C175
"This…"
What was in the emperor's hand was a watch similar to the pocket watch that Terence had previously given to Ethel.
"It matches the one I gave to your mother. There used to be someone you wanted to give that watch to."
In fact, Terence's decision to give Ethel the pocket watch was not impulsive.
He had been thinking about giving the watch to Ethel for quite some time and had even secretly leaked the story to the emperor.
Even if no one else knew, he felt that his father, who gave the watch to his mother, should know.
The emperor, who had not responded to Terence's words at that time, suddenly showed him his pocket watch.
"I didn't know my father had the same one."
"I made a pair from scratch. Due to my sins, I couldn't bear to carry it with me."
"But why suddenly…?"
"In reality, this is some kind of artifact. Now, quickly turn the hour hand of the watch three times."
After receiving the pocket watch from the Emperor, Terence turned the hand and wound it up.
"An artifact."
He had adjusted the time on his watch several times in the past, but since he never turned the hour hand three times at once, he didn't notice.
The strange thing happened when he turned the hands three times and returned to their original position.
Suddenly, the hour and minute hands moved on their own and pointed in a direction.
The emperor explained.
"The two watches are designed to point in each other's direction. If Viscountess Lucibiou left with that watch, it might help you find her."
Because he had been so busy these past few days, Terence couldn't check the missing belongings in Ethel's room.
However, the direction the hour and minute hands pointed to was not the annex where she was staying.
He handed the watch to Ethel on the morning of the incident.
It was unlikely that Ethel had placed the watch elsewhere in that short period of time, so it was most likely where the two hands were pointing.
Terence tightly held his pocket watch.
His heart swelled as it was the only clue that appeared while he was in a fog where he couldn't see anything.
"Thank you, Father."
"… Your mother treasured that watch a lot. She kept it in her jewelry box because she was afraid it would get damaged while wearing it."
The emperor's face filled with regret as he spoke of the past.
"That's why I couldn't find her when she was kidnapped. I was planning to visit her secretly someday and surprise her. But I couldn't do it."
Terence looked at his father, who bowed his head.
"May I ask why you gave this to me? You were against it until now."
The emperor, looking into the distance as if deep in thought, opened his mouth a moment later.
"I don't know. It's crazy even to think about it. As an emperor, I have to stop you. As a father, I have to stop you even more. But for some reason, looking at you, while you say you wouldn't give up on the person you love…"
The conversation did not continue further, but Terence intuitively understood what his father had swallowed.
The person who gave him this pocket watch was not the emperor of this country or Terence's father.
It was another face of Dominic Asteroth, a man who simply loved a woman and thought she had disappeared long ago, dragged by ambition.
"Do you wish you weren't like me?"
Terence opened his mouth as he grabbed the doorknob.
"I am not my father."
Although Terence successfully rescued Ethel, Dominic's old wish did not come true.
The past has not returned.
"But I promise to return safe and sound with that person."
That was all Terence could say to his father.
Dominic chuckled.
"Go quickly. I don't know when the effect will wear off and I'll come to my senses and order you to be arrested."
"I will return soon."
Until Terence left the room, the emperor could only look out the window with a tired face.
The next place Terence headed to was the Empress's Palace.
"What's happening?"
Mikhail, who seemed to have spent the night there, greeted Terence half-embarrassed.
Unable to bear that the woman he had loved was being executed, he left the capital for a while, but what he heard was not news of the execution, but the sad news of his mother.
The cruel truth that she had died at the hands of his former lover was enough to make Mikhail lose his soul.
However, Terence was also in an urgent situation and, unfortunately, did not have time to consider Mikhail's situation.
"What right do I have to dare…?"
When Terence told him to take charge of state affairs, Mikhail hesitated.
"Whatever happens, I will go. If you don't want to, I have no choice but to leave it to Duchess Luciano."
Excluding the two of them, she, the emperor's younger sister, was the highest-ranking successor to the throne.
Mikhail was silent for a moment and then made eye contact.
"No, let me do it. I think I'll go crazy if I don't work hard."
Terence nodded once and was about to turn away.
"If you are going to rescue the viscountess, you will also see Liena."
Mikhail said with a subdued voice.
"So?"
"I have a favor to ask of you."
For the first time in his life, he asked his half-brother for a "favor."
"Kill Liena."
After leaving the Empress's Palace, Terence spoke with Jack, who followed him.
"Are you disappointed that I am abandoning my duties and leaving?"
