“Send a messenger immediately and deliver the order to the Knights of the Dawning Light.”
No one dared to object, and silence filled the room.
Odely, who had heard the entire meeting, quietly drew in a trembling breath.
‘The Bellader epidemic.’
An acute fever that had begun in a port city.
She remembered it clearly.
The true nature of the disease, its route of transmission, and its symptoms.
‘Before the situation could spread in my previous life, you solved it in an instant…….’
Ludville had been the first to discover the cause of the disease, calm the chaos, and devise a treatment.
After all, he had the memories of thousands of regressions.
Perhaps he had solved the epidemic almost out of habit.
But the Ludville of this life……
‘Burn it.’
He had lost his memories, so he no longer had the “right answer” or the “shortcut” available to him.
Unlike in the past, the Ludville of this life was living without any information about the future.
Given those circumstances, sacrificing an entire town might, from a cold and rational perspective, have been the most realistic and reasonable decision.
If they hesitated and the disease spread throughout the Empire, it would become a terrible hell.
‘But if Bellader really burns…….’
Ludville would no longer be seen as a rational ruler.
Instead, he would become an object of fear to his own people.
Moreover, Bellader was a port city, so visitors from other regions and even other empires would surely be staying there. The rumors would not end in the North as they had now.
If things went badly, the entire Empire might remember him as a villain.
‘You mustn’t become that kind of person.’
Cardell was still called a hero of the Empire.
And yet her one and only savior would be branded as the Empire’s villain.
Just imagining it made her feel as though she could barely breathe.
‘If I tell Ludville everything about this epidemic and give him the exact solution…….’
Odely hesitated for a moment.
But she quickly dismissed the thought.
He would not believe her. And before anything else, he would question how she knew all of that.
‘I have to solve this myself.’
To do that, she had to leave immediately.
Only then could she barely make it to Bellader before “that incident” happened.
Odely immediately began packing.
She gathered everything she had purchased while moving between villages after leaving the Cardell territory.
Once she was ready, she pulled her robe over herself and headed toward the carriage route by the rear gate.
Just then, she spotted a low-ranking transport unit preparing to leave after finishing its supply run.
Odely climbed into the space at the back of one of the carriages.
The wheels began to roll with a rattling sound.
****
Ludville was waiting for Odely in the reception room.
……He kept waiting.
Time passed mercilessly, and the tea grew cold.
Ludville stared at it with an expressionless face, then suddenly—
Bang!
He slammed his fist down hard on the table.
Edwin watched as the teacup bounced into the air before shattering with a crash, and he foresaw disaster.
No, disaster had already arrived.
“……She isn’t coming.”
“Please remain calm, Your Grace.”
Sweating profusely, Edwin desperately racked his brain.
He had to calm his master somehow.
‘But how?’
Edwin was naturally easygoing and had a silver tongue, so even when trouble arose, he usually brushed it off with jokes.
But this time……
Even he had no idea how to salvage the situation.
‘She actually stood up the Grand Duke!’
How much courage does that duchess have?!
Until this morning, the infamous “Iron-Blooded Grand Duke” had been slightly more docile than usual.
But now, not even that faint warmth remained.
Instead, only a bone-chilling cold had taken over the reception room.
“Ahem, I’ll step outside for a moment.”
Just as Edwin finally decided to quietly slip away and escape, Ludville spoke, as if blocking his retreat.
“What kind of situation is it when someone asks for a meeting first and then arrives four hours late?”
“M-Maybe something urgent suddenly came up……?”
“Something urgent?”
The corner of Ludville’s mouth twisted upward.
It was a sneer impossible to distinguish from either cynicism or self-mockery.
“Perhaps she thought about marrying a mad Grand Duke and decided she wanted to run away.”
“Oh, come on. If she were planning to run away, she would have done it ages ago. She stayed in the castle for fifteen days, putting up with the Grand Duke. There’s no way she’d suddenly run away on the fifteenth day……”
That was when it happened.
Suddenly, the captain of the Royal Guard burst through the reception room door.
“Your Grace, the duchess is nowhere to be found!”
“…….”
“…….”
She really…… ran away?
Edwin slowly turned his head.
And began looking at his master like a powder keg about to explode.
But the captain of the Royal Guard continued his report without even having time to catch his breath.
“According to the maid assigned to her, the duchess has not been seen since she left for this room for her appointment.”
Ludville’s gaze changed instantly.
He asked in a dangerous voice,
“Why are you only finding that out now?”
“Because the duchess has been staying in a separate residence on the outskirts of the castle, and she had dismissed all of her guards…… No, that is merely an excuse. I will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate.”
After a brief silence, Ludville adjusted the sleeve of his coat.
It was a habitual gesture he had repeated countless times, yet today his fingers fastening the buttons were unusually rough.
“Track her location immediately. If she isn’t inside the castle, that means she went outside.”
The captain bowed deeply before rushing out.
How much time passed?
Only a few minutes, but to some, it felt like an eternity.
Then the captain opened the reception room door once again.
Breathing heavily, he continued his report.
“This afternoon, around the exact time in question, there was a record of a kitchen supply carriage unit entering and leaving the castle.”
Ludville’s eyes narrowed in an instant.
At that moment, a single place name flashed through his mind.
“……Bellader.”
He murmured the name as if speaking to himself, then rose from his seat without hesitation.
As though even the time it took to give an order was too precious, he simply stated his conclusion.
“Saddle the horses. We leave immediately.”
“Your Grace!”
Edwin, who had been anxiously watching the captain’s report, was horrified and stepped in front of him.
“I’ll send troops!”
“Not necessary. I’m going.”
“We don’t even know what kind of disease is spreading through that city right now. If you recklessly enter the city and become infected……”
“I’m sturdy. I’ll manage somehow.”
“What kind of ridiculous thing is that supposed to mean?!”
“Didn’t you say my recovery ability was at a monster’s level? My body was strong enough that even my monsterization stopped halfway. It shouldn’t affect me much.”
Of course, he had said that.
But I didn’t mean you could just use that excuse whenever you wanted!
“It’s all speculation, isn’t it?!”
Ludville glanced over his shoulder for a moment, then walked forward without even pretending to listen to Edwin.
The moment he thought Odely might have gone to Bellader, his body reacted before he even had time to come up with a reason to chase after her.
No one had pushed him from behind.
No order had been given.
So why was he moving with such urgency?
His reason could offer no answer.
But his heart had been loudly screaming for some time now.
If he did not go there right now, something would happen that could never be undone.
He mounted his horse and headed straight for Bellader.
Without slowing down.
Without looking back.
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