I chuckled softly and shifted my gaze to the map. After extending my thumb and ring finger to gauge the distance, I tapped the map and spoke.
"If we go around this mountain, we should be able to make decent time."
"Wouldn't it be better to cut through the Freya region instead? We need to keep tabs on the search parties' movements to avoid them as situations arise. Besides, you've been kidnapped by monsters twice now, so they'll be scouring the mountains and forests. They would never imagine you'd sneak into a city this quickly."
Zenon certainly had a point.
Samuel had tracking abilities of his own, so he was an exception, but the Roam and Imperial search parties were a different matter. Checking on the search parties periodically was indeed important.
Moreover, this was the season when the streets would be crowded with people, making it easier to hide among the throngs.
'The Harvest Festival should be starting in various places around now...'
Unless they were mad, they wouldn't send soldiers through cities in the middle of a festival and create an ominous atmosphere.
The Imperial family and Roam would be busy with the Harvest Festival events in the capital, and the Grand Temple would be holding similar ceremonies around this time. Perhaps the search efforts would pause briefly.
"Alright."
I confirmed the spot Zenon's finger was pointing to. The Freya fields were marked with simple symbols on the map.
It was a fertile region responsible for the largest tribute payments each year, the Empire's source of wealth. The grand Harvest Festival held there would be perfect for hiding.
Most importantly, the search parties had no idea what my true objective was.
Therefore, they wouldn't find any consistency in my movements either.
* * *
Marxel, who had just entered his office after finally finishing a long meeting, came to an abrupt halt. An uninvited guest was waiting inside.
"I thought we hadn't seen each other in too long..."
Lilia, dressed in a resplendent gown, stood up and began speaking with a bright smile.
"Lilia."
"I know you're busy. I came to the Imperial Palace to visit Her Majesty the Empress and thought I'd stop by just to see your face before leaving."
Lilia fidgeted with her hands as she quickly made her excuses, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.
Marxel looked at her with bewildered eyes before pushing away his fatigue and responding gently.
"I'm sorry. The Harvest Festival alone keeps me busy, but I'm also personally overseeing the search parties. Meetings keep piling up."
At Marxel's answer, the shy smile that had been lingering on Lilia's lips grew stiff.
"The search parties... you mean the Imperial search parties looking for the Resurrected One?"
"That's right."
Lilia looked at Marxel with surprised eyes and murmured with an awkward expression.
"I thought that was left to the knights."
"The knights may conduct the search, but I'm in charge of overseeing it."
"With all the work you already have, someone else should handle that."
"It's important work."
Marxel replied matter-of-factly as he headed toward his desk. There wasn't anything particularly important on it.
Even so, to have an unannounced guest in the Crown Prince's office like this. He would have to retrain the attendants from the beginning.
Marxel naturally swept his gaze across the desk and slipped the few sheets of paper he was holding into a drawer. Lilia approached from the side and offered her opinion in a spirited tone.
"The Roam family has also organized a search party. If I speak to my father, he will certainly cooperate actively."
A Roam search party? Marxel's brows furrowed slightly, but he soon composed his expression and turned his head.
"A noble of the Empire received a divine oracle and was resurrected. The Imperial family is the master of the Empire, so naturally we organized an official search party. This is separate from Roam's search."
"If a member of the Imperial family must step forward for such matters, then couldn't you just... ah. Couldn't you assign it to the First Prince? I heard he recently returned to the Imperial Palace. He has nothing to do anyway."
At the mention of Heinri, Marxel's nerves stood on edge. He had already been feeling unsettled ever since his conversation with him in the corridor some time ago.
Marxel clenched his teeth and changed the subject entirely.
"Lilia."
At his firm call, Lilia, who had been chattering, opened her eyes wide and fell silent.
"There will soon be an event commemorating the Harvest Festival. Are you preparing for it?"
"Pardon?"
"As my fiancée, you need to check the event details in advance. You'll be participating, after all."
Her large eyes filled with consternation. She blinked hesitantly and then spoke with uncertainty.
"You said official events like that were uncomfortable for me..."
"We can't keep putting it off forever. After the wedding, I won't be able to help you, so you need to learn the major schedules by accompanying me now."
"That's why I'm looking for an excellent support staff."
"It's not about support staff. You need to be prepared yourself."
They were surely training her separately in Roam.
Since they were a family originally meant to produce an Empress, he had assumed they would handle her education properly and left it to them. But looking at Lilia's expression, she was clearly not prepared at all.
Seeing Marxel's hardened expression, Lilia's lips trembled. With her eyebrows lowered, she protested with a sorrowful face.
