I Will Disappear, Grand Duke

“What the hell is this?!”

 The Emperor shouted in astonishment.  Leaving such an emperor behind, Fernan’s knights immediately entered a fighting stance.

 The Emperor's knights, who were standing in a line on one side of the audience hall, also hurriedly raised their swords.

Clank! Clank!

 With the sound of the swords hitting each other, the audience hall was instantly transformed into a blood-splattering scene of slaughter.

 The Emperor, watching the scene, opened his mouth wide. Fernan approached him, who started to tremble while pointing.

 "If you'd only touched me, it wouldn't have gotten to this point."

 Fernan pointed his sword with a cold voice, and the sharp blade touched the Emperor's neck.  Fernan has been patient for a very long time.  In the name of serving the Empire, or in the name of preventing meaningless sacrifices.

 But now, such a pretentious title was good enough.

 While the Emperor raised his head and wide opened eyes, a calm yet lively voice descended.

 "You shouldn't have bothered my wife."

 When Fernan raised his sword high as if he was about to kill him, the Emperor shouted out loudly.

 “You, you’re going to start a rebellion!  Even if you do, you'll be…ahhh!”

  After cutting off the emperor's words, the blade strucked down relentlessly.  At the same time, the emperor collapsed on the podium with his chair.

 The Emperor's white hair was cut off and scattered on the floor.

 “Huh, huh, huh….”

 The fallen emperor tremblingly touched his head, which was still attached.

 Fernan looked down at the emperor who was shaking like an aspen tree.

 He wanted to put the sword down his neck right now, but it wasn't the time to kill him.  The Emperor was the most useful hostage in this battle.

 Fernan handed over the fallen Emperor to a knight near him.  Then he turned around and crossed the chaotic audience hall.

 He hurriedly walked out and ran down the hallway.

 There was blood everywhere, all over the stairs, landings, and halls.  Outside the palace, the knights were also in the midst of a bloody battle.

 Fernan just stared straight ahead, like someone unrelated to all of that, and hastened his steps.

 ***

 There was a quiet atmosphere in the detached palace just before the commotion broke out in the central palace. Julia looked silently at her meal that the maid had left on the table. The meal on the tray was left cold and untouched for a long time.

 Julia recalled for a moment what she had seen outside through the crack in the door when her maid came in.  Even then, there were people standing on the outside.

 But unlike yesterday, there was only one person today.

 ‘If it’s just one person, maybe…’

 Julia took out the dagger she had hidden in her arms.  As soon as she peeled off the cover, a small but sharp blade flashed with light.

 Biting her lips tightly, Julia looked at the closed door.  If she used the key Grayson gave her, she could open that door and go out.

 The guards also had shifts, so by late at night or early in the morning, their surveillance might loosen.

 Julia looked at the blocked walls in all directions for a long time.  There were no windows, so she couldn’t tell if it was day or night, but the maid who stopped by a long time ago had definitely said. ‘I'll leave your dinner here.'

 Now, it felt like three or four hours had passed, so it must be late at night.

 Julia stopped her footsteps and slowly approached the door, put her ear to the door and tried to understand the situation outside, but there was no sound.

 Julia took a long deep breath as she straightened her body again.

 She knew that if she delayed further, she would not have an answer.  Enough time had already passed, and she had a lot of worries.

 If she does nothing and just stamps her feet helplessly, she will eventually become the Crown Prince's will.

 “Okay.”

 Julia, who showed her determined face, held the key.  She didn't forget to grip the dagger with her other hand.

 Her hesitation did not last long.  She immediately put the key into the doorknob and the unlocked door with a click.

 Julia turned the doorknob with her nervous face.

 “…  ”

As she peeked outside, she saw a guard dozing off leaning against the opposite wall.

  After she saw that the guard’s eyes were closed, Julia held her breath and stepped outside the door.

 Her heart beat so much that she was afraid that people could hear it. Julia held her trembling breath and hurriedly ran down the hallway.

 As she ran without looking back, the winding hallway was revealed.

 She looked at the long, wide hallway and bit her lips, but she didn't delay.

 Throughout her run, her ankle twisted and throbbed.  But she never felt pain.

