Chapter 11

After riding for half a day, he arrived at the Mage Tower and knocked impatiently on Prselro’s lab door.

“Grand Duke Callium?”

The door quickly swung open, and a middle-aged man with tousled brown hair looked up at him. Having had two visitors in a few days to a lab that rarely saw any, Prselro thought it was quite the event and let Terence in.

“What brings you here?”

“Sorry for the sudden visit. Has Miss Elina Harris come here?”

As the Second-in-Command of the Mage Tower, Prselro didn’t let even the Emperor treat him lightly, so Terence’s abrupt arrival and direct question showed real urgency.

Prselro studied the desperate face of the Grand Duke and suddenly remembered he’d forgotten to send Elina’s letter to Viscount Harris’s house.

But Elina hadn’t disappeared for months—why was Terence so desperate to find a girl who was just on leave? Sensing something unusual, Prselro let him in, intrigued.

“If it’s Elina, isn’t she working at the Grand Ducal castle? You’d know better than I would.”

Prselro answered shamelessly without blinking an eye. Seeing the noticeably dejected expression on the Grand Duke’s face, he almost felt it was fortunate that Elina’s letter hadn’t been sent to the Viscount’s house.

‘It seems this side had deeper feelings, after all?’

Thinking of Elina, who must have suffered emotionally without knowing this, made the Grand Duke before him look less agreeable.

Determined to make the Grand Duke suffer as much as Elina had, Prselro hid his sly smirk and spoke, furrowing his thick eyebrows.

“Has something happened to Elina? Seeing how you are searching for her, Your Grace, she must have disappeared somewhere, but she’s not a child who’d do that without a word… What in the world happened?”

The Grand Duke’s face darkened further at the probing question. This was his last hope of finding out Elina’s whereabouts, but after hearing only confirmation that no one knew, his mind went blank.

He was tormented by worries—had she been hurt, or had something happened to her? He felt as if everything was his fault, and self-loathing grew within him.

At the same time, knowing that Elina had disappeared despite knowing his feelings only made his obsession and inevitable resentment toward her swell even more.

He left Prselro, who earnestly asked to be informed if any contact was made with Elina, and returned to the Grand Ducal castle, lonely.

* * *

It had already been half a month since Elina disappeared. The missing mage caused a great upheaval throughout the Grand Ducal castle.

The Grand Duke, skipping meals and sleep, had become noticeably gaunt. He would shut himself in his office, working frantically, then suddenly rush out, only to return with an even gloomier face, repeating this cycle.

As his face grew darker day by day, a somber atmosphere swept through the Grand Ducal castle.

Jerome, Terence’s aide, walked the halls clutching piles of documents, sighing deeply as usual. He was exhausted from being asked about Elina’s whereabouts every time the Grand Duke opened his eyes.

He had just managed to dissuade the Grand Duke from issuing a search order. Surely His Grace knew how pointless it was to worry about a mage’s safety, but his concern was excessive.

Besides, Elina had graduated top of her class from the Academy. It was said that offensive magic was her specialty, so it was hard to imagine her encountering serious trouble anywhere. Her colleagues all agreed it was unlikely.

“If Elina disappeared, it must be for a reason. Kidnapping? Imprisonment? Ha! Who would dare try that with Elina? They wouldn’t even get the chance before she dealt with them.”

Jerome remembered Daisy’s scoffing expression. She had even offered a chilling bit of advice.

“If it was kidnapping or imprisonment, she’d be easier to find. Just look for news of a big explosion or mass casualties somewhere. Our Elli tends to lose control when she’s angry. Hehe.”

Hearing that, Jerome concluded that Elina hadn’t been caught up in a crime or any real danger.

Anyway, he had searched so thoroughly for Elina that he now felt a secret sense of closeness to her, even though they’d previously only exchanged greetings in passing.

“She really needs to come back soon…”

There was little chance of anything happening to her, so seeing His Grace in such distress suggested this was all about love. Jerome, who served close to the Grand Duke, couldn’t figure out when the two had become so intimate.

“I did get the sense that His Grace had a special fondness for Miss Harris, but that mage always seemed so reserved around him.”

It must have started around the masquerade ball; after all, His Grace had rushed out as soon as he heard Miss Harris was attending.

‘Still, could all this be because of just one night? What exactly happened…?’

Jerome clicked his tongue quietly and adjusted the stack of papers to keep from dropping them.

