Torches were lit in all directions in the Grand Duke’s mansion which was engulfed in darkness.
Eleon, who scanned the mansion thoroughly, unintentionally suppressed his rumbling inside.
Elysia is gone.
He waited for Elysia, who did not return for a long time.
Something stimulated his sense when she didn’t come back.
When he ran towards the residence, he didn’t really think that Elysia was missing.
He just needed to know why Elysia wasn’t coming, if she had crossed paths with him just to get a knife, then why was she stranded in the mansion.
Elysia was helpless after leaving the duke’s residence.
Eleon wanted her to stay with him at will until she became his bride.
The reason he willingly gave her the Grand Duchess’ room was because he was very confident in his future with Elysia.
“Why…….”
There was no reason for Elysia to hide in the Grand Duchy.
“Your Highness.”
Looking at the ill-tempered Eleon, the butler nervously approached him.
“She’s not even in the warehouse.”
He searched with all his heart for all the places where she could be.
And yet she was nowhere to be found.
“Search the hill behind.”
“Yes, Your Highness”
“Hurry up before we lose her on the way up the hill.”
It was a daunting task to search the hill in the dark.
But it wasn’t until he knew for a fact that she wasn’t in the residence that he thought he should have looked up at the hill earlier.
The hill behind the mansion was small and nice to look at, but it wasn’t that great.
It was a natural fortress that blocked the rear of the residence. It’s easy to fall down a 2-3 meters cliff that was hard to see due to the pile of fallen leaves.
“Sigh. Elysia. Where did you go without saying a word?”
Eleon let out a long sigh of frustration.
It never occurred to him that she would have left of her own volition.
「“Don’t run away. Elysia.”」
「“I’m not running away.”」
「“Then you will be loved more than Rona. She has a history of running away.”」
She clearly promised him.
「“That……At that time, when I went out, the Hadunsha’s priests took me away.」
「“It’s the same. You disappeared without a word.」
「“…… I’m sorry.”」
At that time, Elysia’s apologetic eyes were sincere.
She was at a loss for hurting him.
「“It’s okay. Because I knew I would find you.”」
「“It won’t happen again..”」
He thought she had made up her mind.
The first time Elysia disappeared was because she found her family after losing her memory.
Due to her noble status, the Duchess, concerned about a scandal, prevented Elysia from returning even for a moment to the place where she did chores.
Then what’s the reason now?
Elysia had already permitted him to touch her body.
To a woman who has grown up to be virtuous, there is no sign of an oath more sure than that.
It was unusual for a person to leave a lover in this way.
She had no reason to leave, and the way she disappeared was wrong.
Eleon doesn’t want to admit it, but he was worried that something had happened to Elysia, so his nerves were taut and the back of his head ache.
Finally, he slowly looked around the tent where he had last seen Elysia and saw something he hadn’t noticed earlier.
“The branches are broken.”
When he looked down, he saw several crushed spots as if dry leaves had been stepped on.
“Two or three?”
It was only now that he could see the footprints of the three men approaching a place where there was no path.
He felt his blood run cold.
“Your Highness.”
One of the guards, who had climbed the hill first, ran toward him.
“I…I found this.”
As soon as Eleon saw his trembling hand, his expression turned cold.
It was a familiar women’s shoe.
It was a comfortable piece of black leather, soft and durable.
The new shoes that matched the dress weren’t suitable for today’s excursion into the woods, so he deliberately chose flat, comfortable shoes for her to wear.
That’s right. Elysia wouldn’t abandon me.
With relief, the questions of who kidnapped her and why came to mind.
And the anguish and indignation that a woman kidnapped without consent could suffer arose.
“Who dares do such a thing on my property.”
It was impossible.
Perhaps the Duke of Yuter did not.
The Duchess, who went home crying, wouldn’t have forced her to go home so harshly.
Should I inform them that Elysia has disappeared?
Leaving her daughter behind in the Grand Duchy meant that Eleon was implicitly obligated to ensure Elysia’s safety.
However, Elysia’s absence was a very serious matter.
Perhaps…… Could it have something to do with what’s been bothering me lately?
