‘What am I going to do now?’
Hermann let out an annoyed sigh and grabbed his horse reins.
‘No, it’s fine. I’ve finally found her traces. Even though it took a while….’
Hermann couldn’t even remember his best friend’s face anymore.
Philippa Ohrid.
The Ohrid Bank was called ‘The Place Where Money Gathers’. Count Ohrid, the richest man on the continent and was also known as the ‘Gold Master’.
That Count had a daughter he called his precious child. It had been 13 years since that child, Philippa Ohrid disappeared, and it had been 13 years since Grand Duke Thesevitz Bale Nohibaden, who had been dating Philippa Ohrid, went on a frantic search for her whereabouts.
Thesevitz, Philippa, and Hermann were best friends. They all went to the same academy where they built their friendship and graduated.
Thesevitz and Philippa falling in love was natural. The two had chemistry and they were also both in business. The two aristocrats returned to their own families and Hermann entered the World Tower. He thought both of them would certainly do well.
However, Philippa suddenly disappeared. Of course, as her lover, Thesevitz turned the continent upside down trying to find her.
Count Ohrid, Philippa’s father as well as the richest man in the Empire, also spent a fortune looking for his daughter.
But, no one could find even a single trace.
Finally, when Hermann got out of the World Tower, Thesevitz’s eyes lost their shine and he was practically half crazy.
Hermann didn’t have the heart to tell Thesevitz that before Philippa disappeared, she had met him for one last time.
[Philippa? What brings you here? Even going as far as coming to the World Tower?]
[I have a favor to ask. There’s no one I can trust other than you.]
[What’s going on? The only daughter of Count Ohrid doesn’t have any other people to ask… is that even possible?]
Philippa should’ve laughed at his playful remark, but instead, she looked immensely anxious.
[I came to look at your face as well.]
[You told Thesevitz you came here right? That jerk likes to pretend but his jealousy is very severe. I still want to live.]
Philippa’s face hardened when he mentioned Thesevitz. Hermann could feel the strange tension from Philippa. He wondered if they fought but soon erased the thought.
That was impossible. He personally saw just how much Thesevitz loved Philippa from the way he acted.
In front of Philippa, Thesevitz lost all the notoriety he had. He was but a stupid boy who had suffered from a long unrequited love. Hermann was the one who stood by and watched this long unrequited love.
[Thesevitz doesn’t know. Please keep it a secret from him that I came to see you.]
[That’s not hard… but aren’t you being a little weird?]
He didn’t remember what kind of face she had at that moment.
[It felt great looking at your face. I haven’t seen you for a long time. Well, then… take care.]
For some reason, it felt like a permanent farewell, but Hermann didn’t think much about it.
However, with that last greeting, Philippa disappeared from the continent.
“For real, where in the world are you Philippa? The Grand Duke of Nohibaden has gone crazy.”
It was at that moment when a figure of a wolf suddenly popped out of Hermann’s shadow. It was his summoned beast that he had commanded to find Philippa’s traces. To be precise, it was commanded to track the traces of Philippa’s spirit that Thesevitz gave.
The summoned beast ran in an instant. Hermann hurriedly kicked his horse in the stomach. He was glad he was hovering around the last trace. It was very near.
‘Please this time!’
But when he caught up to the summoned beast, it was standing alone on a road without one person in sight, its nose poking on the ground. The wolf raised his head and gave something that fell on the ground to Herman who just got down from his horse.
It was a pendant.
“Shit!”
It was the pendant that Thesevitz filled with a wind spirit. Hermann clenched his teeth and opened the pendant.
“What is this?”
Instead of the original portrait, a portrait of Philippa was seen.
“Why did the portrait change…”
Hermann shook his head. The important thing wasn’t that.
He missed it again.
No. Hermann clenched the pendant hard enough that it would leave a mark on his hand.
Considering that the spirit’s reaction was not long ago, the person couldn’t have left the area yet. Determined, Hermann commanded the summoned beast to detect if anybody was around him.
Just then, a small cry was heard from somewhere.
“…Please save me! Please sa—!”
He should’ve just ignored it. He was so near to finding—
Hermann grumbled and let out a string of abusive words. Then, he commanded the summoned beast again.
‘Find the girl who screamed.’
Herman thought he couldn’t remember his best friend’s face anymore.
But when the moon, which had disappeared under the clouds, came out with its clear light penetrating through the trees, shining on the girl’s face, he realized that it wasn’t the case at all.
“Philippa?”
“….”
“No… No. You’re too young. You look alike. No, but you two look exactly the same. Is that even possible?”
The man talked to himself like crazy.
Diana came to her senses bit by bit, and only now did she realize that the men who threatened her disappeared. She stared at the man standing in front of her, the man that saved her.
“T-thank you for s-saving me.”
