C117
'That can't be possible'.
After picking up the letter that had fallen, Terence returned to his room and tried to make a calm decision.
"I know nothing about that letter," said the maid named Laura, who served Ethel.
"Ethel only said she was going to meet someone named Angela, but besides that..."
"Who is Angela?"
"I apologize, Your Highness. I don't know that either."
"How did her face look when she read this letter?"
"Now that I think about it, I think she had a serious expression on her face when she received that letter."
In the end, Laura left without providing much information.
He was absorbed. It was true that Ethel planned to leave the empire.
Terence had tried not to be aware of that part on purpose, but he had never forgotten it for a moment. Not for a moment.
So, when he found the magic stones in the mines of Andala and it was revealed that their grade was the highest level, he felt secretly happy.
Because of the mine, the chances of Ethel staying in the empire would increase, and indeed, as she was busy with the mine issue, she didn't mention her old plans.
But he knew better. The fact is that Ethel is a person who will break free from any limitation of reality and flee if she really decides to.
Immediately Vinetta and the Imperial Knights followed her to protect her, but Ethel had a divine beast.
If she used the power of the divine beast, it would be no problem to simply escape from them.
With trembling hands, Terence checked the inside of the envelope that had been carelessly thrown on the desk.
There was a train ticket reservation document that seemed to have been attached by the sender of this letter for Ethel.
The date is today, the destination is a port city located at the eastern end of the empire.
There is a ship going to the Kingdom of Soro.
Terence's reason whispered. That can't be possible.
The Ethel he knew wouldn't have left such a relevant letter on her desk so defenseless if she had planned to leave without anyone knowing.
It also whispered. That even if Ethel left, she's not the type of person to leave without saying goodbye.
"At least she should have left me a letter..."
While whispering, the train ticket reservation document that Terence had in his hand crumpled.
Both reason and emotion claimed it was a hasty misunderstanding, but Terence couldn't ignore the slight possibility that had come to his mind.
The worst possibility is that he would lose Ethel in vain like this.
"Jack!"
The assistant waiting nearby appeared in front of him as he exited the room with hurried steps.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Go right now to the central train station and find out if they have seen someone with a similar appearance to Ethel and if there is a ticket issued with the reservation number written here..."
Terence, who was about to hand the crumpled document to Jack, bit his lip and crumpled it into his pocket.
"No. I'll go check it myself."
"Your Highness?"
"It's okay, prepare a horse. If Ethel returns in the meantime, send someone there."
Terence walked down the villa hallway without waiting for Jack's response.
It's definitely a misunderstanding. It must be a misunderstanding. Still, there's nothing wrong with checking.
Terence didn't have time to stand still and wait for Ethel to come home.
* * *
"Are you okay?"
Vinetta, seeing that I had regained consciousness, asked.
"Where am I?"
I got up from the bed and removed the blanket from my body.
"At the house of a doctor near the orphanage. Angela guided me."
"The doctor said you were fine, but suddenly you collapsed... Do you have any chronic illness?"
Like Vinetta, Angela, who was sitting beside the bed, looked at me with worried eyes.
There's nothing like that. I'm healthy.
The image I saw in my dream flashed through my mind.
"...I just remembered some things."
"Have your childhood memories come back?"
"Just a little. I often climbed the mountain behind here, picked raspberries, ate them, and played."
And Duke Cassius arrived at the orphanage and expressed his intention to support Ethel.
However, according to Angela, Ethel couldn't meet Duke Cassius because she was transferred to another orphanage.
In summary, if the dream I just had really happened, it would be a memory from her first life, not this life.
"I can't believe Ethel had such a connection with Cassius."
The story continues from the dream I had last time.
Probably, the moment Ethel took in Liena, who had nowhere to go, was when she became independent from Cassius and lived alone after graduating from the academy.
It was fortunate that she wasn't Cassius's adopted daughter, but the situation was very ironic.
It is said that the content changed due to my possession, but Ethel, who had been close to Cassius in the previous life in a sponsorship relationship, became Leandro's wife in this life.
Their relationship deteriorated so much that they ended up divorcing.
My thoughts naturally turned to the person who had made this life so twisted.
"Liena."
The Liena I saw in my dream was an unfortunate girl who was so starved for the love of others that she envied rabbits.
"Maybe I can't do this because I'm not the real Ethel, but...."