It was very strange that the Duchess was opposed to marriage between him and her daughter.
Eleon didn’t really care much for the reason.
Rumors spread in the capital that he was blind and that he was living a miserable life as a beast. And it wasn’t long before his sight was restored.
Elysia also had a memory loss, and from her parents’ point of view, it was only a few days after they recovered their missing daughter that they thought it was all sudden.
He was in a state of anxiety and emptiness when Elysia, who had been by his side every day for more than half a year, left.
There was no way the marriage wouldn’t have taken place in the end if Eleon had been patient.
But what if that’s not the case?
What if the Duke was hiding something from me?
Is there any other reason to oppose the marriage?
If that’s why Elysia was dragged away by someone like this…….
In Eleon’s hand, the small shoe creaked and crumpled.
“I’m going to the Duke of Yuter’s residence. Prepare my horse.”
His hasty steps were unstoppable.
* * * * *
Mariela sat absentmindedly in her room.
Seeing her like this, Gillian calmed the sad expression on her face and put his arms around her shoulders.
“My dear. Don’t blame yourself too much.”
“I think I did something wrong.”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“I think I was wrong from the start.”
“My dear.”
Gillian put his arms around Mariela and hugged her.
“You did what you could. Still, it’s our duty if the outcome is like this.”
“What kind of absurd duty is that just to sit back and watch our daughter go the wrong way?”
“I’m sorry. My mistake.”
Gillian sighed and comforted his wife, who is as sensitive as a wounded cat.
“I don’t know what else to do.”
In the meantime, she has been working hard to get Elysia out of the novel’s original plot.
Elysia spent time as a priestess in Hadunsha, trying to disguise her death at the right time.
After missing the opportunity that she had barely taken advantage of, she became frustrated, and it seemed that Mariela herself was going to die first instead of Elysia.
“Isn’t it better that she formally marry the Grand Duke Clevent?”
“That… … That’s not possible.”
“Because of the prophecy?”
“…… Yes.”
Gillian looked sadly at his wife’s shoulders, which seemed to have thinned with stress.
“Everything written in the Prophecy has come true. Exactly as written.”
Mariela told Gillian a few things about the Empire.
Everything she saw in the Prophecy actually happened, and Gillian believed in her and supported her so that she could find a way to get Elysia out together until now.
That was a great help to Mariela.
She felt that she was not alone.
Mariela was no longer alone in this strange world and worried about her daughter.
At least she had a loving husband by her side.
However, she couldn’t even tell Gillian that Eleon is the male lead.
As for why that was impossible, it was because she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was somehow taboo.
Even Gillian doesn’t even know that this world is a ‘book‘.
He simply knew that Mariela was from another world and that a ‘prophecy‘ existed here.
Because the Five Gods and Oder are known to have also come from another world, and it was within the scope that Gillian, who was born in the Empire, could understand.
She only told him that so far.
She couldn’t confide in her husband more than and be understood.
Mariela, who was sobbing and tired, muttered under her breath.
“I want to be alone.”
“I would like to have dinner together.”
Gillian said cautiously.
“If you’re still feeling bad, I will bring our daughter back. Okay? Mariela.”
She reluctantly agreed.
“I’ll have dinner.”
“Okay. I will tell them to prepare something easy to digest.”
Gillian disappeared from the room only after hearing a positive response from Mariela’s mouth.
“Sigh.”
Everything was a mess.
However, it wasn’t Gillian’s fault. It could never be his fault.
Nevertheless, he comforts her and stays by her side without complaining, even if Mariela is sensitive.
Perhaps he is a man who has nothing but ‘the sin of loving Mariela‘.
Mariela made her way to a cozy study area connected to her room.
It was a place that Gillian, who loves books and research, painstakingly crafted for her.
After closing the door and drawing the curtains, she touched the secret space under the study desk.
She took out a thick notebook from inside.
<The Flower of the Blind Beast>.
She wrote it so as not to forget what she had read every time she visited Hadunsha.
She also wrote down the remaining memories in her head.
But everything became useless.
