“Haah!!!”
-Whack!-
With a sharp sound, the scarecrow burst into pieces.
Watching that, she…
The noble lady of House Andreas, Dust Andreas, began to breathe heavily.
“Hah… Hah… Hah…”
Dust was panting heavily from the exertion.
But at this moment, ignoring her body’s demands for rest, Dust yelled again and swung her sword.
“Uaaah!!!”
-Whack!-
Another scarecrow shattered into pieces under her magically imbued sword.
As that came to an end, the magic energy that had been pouring out of Dust’s body quickly disappeared as if a flame had been extinguished, and simultaneously, Dust felt an overwhelming weakness and plopped down on the ground.
“Hah… Hah… Hah…”
Feeling dizzy, Dust tossed the sword to the floor.
However, despite having exhausted every last bit of her magic and stamina, she still felt the simmering emotions in her chest that refused to disappear.
Dust Andreas.
She had been feeling very unwell lately.
‘Could it be that Queen sister has been captured…? Of all people, how could that sister…’
Queen Andreas, one of the people Dust loved most in this world and secretly admired.
The fact that she had gone missing, allegedly at the hands of mysterious enemies, was a huge shock to Dust.
Her father didn’t take the power of the renowned mage who was Queen lightly.
If those who kidnapped her were behind this, they were certainly no ordinary strong individuals.
In this regard, many, including Dust, believed there was a very high likelihood that the one orchestrating this incident was none other than the Emperor of the Sacred Empire.
‘How dare that filthy, sneaky Emperor kidnap my sister! I will definitely take his head with my own hands!’
Thus, Dust was igniting the flames of anger deep within her.
However… at this moment, not only Dust but also her competent older brother and anyone else could not clearly decide on a course of action.
Dust wanted nothing more than to charge toward the filthy Emperor in Vienna immediately.
This thought was shared by her father and family, but nevertheless, Mr. Santana, who was effectively in charge of Bohemia, advocated for caution.
The main reason was, though they had a strong suspicion, there was no clear evidence to support it.
Regrettably, the information found by Bohemia regarding the assailants was too sparse to firmly establish someone’s guilt.
Aside from the fact they used profane magic to manipulate souls, nothing else was known.
Not even their facial features were evident as they hid in the darkness, and they had done nothing here but take action against them, making it impossible to deduce anything.
Some speculated that the use of soul-manipulating magic might suggest that the work was from the eastern heretic empires…
Particularly, they wondered if it could be the Dragona Empire or the Turk Empire.
However, it was quite unreasonable to conclude this incident based solely on the nature of the magic… and fundamentally, those two nations had been longstanding enemies of the Sacred Empire.
Most concluded that the potential allies who could subtly help them, given the notion that enemies of enemies are friends, had no reason to do such a thing against them.
Especially with regards to the Dragona Empire, which had practically pledged to support them quietly, making the possibility even lower.
The Turk Empire, embroiled in a drawn-out war of nerves with Benetsa, were also too preoccupied to interfere in such matters.
In the end, this left only the Sacred Empire, which had a strong justification through process of elimination.
Yet even so, this remained limited to suspicion, making it difficult to formally protest.
Moreover, there was another issue.
Though justification was a concern, the most pressing problem was the current situation between Bohemia and the Heretic Alliance.
Having gathered alliances and established connections with foreign powers, the Heretic Alliance had just managed to catch a breath against the Emperor’s invasion.
However, this only meant they had reached a level where they could counter an enemy’s attack, and launching an invasion from their side was absolutely impossible at this stage.
Even now, General Spinola and Tilly, who occupied the Palatinate Region, were glaring at them with hawkish eyes.
In such a dangerous time, a hasty move could jeopardize the newly amassed forces and put them in a substantial crisis.
Ultimately, for these reasons, Count Turun had no choice but to outwardly cover up this incident despite his torn feelings.
Of course, he would continue sending people behind the scenes to search for his daughter’s whereabouts, but until the Sacred Empire moved first, they decided to remain officially silent about this matter.
And regarding these decisions made by her older brother and father, Dust could only feel deep anger and frustration.
She had no choice but to accept what they had said for now.
Although the matter concerning her sister was important, she understood well that it wouldn’t do to expose the other family members to danger because of it.
However…
Even so, she couldn’t control this emotion…
This burning feeling that was igniting within her was simply unbearable.
Though she understood it in her head, her heart still couldn’t accept the situation.
Yet, that didn’t change the fact that she had no power to do anything.
It was impossible to even ascertain where her sister was, let alone rescue her.
Thus, in a situation where she couldn’t find an answer with her own strength, Dust merely spent her days venting her anger on scarecrows.
But today…
Someone visited her as she was alone and unleashing her fury.
“Dust?”
“..! Is that… Estelle sister?”
A familiar voice echoed from behind.
In response, Dust stood up to welcome the precious guest who had come to find her.
*
“Yeah… it must have been really tough for you…”
“Yes, sister… While I understand my brother’s words, my heart is still so pained… What if something really happened to our Queen sister?”
“It’ll be alright… don’t worry too much. As you know, Lady Queen is a strong person…”
Dust expressed her sorrow and anxiety over her missing elder sister.
Hearing her words, Estelle comforted her in a calm voice.
Even though she had already heard the news from Santana, the whereabouts of Queen Andreas remained unknown.
When one thought about it coldly, from Estelle’s perspective, her disappearance actually eliminated a risk factor related to Santana’s successor position.
However, in that moment, Estelle set that fact aside and was doing her best to comfort Dust.
There was no need to share the truth and create a rift with Dust, who admired and followed her so closely.
Moreover, Estelle had come here to slightly utilize Dust to her advantage.
In such a situation, it was vital to oil the gears by aligning with the other’s feelings, and Estelle was making every effort to soothe Dust, who was expressing concern and sadness over her missing sister, with kind words.
“You know, given Lady Queen’s status, they wouldn’t just recklessly harm her. Even if they have some ulterior motives, they would likely present requests to us beforehand before proceeding.”
“B-but… there hasn’t been any news at all? What if she’s already…”
“In that regard, it’s highly likely that there were some internal disagreements among them. They aren’t fools; they wouldn’t fail to utilize a figure like Lady Queen…”
Estelle provided a precise explanation to ease Dust’s anxieties.
Listening to her, Dust began to feel her feelings of unease, worry, and impatience slowly starting to settle.
“..Thank you, sister. I’ve calmed down a bit thanks to you.”
“I’m glad to have helped. If you have any concerns like this, just tell me. As I said before, I am Santana’s fiancée, and we are like sisters, you know.”
“Yes, please feel free to ask for help anytime, Estelle sister. I will do anything I can.”
Dust spoke happily with a more settled expression.
Watching her, Estelle cautiously replied, her expression becoming more serious.
“I appreciate you saying that. Actually… there is one thing I would like to ask you…”
“Yes? What is it? Please feel free to say anything.”
Dust showed intense interest at Estelle’s words.
As she observed this, a deep smile began to spread across Estelle’s lips.
