"I, my lord! what are you doing! Come on hold me!"
Three or four knights grabbed Fernan, who had lost his temper, and pulled him from the edge of the cliff.
Still, they struggled, and after a few more people stuck together, they were finally able to bring them to a safe place.
"… let go! Shit!"
When Fernando, who had thrown the knights wildly, tried to jump again onto the cliff, the knights stopped him with their whole body and shouted.
"Sir, calm down!"
Fernan, who was captured by the knights, looked down at the bottom of the cliff with a young gaze even at first glance.
A strong current in the winter wind. In a dark river with no bottom line.
Julia was nowhere to be seen.
It was difficult for anyone to survive if they fell from this height. Even if he barely survived, he would not be able to swim because of the current, and there was a high probability that he would die from hypothermia soon after.
However, Fernan was in a state where he could not make such a sober judgment.
Unable to control his rising emotions, he passed the knights and hurriedly got on his horse.
The knights rushed after him as he drove the horse without hesitation.
"… Julia, please."
From the moment Julia put the knife to my neck, Fernan couldn't keep her composure.
I had to hold on He was frightened like an idiot and made a mistake.
I never thought she would throw herself.
No, I was scared. She sees the blood flowing from the nape of her neck, and if she gets too close, she might pierce her delicate neck... .
So it stopped. I knew I wouldn't be able to get any closer. Then, she knows how to stop... .
However, Julia shattered his expectations and threw herself away without hesitation.
The image continued to be drawn before his eyes like an afterimage.
Fernando stared straight ahead, like a half-naked man. His lips began to tremble.
The sense of reality is gone. Her head didn't spin as if it had been frozen.
It all seemed like a dream. The figure of Julia who had fallen before my eyes, and the face that smiled faintly at the end.
Since then, the search has continued day and night.
The forests and villages leading to the lower reaches of the river, as well as the surrounding areas, had been searched for. However, Julia was nowhere to be found.
Even the blizzard began to rage helplessly in the Grand Duchess, where the extreme cold continued.
The river into which Julia threw herself froze cold enough to be painful even if she stepped in for just a moment.
A long period of time has passed like that.
Around that time, a robe believed to belong to Julia was found on land.
"… … ."
Fernando looked down at the damp robes for a long time. There was not even a single glimmer of light in his eyes.
He stood there alone, as if he had been left behind in a distant world.
"Sir, we will search the rest of the area. So please take a little break... ."
Despite the repeated requests of the knights, Fernando had no answer.
He had such a dark face that he couldn't tell what he was thinking.
The hem of Julia's robe he was looking at was torn in several places and was in a state of disrepair.
Probably, Julia's condition, who was wearing it, would not have been even better.
Even as I thought about it, no one dared to bring those words out of their mouths.
"Your Majesty, if you are going to continue your search here, you need to take care of your body first. You don't know."
Then his assistant, Lloyd, approached him and spoke as calmly as possible.
Everyone was exhausted from the continuous search day and night, but Fernan's condition was the most serious than anyone else's.
He was only looking for Julia without a proper rest for a full month.
Fernando walked away without answering. Lloyd sighed as he saw him heading back to the place where the horse was tied.
Lloyd was equally concerned about this situation.
Because it was Lloyd who felt the most that my master's feelings for Yulia had changed.
Since Fernan had never been shaken by anything, small changes caught my eye.
It was clear to Lloyd's eyes that he had taken my wife to heart. Despite being the daughter of the Marquis of Elodie, whom she so despised.
It was probably the first wave of emotions that Fernando experienced.
I lost her before I even realized the chaos, so it wasn't that I didn't understand how she felt. However… .
Lloyd sighed deeply in confusion.
Fernan's back figure, leading the way, was solid without a single wave of sway. But in Lloyd's eyes, it only looked too precarious.
* * *
No trace of Julia was found anywhere until a month had passed.
They searched the whole estate thoroughly. At the very least, the body should have been found.
However, Julia disappeared without leaving a trace as if it had evaporated on the spot.
Fernan, who had been searching like a crazy person for nearly a month without a break, was now in a precarious state just looking at it.
The knights continued to worry, but he did not budge.
As if he had completely cut off the assumption that Julia was dead, he frantically explored the whole area.
"Lloyd-sama, shouldn't we have to take His Highness by force?"
A knight approached Lloyd and asked. Lloyd was worried and shook her head.
"Let's wait first. You are also a human being, so by this point, you will not be able to overcome the fatigue of your body."
However, even after a few more days had passed, Fernan's tenacity remained unchanging.
Lloyd let out a sigh as if the ground was going to die out as he looked at Fernan who was driving the horse in danger.
Lloyd finally spoke to Fernando as he got off his horse and checked the search area.
"majesty."
Lloyd spoke firmly to Fernan, who didn't even look back.
"It has been over a month since we searched for His Majesty. In the meantime, you have scoured all the forests near the fortress walls and searched all the nearby villages."
"… … ."
"Now you have to be prepared to accept it. The possibility that His Majesty will be alive... ."
"Shut up. If you don't want to die."
At that moment, Fernan turned his head and pulled out the sword he was wearing around his waist.
Lloyd squeezed his eyes shut as he looked at the knife at the nape of my neck, but didn't stop talking.
"Even the knights are very tired. If you are going to continue the search, first give the knights enough rest."
Anyway, the knights were taking turns searching, so it wasn't too much of a problem.
But the problem was Fernan's condition.
There would be no use worrying about myself, so I had to make the knights take a break even for a while.
Fernan was silent with his darkly closed eyes, and then opened his mouth.
"Take them all back. The search will proceed alone."
"Yes? No, my lord!"
Fernan, who had gathered his sword, moved again. Lloyd put her dazed face on her forehead, then quickly followed her.
Fernando looked fine at first glance, but in Lloyd's eyes, he could clearly see a dangerous gait that was different from before.
It was then that Lloyd, who had followed him full of concern, stopped for a moment.
Fernan, who was advancing without hesitation, suddenly stumbled.
"majesty!"
As Lloyd, startled, hurriedly ran, Fernan's body eventually collapsed.
It was dawn, less than half a day, when Fernando woke up.
He opened his eyes slowly and looked around blankly.
Blurred eyes stared at the ceiling, then turned to the small incense candle on the side. It was a scented candle used to induce sleep.
As soon as he got up, he realized that this was my bedroom.
"Sir, are you feeling a little off?"
The attending physician, Rockman, approached and examined his complexion. Fernand murmured calmly, even in the midst of his hazy, drunken sleep at the beginning of his sleep.
"Why am I here?"
"… Your Majesty was exhausted during the search. You haven't eaten properly for a long time, and you haven't had enough sleep, so you're not feeling well."
"Yulia… ."
Fernan uttered Julia's name like a half-naked person. Rockman, who looked at him in a complicated way, calmly opened his mouth.
"Your Majesty, you must first rest. Leave the rest of the search to the knights, even for just a few days... ."
Ignoring Rockman's words, Fernando got up from bed and staggered across the room.
Rockman couldn't bear to hold onto him, and he sighed.
It was surprising to me that I could walk like that even though I was drunk on a sleeping herb with strong medicinal effects. Perhaps he is holding on with only the obsession to find a wife.
Leaving Rockman's worries behind, Fernando entered the hallway.
As I descended the stairs without shaking and entered the lobby, Bennet, the butler, and the employees bowed their heads.
He opened the door without hesitation, not paying attention to anyone.