"It's not possible. When I think about it again, I think this resembles more the prince I know."
He slightly raised the corners of his mouth and then focused on the direction his pocket watch was pointing.
"After all, it's the West."
—"He left the empire, right?"
"That's very likely. Only small monsters are left in the empire. Big monsters like wyverns should be easy to detect."
"So, is he in the territory of the Zabika Kingdom, bordering the west? Compared to the Empire, monsters are quite active there, aren't they?"
"It's not impossible, but somehow it doesn't seem right."
Ethel wrote in the letter that she was going to a remote place with few people.
Although there were many uninhabited areas within the Asteroth Empire and the Zabika Kingdom, there were vast lands on the continent that were completely inaccessible to humans.
"The kingdom of demonic beasts."
Jack made an angry expression at those words.
"Do you still want to go there? Not only are there swarms of monsters, but even demonic energy flows through the ground."
"If I were Liena, I would go there."
If she expected to hide from humans forever using demonic beasts.
"I would have gone to the kingdom of demonic beasts. I have to think of that as my destiny and act accordingly."
"...Well. It will be a very difficult and long journey. There wouldn't even be a road there."
"Getting there is also a problem. Even if you take the train and then ride a horse, it will take almost a month."
Damn it, Terence bit his lip.
In my heart, I wanted to teleport immediately to where Ethel was.
However, the teleportation artifact can only move short distances and cannot move living creatures...
"One moment."
Then something crossed Terence's mind.
"A device that can transport living creatures to distant places."
He had heard such a story recently.
In addition to that, people all over the world were excited about that story for a while.
Terence remembered the city where he had met the inventor of the device, or rather his alter ego.
Coincidentally, it was west of the capital.
"He said it was still unfinished. But..."
He had to reach the balance point.
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A few days later.
Ethel and Liena were face to face at the same table.
"Ethel, eat a lot."
Liena smiled cheerfully and pointed to the prepared food.
"I worked hard to make it, and I hope it suits your tastes."
"...Yes, thank you."
Lucy smelled the food on my plate and then blinked.
It was a sign that there was no poison or anything.
I said as I slowly ate my food.
"It's quite delicious."
"It's a relief!"
"I told you before, but I didn't know you knew how to cook."
"Because I worked as a housekeeper in my previous life. Although the ingredients brought by the monsters are limited, I will prepare even more delicious food in the future!"
I just smiled awkwardly as I looked at Liena, whose cheeks were turning red.
After an awkward meal where I didn't even know if the food went into my mouth or my nose, I returned to the room I had been assigned and sighed.
"Why do her words and actions become more and more disgusting?"
After being assigned this room, the first thing I did with Lucy was to check for any listening devices so I could speak my mind relatively comfortably.
The place we are currently staying in is an old building within monster territory.
According to Liena's explanation, it was built by demons who lived in this area a long time ago, but the facilities were in better condition than expected, perhaps because a preservation spell had been applied for some time.
Also, monsters took care of all the simple chores, so as Liena had previously assured me, there were no major inconveniences in life.
"I feel extremely uncomfortable, but..."
As I lay quietly on the bed because I had nothing to do, Lucy whispered softly.
"But it was not without success."
Lucy was definitely right.
"I guess my mistress saw it too, didn't she?"
"Of course I did."
The shadow that appeared at Liena's call was moving slower than before.
It seemed that the binding artifact that the Shadow had previously absorbed was slowly taking effect.
Not only was it going along with Liena's playroom game, it was waiting for the right moment.
Understanding Liena and Shadow's movements and the internal structure of this building.
"There's not much time left now."
As I had done many times since I arrived here, I took out my pocket watch and opened it.
It was an act to calm my mind.
When I was like this, I felt as if Terence were by my side. However.
"Huh? Why is this like this...?"
The hour and minute hands of the pocket watch were spinning randomly.
"Is it really broken?"
Anxiety gripped me.
It was Terence's precious keepsake, so I thought about leaving it, but I became greedy and brought it...
"It shouldn't break!"
Embarrassed, I hit the watch several times in an attempt to fix it, and Lucy exclaimed in surprise.
"Are you planning to break it even more?"
"No, this usually fixes it..."
At that moment. Something fell on me from the air with a strange whizzing sound.
It didn't hit me very hard, and fortunately I didn't feel much pain because there was a bed underneath, but my heart was in a state of extreme shock.
"Ethel?"
The person who spoke was Terence.
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