「“Mariela. You’re acting very strange..”」
Mariela reflected on what her daughter had said.
「“You were also trying to change the original novel. You tried to make Elysia look like dead and make her flee abroad.”」
Elysia denounced her when her words and actions contradicted each other, as she said she couldn’t change the plot when she tries to do so as well
「“Your words and actions contradict each other. It doesn’t add up.”」
What could have been the problem?
「“It doesn’t matter if I don’t get an answer. I’m sorry, but I’m not your daughter.”」
Mariela looked at the thick notebook.
She looked at it for so long. Then, when she flipped the hand-stained cover over, she saw a child’s drawing that she used as a bookmark.
It was a drawing that Elysia made when she was young.
「“Mom! Look at this!”」
「“Oh my, you drew it so well. Is this my little girl?”」
Perhaps she answered incorrectly, but there was a wrinkle on the bridge of Elysia’s nose.
「“It’s mom! My mom is the most beautiful lady in the world. I also draw a crown on your head!”」
Mariela murmured as she touched the crown drawn on the drawing her daughter had left her.
“It was so hard that I wished it wasn’t my daughter.”
It was for Elysia’s sake.
Was it all my greed to save my daughter?
She didn’t know what her daughter had in mind.
She blamed the few days she was able to meet Elysia, whom she entrusted to the temple. But she feared that knowing her daughter’s inner feelings would become a variable that could affect saving her life.
She wanted to save her daughter, but she didn’t want to know her heart.
That’s why Mariela felt distressed because it seemed that way.
Then she heard a commotion outside the closed door.
Mariela quickly put the notebook back in the secret place and wiped away her tears as she heard people scream.
When she got back to her bedroom, someone slammed the door open.
“Ple…please calm down. If you want to see the Duchess, I will guide you to the drawing-room…….”
It was Eleon.
The culprit of this commotion.
The man who stole her daughter’s heart.
Seeing him suddenly barging in like a thug, Mariela inadvertently clenched her fists.
However, the words that came out of Eleon’s mouth caused her to lose all her strength.
“Elysia is gone.”
Torches were lit in all directions in the Grand Duke’s mansion which was engulfed in darkness.
Eleon, who scanned the mansion thoroughly, unintentionally suppressed his rumbling inside.
Elysia is gone.
He waited for Elysia, who did not return for a long time.
Something stimulated his sense when she didn’t come back.
When he ran towards the residence, he didn’t really think that Elysia was missing.
He just needed to know why Elysia wasn’t coming, if she had crossed paths with him just to get a knife, then why was she stranded in the mansion.
Elysia was helpless after leaving the duke’s residence.
Eleon wanted her to stay with him at will until she became his bride.
The reason he willingly gave her the Grand Duchess’ room was because he was very confident in his future with Elysia.
“Why…….”
There was no reason for Elysia to hide in the Grand Duchy.
“Your Highness.”
Looking at the ill-tempered Eleon, the butler nervously approached him.
“She’s not even in the warehouse.”
He searched with all his heart for all the places where she could be.
And yet she was nowhere to be found.
“Search the hill behind.”
“Yes, Your Highness”
“Hurry up before we lose her on the way up the hill.”
It was a daunting task to search the hill in the dark.
But it wasn’t until he knew for a fact that she wasn’t in the residence that he thought he should have looked up at the hill earlier.
The hill behind the mansion was small and nice to look at, but it wasn’t that great.
It was a natural fortress that blocked the rear of the residence. It’s easy to fall down a 2-3 meters cliff that was hard to see due to the pile of fallen leaves.
“Sigh. Elysia. Where did you go without saying a word?”
Eleon let out a long sigh of frustration.
It never occurred to him that she would have left of her own volition.
「“Don’t run away. Elysia.”」
「“I’m not running away.”」
「“Then you will be loved more than Rona. She has a history of running away.”」
She clearly promised him.
「“That……At that time, when I went out, the Hadunsha’s priests took me away.」
「“It’s the same. You disappeared without a word.」
「“…… I’m sorry.”」
At that time, Elysia’s apologetic eyes were sincere.
She was at a loss for hurting him.
