Among those who moved for the search, the first to return to the castle was Knight Commander Anton Sorel. Upon hearing the report that the Duke had moved to the underground laboratory, he hurried his steps.
Although he was the one who sent off the departing individual without military formalities, out of an abundance of caution, he thoroughly searched familiar places such as the usual taverns, Stan Simon’s residence, and other locations that Rensley Maelrosen frequented. However, Rensley Maelrosen’s figure was nowhere to be found, and the merchants who had been with him had already left the city gates.
Was it really the right choice to send him off like that? Descending the stairs leading to the laboratory, Anton was tormented by heavy thoughts. He couldn’t be sure whether this decision was for his lord, for the unfortunate subordinate, or for comforting himself. As the Knight Commander serving the Duke, this kind of uncertainty felt not just vague, but uncomfortably close to something unsettling.
“How did it go?”
Duke Gezell stood in front of a long table, rummaging through something without turning towards Anton. The research lab, with only a few candles lit, was dark as if underground. The flickering crimson light faintly outlined the figure of a person but couldn’t illuminate the expression. Anton lowered his head and reported the news he didn’t want to deliver.
“I searched all the places you instructed, as well as the places Rensley frequently visits, but he was nowhere to be seen. It’s dark now, so it might be better to resume the search when it gets light…”
“He didn’t go on a night patrol; he left Roudken.”
Anton couldn’t immediately find the words to respond. It hadn’t been long since nightfall. Gezell, who hadn’t heard or seen anything, had already drawn such a conclusion.
“Why do you say that?”
“He left a letter.”
The Duke’s voice was so cold, unlike anything Anton had heard before. Gezell Jivendad was originally a person with few emotional fluctuations, speaking dryly and without much emotion. However, since he had never shown particular coldness to others, the change in temperature was readily apparent to the listener.
Anton waited quietly for his next words. If he realized that Rensley had left of his own accord and not without reason, he might consider stopping the search.
Gezell sorted out everything he had found on the table, such as books and what looked like notebooks. Only then did he turn to Anton, looking more impatient.
“You should return to your original mission. I will personally lead the search team to find Sir Maelrosen.”
“Your Grace.”
“While there are limitations within the castle, the scope of magic that can be used outside is broader. Even if we didn’t set it up beforehand, we should be able to find one person.”
“Your Grace! You cannot leave the castle yet!”
Startled, Anton raised his voice without realizing it. Gezell’s hand, which had been gathering documents, stopped abruptly, and the gaze of the two clashed like blades in a duel.
Gezell’s expression, which had been rushing, sharpened as if honed. His voice, which had somewhat regained composure after a while, sank.
“He won’t go far.”
“Please calm down. What was in the letter? If he wanted to leave by himself, there must have been a reason. Sir Maelrosen is a guest from a foreign land, not a criminal. We cannot simply bring back someone who wishes to leave.”
“I never said I would bring him back. I just want to talk.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Anton bit the inside of his lip. It was difficult to decide where to start explaining.
Both Rensley and Gezell carried the weight of their lives in their own ways, but they were young adults who had just entered adulthood, having crossed the age of twenty. Anton had trained many young men since becoming the commander. He was adept at reading the thoughts of young men. It wasn’t difficult for him to notice the change in their relationship, having observed the two who carried secret matters.
“Your Grace, the situation has changed from the beginning,” Anton began with difficulty. After avoiding eye contact for a moment, Gezell looked back at him.
A growing sense of unease clouded Anton’s mind. Perhaps he had missed something. Could he have made a mistake? Trying to quell the vague anxiety within him, Anton wanted to convey the facts as they were.
“Your Grace, as you may also know, Sir Maelrosen has already harbored different feelings from the beginning toward Your Grace’s new marriage. It would have been difficult for him to simply watch by your side. If he quietly departs, we should welcome it.”
“So? I asked him not to leave, and he agreed.”
“…Why is Your Grace looking for Sir Maelrosen?”
