After riding through the night on what should have been a four-day journey, Carlos arrived at Ines’s cabin in the late afternoon as the sun was setting.

No sooner had he arrived than Carlos dismounted and called Ines’s name. But all that greeted him was a dark house without a single light on.

With an ominous feeling, his voice grew louder as he called for Ines.

“Ines! Ines…!”

He should have kept her real name hidden, but there was no time to think about such things. Carlos was already beside himself with anxiety that something might have happened to Ines.

Jeremy, who had gone inside the house ahead of him and came back out, shook his head at Carlos. It meant there was no one inside.

Though he followed Jeremy inside hoping against hope, nothing changed. All that greeted him was a pot sitting on the kitchen hearth.

It seemed she had been preparing a meal, as empty plates were set on the table. There were no signs that anyone had eaten. Jeremy touched the pot and muttered.

“Given that there’s no warmth left in the pot, quite some time must have passed.”

In other words, something urgent enough had happened that she had to leave without taking even a single bite of the meal she had prepared.

At this realization, Carlos clenched his fist.

Why did his ominous feelings never miss the mark? As Carlos bit his lip in frustration, that’s when it happened.

Jeremy, who had been checking outside, shouted as if he had discovered something.

“Your Majesty, you should come see this!”

At that sound, Carlos hurriedly moved to where Jeremy was. Jeremy was at a storage shed where medicinal herbs were neatly organized.

And there on the floor was a white handkerchief along with signs that someone had been dragged away.

Carlos’s face contorted as he picked up the handkerchief and smelled it.

“Sleeping fragrance…”

Though almost dissipated, the faint remaining scent was definitely a sleeping fragrance. It was potent enough to make even an adult male lose consciousness immediately upon inhaling it briefly.

Jeremy, who had figured out what had happened here, responded in a devastated voice.

“It seems… she’s been kidnapped.”

Too late again. Ines had ended up being kidnapped after all.

With this realization, Carlos’s body trembled. The fear of losing Ines again consumed him.

‘If something happens to Ines now…’

He lowered his head as horrific images were forming in his mind. The handkerchief in his hand was crumpled beyond recognition.

But that lasted only a moment before Carlos raised his head and began searching the surroundings.

‘I can’t just stay still like this.’

Judging by the unspoiled food left in the pot, it couldn’t have been too long since the kidnapping. Moreover, by his calculations, they couldn’t have arrived here too long ago either. There was still hope.

Carlos jumped up and examined the house. Soon he found horse tracks. They weren’t from the horses they had ridden here.

Which meant…

Carlos ordered Jeremy.

“Gather the soldiers immediately. I’ll follow these tracks.”

Jeremy strongly objected to him going after the enemies alone.

“That’s absolutely not acceptable. Going alone when we don’t even know their forces! It’s dangerous! Instead, let’s gather the soldiers and go together…”

“What if something happens to Ines in the meantime?”

“That’s…”

Unable to counter his question, Jeremy closed his mouth. As if he had expected this, Carlos mounted his horse.

“Moving alone is actually safer. So you go do your part too.”

With those words, Carlos rode off following the enemies’ tracks. His hands gripped the reins tightly.

‘Ines, please…’

Carlos prayed desperately inside. Hoping that nothing had happened to Ines.

* * *

In a quiet room. Movement was felt in the midst of candlelight illuminating the darkness.

“Ugh…”

Ines gradually opened her eyes while letting out a groan. For a while, she felt as if her eardrums would burst from the strong ringing in her ears. Her blurry vision gradually became clearer until she could make out her surroundings.

‘Where is this…?’

It was an unfamiliar place she had never been to before. The old furniture devoid of human warmth showed that this place had been empty for a long time. At first she blinked a couple of times thinking she might be dreaming, but nothing changed.

Moreover, her head felt like it was splitting from the strong fragrance that assaulted her nose. Trying to assess the situation as she recognized the scent from somewhere, she tried to move her body. Or rather, tried to.

‘I’m tied up.’

Her wrists were tied behind her back, preventing her from moving freely. Not only that, but her mouth was also gagged with cloth.

At that moment, Ines recalled what had happened before she lost consciousness.

‘I found Greta collapsed in the herb storage. And then…’

Now finally understanding the whole situation, Ines swallowed hard. Though she didn’t know who was behind it, she had been kidnapped.

Then where was Greta? As she was looking around worriedly, that’s when it happened.

“I see you’re awake.”

Ines’s body flinched at the unfamiliar voice. When she raised her head to identify the owner of the voice, she saw a man leaning against a sofa.

‘That man…’

Ines’s eyes widened as she traced the man’s face. He was someone she knew well too.

‘…Alfredo?’

Perhaps because two years had passed? The man looked more frail than when they first met. He looked like he might die tomorrow and it wouldn’t be strange. No, his appearance wasn’t what was important right now.

‘He’s alive?’

She had heard that the Marquis Descartes’s family had been wiped out after being framed for treason. She had heard that not only the Marquis but all his children had been unable to escape death.

‘How is Alfredo alive?’

As she was wondering this, Alfredo stood up. Staggering, he approached where Ines had fallen.

“It seems you’re surprised to see me alive. Well, that’s inevitable since our family was officially wiped out.”

His voice was laced with anger as he muttered. Instinctively sensing danger, Ines struggled to raise her waist. Then she backed away from the man gradually approaching her.

“Of course, officially I’m not alive. Since the neck of the man pretending to be the Marquis’s son flew instead.”

Now finally understanding the full story, Ines let out an internal sigh.

Marquis Descartes had presented an adopted son to society in place of the sickly Alfredo. It was probably a ploy to prevent the family from being taken by the branch family. But what was important now wasn’t how Alfredo was alive. It was why he had kidnapped her.

Ines swallowed hard. She instinctively seemed to know why Alfredo had come looking for her, even without having to hear it.

Suddenly, as pain brushed across her skin, her throat began to feel parched. Though years had passed, the pain from back then was still vivid.

Just then, as Ines’s body trembled physiologically at the memory of past pain, Alfredo twisted his lips, noticing her state of mind.

“It seems you’ve figured out why I came looking for you. Then there’s no need for more words.”

The man, who had now approached within arm’s reach of Ines, traced her face with his finger. The cloth covering her mouth was removed by his fingers.

“So hurry up and heal me.”

“What…?”

“When I heard the news that you had died burning to death, I was both so happy and sad. You wouldn’t understand those complex feelings.”

Though he had rejoiced at the news that Ines had died in terrible pain, soon after, despair overwhelmed him as he lost all hope. Because without Ines’s ability, he too would have to writhe in agony until the end of his life.

Alfredo frowned as he recalled those emotions from back then. At the same time, his touch gently caressed her cheek, pretending to be affectionate.

“Still, how happy I am to confirm you’re alive like this… Although our family was wiped out because of you, you’re the only one who can free me from this pain…”

The moment his gentle voice ended, his hand gripped Ines’s chin roughly.

“So heal me right now.”

Her fair skin reddened under the grip of his brutal hand.