Chapter 96

Louis, who was trying to get up with strength in his legs at Empress Annette’s tears, collapsed back onto the bed.  

Once Louis relaxed his body, Empress Annette let out a big sigh of relief.  

“Given the situation, it’s not easy to find a healing mage. So, for now, receive treatment from the physician and take care of your body.”  

Nodding at Empress Annette’s words, Louis looked at Rayden standing behind her.  

“Your Majesty, since His Highness has awakened, you should get some rest… You haven’t slept a wink until now.”  

As Rayden spoke to the Empress, Louis held her hand and nodded.  

The Empress looked at Louis for a moment before slowly rising from her seat.  

“Alright. Then, Rayden, I’ll leave Louis in your care.”  

Empress Annette left Louis’s bedroom, turning back several times to check on him. Once Empress Annette closed the door and left, Louis looked up at Rayden, indicating he should explain.  

“First, it’s been two days since you were found severely injured in the Emperor’s forest, Your Highness.”  

“Two days?”  

Louis bit his lip and roughly ran his uninjured hand through his hair.  

“And…”  

Rayden trailed off, taking something from the inner pocket of his royal knight jacket and handing it to Louis.  

“While searching for Lady Vivian, who disappeared with you, this note was delivered to me.”  

Louis unfolded the folded note with his uninjured hand.  

[Please come to me when you learn the truth. -Aitor-]  

Louis’s eyebrows furrowed deeply.  

“…Did Aitor really take Lady Vivian?”

Rayden paused to choose his words carefully.  

“…Yes.”  

Rayden lowered his head at Louis’s response.  

“How could he, how could that guy…”

Louis read and reread the message Aitor had given Rayden.  

“Who knows that Aitor took Vivian?”  

“No one yet.”  

“Good.”  

Nodding, Louis grabbed his aching arm and let out a deep breath through his nose.  

“Perhaps because I lost a lot of blood, I hid in the forest with Vivian and then lost consciousness. But suddenly, I was forcibly awakened by someone…”  

Louis rubbed his forehead with his fingers and laughed bitterly.  

“When I opened my eyes, Aitor was carrying the unconscious Vivian on his shoulder.”  

Rayden grimaced at Louis’s words.  

“His Majesty the Emperor… Rayden, you know something happened between His Majesty and Aitor’s adoptive father, right?”  

“…Yes, Your Highness.”  

“Aitor said that His Majesty the Emperor killed his adoptive father…”  

“What? What do you mean!”  

Louis stared at the light coming through the curtains next to Rayden’s shocked face.  

Since he always left the bedroom before sunrise, Louis felt that the bright light entering his bedroom was unusually unfamiliar.  

“First, we need to investigate thoroughly.”  

“Your Highness…”  

“Let’s start by looking into Marquis Cloak’s family.”  

“Pardon?”  

“The paper Aitor found while searching Marquis Cloak’s house. Do you remember?”  

Rayden nodded, and Louis put strength into his leg and got up from the bed. Standing on one leg, Louis limped over to a small drawer next to the bed and opened it.  

Louis gritted his teeth and endured the pain as he took out a pen and paper from the drawer and began to write something.  

“Marquis Cloak must know something. The timing of the rift between His Majesty the Emperor and Marquis Cloak and the death of Aitor’s adotpive father must be connected.”  

Rayden accepted the paper Louis handed him and nodded with a determined expression.  

“Deliver this to Duke Tereon Dinever.”  

Rayden carefully placed the paper Louis handed him into his jacket’s inner pocket.  

“And summon Allen immediately.”  

“But your body is still…”  

“It’s been two days since Vivian disappeared with Aitor. We can’t delay any longer.”  

Seeing the determination in Louis’s eyes, Rayden nodded reluctantly and left his bedroom. 

Left alone, Louis sat back on the bed.  

Looking down at the bandages wrapped around his bare torso, Louis slowly moved his ankle.  

There was still pain, but it seemed he could move without any bone damage.  

There was no time to feel pain.  

After checking his physical condition, Louis closed his eyes and organized the tasks he needed to do in his mind.  

“Vivian. Aitor.”  

The names he whispered softly pierced sharply into Louis’s heart.  

* * *  

Vivian slowly blinked and looked at the blurry ceiling.  

“Vivi?”  

At the familiar voice, Vivian rolled her eyes and looked in the direction of the sound.  

“Aitor?”  

Seeing Aitor’s blue eyes looking down at her with concern, Vivian wondered if she was dreaming.  

A very frightening and terrible dream.  

“Is it really you, Aitor?”  

Aitor, who was looking down at Vivian, nodded with a bitter smile.  

“Do you want some water?”  

When Vivian nodded, Aitor supported her back and helped her sit up.  

Her whole body ached as if she had been beaten.  

Groaning, Vivian moistened her lips with the water Aitor handed her. As the water entered her mouth, she finally realized the burning thirst she felt.  

Aitor patiently waited until Vivian finished drinking and then wiped the water from her lips.  

“Where are we?”  

With her senses slowly returning after drinking the water, Vivian looked around and asked Aitor.  

Aitor avoided answering by tidying up the empty cup.  

“Aitor. Is Louis… Is Louis alright?”  

Aitor flinched and stopped as he was tidying the cup.  

“Probably…”  

Seeing Aitor’s back, Vivian placed her hand near her heart.  

“Aitor.”  