「“It’s okay. Because I knew I would find you.”」
「“It won’t happen again..”」
He thought she had made up her mind.
The first time Elysia disappeared was because she found her family after losing her memory.
Due to her noble status, the Duchess, concerned about a scandal, prevented Elysia from returning even for a moment to the place where she did chores.
Then what’s the reason now?
Elysia had already permitted him to touch her body.
To a woman who has grown up to be virtuous, there is no sign of an oath more sure than that.
It was unusual for a person to leave a lover in this way.
She had no reason to leave, and the way she disappeared was wrong.
Eleon doesn’t want to admit it, but he was worried that something had happened to Elysia, so his nerves were taut and the back of his head ache.
Finally, he slowly looked around the tent where he had last seen Elysia and saw something he hadn’t noticed earlier.
“The branches are broken.”
When he looked down, he saw several crushed spots as if dry leaves had been stepped on.
“Two or three?”
It was only now that he could see the footprints of the three men approaching a place where there was no path.
He felt his blood run cold.
“Your Highness.”
One of the guards, who had climbed the hill first, ran toward him.
“I…I found this.”
As soon as Eleon saw his trembling hand, his expression turned cold.
It was a familiar women’s shoe.
It was a comfortable piece of black leather, soft and durable.
The new shoes that matched the dress weren’t suitable for today’s excursion into the woods, so he deliberately chose flat, comfortable shoes for her to wear.
That’s right. Elysia wouldn’t abandon me.
With relief, the questions of who kidnapped her and why came to mind.
And the anguish and indignation that a woman kidnapped without consent could suffer arose.
“Who dares do such a thing on my property.”
It was impossible.
Perhaps the Duke of Yuter did not.
The Duchess, who went home crying, wouldn’t have forced her to go home so harshly.
Should I inform them that Elysia has disappeared?
Leaving her daughter behind in the Grand Duchy meant that Eleon was implicitly obligated to ensure Elysia’s safety.
However, Elysia’s absence was a very serious matter.
Perhaps…… Could it have something to do with what’s been bothering me lately?
It was very strange that the Duchess was opposed to marriage between him and her daughter.
Eleon didn’t really care much for the reason.
Rumors spread in the capital that he was blind and that he was living a miserable life as a beast. And it wasn’t long before his sight was restored.
Elysia also had a memory loss, and from her parents’ point of view, it was only a few days after they recovered their missing daughter that they thought it was all sudden.
He was in a state of anxiety and emptiness when Elysia, who had been by his side every day for more than half a year, left.
There was no way the marriage wouldn’t have taken place in the end if Eleon had been patient.
But what if that’s not the case?
What if the Duke was hiding something from me?
Is there any other reason to oppose the marriage?
If that’s why Elysia was dragged away by someone like this…….
In Eleon’s hand, the small shoe creaked and crumpled.
“I’m going to the Duke of Yuter’s residence. Prepare my horse.”
His hasty steps were unstoppable.
* * * * *
Mariela sat absentmindedly in her room.
Seeing her like this, Gillian calmed the sad expression on her face and put his arms around her shoulders.
“My dear. Don’t blame yourself too much.”
“I think I did something wrong.”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“I think I was wrong from the start.”
“My dear.”
Gillian put his arms around Mariela and hugged her.
“You did what you could. Still, it’s our duty if the outcome is like this.”
“What kind of absurd duty is that just to sit back and watch our daughter go the wrong way?”
“I’m sorry. My mistake.”
Gillian sighed and comforted his wife, who is as sensitive as a wounded cat.
“I don’t know what else to do.”
In the meantime, she has been working hard to get Elysia out of the novel’s original plot.
Elysia spent time as a priestess in Hadunsha, trying to disguise her death at the right time.
After missing the opportunity that she had barely taken advantage of, she became frustrated, and it seemed that Mariela herself was going to die first instead of Elysia.
“Isn’t it better that she formally marry the Grand Duke Clevent?”
“That… … That’s not possible.”
“Because of the prophecy?”
“…… Yes.”
Gillian looked sadly at his wife’s shoulders, which seemed to have thinned with stress.
