After two days of quietly guarding the room, Ail finally had a breakdown. For the past three weeks, his behavior had been erratic—two days of silence, followed by one day of violently smashing everything in sight, then three more days of eerie calm, and then another day of ferocious rampages. This time was no different.

The sound of something breaking and crashing filled the room. The attendants who had gone in to prepare the alcohol hurriedly left, clearly terrified by Ail’s outburst. The knights guarding the room sighed, as if they had expected this, and maintained their posts. This was madness. He was in a state where he couldn’t control himself.

His recent state had caused quite a stir in the palace. Rumors were circulating that if his mental state was truly problematic, he should be stripped of his position as crown prince immediately. Ail was someone who needed to be more aware and careful than anyone else in the palace right now. The situation had changed since his coming-of-age ceremony. Now, he was acting as regent, which meant, in effect, he was the emperor. However, he hadn’t officially been crowned, and that made things even more dangerous. There were many who wanted to remove him before his formal coronation, looking for any flaw they could exploit, and they were on high alert. In order to protect himself from them, Ail needed to keep himself in check, but in this moment, he was lost, unable to control himself.

With a crash, a bottle of liquor hit the wall and shattered, and when he ran out of things to throw, Ail kicked over the table with his foot. The loud bang of the table flipping echoed through the room, and even though the rage didn’t seem to subside, Ail continued to stare into the air with wild, insane eyes.

The whites of his eyes were bloodshot, glowing with a sinister light. His gaze was so fierce it looked as though he could kill someone at that moment. The madness in his eyes showed that his reason had long since disappeared.

“…I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him.”
A low, angry voice escaped his lips. He had endured, suppressed himself for so long. He had tried to stop himself from killing him, but at some point, his will had snapped. Once he lost control, only madness and malice remained.
In his mind, he envisioned killing him thousands of times—grabbing him and breaking his slender neck, mutilating his body, splattering blood everywhere. But even that wasn’t enough, so he would stomp on the mangled corpse. He would gouge out his eyes, sever his legs, and crush his annoying lips.

He would find him. He would find him and kill him.
But as Ail stared with feverish, bloodshot eyes into the empty air, he suddenly saw his vision of the body—the gruesome image he had created in his mind. It made his chest tighten with pain, as though his heart would burst. Deep despair followed, casting a shadow over him.

No. That can’t happen. If he dies, I die. I can’t live without him. He must stay alive. He must come back to me.
He couldn’t kill him. And he couldn’t die either. As the madness that had raged with longing faded, Ail’s yearning for him took its place.
Sitting heavily in a chair, Ail buried his face in his hands. The humid air that had filled the room returned, swirling around him.
He was going crazy with longing for him. He missed him so much—his scent, his voice, his breath. He felt like he would die of thirst if he didn’t see him right now. Like a leaf being crushed to pieces, he, too, was falling apart.

If only he could break and die like this…
Ail’s eyes, which had been full of fury just moments ago, now lost their light and faded away. The light dimmed, and he felt as if he was disappearing, fading into death.

Just a moment ago, Ail had been rampaging like a madman, but now he slumped in the chair, completely drained. The bravado and confidence that had once poured from him were now gone. Above him, the shadow of death loomed, just as it had at his father’s bedside.

The room fell silent, and the world seemed to be cloaked in a stillness so deep it felt as though he were the only person left in existence.

As Ail sat there in a daze, he lifted his head at the sound of someone knocking at the door. Thinking it might be news of Ruth, he asked who it was. A voice replied that it was Jessie, who had urgent matters to discuss.
A most unwelcome guest. At this moment, Ail didn’t want to see anyone, but Jessie opened the door and walked in before Ail could even respond. Upon seeing the state of the room, he clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“It’s a mess. The attendants will be irritated.”

“What is it?”
Ail asked, cutting off any further chatter, as though he didn’t want to hear nonsense. Jessie, observing Ail’s expression, approached and then, with careful consideration, asked,
“Have you been sleeping at all?”
Jessie carefully righted the overturned table and dragged a chair to sit across from Ail. His calm demeanor caused Ail to scowl.

“Just get to the point and leave.”

“Well, if you insist…” Jessie began, “but before I go, there’s something I need to confirm.”

Ail closed his mouth, as if too tired to speak, and leaned back. Judging this as a sign of agreement, Jessie carefully studied Ail before speaking.

“This may be an impertinent question, but it’s something I must confirm. Is it certain that Ruth is in the northern palace?”

At this question, Ail lifted his head and looked at Jesse. His gaze was sharp, like a blade, and Jessie shrugged his shoulders, unfazed.

“Why do you ask that?”

“I’ve received some news.”

“What news?”

