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“…He’s also been busy scaremongering and spreading rumors about me.”

Paveluc was planning something. Now Carlisle had a rough idea of what he was up to.

‘He planned to ally with the Kelt Kingdom and take the Empire from me…’

It was a bold move. Without the Kelt Kingdom’s support, Paveluc did not have the power to usurp Carlisle, who had already taken the throne. However, joining forces with Kelt did not mean guaranteed victory against Carlisle; if they faced each other head-on, a battle would likely be more advantageous to Carlisle. However, the playing field was now more evened.

‘I’ll teach them how foolish it is to even come up with such a plan against me.’

Carlisle did not care about Paveluc’s increased troop strength. If their military strength was equal, then victory rested on each commander’s ability to lead the battlefield. There was no chance that Carlisle would lose there—from a young age, he survived threats of assassination in the palace, then grew up as an adult on the battlefied. His experiences and achievements in war were not exaggerated.

However, there was only one problem: If he took command and waged war, he would never be able to leave his position. In other words, he could not go freely to save Elena. The agony of it was a thorn in Carlisle’s mind.

‘Who can replace me?’

Delegating the important task to anyone else made him feel uneasy. Furthermore, when the war began in earnest, his enemy may try to use Elena’s life as leverage against Carlisle. He couldn’t leave his wife’s safety to anyone else.

Carlisle breathed out a tired sigh, and pressed a gloved hand to his throbbing temple. He had taken to wearing a glove over his right hand to hide the black scales. He didn’t care who stared at his arm, but now he couldn’t afford any questioning gazes.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

“Come in.”

With Carlisle’s permission granted, the door opened, revealing Kuhn. He approached Carlisle and handed him some documents.

“I searched for all the potential places where Her Majesty could be held, just as you ordered. After considering the many possibilities, I narrowed it down to three places.”

Carlisle looked carefully at the documents Kuhn handed over. Kuhn continued to explain.

“The first is the castle in Lunen, and the second is his private residence. And finally, the Blood Assassins headquarters.”

“Which is the most likely one of the three?”

“I can’t guarantee it, but I would say the Blood Assassins are the most suspicious.”

“Has anyone seen Elena in Lunen so far?”

“I’m not sure. I have sent my spies there, but she’s somewhere that can’t be found easily. That’s why I believe it’s more likely that she’s being held by the Blood Assassins.”

Carlisle nodded. If Paveluc kidnapped Elena, he would keep her close by in the Duchy of Lunen, otherwise, his prize chess piece would be vulnerable if he left the task to another kingdom. Furthermore, it would also enable Paveluc to use her to his advantage at any time.

A knock suddenly interrupted the two men’s conversation. Carlisle turned towards the door in slight puzzlement.

“What is it?”

The voice of a servant was heard from outside.

“Your Majesty, Count Blaise is here. What should I do?”

Carlisle lifted his eyebrows at the unexpected guest. He realized that he was not the only one immensely worried about Elena.

“Let him in.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The door opened, and Alphord and Derek entered Carlisle’s office. Kuhn greeted them with a slight bow of his head.

Alphord and Derek did not know Kuhn’s identity in the beginning, but now they were aware he infiltrated Blaise mansion as a servant. The situation could have turned sour, but the Blaise men accepted it in the end, as it was authorized by Elena and Carlisle. That didn’t mean, however, there was no discomfort between master and servant.

Alphord gave a nod of greeting towards Kuhn, then bowed to Carlisle.

“Hail to His Majesty the Emperor. Eternal glory to the Ruford Empire.”

“So what’s going on?”

“I wanted to ask you something regarding Her Majesty.”

“Tell me.”

“…I ask you to deploy the Fourth Order of Knights, led by myself, to save her.”

Alphord was the head of such an order, and was one that Derek, winner of the tournament, was also a part of. In short, Elena’s family wanted to rescue her themselves. Carlisle briefly considered the unexpected suggestion.

“…”

Carlisle gave no answer, and Derek, standing next to Alphord, looked on with an earnest expression.

“We beg this of you, Your Majesty. If you have already sent someone else then we cannot stop you, but we want to save the Empress as much as possible.”

Derek had also been grieving since Elena’s disappearance, and his complexion was pale and unhealthy. After a brief silence, Carlisle immediately replied with a nod of his head.

“…Very well.”

It occurred to Carlisle that Alphord and Derek would be the right people to take his place and lead the rescue mission, as he knew they were just as determined to save Elena as much as he was. However, the situation was still not reassuring.

“Thank you deeply, Your Majesty.”

Derek’s expression noticeably lifted, but Carlisle continued on with a solemn face.

