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Chapter 37
Armian rode his horse at full speed for a long time before stopping when he reached the forest.
It had been ten days since the accident site was found. There had been enough time to clear all the debris, but the carriage still remained there. That was because Armian had forbidden anyone from touching it.
He dismounted and touched the remnants of the accident with trembling hands before staring into the empty air.
It was where the carriage door would have been if it hadn’t burned.
“I came to get you, Bella.”
“……”
“I… I came… to get you.”
He had come because he thought she might be waiting.
“Why…”
Why wasn’t she here?
Armian didn’t cry. He only felt empty.
The knights who had followed him into the forest sighed.
They had been frustrated each dawn when he disappeared like a wild horse, but now that they saw him, even that frustration faded.
As everyone stood in heavy silence—
“Your Highness,” one knight, the bravest among them, spoke.
“There’s no trace of her in Albin.”
Others added:
“Nor in Rohiltern.”
“Unfortunately, the young lady is—”
“Shut up.”
“But—”
“Did you not hear me? Shut up.”
Armian, who had seemed like he would never turn around, suddenly barked at them.
The air grew tense until Kyle, the leader of the Dyurnar knights, stepped in.
“We will search again, Your Highness.”
“…Leave.”
“Yes, sir.”
After the knights left, Armian sat down and rubbed his dry, aching eyes.
Ten days of searching.
There was still no sign of Bella.
If she had made it out of the valley, there would be traces. If someone had rescued her, they would have heard from that person.
But Bella had left nothing behind. She had vanished completely.
This could only mean one thing.
“She might be dead…”
“No.”
He tried to shake away the thought.
“No…”
But even he couldn’t believe his own voice.
Deep down, he already knew.
Bella’s chance of survival was almost zero.
Even so, he kept hoping, kept waiting, making all kinds of preparations for her return.
“Do I have no choice but to accept it now?”
Armian leaned back like a man collapsing into a chair, covering his eyes with one arm.
The darker reality became, the clearer Bella’s voice sounded.
[I’m here to save you.]
[I don’t know when, but I will set you free.]
[If you don’t want to trust me, that’s fine. Your feelings won’t change my actions.]
[I can’t leave here so easily, so I want you at least to be free.]
[Are you worried about me right now?]
[Stop it! You’ll wear my name out.]
[One thing is certain: I think I’ll be able to get you out of here sooner than expected.]
At first, he had just thought she was a strange woman.
Then he thought she was simply nosy.
[I can’t leave.]
[Because I am Rohiltern.]
[What I want is for you to leave this mansion without anyone noticing.]
[You can do that, right?]
The moment he began to trust her, Bella’s image twisted.
[I’ll come back.]
[Do you understand what I mean? I’ll come back here to get you.]
[So please wait until then.]
I shouldn’t have left her.
Regret always left scars in the past, trapping him in those moments.
What made it even more painful was the truth.
“In the end, you left me with only your name.”
He knew he would live with Bella’s name burned into his heart forever.
That truth scratched at his heart, and he clutched his chest with a groan.
Two years passed.
During that time, Armian never gave up.
He had people search around the valley constantly, and whenever he heard about someone with silver hair like Bella’s, he rushed to check.
“…Was I wrong again?”
He gave a bitter smile.
This time, he had chased a rumor of silver hair, only to find an elderly woman with naturally white hair.
The memory of her frightened voice—asking why a noble was bothering her—made him feel ridiculous.
“Why am I still like this?”
In the meantime, his sister had become the new Emperor, granting him the title of Grand Duke along with vast lands and wealth.
He had also crushed the Rohiltern family, leaving it barely surviving. Charlotte had been made a maid at the palace, forced to do the hardest work.
“Honestly, I wanted to kill her…”
But he didn’t.
That was because of his sister’s advice.
[If you want to make Bella a Countess, it’s better to keep Charlotte alive. That way, there won’t be any trouble during the succession ceremony. Of course, if you want people to believe Bella killed for the title, then go ahead and kill her.]
Charlotte had been locked away in the palace because it was a place where both he and his sister could keep an eye on her.
The day Bella returned and became the Countess…
He would kill Charlotte then, as a celebration.
He had completed his revenge, and he could live comfortably now.
But he was still wandering the empire, looking for a woman he had known for less than a year.
“Even I don’t understand myself anymore.”
But what else could he do?
If he gave up completely, it would feel like Bella died inside him too. He couldn’t let that happen.
“……!”
Perhaps it was because of that awful thought, but suddenly he couldn’t breathe.
He gasped, scratching at his throat with his nails.
Two years felt like heavy chains wrapped around his neck. Each time he realized he had survived alone, those chains squeezed tighter.
As if telling him never to forget Bella.
“Your Highness, I’ve come to report changes in the Rohiltern family’s assets—Your Highness! Are you all right?”
Lady Hilton, who had entered his office to give her report, saw Armian struggling.
“The sedative… inside…”
“The medicine? Where is it?”
She quickly set the report on his desk and asked.
“On… the shelf…”
Following his instructions, Lady Hilton stood on tiptoe and found a box. It was as ornate as a gift box, and she tilted her head curiously—only for Armian to suddenly stand and push her aside, clutching the box tightly.
“Haa… haaa…”
He buried his face in the box, taking deep breaths until he finally calmed down.
“Are you all right, Your Highness?”
“…Yes.”
Armian placed the box down on his lap. His breathing was steady now, though his face was still pale.
“Forgive me for saying this, but… it might be better to take the medicine inside.”
“This is enough.”
He kept the box on his knees as if afraid she might touch it.
Lady Hilton wanted to sigh but held it back. Even her concern had to be measured carefully around him.
“Understood. May I give my report now?”
“Go ahead.”
Armian gestured with his chin.
Lady Hilton, just a Marquis’s wife, had been tasked with overseeing the Rohiltern family’s affairs.
[Until Bella returns, I need someone to make sure the Count doesn’t waste or steal the family’s fortune.]
[I’ve heard you’re skilled at growing wealth. I’ll trust you with this. Do it well, and I’ll reward you generously.]
It hadn’t been an order, but a request.
She could have refused, but she accepted because Armian had sworn he would hand the Rohiltern family back to Bella.
Bella. Poor Bella.
Lady Karina Hilton had been watching her for a long time.
She had seen the girl, robbed of everything by her uncle, and it reminded her of her own past.
That was why, when Bella reached out, she had held her hand without hesitation.
She had wanted to save the girl who mirrored her younger self.
But it wasn’t until Bella disappeared and the necklace she left behind fell into her hands that she realized…
In the end, the one who had been saved was herself.