The king made a request, and the subject secretly escapes in the middle of the night. There was a considerable gap between the words Gezell used and Rensley’s actions tonight.
While blindly following the ruler’s orders might be the first duty of the Knight Commander, believing either side was a separate issue. Anton Sorel couldn’t readily discern which one of them was telling the truth.
Gezell did not give an immediate answer, but unlike Anton, he didn’t seem to be searching for an answer either. His expression remained cool after the question, and he fell into a short silence, seemingly organizing his thoughts.
“I want him by my side. He doesn’t necessarily have to be the Grand Duchess. There’s a position more fitting for him than the position of the Grand Duchess, and I can arrange it easily. It’s not wrong for a king to want someone he likes close to him, is it?”
“….”
“Sir Maelrosen understood that, too.”
Gezell seemed somewhat unjustly frustrated.
“Your Grace, that is…”
Would the young king understand that this wasn’t an area where one comprehends with the mind, as in studying a subject academically? Anton wasn’t sure. He himself wasn’t wise enough to teach someone about life or the direction of one’s heart, let alone someone with rich life experiences.
Nevertheless, Anton Sorel had to speak. The banquet had ended, and a new wedding would proceed. Just before spring arrived, when they had to be on high alert in case of external intrusion, the king, who should be the mainstay of all defenses, couldn’t afford to be distracted by another problem.
But before Anton could start speaking, Gezell spoke first.
“Did Sir Maelrosen lie to me?”
His tone was genuinely curious. Anton, about to explain, found himself unable to continue, and his lips remained sealed.
Behind the seemingly calm question, the ruler’s emotions were evident to anyone. Faced with an unexpected color of emotion, even the loyal Knight Commander found it difficult to conceal his confusion.
Now, Gezell Jivendad couldn’t contain his sense of betrayal.
“He said he loved me. He said he loved me just a while ago in the banquet hall. Did he deceive me to leave secretly? Did he refuse my request to stay because he wanted to live in another territory?”
“No, Your Grace. The sincerity of his feelings for you is genuine. He wouldn’t have left if he couldn’t endure it.”
This time, there was an immediate response. Although blaming Rensley for all the wrongs might be a more convenient way to persuade the angry duke, Anton wasn’t willing to do so.
As the Knight Commander, whose top priority was the throne and the country’s defenses, he felt uncomfortable. Yet, he couldn’t deceive himself. Anton closed his eyes tightly. He knelt in front of Gezell with one knee. Unlike Anton, neither Gezell nor Rensley lied. The only person lying in this situation was Anton himself.
“Your Grace, you don’t have to forgive me. I saw Sir Maelrosen leaving with my own eyes.”
“…What?”
“He left the castle with a group of merchants heading to Roudken. Since the upper trade routes often use magical means of transportation rather than land routes, they must have covered quite a distance by now. I noticed him leaving Roudken without permission, but I turned a blind eye. I apologize.”
Anton bowed his head deeply and confessed all his mistakes. As his words concluded, the underground research lab was filled with oppressive silence.
After a brief moment of stillness, Gezell’s words emerged. His voice noticeably lacked strength.
“Why.”
“…”
“Why did you just let him go? Why didn’t you tell me anything…”
“He was under your authority. I’ve seen him troubled and in distress many times. Your Grace, the position of the Grand Duchess might mean nothing to you, but it’s not the same for Sir Maelrosen. It’s not about ambition for the position; he just couldn’t bear to witness you entering into a marital relationship with someone else.”
Anton raised his face. He honestly laid bare even the dark intentions he had hidden deeply, looking at the bewildered ruler.
“Also, I thought it would be better for Aldrant’s future if Sir Maelrosen wasn’t there. I wanted to eliminate any potential disturbance when you raise a new marriage and welcome the Grand Duchess. If he leaves voluntarily, there’s no need to stop him. Please rebuke me for what I’ve done.”
Again, the young Duke remained silent.
“Get up.” After a while, in a tone that fell like an order dropped without strength, Anton belatedly rose from his seat. The questions continued.
