Saying goodbye had not been as easy as I had thought. I tried to bring it up several times, but whenever I faced him, my mouth seemed to seal shut, and I felt as if I had lost my voice.

After experiencing several awkward moments like that, I realized I couldn’t continue this way and decided to make a new plan. I chose to drink a potion to calm my nerves. I pretended it was a potion for Larian, fearing he might notice, and drank it on my way back after class. Since the effect didn’t last long, it was better to talk as soon as I got home. Leopold usually stopped whatever he was doing to greet me when I returned, so it wouldn’t take long to finish.

With the help of the potion, I calmed my mind and entered the house. However, contrary to my expectations, the house was quiet.

“Leopold?”

I cautiously called his name, but there was no response. I went upstairs to check the bedroom, visited the annex, and even looked around the field near the bathroom, but Leopold was nowhere to be seen.

The only place he might have gone in the village was the grocery store… Perhaps he went to buy ingredients for dinner.

I felt an indescribable sensation. However, perhaps because of the potion, it didn’t seem like a big deal, so I decided to sit on the sofa and wait for him.

When Leopold returned, it would be best to get straight to the point. He would probably understand what I wanted to say just from the first word, so there was no need to beat around the bush…

Whether it was because I was exhausted from dealing with the children or due to the potion’s effect, I started to drift off to sleep. I shouldn’t fall asleep in this situation… But maybe a few minutes would be okay…

I didn’t know how long I had been asleep. When I opened my eyes again, the sun had already set, leaving only a red hue in the sky.

I jumped up in surprise. The house was still quiet, and there was no sign of Leopold anywhere. I called his name again, but silence was the only response. I felt anxious and uneasy, perhaps because the potion’s effect had worn off. Had he left without telling me? It wasn’t something to regret since I was planning to break up anyway…

Before it got darker, I lit the candle lanterns scattered around the house. At the same time, I checked for any trace of him. Concluding that he had left seemed premature since everything was still in its place. Where on earth could he have gone…

As I lit the last candle on the dining table, I found a note I hadn’t noticed before. The mature and neat handwriting caught my eye before the content did.

“I’m heading to the mountain for a bit. If I’m too late, go ahead and have dinner. I’ve prepared everything, so you just need to heat it up. See you soon.”

Why would he go to the mountain? There were plenty of herbs in the field… Maybe he went to pick some fruits… The mountain… The mountain…

Suddenly, Larian’s warning flashed through my mind.

‘…They’ve placed a massive amount of explosives. …If you go to the mountain, make sure to take someone from the village with you…’

I felt as if all the blood was draining from my body. I held the note up to my eyes and read it two, three times over.

He said he went to the mountain…?

My hands began to tremble slightly. The reason he hadn’t returned yet, could it be…

I squeezed my eyes shut.

I needed to pull myself together quickly; I couldn’t just sit here in a daze…

I had to shake off the bad thoughts and come up with a plan. Time was of the essence…

I gritted my teeth and ran to Stefan’s house.

Even during that short distance, I was plagued by all sorts of negative thoughts. Why did I foolishly take the potion and fall asleep? I could have discovered the note sooner. Why was I so careless? Why hadn’t I warned him about going to the mountain earlier? If something happened to him…

My vision blurred. I had never imagined parting like this. I only wished for us to live well in our respective places.

“Stefan, Stefan! Please open the door! Stefan!”

I cried out, almost wailing, as I knocked on the door. Stefan appeared with a startled look on his face.

“What’s going on? Why are you crying—”

“Look, look at this. It seems Leopold went to the mountain alone. He doesn’t know, he doesn’t know about the explosives there. We need to find him quickly, please…”

Breathless, I handed him the note. He took it, looking alarmed, and after reading it, he spoke soothingly.

“First, calm down. If he steps on an explosive, we’ll hear a loud noise all the way here. But we haven’t heard anything at this time, which means nothing dangerous has happened yet.”