“Everything written in the Prophecy has come true. Exactly as written.”
Mariela told Gillian a few things about the Empire.
Everything she saw in the Prophecy actually happened, and Gillian believed in her and supported her so that she could find a way to get Elysia out together until now.
That was a great help to Mariela.
She felt that she was not alone.
Mariela was no longer alone in this strange world and worried about her daughter.
At least she had a loving husband by her side.
However, she couldn’t even tell Gillian that Eleon is the male lead.
As for why that was impossible, it was because she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was somehow taboo.
Even Gillian doesn’t even know that this world is a ‘book‘.
He simply knew that Mariela was from another world and that a ‘prophecy‘ existed here.
Because the Five Gods and Oder are known to have also come from another world, and it was within the scope that Gillian, who was born in the Empire, could understand.
She only told him that so far.
She couldn’t confide in her husband more than and be understood.
Mariela, who was sobbing and tired, muttered under her breath.
“I want to be alone.”
“I would like to have dinner together.”
Gillian said cautiously.
“If you’re still feeling bad, I will bring our daughter back. Okay? Mariela.”
She reluctantly agreed.
“I’ll have dinner.”
“Okay. I will tell them to prepare something easy to digest.”
Gillian disappeared from the room only after hearing a positive response from Mariela’s mouth.
“Sigh.”
Everything was a mess.
However, it wasn’t Gillian’s fault. It could never be his fault.
Nevertheless, he comforts her and stays by her side without complaining, even if Mariela is sensitive.
Perhaps he is a man who has nothing but ‘the sin of loving Mariela‘.
Mariela made her way to a cozy study area connected to her room.
It was a place that Gillian, who loves books and research, painstakingly crafted for her.
After closing the door and drawing the curtains, she touched the secret space under the study desk.
She took out a thick notebook from inside.
<The Flower of the Blind Beast>.
She wrote it so as not to forget what she had read every time she visited Hadunsha.
She also wrote down the remaining memories in her head.
But everything became useless.
「“Mariela. You’re acting very strange..”」
Mariela reflected on what her daughter had said.
「“You were also trying to change the original novel. You tried to make Elysia look like dead and make her flee abroad.”」
Elysia denounced her when her words and actions contradicted each other, as she said she couldn’t change the plot when she tries to do so as well
「“Your words and actions contradict each other. It doesn’t add up.”」
What could have been the problem?
「“It doesn’t matter if I don’t get an answer. I’m sorry, but I’m not your daughter.”」
Mariela looked at the thick notebook.
She looked at it for so long. Then, when she flipped the hand-stained cover over, she saw a child’s drawing that she used as a bookmark.
It was a drawing that Elysia made when she was young.
「“Mom! Look at this!”」
「“Oh my, you drew it so well. Is this my little girl?”」
Perhaps she answered incorrectly, but there was a wrinkle on the bridge of Elysia’s nose.
「“It’s mom! My mom is the most beautiful lady in the world. I also draw a crown on your head!”」
Mariela murmured as she touched the crown drawn on the drawing her daughter had left her.
“It was so hard that I wished it wasn’t my daughter.”
It was for Elysia’s sake.
Was it all my greed to save my daughter?
She didn’t know what her daughter had in mind.
She blamed the few days she was able to meet Elysia, whom she entrusted to the temple. But she feared that knowing her daughter’s inner feelings would become a variable that could affect saving her life.
She wanted to save her daughter, but she didn’t want to know her heart.
That’s why Mariela felt distressed because it seemed that way.
Then she heard a commotion outside the closed door.
Mariela quickly put the notebook back in the secret place and wiped away her tears as she heard people scream.
When she got back to her bedroom, someone slammed the door open.
“Ple…please calm down. If you want to see the Duchess, I will guide you to the drawing-room…….”
It was Eleon.
The culprit of this commotion.
The man who stole her daughter’s heart.
Seeing him suddenly barging in like a thug, Mariela inadvertently clenched her fists.
However, the words that came out of Eleon’s mouth caused her to lose all her strength.
“Elysia is gone.”