“So far, there are no eyewitness reports of Elena in Lunen, so I have not been able to determine an exact location. It’s important to make a quick decision on the people you will bring. Remember, your first priority is Elena’s safety…under any circumstances.”

At that, Derek looked at Carlisle with a renewed loyalty. It was evident that Carlisle cared deeply for Elena’s well-being.

Kuhn, who had been listening quietly to them so far, spoke up.

“If you’ll excuse me…I want to join in saving Her Majesty as well.”

Carlisle turned to Kuhn with a questioning look. He could not help but wonder why Kuhn would do so, when the assassin was usually so indifferent to others.

“Why?”

“I have a debt to pay to Her Majesty.”

Kuhn once hid his relationship with Mirabelle to Elena. He wanted to make things even on this occasion…

And while he did not express it, Kuhn’s thoughts still lingered on his last moment with Mirabelle. Every time he closed his eyes, he remembered how Mirabelle looked at him with a tearful expression as she held his hand and begged him to stay. He wanted to keep her precious sister, Elena, from disappearing.

Carlisle did not know Kuhn’s motivations, but he nodded in affirmation.

“Very well. I was going to suggest it anyway, and there’s no one better than you to infiltrate Lunen.”

“Ah…”

Kuhn was a little confused by the fact that Carlisle had already chosen him, but he soon nodded in agreement.

“Yes, I’ll do my best.”

Carlisle turned to the three men, his voice serious.

“As you may know, I cannot go save Elena myself, and the Kelt forces are allied with Lunen.”

More than anything, he wished to rush to Elena’s side and save her himself. For her safety, however, it was more important for him to win the war. Elena’s value as a hostage was to suppress Carlisle’s power, but if Carlisle lost the war, Paveluc will no longer have any reason to keep her. Carlisle had to remain a threat in order to keep her alive. Since the outcome of this war could be directly linked to Elena’s safety, Carlisle had to carefully consider every minute detail.

“In addition to you all, I will carefully select the best men in the Ruford Empire. So…”

Carlisle took a momentary pause.

“Take care of Elena… Please.”

Alphord, Derek, and Kuhn answered simultaneously with determined faces.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

***

Elena remained locked in her prison. Beyond the window, the sun rose and fell several times. She thought that Paveluc or Batori would come to torture or taunt her, but her time was spent in grateful loneliness.

The mood outside her cell seemed active, as the sound of people moving outside her window did not cease. Some of it seemed like the steady marches of people being trained.

‘…Is Caril safe?’

Elena had done her best to stop the cliff ambush, but she wasn’t able to stop all the rocks. She was afraid that there was a chance that Carlisle might be injured. Once Elena’s worry latched on to something, she could not let it go.

It was then—

Deuleuleug.

The bottom of the iron door slid open and a man’s voice spoke.

“Your food.”

A bowl was roughly pushed in through the opening, causing it to spill some of its contents. Elena grimaced and accepted the food. Batori had given her nothing to eat on the way here, but after she was imprisoned in her cell, she was fed once a day. It was a small fortune. It hardly filled her, but at least she didn’t starve to death.

Her stomach gave a rumble, and Elena stroked it carefully and spoke to her child.

‘I’m sorry, baby. Please hold on.’

She was constantly worried that something might go wrong with her child. She wanted a good environment and good food for her child more than anything else, but under the current circumstances, she couldn’t be greedy. Elena ate her bowl until it was clean. Ironically, but not eating too much, the severe morning sickness seemed to subside a little.

‘It’s quieter now than I expected…but Paveluc will never leave me alone like this for long.’

Although it seemed that he put her existence on hold for a while, eventually he will try to use her. She had to escape before then.

Seueug, seueueu.

Elena took the end of the metal spoon and ground it against the stone wall. Occasionally the jailer would take the spoon back with the bowl, but sometimes he missed it. If he forgot to take the spoon again, she would add it to her collection. So far, she had hidden three spoons.

‘There isn’t much time. I have to escape before my stomach shows.’

As time went, her baby bump would become more obvious, and her body would become heavier. It would also be easier for Elena to move about when the baby was still small.

Elena wiped the sharpened end of the spoon on the edge of her shift, then she stuck it out of the small window and looked around. Normally the windows were too narrow and high to see through, but by using the spoon as a mirror, she could see a little more of her surroundings. These days, she used it to monitor the movements around her at opportunity she could. She needed to find out how many people patrolled the area and how many stayed here. Thanks to this, she also discovered that her present location was quite high. She didn’t quite have an escape plan yet, but…

‘I simply can’t sit around and wait for someone to rescue me.’

That was not Elena’s way. Her red eyes were still shining.