"I've only just barely escaped my younger sister's shadow! Your Highness knows how difficult it was for me in Roam all this time! You know full well what my sister did to me!"
Moisture pooled in her always-warm green eyes.
"Since hearing the news that my sister has come back to life, do you have any idea how shocked I've been, how many days I've spent in fear? My sister hated me until she died. If she returns, the past will just repeat itself..."
Lilia covered her mouth and shrank into herself. Whether from recalling the past, her face was filled with terror.
Only then did Marxel remember the cruelty Aneli had once inflicted on Lilia.
Wasn't the incident that dragged Aneli to the execution platform precisely when she had torn Lilia's back with a whip?
Even without that incident, there were plenty of reasons for Lilia to fear Aneli.
"I'm so scared. My sister will hold a grudge against me."
"Aneli won't lay a hand on you. I won't allow it."
When Marxel pulled Lilia into an embrace and patted her, she buried her head in his chest. The trembling of her shoulders transferred directly to him.
"If I'd known you were this anxious, I would have paid more attention. I'm sorry."
Marxel sighed sincerely. Since hearing the news of Aneli's resurrection, he had been acting as if his mind was elsewhere. It was because emotions he himself couldn't understand had been swirling within him.
Lost in feelings he couldn't identify, he hadn't realized his own fiancée was this afraid.
"Please entrust the search party to someone else, alright? When I think about how my younger sister was obsessed with Your Highness, I'm still scared."
Lilia clutched the lapels of Marxel's clothes and looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.
Her earnest voice had always broken down Marxel's resolve. When she asked, he had always agreed to anything.
But this particular request was beyond his authority.
"That was directly ordered by His Majesty, so I can't decide that on my own."
"But you have many subordinates you can command. Why must you personally take on such an uncomfortable task? His Majesty would understand the circumstances."
Lilia spoke as if she couldn't understand. The moment he heard those words, Marxel spoke before his mind could even judge the situation.
"It's not uncomfortable."
"...Not uncomfortable?"
The moment he heard Lilia's suspicious voice, Marxel came to his senses. He grasped her shoulders with both hands and pushed her back.
"Lilia. That's not what's important right now. I want to be with you, but as I said, I'm busy with the Harvest Festival. It's something I can't put off."
Lilia took a couple of awkward steps back from Marxel and firmly pressed her lips together. However, she soon nodded reluctantly.
"Alright."
"Your guard?"
Lilia shook her head without a word.
"I'll assign Sir Stern to you. Make sure to accept his protection."
Sir Stern was Marxel's closest confidant and an excellent knight in charge of his protection. Assigning him meant he was taking special care of her, so Lilia left the office with a somewhat softened expression.
Stern, who had been waiting outside the door, received Marxel's signal and silently followed after Lilia.
Alone in the office, Marxel loosened the tie that had been constricting his neck. A sigh escaped him at the stifling feeling that hadn't improved in the slightest.
Everything seemed to be in disarray. Everything.
"Couldn't you assign it to the First Prince? He has nothing to do anyway."
Recalling Lilia's innocent suggestion only worsened this suffocating feeling.
His older brother Heinri was barely alive—in truth, his situation was no different from having all four limbs severed. The close aides he had commanded were all dead or imprisoned, if not exiled far away.
He himself knew this, which was why he was living so quietly. When they had encountered each other in the corridor, if Marxel hadn't deliberately called out to him, he would have returned to his palace like a mouse.
Assign Heinri to find Aneli's whereabouts?
"Imagine it. Her, vowing eternal love to me before the gods. The sight of her in my arms, happy because of me. Aneli Roam, kissing me, looking only at me, moving for my sake, allowing only me to call her name."
Heinri's smiling expression came to mind. The composed and brazen words that had flowed from his lips.
Heinri's words were all vain delusions. The words Marxel had originally said to Heinri were meant as mockery, knowing they were impossible assumptions.
Heinri had also understood this, yet had responded as if such things could actually happen.
So he should have just ignored it all.
"Things you may have once enjoyed but will never be permitted again."
Everything he once enjoyed but would never be permitted again.
That couldn't be. That wouldn't happen. If Aneli had ever given even a speck of her heart to Heinri, there would have been signs long ago.
Where Aneli's gaze always landed was Marxel, and that wasn't something that would change so simply.
Perhaps because he couldn't have her, she had become an even greater obsession. Given Aneli Roam's nature, she would likely cling to Marxel out of sheer obstinacy.
Therefore, the things Heinri had spoken of weren't even worth imagining.