Chapter 86

“You don’t have to tell me now, Vivi.”

Aitor said as he looked at Vivian, who seemed even more distressed than when she was held by Tristan. Vivian shook her head vigorously at Aitor’s warm voice.

“He showed me a letter. On the envelope of that letter… there was a small lark seal.”

“A lark…”

Aitor’s mouth slowly opened. His eyes, which had grown large, trembled violently. Holding her trembling hands tightly, Vivian parted her dry lips.

“Aitor, your father… Wizard Caspian played a role in mediating between His Majesty Emperor Henry and the Mage Tower a long time ago. It seems he left the Mage Tower after meeting you, Aitor.”

Vivian tried to choose each word carefully and slowly.

“They say that after your father retired, the relationship between the Mage Tower and the Empire soured. Although it wasn’t apparent on the surface, there were some quite dangerous situations. It seems that trouble fell upon your father.”

Aitor’s heart began to pound heavily. The tightening pain made it feel like he couldn’t breathe.

“…According to that person, your father asked for help from His Majesty the Emperor. But…”

Vivian couldn’t continue. She wished someone would tell her it wasn’t true, that it was just one of Tristan’s schemes.

But Vivian knew well that it was a futile hope.

She had seen with her own eyes the old envelope with the Emperor’s secret seal that Tristan possessed.

Aitor raised his blood-and-dust-covered hands to his face.

Breathing heavily as if suppressing something, Aitor looked to Vivian as though he was silently screaming.

Vivian slowly reached out her hand to Aitor’s hunched back. Aitor flinched, but didn’t lift his face from his hands.

Vivian gently patted his back, taking slow breaths.

“I’m sorry.”

At Vivian’s apology, Aitor’s back trembled slightly. Vivian took a deep breath through her nose and held back her tears.

“I didn’t see the contents of the letter Tristan had. He only showed me the envelope as evidence. So…”

Before Vivian could finish, Aitor slowly lifted his head. Though he still hung his head, she could see his expression through his hair.

“Aitor.”

At that moment, footsteps began to be heard from outside.

‘Bang!’

With the sound of something colliding, people began to pour into the room.

“Vivian!”

Vivian looked up at the familiar voice, having been watching Aitor.

“Louis.”

As the urgent-looking Louis spotted Vivian, his expression twisted with concern. At that moment, Aitor, who had been hanging his head, spoke in a voice only Vivian could hear.

“Vivian, please don’t tell His Highness yet.”

Before Vivian could respond, Louis rushed over to her. Seeing Vivian sitting on the floor, Louis bit his lips to suppress his rising anger.

“Are you hurt?”

Vivian shook her head slightly. Louis, who had been examining Vivian, looked around as he saw Aitor sitting nearby, looking as if he might collapse at any moment.

“Aitor, are you alright? Tristan, where is that bastard…”

“Lou, Louis. Just a moment.”

Unconsciously, Vivian grabbed Louis’s arm, who was talking to Aitor. As Louis, concerned, asked if something was wrong or if she was hurt, Aitor slowly stood up.

“Tristan escaped due to my carelessness. I will take responsibility and capture him, so please don’t worry. I’ve instructed Zero to search the vicinity, so I’ll step outside for a moment.”

After bowing his head to Louis, Aitor started walking past him.

Watching his retreating figure, Vivian couldn’t bring herself to stop Aitor. As Aitor disappeared from sight, Vivian suddenly felt a chill and curled up her body.

“Vivian!”

The sharp chill that pierced to her bones made Vivian’s body tremble violently. Her teeth chattered so much that even with her mind growing hazy, she couldn’t take her eyes off the place where Aitor had vanished.

* * *

Vivian tried to lift her eyelids against the piercing sunlight. But her heavy eyelids were too much to lift.

“Is it too bright?”

A low voice resonated distantly.

After a moment, the sound of curtains being drawn was heard, and the light that had been bothering Vivian disappeared. Vivian gathered all her strength to open her eyes.

“Are you awake?”

Louis was in front of her. The room was dark, so she couldn’t see Louis’s face clearly. Vivian blinked slowly. But Louis’s face remained blurry.

“Don’t strain yourself and try to sleep more. The physician said you must have been very startled.”

Louis gently brushed Vivian’s sweat-soaked hair off her face with a careful hand.

For a moment, Vivian thought Louis’s kind touch was a dream. She resisted her heavy eyelids but was about to give in when someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Louis spoke after confirming Vivian had closed her eyes.

The person who entered was Rayden. With a very somber expression, Rayden approached Louis, who was looking down at Vivian.

“We couldn’t find any trace of Tristan. I’m sorry.”

Louis showed no reaction to Rayden’s report. He simply continued to gaze at the sleeping Vivian.

“I’ll deploy more knights. I’ve also contacted the Duke in Raspol. He’s on his way to the capital.”

