Carlos quietly looked up at the building in front of him. It was an old building with a bookstore on the first floor.

“Is this where the person suspected to be Ines lives?”

“Yes. According to those who came to check earlier, her appearance matches almost exactly. However, Your Majesty will need to confirm it personally to be certain. After all, it has been two years.”

It was a time that felt both short and long. During that period, a person’s appearance could easily change. She must be using a different name instead of her real name, Ines. The woman living here was called Karen, wasn’t she?

It was a common name in Tezever. As Carlos mulled over the name Karen, he recalled what Herman had told him with a sour expression.

‘I made an identity card for Her Majesty. She would need it if she were to flee to another country. We can check if she left for another country by looking through the port records first.’

Fortunately, after checking, she hadn’t left for another country using the identity card Herman had given her. In other words, Ines was still in Tezever.

That was good news. It would have been extremely difficult to find a woman with a common name in another country.

So he searched for a young lame woman with blue eyes. Hair color could be covered with dye, so he avoided causing confusion by emphasizing the blonde characteristic.

However, contrary to his expectations, finding Ines wasn’t easy. Tezever was vast, and searching the entire country required considerable manpower. But he didn’t give up, sending people in all directions and checking reports as they came in.

Thus, two years passed. During that time, whenever news came of someone resembling Ines, Carlos visited various small villages and cities under the pretense of territorial inspection. Of course, they had all been futile trips.

After letting out a short sigh, Carlos gave a quiet command.

“Let’s go in.”

“Yes.”

With Jeremy in the lead to prevent any possible incidents, Carlos followed behind him. The old wooden stairs creaked with each step they took.

Was Ines really living in such a run-down place? With an inexplicable heaviness in his heart, he was climbing the stairs when…

Jeremy, who had reached the second floor, stopped in surprise. For good reason – the door that should have been locked was wide open.

Moreover, there was no sign of any woman in the room, only an old person cleaning various spots.

As Carlos narrowed his eyes to assess the situation, Jeremy, who stood in front of him, asked the elderly person.

“Excuse me, but may I ask you something? We heard a woman named Karen lives here… Do you know where she is now?”

At Jeremy’s question, the old person sweeping with a broom looked up. After briefly looking the two up and down, they answered in a casual voice.

“If you mean the lame woman, she died this morning. The security bureau confirmed it and took the body away this morning.”

“What? What do you mean…”

Just as Jeremy was about to ask another question with this unexpected answer, Carlos, who had been quiet, stepped forward.

“Dead? Why did she suddenly die? What was the cause? Was it an accident?”

As Carlos fired off questions without pause, the old person continued speaking as if annoyed.

“She just died from illness. She wasn’t well to begin with.”

“She wasn’t well…?”

Why did the image of Ines’s sickly face suddenly come to mind? With an unpleasant foreboding, Carlos clenched his fist.

“More importantly, who are you people? Are you Karen’s family? I heard she was an orphan…”

As suspicious eyes turned toward the two of them, Jeremy explained.

“Ah, we’re looking for someone. We thought the woman named Karen living here might be the person we’re searching for. Perhaps…”

Jeremy took out Ines’s portrait that he had been keeping and held it out to the old person.

“Did the woman named Karen who lived here resemble the woman in this portrait?”

The old person carefully looked at the portrait Jeremy offered. They tilted their head and trailed off.

“Well… She might have, but I’m not sure. But wait, this portrait clearly shows a noble lady, so why would Karen…”

But Carlos, who was growing impatient, cut off the old person’s words.

“Where should we go to see the body?”

“You’ll have to ask at the security bureau about that. They bury unclaimed bodies together after holding a mass funeral.”

As soon as the old person finished speaking, Carlos rushed out of the building. His steps were quick, like someone in a hurry.

Jeremy, noticing Carlos’s anxiety, briefly thanked the old person before following him.

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. This has happened several times before, but none of them turned out to be her.”

Jeremy was right. Was it last year? They had seen a woman who died in an accident in the north. His heart had pounded so much then too. He had hoped it wasn’t Ines, and fortunately, it had been someone completely different.

But this time, because the hair color and age matched most closely, Carlos’s anxiety wouldn’t subside.

Observing his demeanor, Jeremy said to him.

“I’ll go to the security bureau now and ask where the body is. Please wait here for a moment.”

With those words, Jeremy quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Left alone in front of the house, Carlos’s expression remained dark despite Jeremy’s consolation.

Two years had already passed. Unlike his initial expectation of finding her quickly, too much time had gone by. It wouldn’t be strange if she had fallen ill and died during that time.

‘Perhaps…’

Could Ines already be no longer of this world?

With each passing day, ominous thoughts began to take over his mind. Although Herman had insisted that Ines couldn’t be dead, well.

That was uncertain.

She was a woman who had never lived among commoners. Could a woman who had grown up eating only food prepared by others and wearing clothes given to her live peacefully with just a few gold coins?

When she left last time, she was already weakened. What if something bad had happened to her living alone as a woman? What if she had died from illness without proper medical care?

As all sorts of ominous speculations tormented him, he shook his head.

“That can’t be.”

There was a saying that words become seeds. There was no need to jump to negative conclusions about things that hadn’t happened yet.

“Haah…”

After taking and releasing a deep breath, Carlos looked up. Not far away, people were bustling about as if there was a market.

“Should I walk for a bit?”

He needed to shake off these negative thoughts. Walking through the busy streets to clear his mind might help.

With that thought, Carlos set off to look around the market until Jeremy returned.

As he walked on, Carlos, who had reached the crowded area, looked around.

Wasn’t there supposed to be a big event in Mareina soon? Because of that, the market was packed with people.

He gazed at the energetic crowd with indifferent eyes. With each person he took in, Ines’s smiling face naturally appeared in his mind.

She had loved crowded markets. Whenever she had the chance, she would walk through the market with him.

Unlike a noble lady, Ines had fearlessly tasted street food and loved cheap accessories sold at stalls.

Just as he was imagining Ines with sparkling eyes while chewing on candied fruit she had never tried before, he remembered the moment two years ago when he received news of the fire at the Queen’s Palace while buying fruit skewers.

His brow furrowed at the memories that had instantly turned to chaos. Perhaps it would be better to go to the security bureau himself to hear the situation directly rather than waiting here quietly.

Just as Carlos had made up his mind and was turning toward where Jeremy had disappeared…

Among the countless people, a particularly bright golden hair caught his eye. It was a very familiar color.

“Ines…?”

Carlos’s body stopped abruptly.

Though he couldn’t see the woman’s face, he had a strange, strong feeling that it must be Ines.

Before he could even think, he followed the woman as if enchanted. Like a lie, the blonde woman was limping on her right leg.

The moment he realized this, his quiet heart began to race.

Was he seeing an illusion again this time? Yes, that could be it. Since Ines’s funeral, he had often followed strangers who showed even the slightest resemblance to her as if possessed.

But…

Carlos’s steps gradually quickened. And when the woman stopped in front of a shop.

He caught a glimpse of her profile as she selected fruit at the stall.

“…Ines.”

It was Ines.

His slightly trembling body soon steadied. His shaking eyes also grew calm.

He had finally found her. His Ines.

—

T/N: YOUR INES????