Chapter 10 –  The Master of the North (Part 4)

Several feet trudged up the snowy mountain path, leaving deep tracks. At the front, a head of striking red hair, visible even from a distance, was tousled by the fierce wind.

On the very day they heard Countess Figo’s story, they set out for the northern border. By switching horses along the way and not resting at all, they covered a distance that would normally take a week in just four days.

Upon arrival, the four of them immediately divided the area and began their search. Even just surveying the area around the border was quite extensive, so dividing it was essential to save time.

Diharn, unable to even think about trimming his scruffy beard, followed his master with concern as he madly navigated the mountain path in a haggard state.

For more than half a month, nearing two-thirds of the lunar cycle, his master had gone mad. This applied not only to his master but also to the two Dukes and Sir Fernon.

From the time the four of them cherished Ria as if she were the most precious thing in the world, Diharn had sensed their deep affection, but he hadn’t realized it would go this far. Even the Emperor and Empress were worried.

They collapsed instantly, as if they had lost their lives, as if they had lost their breath. Like a sandcastle swallowed by a wave in an instant. And no one could control them.

It started with capturing the most suspicious Count Figo and torturing him so brutally that it was unspeakable. Still, he was a prime suspect, so it wasn’t much of an issue. Other nobles didn’t find such torture strange.

The problem began after that. Foolishly, a Baron’s family, thinking it was the right time, permanently altered their daughter’s hair to black with a magic potion and brought her in, only to be utterly destroyed.

When that incident spread, even the nobles who hadn’t believed the words of a few ladies and young women before now fully realized the truth. It wasn’t just because her hair and eye color were unique.

Marquis Rosevita tried to calm them down somehow, but the effect was minimal. As the days passed without finding the young lady, they became sensitive to even the smallest things.

The servants of the Imperial Palace and the Ducal House moved with bated breath, fearing they might incur their wrath with even a minor mistake. They didn’t even pass by unless called.

As the situation worsened, Diharn, who had to find a solution, eventually risked his life to offer sincere advice. However, Marquis Rosevita and Lady Peune stopped him.

‘Sir, right now, you just need to focus on finding Ria. Advice isn’t what’s important. It won’t be effective anyway. The only way to stop them is to find Ria.’

To be honest, he hadn’t believed it then. That the people known as the real power of the Empire could go mad and be calmed by just one woman.

But after seeing his master urgently summon him the day they met Countess Figo, after seeing them cover a week’s distance in four days, and after seeing them start searching without resting upon arrival, he admitted that he had grossly underestimated the young lady’s significance.

“Your Highness!”

It was then. A knight who had found a side path on the left called out to Cherta. As Cherta moved swiftly in that direction, Diharn, snapped out of his thoughts, quickly followed.

After entering the path for a while, they soon approached what seemed to be the end of the path, a sloping cliff. At that moment, Diharn saw Cherta’s face harden.

Clenching his teeth so tightly that his jaw ached, Cherta slowly approached the cliff. Following his gaze upward, Diharn and the other knights also froze.

“-Ha.”

A yellow ribbon was frozen, caught on a branch.

Cherta recognized it instantly. How could he not? He had etched into his memory what she wore, how she styled her hair, and what accessories she used every day. He remembered every single day, from their first meeting on the street to the Imperial Palace banquets and all the days thereafter!

How could it be… How could he not know? Especially since this was a memory of the dreadful day when he lost her.

“…Ria.”

The yellow ribbon, easily within reach of his outstretched hand, was frozen so cold. It felt just like her, as if it represented her current state. His heart plummeted endlessly downward.

“Ria.”

“….”

“Oh, Ria, Ria—.”

Why, why is this here? Why is only this here? Why are you not here? Why—!

He wrapped the yellow ribbon in his bare hands to melt the ice and pulled it into his arms, curling around it as if to enclose it. Kneeling on the ground, he called her name endlessly, struggling not to imagine his desperate thoughts or the worst-case scenario.

The knights, hearing his voice, which sounded as if it might shatter at any moment, turned their heads or tightly closed their eyes. It wasn’t only Cherta who envisioned the worst-case scenario.

But suddenly, as Cherta called out Ria’s name desperately for a while, his head jerked up. His face, already soaked, continued to shed tears from his reddened eyes, but he ignored it and stood up.

His pure, enchanting golden eyes emitted a bright light.

As he turned his head toward the sloped cliff, his body was already on the verge of descending the cliff. Diharn urgently grabbed him.

“Your Highness! Please calm down!”

“Let go.”

“It’s not because the cliff is steep! If you go beyond here…!”

Diharn glanced at the Verdandy Marquis family crest marked on the tree where the yellow ribbon was caught. Beyond this point was the North.

“You must not break the unwritten rule between the Imperial family and the North! You know this!”

The North gained autonomy because they were recognized for their achievements and loyalty when they suddenly exterminated the monsters that had plagued the North since the founding of the country. In other words, it was a reward for risking their lives in battle, which they had only been conducting sweeps of for generations.

At that time, the Emperor gave them autonomy and left a statement that even the Imperial family could not treat them recklessly, which has now become a firmly established unwritten rule. This was the reason Cherta had not been able to enter the closed North arbitrarily until now.

Of course, if pushed with the Imperial command, it wasn’t entirely impossible. After all, the North was still part of the Empire, and the Verdandy Marquis family, who ruled there, were nobles of the Empire.

However, if that happened, the long-standing trust between the North and the Imperial family would gradually crack. If the North, with its formidable military power, stopped supporting the Imperial family, the only ones to benefit would be the temple or the nobles.

What if, in the worst-case scenario, the North supported the noble faction? The Imperial family would have to engage in a tough factional struggle.

“Let go.”

“Your Highness!”

“Damn it, I know well enough, so let go!”

Diharn slightly loosened his grip on him. He thought perhaps Cherta had regained a bit of his sanity. But—

“So I will ensure that the relationship between the Imperial family and the North is not affected.”

“What…! Ugh! Your Highness!”

As the grip loosened, Cherta struck Diharn’s abdomen to free himself and left only those words before jumping off the cliff. By the time Diharn approached the edge of the cliff, clutching his abdomen, the Northern guards were already pointing their swords at Cherta.

Diharn wore a dazed expression. The guards, who had drawn their swords on the intruder, hesitated when they confirmed the red hair and golden eyes that signified the Imperial family.

“…Your Highness the Crown Prince?”

A low, cracked voice pierced through the guards, who were at a loss, looking at each other.

“Go and tell the lord of the North.”

The unwritten rule between the Imperial family and the North? The position of the Crown Prince? What does that matter? An Empire without Ria holds no meaning or need for me anymore.

“Cherta Den Liberté.”

Since the moment he met Ria, the position of Crown Prince was merely one of the mythical roles that connected him to her or one of the strong walls that would make her life comfortable and safe.

“Requests a meeting.”

But at this moment, unable to even fulfill that properly—

“Right now, immediately.”

It was merely an empty shell without value.

＊ ＊ ＊

“I didn’t expect you to push your way in through the closed doors without any notice.”

Knox took a sip of the steaming tea as he looked at Cherta, who sat before him with a stern expression.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t anticipated this situation at all. He was well aware of the rumors that had spread widely within the Empire, and he had already heard reports that an unfamiliar, haggard-looking outsider had taken a carriage from the last village at the northern border to the capital shortly after Ria was brought in.

However, when the head butler, with a flustered expression, urgently announced the Crown Prince’s visit, he was honestly a bit surprised.