“….”
The man looked at the girl silently.
When Diana began to panic again, the man opened his mouth.
“By any chance, are you….”
The man paused for a moment. Then, looking down at her, he continued to speak again.
“Do you know a person called Philippa?”
‘Who is Philippa? If I say that I don’t know, will I be k-killed?’ Diana’s frightened eyes shook once again.
“You should just tell me the truth.”
Diana looked at him and shook her head.
“You don’t know?”
This time, she nodded her head.
“Then, by chance, can I know your mother’s name?”
“…My mother’s name?”
“Yeah.”
It was a random question. Diana doubted for a second but quickly answered, afraid that it would offend the man.
“Her name is April.”
Disappointment immediately covered the man’s face.
“No, but still…. Is this a coincidence? There’s no way.”
The man started mumbling to himself in agony. Unconsciously, Diana groped at her chest, looking for her mother’s relic that made her feel safe…
“…!”
It wasn’t there. Diana hurriedly groped the back of her neck but she didn’t feel anything other than her own skin.
“Huh?! Where is it?”
“What’s wrong? Did anything happen?”
Diana hurriedly crouched down onto her stomach, as if her previous trembling appearance was just an illusion. She groped the ground and desperately searched even though she couldn’t see anything.
“What are you doing so suddenly?”
“Give me a moment. I-I have to find… there is something that I must find.”
“What are you looking for? Ah! Don’t tell me…? But, she said her name was April…”
However, Diana did not hear one thing. She was too muddle-headed to even stop and think about what the man had just said.
‘Where did it drop?’
She tried to remember, but she simply couldn’t.
‘I definitely touched it while I was coming here… please, please.’
It would be fortunate if it simply fell on the road but, if it fell while she was running in the forest, that was a different story. She couldn’t even tell which direction she was running because she wasn’t thinking at all when she fled.
“Are you looking for this?”
The man took the pendant out of his pocket.
“…!”
Diana’s eyes opened widely.
“Th-that’s right!”
The man’s face hardened but Diana, who was still not in the right state of mind, didn’t notice it. The fact that it was found was the only thing she focused on.
“Ah, thank goodness. Thank goodness. It’s something that I lost. Thank you.”
Diana reached out her hand to thank him.
But, the man avoided Diana’s hand and retracted the pendant back into his hands.
“You said… this is yours?”
“Yes?”
“This belongs to a person that I know. Is this really yours?”
The man spoke with a straight face. The threatening voice made Diana pale.
“….”
“Why aren’t you answering? Is this really yours?”
“….”
The frightened Diana began to stutter again.
“I-I, s-so, m-my….”
The man breathed out a deep sigh. Hanging his head down he took off his hood. He revealed his thin face, the type that belonged to an intellectual, and oddly enough, this relieved Diana.
“Don’t be afraid. Is this really yours?”
Hup. Diana breathed in and said in a tightening voice.
“…Yes, it’s mine.”
“….”
This time, it was the man who fell quiet.
“I-is there any problem?”
Diana asked with trembling lips, breaking the silence.
The man alternately looked at the pendant and Diana. He then opened the pendant, seemingly very familiar with it. He showed Diana the picture inside it. The moment she saw her mother’s face, tears pooled in her eyes.
“What’s your relationship with this woman?”
“…Yes?”
“I asked what’s your relationship?”
She couldn’t understand why the man would ask such a thing.
‘Why should I be interrogated like this?’
Diana felt like a victim. She just went through a terrible ordeal, yet here was this man continuously bothering her. Then, while holding back her tears, Diana spoke.
“If I answer… will you give it back?”
The man slowly nodded.
Diana was exhausted. There was nothing more she wanted to do than to quickly get the pendant and head back. So she answered.
“My mom. The person in the photo… She’s my mother.”
The man sighed.
“Don’t tell me your father is another… ah, no, that’s not the important thing. Where is your mother?”
“….”
“I’ll ask if the woman inside the pendant is really her and give it back.”
“….”
Diana was speechless.
The moment the man mentioned her mother, her emotions burst. Sadness poured in like a wave and squeezed out every single one of her tears.
“Hic, hicc.”
“What? Why? Why are you crying?”
“W-why, are you, hicc, hic, doing this to m-me?”
“No. What? What do you mean why? Why are you crying? Stop crying for a moment.”
“M-mom has…. My mother has….”
Diana tried to stop her tears by biting her lips several times. However, the outburst of emotion was too hard to control.
“Don’t tell me… No, it can’t be that right?”
Looking at Diana’s crying appearance, the man stepped back. It was as if her expression already told him everything. The man shook his head violently. He looked very scared.
“No. It’s not what I think it is, right? It shouldn’t be. It’s impossible. Please.”
After a few more breaths, Diana completed her words.
“…passed away.”