Chapter 69
Adrian set the letter down, silently grateful that he was at home when he read it.
“Ha…”
The letter wasn’t written in difficult words nor in broken sentences, yet he couldn’t grasp it at once.
No—this wasn’t a matter of comprehension, but rather whether his mind could accept what was written or not.
As Jerelac had warned at the beginning of his letter, Adrian felt he would need to read it at least ten times before he could truly take it in.
“So… does that mean Rieve is inside that book?”
But how could that be possible?
“Then what should I do? He said he’d look for a way… but is such a thing even possible?”
As he let out a long, tangled sigh, Adrian suddenly understood Jerelac’s attitude.
Of course—His Grace must have wanted to examine the book more closely.
But it seems that book can’t be taken outside.
Adrian stared blankly at the letter lying on his desk.
When he placed a letter inside the book, it would somehow reach Rieverata.
That must be how she and Jerelac were communicating.
Good heavens.
Adrian shut his eyes so tightly that his head throbbed, then opened them again.
Rieve… she was inside that book.
He gazed at the letter again, then at the window outside.
“Does this even make sense…?”
When he had reunited with Rieve after coming of age, Adrian had felt a tremor he had never experienced before.
The mischievous little girl who once threw tantrums to get her way had grown into a dazzlingly beautiful woman.
Her lively, easygoing charm had utterly captivated him.
That is… until he realized Jerelac Cygnus had also fallen under her spell.
And to make matters worse, Leoni—Rieverata’s close friend—had begun showing interest in him as well, leaving Adrian deeply conflicted.
Of course, Leoni Almaz was a kind and graceful woman. She was gentle, beautiful, and easy to talk to.
But being with her was never as exhilarating as being with Rieve.
“So what should I do now…?”
His head was a storm of tangled thoughts.
He looked down at the letter again.
To think that he had to watch this desperate, aching message reach her.
His chest felt as if a stone had been lodged inside, heavy and suffocating.
“Don’t entertain useless thoughts.”
The idea of Jerelac’s affections being conveyed to Rieve was unbearable—but Adrian wasn’t the sort of man to stoop so low as to hide a letter.
Besides, the contents contained things Rieve truly needed to know.
How could he risk her safety just to gratify his own selfish desire?
And yet… doing nothing wasn’t an option either.
“…Perhaps… this is my chance.”
A chance that might never come again.
Adrian sank deep into thought.
If Jerelac and Rieverata were separated, could he not somehow let distance wear away at their bond?
Then, suddenly, a daring idea struck him.
“…What if I changed the contents of the book?”
After all, it was still just a printed book.
If he cut out or erased important passages, wouldn’t that alter the flow of the story itself?
Clutching Jerelac’s letter tightly, Adrian rose from his seat.
Leoni reacted exactly as Jerelac had expected.
“…”
She sat in silence for a long while, then furrowed her brows and lifted her teacup.
“Your Grace, you’ve hardly touched this precious tea.”
When Jerelac obediently raised the cup, she gave him a kind smile.
“I heard this blend helps calm the mind and body.”
He set it down again, his dry gaze fixed upon her.
“Right now, I—”
“Your Grace, I know no one is suffering more than you.”
“…”
“I too am deeply troubled and pained. I have no idea if Rieve has soared into the heavens or hidden deep within the earth.”
Jerelac closed and opened his eyes slowly, while Leoni placed her hand over her chest and continued.
“Dozens, no, hundreds of times a day I think of her. I replay our last conversation again and again, wondering if she left me some hidden clue, or if there had been some sign beforehand.”
“…”
“And then sometimes… my thoughts drift to strange places. Just as yours are now, Your Grace.”
Jerelac raised his hand to silence her.
“Wait. Right now—”
“I understand. Truly, I do. But I think Your Grace needs to set aside these burdens, drink warm tea, and take some rest.”
“…Are you saying I’m spouting nonsense?”
“No, not at all, Your Grace. That’s not what I meant.”
The truth was, Leoni didn’t believe a single word Jerelac had said.
Had it been an outlandish claim, she could have at least pretended. But this—this was beyond even polite pretense.
His stress must be unbearable. His face… it’s worn and gaunt. Oh, what should I do…?
To her, Jerelac looked utterly pitiful.
“I was only worried for you, Your Grace. Forgive me if I spoke rudely.”
She faltered, lowering her eyes.
But to Jerelac, her words—and even her apology—meant nothing.
“This was a private letter, one I had no intention of showing… but since you refuse to believe me, I have no choice.”
He pulled a folded paper from his coat and set it on the table.
Leoni’s eyes flicked from the letter to Jerelac in puzzlement.
“It’s from Rieve.”
Still, she couldn’t believe him.
A letter? He actually brought a letter? I wasn’t expecting this.
She couldn’t even bring herself to reach for it.
Heavens… has His Grace truly lost his mind? Where is his aide? Surely he came with him…
For the first time, she worried about the future of Mütten.
If the Grand Duke had been driven into delusions and hallucinations by Rieve’s disappearance, what would become of them all?
“Read it.”
“….”
At last, Leoni took the letter.
As her expression shifted from disbelief to shock, Jerelac sipped his tea, his face easing slightly.
Now she’ll finally understand.
“Your Grace…”
Leoni tore her eyes away from the page, her face pale as snow.
Then, stammering, she let her trembling voice fall onto the table.
“Th-this… this really is Rieve’s handwriting.”
“Yes.”
“How could this be…?”
Jerelac merely gave a shrug.
“What sort of trickery is this?”
“Trickery?”
“You’re saying Rieve is truly inside a book? That she’s really…”
Jerelac pushed the teacup closer to her.
“It seems you’re the one in need of calming tea now.”
But Leoni only pressed her flushed cheeks with her hands and murmured:
“My God… then what should we do? What must we do now?”
“We must search.”
Suddenly, Leoni’s expression shifted as a thought struck her. She looked back down at the letter, scanning quickly until her eyes stopped on a line.
“Your Grace… I just remembered something.”
Still clutching the letter, she went on.
“Thinking back now, Rieve once mentioned you to me—”
But she broke off, unable to continue.
(She said you were far more handsome than the rumors claimed, the most eligible bachelor of all… But I could never bring myself to say such a thing aloud.)
“…Me?” Jerelac prompted.
Leoni shook her head, dismissing it. There was something else, something more urgent to share.
“N-no, I mean… that old woman who came to see Rieve.”
“The one who warned her to return to her rightful place.”
“Yes. She’s mentioned in the letter, but I actually accompanied Rieve to see a fortune-teller back then, when misfortunes kept happening to me.”
Sadly, she couldn’t recall everything that was said.
At the time, she’d been too consumed by her own bad luck to pay full attention to Rieve’s conversation with the seer.
“I can’t remember the entire exchange, but… one phrase burned itself into my memory.”
“What did she say?”
“She said—since Rieve had already made up her mind, then she could only disappear. That if she let things flow as they were, something even more terrible would happen.”
“….”
“So I asked my friend to make her a protective charm bracelet, one that would ward off misfortune. That last warning was the only thing I remembered.”
Leoni handed the letter back to him.
Inside, it repeated the same warning.
If I fail to fit the puzzle together properly, misfortune will consume me and those around me. She warned me to return to my rightful place.
“And Your Grace… the person Rieve and I saw that day—”
Leoni’s cheeks flushed with tension and excitement as she revealed:
“It was the very same fortune-teller I told you about not long ago—the one I called a fraud.”