“Saying ‘yet’ is no different from saying something will happen soon!”

I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. Stefan, looking at me with concern, disappeared into the house for a moment and returned with a small bag. Ben followed him out, looking surprised.

“Wipe your tears. This is not the time to cry.”

It was true; finding Leopold was urgent. I took the handkerchief Stefan offered and wiped my face vigorously.

“Ben, your uncle is going to the mountain, so stay quietly at home. If the morning star is high in the sky and I haven’t returned, tell the village elders about this.”

“Uncle…”

The child, perhaps frightened, called out to him once, then nodded with a determined expression. Stefan patted his nephew’s head and started walking ahead.

My heart raced. Even if Leopold was injured, I could heal him… Even if an arm was gone or a leg was shattered, as long as he was alive and had a form… But the thoughts I used to reassure myself were filled with horrific imaginations, making it hard to breathe.

“Stop thinking negatively. Focusing on the movements or sounds around you will be much more helpful,” Stefan said calmly, as if he could read my mind. Even though I knew he couldn’t see me following behind him, I could only manage a nod in response.

By the time we reached the entrance to the mountain path, the sky had nearly lost its red hue. Stefan stopped and looked back at me.

“The mountain is much darker than here. You might get hurt, so it’s better to wait here.”

“No, let’s go together. If Leopold is injured, he needs immediate treatment.”

He furrowed his brow slightly, as if in thought, then surveyed the area. He cut a suitably thick branch and wrapped one end with a cloth from his bag.

“This is an oil-soaked cloth. Follow the fire closely.”

He used flint to create a spark on the dry leaves, quickly making a torch. Stefan entered the mountain without hesitation. I lifted my skirt to my knees and followed to keep up with him.

“You said there would be a loud noise if it exploded, right?”

“Yes. Now that we’re inside the mountain, if anything goes off, we’ll hear it more clearly.”

His voice was completely flat, perhaps to avoid stimulating my imagination.

“How powerful is it?”

He didn’t immediately answer. After several sounds of him cutting through the underbrush with a dagger, he slowly spoke.

“…The moment you step on it, you die instantly.”

“…That’s not true.”

Shocked, I froze and couldn’t move any further. What a ridiculous thing to say… With his back to me, Stefan continued his explanation.

“Of course, that’s if you step exactly in the center, but even if you’re slightly off, losing a limb is no joke.”

The sound of branches being cut quickened, hinting at the urgency of the situation.

“Look here. This is the mark of an explosive.”

He bent down and shone the light on the ground. At a glance, it looked like a patch of grass, but the shape of the three-pronged leaves was artificial. The ends were painted black, resembling withered leaves.

“Usually, people don’t notice it. But if it’s Lord Leopold… he might have noticed. We haven’t heard any noise yet, and he’s no ordinary person.”

I couldn’t tell if he was just trying to reassure me or if he was sincere, but it made some sense.

“And here. These footprints look recent.”

I barely swallowed the tears that threatened to spill and shifted my gaze to where he pointed. About three hand spans away from the explosive, there were indeed footprints, not very clear, but visible as Stefan had said.

“Let’s hurry. Before it’s too late.”

I urged him with a trembling voice.

“It’s better to remove it first before moving. We could step on it at any time.”

“…Alright.”

I took the torch and illuminated the ground while watching him carefully dig around the explosive. With unknown tools from his bag, he began cutting what looked like a fuse from the top. His hands moved quickly, but the task took longer than expected, which was frustrating.

“This isn’t working. How about we move first, avoiding the explosives? If it gets to midnight, even if Leopold noticed the markings, it won’t be easy to find him.”

Stefan didn’t respond. He seemed to be considering the possibility of missing Leopold along the way. After completely dismantling the pouch containing the explosive minerals and scattering them around, he finally spoke.

“I’ll do as you say. From now on, don’t fall more than two steps behind me.”

Boom. Bang. Bang bang.

But before I could even respond, explosions echoed from not far away, as if they had been waiting.