CHAPTER 88……………………
Four years were enough time for Adrian Blaine Roanest to lose his sanity.
In fact, he had completely unraveled just one season after Eatrice disappeared.
For the first year, he thought only of finding her, blindly.
The Empire was vast, but there was no place beyond the reach of the royal family’s power. And he was the crown prince.
He hoped that with the authority recently granted to him, he could locate her quickly.
But only after that first year did Adrian realize it had been a futile hope.
Finding someone required at least one clue: their face, or even their name.
But the crown prince had neither.
Out of desperation, he even raided guilds operating in the shadows.
He scoured underground human trafficking facilities, eliminated the operators down to the last root.
But it was useless.
Even when he personally led his most loyal subordinates on secret patrols, they found nothing. Not even the most skilled spies, used to tracking people, succeeded.
Of course—how could they find someone with no name or face?
After two years, the crown prince turned his eyes to other continents.
Outwardly, he appeared as the emperor’s envoy protecting the frontier. The people cheered, and his fame and power grew day by day.
But inwardly, he was falling. The chance of finding her grew thinner and thinner. No matter how much of the Empire he scoured, no matter how far across the seas he searched, she had left no trace.
Had he missed something?
Like a madman, he retraced every step he had taken.
He opened old ledgers of underground human trafficking guilds, checking the records of those sold.
But the pages held nothing but black ink.
No record of her scent, the air that quivered lightly when she smiled, the warmth of her skin—nothing.
That was all he had left to remember—but memories he could never forget.
Each recollection, each pang of memory, mocked him, making him feel insignificant.
“How is it this time?”
“Apologies…”
Throughout it all, Zion Tades kept reporting the news.
At first, Adrian had trusted Zion—not because he was exceptional, but because he had seen Eatrice’s face firsthand.
Zion had been assigned directly by Eatrice herself.
But Zion, unbeknownst to Adrian, had been trying to divert his attention, ensuring the crown prince would not focus on the students of Deltor Academy.
Other subordinates merely assumed Adrian was pursuing criminals or enemies. His eyes, after all, were completely fixated.
During Adrian’s pursuit, the criminal guilds were eradicated, and groups exploiting monster hunts for profit were destroyed.
These remnants gnawed at their teeth in resentment, thinking the crown prince was after them. They would have been stunned to learn he sought the woman who had abandoned him.
And yet, he never stopped.
He searched every uninhabited wilderness, forgotten land, and unknown island. But she was nowhere.
“Where on earth must I go…”
I will find you.
He was chasing a ghost—a ghost without a name or face.
‘Perhaps…’
It wasn’t until nearly three years had passed that a terrifying possibility entered his mind. One scenario he had refused to accept.
But given all the results thus far, it seemed inevitable.
‘…Perhaps she no longer exists in this world.’
His ally used a sword.
He already knew from several encounters that she had extraordinary skill.
If she had continued wielding her sword after leaving him, perhaps she had already fallen to another’s blade.
Anyone who swings a sword can die by another’s blade at any moment.
‘No… I cannot accept that.’
I will not allow her to flee death a second time after abandoning me.
If that were the case, he would find her body. Whether in heaven or hell, he would bring her to sit by his side.
From the moment he even imagined her death, the crown prince intensified his search.
To stop searching would be to admit her death.
Every day he felt his insides dry, his organs twist, as he hunted her relentlessly.
And finally, after four years, he reached this moment.
The wait had been long—but now it was over.
Though he had never seen her face, he could recognize her voice alone.
Her sudden manifestation of magical power—unexpected in a formerly magicless person—almost clouded his judgment, but the one before him was undeniably the ally he had sought.
When Adrian laid eyes on Eatrice for the first time, his world turned upside down.
Finally… you.
He approached her, almost entranced, but then froze.
Her face was unnervingly calm. Even when she opened her mouth to say she had thought him a monster, she remained beyond indifferent—chillingly cold.
Her voice trembled, but only from exhaustion from magic. Adrian mattered not to her at all.
Over the past few years, the crown prince’s intense longing had twisted into an obsession as desperate as despair.
Her detachment only fanned the flames of that obsession.
Yet Adrian maintained a shred of restraint.
If he approached now, she would flee again. Not yet the time.
He gripped his scorched brain and gathered what reason remained.
Though she sometimes acted distant, when it came to matters concerning him, she would not hesitate.
So Adrian concluded: once the promotion ceremony ended, she would come to him of her own volition.
Unaware of his trap, she would approach and speak to him again.
Therefore, when facing her, Adrian pretended not to recognize her.
But when he saw her laugh and converse intimately with others, seeing her grow close to them, he nearly went mad.
He barely restrained himself from wanting to tear out the eyes, ears, and tongues of anyone who had looked at, heard, or spoken to her.
To possess her, he squeezed the last drops of patience from himself and endured.
Finally, everything went according to his will.
As planned, as he desired.
Eatrice Belanel fell into his hands.
Adrian had no intention of letting her go.
* * *
Only after the ship struck the shore again did Eatrice regain her senses.
Her head was foggy from magical exhaustion and mental shock, and her thoughts kept breaking off.