 As she reached the end of the hallway, she saw a circular staircase in the middle of the newly emerged hallway.

 Perhaps because it was night, there was no one nearby.  Julia, who was faintly relieved by that fact, hurriedly walked to the stairs.

 Then she belatedly turned her head to check behind her, fortunately the guard was not following her.

 “Whew….”

 Exhaling a breath that was blocked from running in a hurry, Julia raised her head.

 As she was about to go down the circular staircase, she suddenly heard footsteps from below.  Frozen, Julia glanced down and saw three men coming up the stairs.

 It was the Crown Prince and his servants.

 Watching the Crown Prince slowly climb the stairs with his knights, Julia's head went blank.  Still, she instinctively took her steps back and went back the way she had come.

 Running down the hallway, she hurriedly opened any door in sight and stepped inside. Thud! She stumbled on her foot and fell to the floor, but without feeling any pain, she hurriedly got up and ran again.

 After closing the door, Julia exhaled urgently.

 ‘… Did the Crown Prince see me?’

 She couldn't figure out why the Crown Prince had come at such a late hour, but it was probably not a good thing.

 Julia lowered her gaze with her anxious face, but her eyes, which were trembling at the sound of footsteps outside, gradually widened.

 The sound of trudging, multiple footsteps began to get closer to where she was.

 A large closet came into the eyes of Julia, who was hurriedly wandering her gaze.  Without time to think about anything else, she ran straight to the closet.

Julia quickly went into the large closet and closed the sliding door.

 Her hands trembled as she crouched down on her knees to catch her breath.  Even if the Crown Prince didn’t see her, he would soon find out that she was gone.

 In the end, it was only a matter of time before they would catch her.

 Her breathing gradually grew harsher.  Her stomach, which had been clogged with tension and pressure the whole time, seemed to be finally twisting.  Amidst all the confusion and fear, a face appeared in Julia's mind.

 Fernan, who spent the past month with her in her dream-like time.

 The last time she saw his beautiful face filled her mind.

 Julia bit her lips. She hoped he wouldn’t come to find her.

 She hoped that he would think she ran away again, and wouldn’t come so nothing would be taken away by the Crown Prince.

 She didn't want to see Fernan hurt because of her.

 As the Crown Prince said, if he collapses.  If it's because of her..…

Her hands were tense. If that happened, she couldn't stand it.

 Taking her small breaths, Julia recalled her memories of the past two years that she had forgotten, one by one.

 Her marriage started two years ago.  The days when she met new people and lived a happy life for a while after escaping the pain of her foolish love.

 Then one winter day, the man who rescued her from being chased by monsters.

 Like an idiot, she thought he dragged her back by force and misunderstood him. Even at the moment when she showed resentment and hatred, he didn't say anything.

 He just quietly accepted all her feelings.

 When she found out that her presence would harm him, she thought it would be better for each other not to be together.

 So she left him again…

 It ended up like this.  Also, that person…

 Julia felt her vision gradually blur.  Why was he always like this, and why couldn’t he take a step forward?  Tears that I endured with frustration and sadness finally streamed down her face.

 bang!

 At that moment, there was the sound of something breaking.  At the same time, someone came into the room.

 Julia opened her eyes wide and tightened her body.

 She heard the footsteps wandering here and there as if looking for something, and Julia covered her mouth with her hand.  The sound of footsteps that followed so urgently got closer and closer and finally stopped right in front of her.  Julia lowered her trembling hand and grabbed the knife she had put back in her arms.

 Grasping the hilt with all her might, she waited for the door to open.  The sound of her pounding heart was loud enough to penetrate her ears.

 ‘Don't hesitate.'

 As she struggled to hold onto her mind, the sliding door finally swung open.

 At the same time, Julia raised her dagger high.

 “… !”

 However, her hand, raised high, stopped in the air.

 Julia's eyes began to tremble, confirming the person in front of her. It wasn’t the Crown Prince.

 “Julia.”

 The man whom she wished would not come was standing right in front of her.

 Fernan, whose robe was soaked in blood, looked at her with her intense eyes.

He was exhaling harsh breaths, perhaps he had searched all over to find her.

 Julia looked at him with wet eyes and muttered.

 “…Your Highness."