Regardless, Jerome also desperately wanted to know Elina’s whereabouts, worrying that His Grace might lose his mind at this rate.

He already seemed halfway there. Judging by today’s expression, Jerome thought he might need to warn Elina to run as soon as she appeared.

His bloodshot eyes were so ominous that it wouldn’t be strange if he tried to lock her up on sight.

When the boss goes strange, it’s the subordinates who suffer even more. Jerome walked for a long while, wishing only for this incident to be resolved peacefully.

He was on his way to deliver a confirmation for a new magic experiment to the annex when he spotted a woman and blinked, wondering if he was seeing things.

“Miss Harris?”

Golden hair shining luxuriously, a slender figure. Even after blinking several times, it was definitely Elina Harris. In the distance, Elina was just leaving the annex.

Having finally found her, Jerome panicked at the sight of her carrying packed belongings, looking ready to leave again. He hastily stuffed the stack of documents into a display cabinet and ran toward the office.

* * *

After safely delivering the magic stones to Prselro, Elina had stopped by the Grand Ducal castle first at her master’s urging.

She had asked Prselro for a job at the Mage Tower as payment for transporting the stones, but he told her to settle things at the Grand Ducal castle first.

“I can always make a spot for you, so go to the Grand Ducal castle and get things sorted first! Go on!”

His oddly cheerful expression was suspicious, but she needed to submit her resignation anyway, so she headed to the Grand Ducal castle without protest.

As soon as she arrived at the annex, Daisy ran to her, hugged her tightly, and fired off resentful words like a machine gun.

“Where did you go! You could’ve at least told me you were leaving! Do you know how shocked I was when you suddenly disappeared? What happened? Huh?”

“It’s nothing. My master asked me for a favor, so I went out for a bit.”

“Ugh, really? Anyway, you nearly gave me a heart attack. It was chaos!”

Clearly worried, Daisy’s eyes were red at the corners. Elina smiled and patted her friend, then informed Rupert, the senior mage at the Grand Ducal castle, of her intention to resign.

If she’d said she was just taking a break, he might have tried to persuade her, but since she was moving to the Mage Tower, there was nothing he could do. Rupert nodded with a face full of regret.

“I’ll handle it, Miss Harris. But before you go, you should see His Grace and inform him…”

“It’s just one mage quitting. I didn’t want to cause any trouble.”

Rupert couldn’t push further at her bitter words. He knew the Grand Duke had been acting strange since Elina disappeared, but not knowing what had happened between them, he couldn’t say more.

He shook hands with Elina one last time and saw her off.

As she left the annex, the afternoon sunlight lit up the world. Squinting against the glare, Elina carried the belongings from her lab and walked on.

It was a place full of memories, and leaving so suddenly made her feel restless. Thinking that Terence was somewhere in this castle made her heart even more unsettled.

She hadn’t expected to forget him in just half a month, but every time she thought of Terence, memories of that night flooded her mind, leaving her uneasy every single day.

“Elina!”

She heard his voice calling her from afar, almost like an auditory hallucination. He usually sounded warmer than this. Maybe her own confusion made his voice seem more urgent.

Elina decided she needed to leave the Grand Ducal castle quickly before her condition worsened.

“Elina!”

Just as she tried to hurry away, Terence rushed over on long strides and blocked her path. He was sweating from how fast he’d run.

Stunned by his sudden appearance, Elina froze and stared at him blankly.

“Your Grace?”

He seemed to have much to say, but paused to choose his words, taking a deep breath. 

Determined not to let her get away, Terence kept his eyes fixed on her, questioning her like an interrogation.

“Where have you disappeared all this time?”

“Disappeared? I just took a vacation…”

“Do you know how hard I searched for you…! Ha, I have things to say, so let’s go inside, Elina.”

Terence’s abrupt scolding left Elina wide-eyed in confusion. 

‘What had happened while I was gone? Did something urgent come up?’

Anyway, since she’d met him, Elina decided she should also tell Terence she was leaving the Grand Ducal castle. She hadn’t wanted to see him, fearing lingering feelings, but now that they’d met, it was only right to say her piece.

“I have something to say as well. Your Grace, I’m leaving the Grand Ducal castle today. I’ve got a position at the Mage Tower… Kyaa! Wh-What are you—!”

Just as she hesitantly tried to announce her resignation, Terence suddenly lifted her up and carried her off, making her scream in surprise. Even when she pounded his back to be let down, his solid muscles only made her hands hurt.