She tried to process what had happened. Her lord had put her on the ship and left Helka Island.
She turned her head to survey her surroundings. Only then did she truly take in the scenery.
The ship had docked at a small, verdant island. Untouched by human hands, a clean sandy beach stretched out with no pier in sight.
“This is Arbon Island.”
She had heard of it. Once a famous resort, it had been abandoned due to monsters.
Adrian had purged them and, in gratitude, the lord had given the island to him.
Left untouched for years, the island’s nature was beautifully preserved. No trace of human presence remained.
“I hope you like it,” Adrian said, a smile curling his red lips.
“This will be your home for life.”
* * *
Though untouched by humans externally, the mansion in the center of the island was impeccably maintained.
‘No—“maintained” doesn’t do it justice.’
It was splendid, lavish.
Intricate stained glass patterns reflected atop smooth marble in the mansion’s lobby.
A terrace offered a panoramic view of the sapphire ocean.
It could rival any mansion in the capital.
The grandeur left Eatrice feeling overwhelmed.
‘Since when…’
Had her lord planned this? She had no idea.
Staggering, she slipped, and again a strong hand caught her.
“The floor seems slippery. I’ll have to replace it soon.”
All that because she almost fell once—he’d tear out all the marble?
If it concerned her, would he treat everything else the same way? Remove or destroy anything that inconvenienced him?
It was almost unbelievable that this was the same lord she had known in her past life.
Eatrice gave up, letting her arms fall.
“I can walk on my own. I won’t stay here. Let me go.”
At her words, Adrian’s expression froze like ice.
“Four years ago, you told me you would wait. And yet you left defiantly. Do you expect me to let you go willingly?”
“I do not understand your words at all.”
Eatrice denied it outright.
After all, the crown prince had never seen her face. Even if he remembered her touch, it was not the same as seeing her with his eyes.
“I waited for you, believing you would wait in the palace.”
His eyes twisted with self-reproach. Just recalling it seemed painful.
“But you abandoned me. Deceived me and ran.”
“I do not know whom you blame, Your Highness, but I am not such a person. What evidence led you to this conclusion? I have never met you before…”
“Do not lie to me again!”
Adrian’s shout cut through.
“I will be deceived no longer.”
He sounded as if he would break apart, crumbling inwardly from her presence.
“I remember… every step you took, every breath you drew, even your scent.”
Eatrice was momentarily speechless.
The crown prince wanted her. Desperately, as if he would die without her.
Yet he maintained absolute control, binding her.
The divine power that had enveloped her shimmered—it could see through her, would find her no matter how she fled.
As long as she existed, in scent, breath, and soul, it would never stop.
But Eatrice could neither submit nor surrender.
He was only temporarily deluded. She, as his subordinate, could not consent.
“I already told you. I am Eatrice Belanel. I am not the person you seek.”
Her words drew a firm boundary.
She demanded only a normal relationship—a noble and royal one. Not intimate, not precious.
Adrian let out a hollow laugh at her sharp defiance.
“Your victory, then.”
His voice, deep and calm, obeyed her request for formality.
“If your goal was to drive me mad…”
Unbelievably, it sounded like a man confessing his own madness.
“I have not been sane since you abandoned me.”
Eatrice bit her lower lip until it nearly bled.
I did not abandon you. I simply judged I would no longer need your aid, and left.
That was years ago.
It was already over. She had thought he had thrived without her, seeing him in the Empire’s papers each year.
Eatrice averted her eyes, deliberately avoiding his gaze.
Even this small action made Adrian feel suffocated.
“Look at me.”
“……”
“Please, turn your head and show me your face.”
It was part threat, part pitiful plea.
“My savior.”
The word struck her—she involuntarily turned her head.
When their eyes met, his deep violet gaze lit up.
“All I did, surviving the bloodied palace, living through hell…”
Adrian’s face was right in front of her.
So horrifyingly beautiful it was almost tempting, even if the destination were hell.
“It was all for you.”
In those amethyst eyes, there was only Eatrice—no one else.
He loved her. No—he had obsessed, clung, and gone mad with love and hatred.
Realizing this, Eatrice’s breath caught.
She had never intended this outcome.
As a knight, she would have loyally served him—but not with such heavy emotion. That could neither be given nor returned.
“You must have mistaken me for someone else. I don’t know what you mean.”
Eatrice turned her head again, pretending indifference to hide her thoughts.
“You thought I was deluded?”
“Yes. Completely so.”
Eatrice took a step back, creating distance.
“Fine, if you wish, you may lie.”
With a single step, Adrian once again filled her vision.
“But if you leave me…”
Eatrice tensed, gripping her sword as she awaited his next words.
He bent forward, alternating his gaze between her and the blade.
Her arm holding the sword was lifted, the cool edge brushing his eyes and pale cheek.
“What are you doing…!”
Eatrice tried to pull her arm back, but without the gloves and with her hands gripping the blade, she could not move.
Blood stained the blade, just like that day.
She could do nothing.
The crown prince whispered, his eyes fixed on hers through the steel:
“Blind my eyes again. So even if you run, I cannot find you.”