Ail’s expression changed slightly. Just a moment ago, he had been staring absentmindedly, but now his eyes flickered with a mix of fear and curiosity. Jessie thought, As expected. Even though he had handed over the map, there had been no reaction, and he had assumed that Kamiel had burned it, but it seemed something had indeed happened. This was why Ail was spiraling like this.

“You need to answer first. If Ruth is in the northern palace, then there’s no need to worry about this. But if Ruth isn’t here, then we’ll have to act quickly.”

Ail’s face began to tense with the weight of Jessie’s ominous words. His already pale face turned an even deeper shade of blue, and a flicker of fear crossed his eyes. Seeing this, Jessie felt a thrill he could not put into words. Although he couldn’t show it, he felt elated to have finally elicited the very reaction he had been hoping for.

“What… what do you mean?”

“I need you to answer first.”

“Shut up and tell me!”

In an instant, the meek Ail bared his claws and growled like a wounded animal. It was the howl of a beast in pain. Jessie, sensing that Ail might bite his throat if he pushed further, wisely placed the white cloth he had brought onto the table.

“What’s this?” Ail asked, eyes narrowing.

“Unfold it.”

Ayle, with trembling hands, reached out and slowly unraveled the cloth. As he unfolded the first corner, then the second, something familiar became visible on the white fabric.

Fine, soft, brown hair. The kind of hair that seemed like it would wrap around your fingers the moment you touched it.

Ail’s heart started pounding furiously in his chest. His trembling fingers unfolded the third section. And when the last part was revealed, it showed a clump of hair roughly cut off, stained with blood.

The crimson blood was tangled in the hair. Ail immediately recognized it. The hair was so familiar, he could tell whose it was just by looking at it.

“This is what was in the letter that arrived last night at the Kaizel mansion. Someone apparently saw Ruth and his friend at the Clozium. At first, they weren’t sure, but when they went to check, this is all that was left. The two of them had vanished without a trace.”

Ail’s heart dropped like a stone. His stomach churned. His fingertips and body trembled as though someone had struck his brain mercilessly. No… it felt like someone had reached into his head and was twisting his brain, then slowly moved their hand down to his chest, squeezing his heart so tightly it felt like it might burst.

He couldn’t breathe. It was as though both his breath and his heartbeat had stopped.

Seeing Ail’s face go pale with fear, Jessie lowered his voice even further and began to speak more slowly.

“His mother sent a letter. If Ruth is in the palace, then it’s fine, but if he’s not, then he must be at the Clozium. And if that’s the case, his life can’t be guaranteed. The lionesses are chasing them.”

At Jessie’s words, which were vague but certain, Ail stared blankly at the hair. This might not be his. It couldn’t be. It definitely couldn’t be.

His heart screamed that it wasn’t true, that it couldn’t be, but his mind was different. The sensation of the hair, the feeling.

It was Ruth’s. He just knew. There was no need for thought or reasoning—his instincts knew.

“Is he… dead?”

“…So he left the palace after all,” Jessie said, nodding as if confirming what he had suspected. It was certain now: Ruth had escaped. And cleverly, he had fled not to his hometown, but to another country—with his friend.

“His current status is unknown. The fact that no body has been found is the only thing we can take comfort in.”

The letter had clearly stated that he wasn’t dead. But Jessie deliberately left that part out when explaining. He wanted to see Ail’s collapse. He wanted to watch him fall into despair, unable to control his emotions, and then approach him to offer comfort. He planned to pat his back, wipe his tears, and tell him everything would be okay.

Ail seemed to be on the verge of fainting. His vision turned white and then plunged into darkness. For a brief moment, he felt an intense headache, and his nerves, already frayed, barely held together.

He couldn’t collapse here. They said the body hadn’t been found. He would be alive. After all, he had risen to the rank of commander of the enemy’s knights. He couldn’t have died so easily. He couldn’t have died, not like this.

He was alive. Somewhere, he was alive, breathing and opening his eyes.

His body was stiff, as if paralyzed, but he had to move. He had to get up and go find him. He had foolishly left the search to others. He should have been searching for him himself, but instead, he had just been sitting there, waiting for someone else to find him.

This was the result.

He should have looked for him sooner. No, he must find him.

Who was it that had said they would tear him apart if they found him? How had they imagined killing him?

He was mad. Clearly, it was madness.

“Get the knights…”

Ail hurriedly stood, but the dizziness overtook him, and he collapsed back into his seat. He couldn’t afford to fall apart now. He had to go find him immediately, but his body wasn’t cooperating. He couldn’t summon any strength into his legs.

Breathing heavily, he slumped down, and Jessie stood up from his seat, walking over to Ail.

“Are you alright?”

“…”