I Don't Need the Grand Duke's Regret - Chapter 67
“Haa, haa…”
Armilla clutched her chest, gasping for air. Just one more hill to cross before entering the border of Segolinde. Then she could head straight to the convent.
But as she approached the hilltop, snow began to fall. What started as fine flakes soon grew thicker and heavier.
Trudging through the snow that reached her knees, Armilla leaned on a rock and panted.
She cast anxious eyes toward the darkening sky.
Once darkness sets in, the dormant beasts begin to stir. She needed to find a hiding place before it got completely dark.
Armilla started searching for a cave. While she walked south, a strong gust of wind made her stagger and fall backward.
“Ah!”
Armilla got up, brushing off the pain. She felt powerless against the mighty forces of nature.
Just to be toppled by the wind.
She couldn’t count how many times she had fallen and rolled on her way here. Each time, Armilla never let go of the hand wrapped around her stomach.
‘I can make it. I will make it.’
Determination shone in Armilla’s green eyes.
This time was different from the last. She had a place to stay, and she had bought some time before Ricardo could follow her.
All she needed to do was get through this ordeal.
This was just one of the many challenges Armilla would have to face.
Compared to giving birth and raising a child alone, this was nothing.
With this thought, Armilla trudged on. Her dress that was now soaked with snow, dragged heavily around her legs, but she didn’t stop.
“Ah…!”
While battling through the snowy path, Armilla stumbled forward this time. Her dress was caught on a branch.
As she turned to free the dress, Armilla’s eyes widened in horror.
“Grr…”
A massive shadow loomed over her.
A beast, as large as a grown man, was approaching Armilla.
‘Oh no.’
The moment she saw the beast, Armilla ran frantically. Her cloak’s hood flew off, letting her red hair flutter in the wind.
“Haah, haah, hah…”
Armilla’s vision blurred as she heaved for breath. Her lungs were tight.
The creature she had just seen was no ordinary beast. It was enormous, unlike anything she had ever seen before. It seemed to be the leader beast.
‘Why now!’
Armilla wanted to cry. She felt like cursing the heavens. She wanted to ask why she was tormented so, what she had done so wrong.
“Acck!”
As she ran mindlessly, Armilla’s foot slipped on ice. A small frozen puddle grabbed her ankle, sending her tumbling to the ground.
Her knees were cold and hurt. But Armilla got up and ran. The beast’s growling was getting closer.
Armilla ran desperately. And then, with a shocked face, she abruptly stopped.
There was nowhere left to run.
A cliff lay before Armilla. She had unwittingly reached the edge of a steep and high cliff.
As she moved, the gravel beneath her feet tumbled down. Watching the stones fall, Armilla clenched her teeth. The cliff was dizzyingly deep.
“Grrrr…”
While she looked down, the leader beast slowly approached Armilla. With her back to the cliff, she faced the beast.
The beast revealed its white fangs as it exhaled a hot breath. It was clear that if caught, she would be torn apart.
There was only one option left.
Armilla clenched her teeth, wrapped her hands protectively around her stomach, and slowly stepped backward.
‘Dear God.’
Armilla prayed desperately and closed her eyes tightly. Then, with trembling feet, she stepped back.
As the beast howled in frustration at losing its prey, Armilla’s body fell off the cliff.
* * *
15 days had passed since Armilla’s escape.
Ricardo and his knights scoured the snow-covered mountains, but not a trace of Armilla could be found.
As if she had never existed, she had vanished without a trace.
After Armilla’s disappearance, Ricardo stopped eating and sleeping. His eyes became bloodshot, but people weren’t overly concerned.
They had seen him like this before when Armilla lost consciousness.
Everyone was fearful of the Grand Duke’s change but believed he would eventually recover.
However, as time passed, Ricardo did not return to his usual self, primarily because Armilla remained missing. With each passing day, Ricardo grew more desolate.
Two days, three days, a week… and then fifteen days passed.
Blizzards raged in the mountains, and the water droplets on the windows froze as the cold snap continued.
While spring had arrived in the capital, Renato remained in the grip of winter.
A cold winter where it wouldn’t be surprising if people froze to death.
The mansion’s staff all thought Armilla must have frozen to death, but no one dared to utter such words in front of the Duke.
“…I must have heard wrong.”
At the Grand Duke’s ominous voice, Nasir swallowed hard. Ricardo, with a sword blade against the butler’s neck, spoke with fierce eyes.
“Say it again.”
Paolo stood petrified.
Moments earlier, while giving instructions to a servant, he had grumbled about taking too long to find ‘just one corpse’.
He thought the Master was away from the mansion and spoke carelessly. After the Grand Duchess vanished, Ricardo had practically lived in the mountains.
In fact, the situation was more than frustrating for Paolo.
He had never liked Armilla. He was discontent with a woman he deemed unfit for the role of Grand Duchess occupying the Black Room.
Now, because of her, the entire employee of Vittore was mobilized to find her. Because of it, the household wasn’t able to run smoothly.
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