Chapter 7
I felt like I might faint at any moment.
Forcing my trembling hands to calm down, I took off my outer coat and covered them with it, then turned away.
“This isn’t the time to shake. Hurry. I have to find people.”
The problem was, I had no idea where we were. The carriage wheels were completely broken, and judging by the marks where it had rolled, it seemed the carriage had tumbled down from somewhere in the forest.
After a moment of despair, I decided to walk for now and slowly started moving.
That was when I heard a low groaning sound near my ear.
“Grrr……”
It was a human groan.
‘But… did it always sound like that?’
It strangely sounded like a crying animal, sending chills down my spine. Still, I limped toward the sound as fast as I could.
“Oh my god. Lina?”
Seeing the familiar maid uniform brought relief for just a moment. I rushed over when I saw how bad Lina’s condition was.
“Lina, are you okay?!”
She was leaning against a tree. The moment I grabbed her shoulders, I froze in shock.
There wasn’t a single uninjured spot on her face. It was red and scratched as if clawed, her whole body was bruised, and her head was covered in blood.
“What on earth happened?”
Because of her condition, she couldn’t even open her eyes properly. She only weakly nodded and let out soft groans.
When I kept talking to her, trying to wake her, she muttered something and slowly opened her eyes.
“P-Princess…?”
I collapsed to the ground in relief as soon as she regained consciousness.
“Are you okay? Are you awake?”
“Princess……”
Her voice was as hoarse as mine. That alone made my eyes sting with tears.
This was all my fault.
Because I insisted on going to the outskirts, the knights died, and Lina was gravely injured.
“I’m here.”
I tightly held her hand as she fumbled around, seemingly searching for me. But with the little strength she had left, Lina pushed me away.
“Run… run away… please…”
“What are you talking about?”
She kept repeating the same words as if she wasn’t fully conscious, then her body went limp.
Shaking my head, I grabbed her face.
“No, Lina. Don’t say that. Please. Stay awake.”
“……”
“We have to go back together……”
Lina sat there blankly, her head half lowered. As I slowly spoke, a strange sense of unease crept over me.
‘Lina’s eyes.’
In this dark forest, her half-open eyes—
‘…Were they always yellow?’
They were yellow, like an animal’s eyes.
Goosebumps spread all over my arms, and I instinctively stepped back.
Then—
“Grrraaah!”
With glowing yellow eyes shining in the darkness, Lina lunged at me.
A sharp pain slammed into my shoulder, and I lost consciousness.
It was my second blackout.
***
Clank, clank—
Knights in dazzling armor marched in perfect formation, drawing the attention of villagers nearby.
“That’s the Imperial Knight Order, right?”
“Again? They were here yesterday too.”
“Yeah… something serious must’ve happened.”
Shining armor, straight backs. They were the Imperial Knights, respected by all in the empire.
As the knights entered the quiet forest, people living nearby whispered among themselves.
“What’s really going on?”
“Something must’ve happened in the forest. They blocked it off starting yesterday.”
From last night until noon today, the forest had been sealed off, and the constant flow of knights was clearly suspicious.
“What happened?”
“Who knows? How would commoners like us understand the intentions of nobles… And that forest’s creepy anyway. I never liked it.”
The forest looked beautiful during the day, but at night it was said to be full of beasts and ominous things, making it a place people avoided.
“Oh, another one’s coming. That white hair is… Duke Pankrachio?”
The people gasped when they noticed the bright white hair among the Imperial Knights.
“No way. Even Duke Pankrachio is here?”
The Duke of Pankrachio was famous throughout the empire—his looks, and the fact that he was the princess’s fiancé.
Above all, he was known for never appearing in public, so seeing him in person was shocking.
“His expression is terrifying.”
“If even the Duke is here… this must be serious.”
People whispered that something truly terrible must have happened in the forest.
Unlike the noisy surroundings, silence filled the space between the knights and Alphius. They walked for a long time without speaking.
After going deeper into the forest, the knight in front stopped when he saw other knights gathered ahead.
“This is the place.”
A knight who had arrived earlier bowed respectfully to Duke Pankrachio.
“Greetings, Your Grace.”
Alphius gave a short nod and looked around.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Knights who had arrived earlier were scattered around, searching for traces of the missing carriage.
As Alphius slowly scanned them, his gaze dropped to the ground. He frowned at the clearly marked wheel tracks.
“Judging by the tracks, did it start here?”