“He left with a merchant?”
“…Yes. He was riding in a cargo carriage brought by a merchant. He disguised himself as one of their party.”
“Merchant… cargo carriage…”
Gezell’s expression, which had been repeating some words like a chant, gradually became firm. Having escaped from confusion and come to a conclusion, his tone became strict.
“I cannot allow this.”
“Your Grace.”
“He can’t leave like this. Not empty-handed, without giving anything. Since the divorce or abdication procedures haven’t been followed, he’s still my Grand Duchess. Even if he leaves, it can’t be like this. It’s absolutely unacceptable.”
After finishing his words, Gezell lit the candles in the research lab one by one. The dim underground space gradually brightened with a few candles, as if there was no time to spare for more light. While arranging the new documents on the desk, he commanded.
“Find out which upper trade Sir Maelrosen left with immediately and report it. The rest will be left to the search team. Even if he went a bit far, we can quickly find him if we put out a wanted notice. You’ve had good reasons for your judgment, and I know that, so just help me up to this point.”
It was a resolute side that couldn’t be shaken any further.
Despite being a prepared decision, losing much of the king’s trust as the leader of the Knight Order was a painful loss. Or should he be grateful just for avoiding punishment? Suppressing the tumultuous inner thoughts, Anton saluted and left the research lab.
Standing in front of the stairs leading to the surface, he suddenly turned around and looked at the closed door of the lab. He clenched his fist with strength, feeling the uncertainty gradually becoming clear.
If he had missed something. If Rensley Maelrosen hadn’t harbored emotions beyond the planned scope…
If that were the case, Anton’s decision this time was something that couldn’t be explained by any other words than a mistake. Anton looked up at the ceiling, sighed deeply, and then ran up the stairs with more determination.
Identifying the identity of the upper-class individual who left the castle in a time with few visitors, witnessed directly by the Knight Commander, was simple. Catching up with a cargo carriage that had not left Roudken for long was also possible with the royal search team.
As Anton had thought, the group of merchants Sir Maelrosen joined was quite large, and they were planning to leave Aldrant using the sea route, utilizing the harbor. In order to do so, they needed to gather at the harbor, and fortunately, the merchant accompanying Rensley had not yet arrived there.
“I don’t know. I separated from that knight on the way here. I tried to persuade him to leave together, but he vehemently declined, saying he would go separately…”
The merchant, who had booked a place to stay for one more night before departing for the harbor, answered with sleepy eyes. The search team, who had rushed at full speed, hid their disappointment and asked again.
“Where did you part ways?”
“Well, we just separated on the way. It’s hard to specify where. It wasn’t a place with any landmarks or buildings.”
Leaving alone in such weather, on such a night, without any landmarks? It was a suicidal act for a stranger who didn’t even know the way. The Duke’s search team exchanged pessimistic looks.
Nevertheless, despite the lack of information from the merchant, they searched various places on the plain. However, finding a person who had disappeared without a trace in the vast plain was an impossible task.
The search team concluded that wasting time on the road was foolish. Eventually, they had no choice but to return to their lord without any results. In the early morning of that day, the servants of Roudken Duke’s castle had to move silently to clear the debris of the broken expensive glass window that had unexpectedly shattered.
Before daylight, the Duke personally went out of the castle, riding a horse with the search team. Although many courtiers objected to leaving the castle, this time, they couldn’t stop him.
Fact that Gezell’s not aware why Rensley left castle bro seriously 😑
This Young King , highly intelligent has peanuts for EQ .Guess he really was a loner. Just bringing him back won’t solve your problem dear Duke.
For him Luxuries , Riches , Titles can’t replace you. He wants all or nothing ! Way to go Rensley ! Stand up for yourself 💪🏼
Efforts are much appreciated lovelies ☺️💕
thank youuuuuu😆💛
Thank you!
ur welcomeee<3333
If he does find Ren, he’s not gonna return and your not gonna like what he’s says.