Chapter 44
Richard reached the Arden Temple just as the morning sun started to rise.
Thomson, who was riding just behind him, had evident fatigue written on his face.
After they had learned of the fact that Elisha had disappeared, they had ridden for two days and nights without stopping to rest until they reached the Dukedom.
On top of that, Thomson had had no time to even catch a breath because they had searched for Elisha the whole day.
Agail, who had also accompanied Richard, was also exhausted, but he still looked slightly better than Thomson.
It was because he had hope that they might be able to find Elisha in this place.
‘T- That person has gone to the Arden Temple.’
That dawn, they were able to track down the coachman of the carriage that had dropped Elisha off at the Arden Temple.
Now, they had finally reached the Arden Temple.
“Your Excellency, please wait one moment.”
Thomson called Richard, who was ready to kill many people at the temple, to stop for a moment.
“Once you meet the Madam, make sure to say that you were wrong. You have to say that no matter what.”
At Thomson’s words, Richard turned his chilly gaze onto him. The red eyes that were looking at Thomson were asking him what he was saying.
“Even if you don’t know what the issue is entirely, just apologize to her. Even if you didn’t do anything wrong, just say that you were wrong.”
“…… .”
“That’s because our Madam is always right. Right, Agail?”
“You said something right for the first time in a while, Sir Thomson.”
Richard pursed his lips and turned away from the two people nagging from behind him. He went into the temple.
“Welco-”
The temple’s errand boy who had been in the middle of doing errands thought that a visitor had come and had gone out to meet them, but when he saw Richard, he immediately froze.
Looking at Richard’s chilly stare and the two knights behind him, the errand boy instinctively knew that these were no ordinary guests.
In addition…… .
‘The Rublein Dukedom……!’
The symbol on the knights’ uniforms was the symbol of the famous Rubelin Dukedom.
That meant that the handsome man with the cold eyes in front of him was Duke Rubelin.
Arensia’s hero.
The vicious slaughterer of his enemies.
That meant that if one was to become the Duke’s enemy, they would suffer the same fate as the fallen Pyran Kingdom.
The people working in the temple felt this bloodlust and stopped working to look at Richard.
The errand boy, unable to meet Richard’s eyes, asked him a question while trembling.
“For what reason did you come here……?”
“I would like to speak with the temple manager for a bit.”
“I- I will bring the manager quickly.”
However, the errand boy did not have to walk far to get the manager.
The temple manager was already walking this way.
The manager bowed and greeted Richard.
“It is a pleasure meeting you for the first time, Your Excellency. May I ask what brings you all the way to the temple?”
“There’s a person I’m urgently looking for. Did a woman with blonde hair and green eyes perhaps come this way?”
The manager’s eyes shook for a moment when she heard Elisha’s physical description, but quickly regained her composure.
“… … I’m sorry, hundreds of people visit the temple per day, so I am unable to remember each individual person.”
The manager answered Richard but was unable to escape Richard’s agitation as he demanded something else.
“I want to investigate the temple quickly. Will you allow me to do this?”
Although he was asking for permission to inspect the temple, the manager knew that if she didn’t allow him to look around the temple, he would completely turn it upside down.
The temple manager chased away the agitation she felt and conceded.
“Of course.”
As soon as the manager gave them permission, the knights started to investigate the temple.
Richard also helped by looking through the rooms where the merchants dwelled.
But Elisha was nowhere to be found.
‘Elisha…… .’
Richard suddenly recalled the letter Elisha had left him before she had disappeared.
[Richard.
Wherever you are, whatever you do, I hope that you will always be happy.
With all my heart,
Elisha.]
How could you tell me to be happy when you’re not there.
Richard wondered how much more she was planning to make him suffer.
“Your Excellency.”
Thomson, who had just finished his investigation, came towards Richard.
“We searched the restaurant and the warehouse, but the Madam was not there.”
Richard grinded his teeth in frustration.
Ever since he found out that it had already been 4 days since Elisha had been dropped off at the temple by the coachman, Richard had abandoned any hope of finding her, but now that he was faced with reality, he really didn’t know what to do.
‘…… Should I threaten the temple manager to get information out of her?’
Just as Richard seriously considered going to the extremes to get information, a knight came towards him.
He was a knight who had just come from the dukedom.
“Your Excellency. This letter arrived two days ago, but we discovered it today, so I brought it here.”
“I’ll read it after I return to the dukedom.”
Richard was about to pass by the knight when he saw the name of the sender of the letter.
[Elisha.]
However, the handwriting was not Elisha’s handwriting.
Richard suddenly felt a sense of foreboding and opened the letter. His face slowly distorted as he read the contents of the letter.
“Since my daughter’s condition has greatly improved, I’m thinking of going back today.”
Olivia told Elisha of her intentions as they finished breakfast.
At her words, Elisha felt relieved and began to pack her belongings. Since she had packed her things a long time ago, there wasn’t really much to pack.
Just as Elisha put on her outer robe, Olivia, who had also finished packing her belongings, came to find her.
“Lady Elisha, can I talk to you for a moment?”
Elisha sent Anne outside for a moment and made a space to talk to Olivia.
Olivia walked up to Elisha and draped a necklace around her neck. It was the ruby necklace Olivia had always worn.