This report seemed to please Louis, who nodded slightly.

“And…”

Rayden paused briefly and glanced at Vivian before speaking in an even lower voice.

“His Majesty the Emperor urgently seeks you.”

Louis, who had been focused only on Vivian, turned his head to look at Rayden. Seeing Rayden’s tense demeanor, Louis furrowed his brow.

“Has he received the report about Lady Vivian?”

“Yes…”

“Then why does he seek me?”

Normally, Louis would have promptly risen at the Emperor’s summons without question.

But Vivian had collapsed. She had been kidnapped by Tristan. If he hadn’t asked her to help with the winter ball, Vivian wouldn’t have gotten involved with Tristan.

Vivian’s kidnapping was entirely his fault.

If it hadn’t been for Aitor, Louis didn’t want to imagine what might have happened to Vivian.

“That is…”

Seeing Rayden trail off again, Louis scowled fiercely.

“It seems something has happened at the Mage Tower.”

“At the Mage Tower?”

“Yes. There’s a report that a pro-Empire wizard has been murdered.”

At Rayden’s report, Louis stood up.

“We’ve also lost contact with someone we had planted there. Aitor went to search for Tristan, and since then…”

Louis looked at Vivian lying pale on the bed, then turned to Rayden.

“I’ll return to the palace immediately.”

“Yes, I’ll make the preparations.”

Rayden quickly left the room. As Rayden closed the door behind him, a quiet stillness settled over the room.

Louis approached the bedside and silently watched Vivian. His deep golden eyes were filled with a mix of emotions. As if suppressing something, Louis slowly closed and opened his eyes before turning away.

* * *

Vivian managed to pull herself together the day after Louis had left. Tia, who had been by Vivian’s side the entire time, burst into tears when Vivian opened her eyes.

Tia only stopped crying once her eyes were so swollen that she couldn’t open them. She then recounted everything that had happened.

Charlotte had noticed Vivian’s disappearance and woke Tia, who was sleeping. Tia then informed Rayden of the situation.

Rayden quickly contacted the Crown Prince and Aitor, and things progressed rapidly until Aitor and Zero set out to find Vivian.

“Tia, stop crying.”

On Tia’s forehead, there were marks from treating a wound.

“There won’t be a scar, so don’t worry.”

As Vivian stroked Tia’s wound, Tia spoke bravely. Covering her wound with her hand, Tia pouted and told Vivian to worry about herself.

“I’m not seriously hurt. Really.”

“The Duke was so worried.”

“Where is Father?”

“He was here until a little while ago, but he had to go to the palace urgently after receiving a message.”

Vivian recalled the conversation between Louis and Rayden when she briefly woke up yesterday. She had tried to listen to the voices that kept fading away, but eventually, she fell back into the depths of sleep.

Rayden had mentioned that the Emperor urgently sought Louis, and her father had gone to the palace in haste. Vivian bit her lower lip, feeling an inexplicable anxiety creeping in.

“Oh dear. Your lower lip is already cracked, how can you keep biting it like that?”

Tia quickly pulled Vivian’s chin down and rescued her battered lower lip.

“Tia, what about Aitor?”

When Vivian asked, Tia, who was taking ointment from the drawer next to the bed, shook her head.

“I don’t know. Even when I asked the other knights, they all said they didn’t know… I haven’t seen him yesterday or today. Zero is nowhere to be seen either.”

Tia opened the ointment and applied it thickly to Vivian’s lower lip until it was thoroughly coated.

“You’ve taken your medicine, so lie down again, Young Lady.”

“I’m not sleepy…”

“You’ll recover quickly if you sleep well. So please lie down, Young Lady.”

Tia forced Vivian to lie down and carefully drew the curtains so that not a single ray of sunlight could enter. She left instructions to pull the cord if Vivian needed anything and stepped out of the room.

Where could Aitor have gone?

Could he still be out searching for Tristan? What would happen if he caught Tristan? Did Emperor Henry really kill Aitor’s father?

Various thoughts swirled in Vivian’s mind.

Happy memories of Aitor’s bright smile, Zero’s playful antics with Vivian, and Louis’s disapproving gaze at Zero danced in her mind.

Clinging to the fading happy memories, Vivian once again drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

“The Young Lady is fine.”

“What about Aitor? Is there still no word?”

“I’m sorry.”

It had been a meeting lasting over ten hours. The meeting, attended by the Emperor, high-ranking nobles, and officials, continued endlessly as they hit wall after wall.

There was no clear answer. The exhausted Emperor, tired of the arguments spiraling towards the worst, abruptly stood up and left the meeting room, suggesting a break. Only then did the nobles, who had been busy chattering, fall silent.

“Just in case, track Aitor’s whereabouts.”

“Yes, understood.”

Rayden bowed his head and quickly disappeared. Louis sighed, pressing his tired eyes with his fingers, when he heard someone approaching.