Vivian called out to Aitor. But Aitor hurriedly left the room, saying he would bring something to eat.  

After Aitor left, Vivian slowly looked around.  

It seemed like an old cabin.  

It was clean, perhaps due to good maintenance, and there was no musty smell of wood.  

With only a bed, a desk, and a chair, this place somehow didn’t feel scary or unpleasant to Vivian.  

Then, the image of Louis, who had been lying down, suddenly came to mind.  

Vivian’s hands began to tremble. She looked at the door Aitor had left through.  

At that moment, the door creaked open slightly, and a white furry creature poked its head in.  

“Zero.”  

When Vivian called Zero, the creature snorted and entered.  

Zero ambled over to the bed where Vivian was sitting and rested its chin on the bed, looking up at her.  

For some reason, Zero seemed to share the same feelings as Vivian, and tears welled up in her eyes.  

“What happened to Aitor?”  

Vivian raised her hand and stroked Zero’s face, asking.  

Zero closed its eyes and whimpered at Vivian’s touch.  

Seeing this, Vivian raised the corners of her mouth in a bitter smile.  

As she petted Zero’s soft fur, the door creaked open, and Aitor entered, carrying a tray with a bowl of soup.  

“I prepared something easy to eat.”  

The soup Aitor brought gave off a savory aroma. Seeing the steaming soup, Vivian looked up and asked Aitor.  

“How long have I been asleep?”  

“A day?”  

Aitor shrugged his shoulders as he handed Vivian a spoon to make it easier for her to eat.  

Vivian took the spoon Aitor handed her and slowly lifted the soup to her mouth. The delicious soup, which had cooled to the right temperature, entered her mouth, but somehow it wasn’t easy to swallow.  

After putting a few more spoonfuls of soup in her mouth, Vivian glanced at Aitor, who was watching her eat.  

“You have to eat all of that to take the medicine that’s good for muscle pain. So, eat all of that, take the medicine, and… I’ll tell you everything.”

Vivian nodded and began to eat the soup diligently. 

When Vivian put the last bit of soup into her mouth, Aitor handed her a small pill with water, as if he had been waiting.  

After swallowing the medicine, Aitor cleared the dishes and sat heavily on the chair. The old wooden chair creaked loudly but fortunately didn’t collapse.  

Aitor stared at the edge of the bed for a moment and then opened his red lips.  

“I’ve kidnapped you, Vivian.”  

“Kidnapped?”  

“Yeah. I brought you here by force to get what I want.”  

Aitor clasped his hands together and lowered his head, avoiding Vivian’s eyes.  

“I can’t forgive the people who killed my father, Vivian.”  

At Aitor’s subdued voice, Zero’s ears perked up from where it was resting its head on the bed.  

“The mages who killed my father, and the Emperor who coldly ignored my father’s plea for help… I can’t forgive them, Vivian.”  

Hearing that the Emperor was involved in the death of Aitor’s adoptive father, Vivian doubted her ears.  

He was an Emperor praised by the Empire’s citizens. Although he could be autocratic, he was always wise and considerate of the citizens of the Empire.  

It was clear that Aitor had met Tristan. She didn’t know what he had said or what Aitor had seen, but Aitor was struggling immensely right now.  

Vivian opened her mouth but then closed it again. She couldn’t easily say anything.  

“Since you were kidnapped, you have to stay here, even if it’s shabby.”  

Aitor lifted his head but didn’t look at Vivian, instead looking around quickly. When Vivian, following his gaze, asked where they were, Aitor snorted.  

“What kind of kidnapper tells their hostage where they are?”  

“Because you’re my friend before I kidnapped you.”  

Finally, Aitor looked properly at Vivian and awkwardly scratched the back of his head with a smile.  

“We’re a little away from Palterno. That’s as much as even a kind kidnapper can say.”

At the mention of Palterno, Vivian’s eyes widened.  

“Even if I’m not here, Zero will always be with you, so don’t worry too much.”  

Seeing Vivian’s eyes, Aitor stroked Zero’s head as if entrusting it to her. Zero closed its eyes and rubbed its head against Aitor’s hand, seemingly pleased.  

It was a familiar, everyday scene, but given the drastically changed situation, it somehow felt bittersweet.  

“How long do I have to stay here?”  

Aitor’s hand, which had been stroking Zero, stopped abruptly. He lowered his head again and slowly rose from the chair, moving to the window. Aitor opened the curtain and looked outside.  

“I’ll let you go as soon as possible, Vivi. I only have… feelings of apology for you.”

A lonely smile hung on Aitor’s profile.  

Vivian watched him for a moment, then lay back on the bed and pulled the blanket up to her neck.  

“For now, I’ll take a nap. Maybe it’s because I haven’t ridden a horse in a while, but my whole body is screaming.”  

Vivian closed her eyes tightly.  

Even though she was worried sick about Louis, she couldn’t hold onto Aitor and beg to be sent back. Moreover, the place they were now was Palterno, far from the Empire’s capital.  

Vivian took regular breaths and lined up the flood of information in her head. If she had heard this from anyone other than Aitor, she would have wanted to call it a lie.  

Maybe it was the effect of the medicine.  

In Vivian’s mind, memories of laughing and talking together in the Emperor’s forest as children floated like threads of different colors. The pretty, colorful threads were soon tangled together. The tangled threads made a mess of Vivian’s mind.  

A while later, she heard Aitor’s footsteps and the sound of the door closing as if in a dream.