
Even alone, Nathan gave her a stern look, reminding her to mind how she addressed Ancia. Bianca pouted, then corrected herself.
“That doctor said it was about three months back then. We’ve been here more than two months. So it should be five months or more now. But my lady’s belly is still so small — and cute.”
Ancia’s smallness and cuteness were nothing new, but even her rounded belly looked delicate. Nathan nodded, but Ancia’s face paled.
“Is that something to worry about?”
She had regained much of her strength, enough to do small chores indoors. She stopped her knitting, a gift from Haera, her hands trembling.
“No, no. Every woman’s body is different. I even knew one who looked like she’d just gained a little winter weight — then suddenly gave birth. I just meant my lady is adorable no matter what. Don’t worry.”
Ancia let out a breath of relief.
“Thank goodness…”
She gently stroked her small bump and rose from her seat.
She went to her room, feeling the urge to write down her thoughts.
Now that her strength was returning, she had begun keeping a notebook. She wrote about life without Richard, her longing and love for him, and her joy at carrying their child. Whenever she felt these things, she put them into words.