“Yes. These are the tracks of the carriage the princess was riding. They abruptly end up ahead.”
The tracks ended where the road itself disappeared.
‘It’s almost a cliff. Judging by the marks, it looks like they panicked after seeing something and turned suddenly… Did they fall after seeing zombies?’
After staring at the tracks, Alphius slowly lifted his head.
“So, how far have you searched?”
“We’re still following the traces. We even brought mages earlier to try tracking magic, but it didn’t work at all. So we haven’t found the princess’s body yet—”
Before the knight could finish, he began trembling under the killing intent directed at him.
Alphius was glaring at him as if he might kill him on the spot.
‘D-Did I say something wrong…?’
Just enduring Alphius’s pressure was overwhelming for an ordinary knight.
“Your Grace, please calm down.”
Levin, who stood beside Alphius, grabbed his arm.
“The imperial palace is sending more support. We’ll find her. Please withdraw your killing intent.”
At those words, Alphius’s presence finally eased.
Levin let out a sigh of relief, then turned to the knight.
“Sir.”
“Y-Yes?”
“We haven’t found even proper traces yet, let alone the princess herself. Yet you already referred to her as a ‘corpse.’”
“T-That’s—”
“Isn’t that extremely disrespectful in front of her fiancé, who is worried about her? Please be careful.”
The knight’s face turned pale, and he bowed deeply.
“I—I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“…Enough.”
Alphius waved his hand irritably, dismissing the knight.
Then he looked coldly at Levin, who had spoken up for him, and clicked his tongue.
“Unnecessary words. As if I was worried.”
“But of course, the princess is your—”
Alphius cut Levin off sharply.
“I have no personal feelings.”
Levin blinked.
Someone with no personal feelings wouldn’t have been ready to head into the forest before sunrise.
Still watching Alphius’s stubborn denial, Levin sighed deeply.
“Of course.”
“…Anyway, back to the main point.”
Alphius turned and looked at the knight.
“Report.”
“Yes. Inside the zombies that contained parts of Sir Cedric’s body, there were no traces of the other knights.”
“Then we should focus on the possibility that the princess and the others are alive—”
Mid-sentence, Alphius narrowed his eyes as if he noticed something and slowly crouched down.
There wasn’t only wheel tracks on the ground.
“Blood?”
It was partially covered by dirt, but clearly dried blood.
Seeing it, Alphius clenched his hand, troubled by the unease that had haunted him since yesterday. But then he frowned at a strange emotion.
‘What is this anxiety?’
Why had he insisted on coming here so early in the morning?
He still had piles of work waiting in his office, unfinished matters everywhere. And even if he came personally, it wouldn’t greatly speed up the investigation.
‘So why did I come myself?’
Providing manpower from the ducal house would have been enough.
‘Then what was I hoping to confirm by coming all the way here?’
Alphius stood in silence, then slowly turned his gaze toward the knights searching desperately for the princess.
‘Why am I not happy?’
He had often wished she would disappear.
He hated the emperor who pressured him, and the nobles who tried to restrain him simply because he was engaged to the princess.
Ever since Isabel entered his life, nothing had gone smoothly. To him, she was nothing but an annoyance.
‘Isn’t this freedom?’
If she were dead, she would never come to his house again, and he could live freely without the emperor’s pressure.
It was the situation he had always dreamed of—yet instead of joy, he felt sick to his stomach.
‘What is this feeling?’
Just imagining something happening to Isabel made him nauseous. He kept retching inside, and last night, even knowing he could only go to the forest in the morning, he kept picking up and putting down his sword.
‘Isabel.’
Alphius stared silently at the trees of the quiet forest.
‘Are you really gone?’
Her visit to his office yesterday vividly came to mind.
Crack—
His hand tightened unconsciously.
“Your Grace?”
The knights widened their eyes at the ominous sound from his grip, but Alphius paid no attention and continued thinking.
‘If I don’t understand this feeling, I’ll go ask her myself.’
He turned back, his face cold as he looked at the knights.
“Find her. No matter what.”
His presence shifted sharply.
“Bring her back completely unharmed. Even a single strand of hair. Without fail.”
His tone was calm, but the heat behind his words was overwhelming.
The knights stiffened under the blazing intensity.
‘You caused this feeling, Isabel. So you must know what it is.’
Alphius lifted his head, tracing the wheel marks with his eyes.
‘So I will find you and ask—where this damn anxiety comes from.’