Elisha looked at Olivia with dazed eyes.
“Madam, what is this……?”
“It’s a symbol of my gratitude towards you. If we were in the territory, I would have bought you some baby supplies or necessities for mothers, but as of now, I have nothing to give except for this. Whether you sell it for money or you keep it as a keepsake, I don’t care.”
“I don’t need this. Your gratitude is enough for me.”
“That necklace really doesn’t mean anything to me. I just really want to do something as a sign of thanks.”
Olivia gently grabbed Elisha’s hand to stop her from taking off the necklace.
“Just as I thought, because you’re pretty, the necklace suits you well.”
Olivia, who had been admiring Elisha with her chocolate-colored eyes, suddenly looked distant as she recalled a faded memory.
“A long time ago, I had a very good friend. She was beautiful, witty, and a very lovable friend.”
“… … .”
“That friend of mine came to me when she became pregnant, but because I was so busy, I was unable to do anything for her.”
“… … .”
“If I had known that that would be the last time I would ever see my friend, I wouldn’t have sent her away like that…… I always keep that in my heart, even after all this time.”
Olivia held Elisha’s hand and reminisced about her friend, who, back then, had been close in age with Elisha. She kept talking as she did this.
“When I look at Lady Elisha, I remember that friend. Because you’re beautiful, witty, and lovable.”
“… … .”
“Can you think of this necklace as a gift from a friend and accept it for me?”
Olivia’s eyes were sincere as she asked Elisha this question. Elisha couldn’t bring herself to reject such a sincere request.
She hesitated for a moment, but soon smiled brightly and held Olivia’s hand.
“Then I’ll accept your heartfelt sentiments and cherish this necklace.”
It was only then that Olivia looked satisfied and smiled back at Elisha.
The two people went downstairs to the 1st floor together.
Both the carriages from the Beltain Territory and the Arden Temple were waiting for Olivia and Elisha.
Before she got onto her carriage, Olivia spoke to Elisha for the final time.
“If you ever need my help, please don’t hesitate to come find me in Beltain. I will always remember your name.”
“Thank you, Madam. I’ve really made a good friend.”
At Elisha’s reply, Olivia gave Elisha a light farewell kiss.
“May the goddess’s protection always be with you.”
Olivia got onto her carriage and shut the door.
“Goodbye, pretty lady.”
Lise, Olivia’s daughter, waved farewell with her small hand through the carriage window while in her mother’s embrace.
Elisha laughed and waved back at the child.
Soon after, the Beltain carriage set off first.
“Then should we leave too, Anne?”
“Yes, Madam.”
After watching Lady Beltain’s carriage grow smaller, Elisha got onto her own carriage.
It was time to really leave.
“Hm?”
The caretaker of the summer house found something from the table in the room Elisha stayed in while cleaning up the rooms.
There were two small pouches and a small slip of paper.
[Thanks to you, we were able to rest completely before we go. Thank you for taking care of us in so many ways.]
In the pouches, there were cookies and gold coins.
The caretaker had only been working because of the salary that they had earned from the temple manager, but seeing the slip of paper thanking them for their work and the gifts made their heart feel full.
The caretaker was still enjoying the warm feeling of thanks when something happened.
There were rough knocks coming from the front door on the 1st floor.
The caretaker hurried to go downstairs.
“Who are you?”
“… … I’m looking for someone.”
The man’s voice was chilly enough to actually feel cold.
The caretaker hesitated for a moment before opening the door.
There was a man with an equally chilly stare standing in front of the door.
Richard abruptly pushed past the caretaker and forced his way into the summer house.
“Where is Elisha?”
“Eli…sha…?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. I came here knowing that she’s here. Where is Elisha?”
It was only then that the caretaker realized who the person Richard was looking for was.
“T- That person just left a little while ago.”
At the caretaker’s words, Richard’s face distorted.
The caretaker was terrified that the agitated Richard was going to destroy some of the things in the summer house, but Richard didn’t do anything else other than letting out a swear word.
“… … Do you know where she went?”
“I’m so sorry, but I don’t know where she went either…… .”
The caretaker’s eyes were not the eyes of someone lying.
Richard went outside of the summer house. Then, he flew up and flew towards the southwestern direction.
Thankfully, he had already anticipated that Elisha would have left already, and he had sent Thomson and Agail to go ahead of him in the southwestern direction. So they would be able to catch up to Elisha in no time.
Even if they couldn’t, Richard had a guess about where Elisha was headed, so he didn’t need to really worry.
However, since she wasn’t in his arms at the moment, he felt restless and nervous. He felt that he would only be able to relax if he was able to see her safe and sound.
Richard, who had reached the Southwestern Gate, found many carriages waiting in front of the gate.
From those carriages, there was one carriage that caught Richard’s attention.
‘The symbol of the Arden Temple?’
The symbol of the Arden Temple was drawn on that specific carriage.
Richard hurriedly landed in front of it.
The coachman of the carriage was shocked to see Richard landing from midair and immediately realized his identity.
“Y- Your Excellency, Duke Rubelin?”
Before the coachman could stop him, Richard grabbed ahold of the carriage’s door handle and dragged the door open.