I Helped The Imprisoned Male Lead And He Became Obsessed - Chapter 72

For a moment, Emilian doubted his ears.

Even though he had clearly heard the words, they refused to make sense. It felt utterly surreal.

Gone? Anise?

Just two days ago, she had been by his side. Why? How?

It was a story too absurd to believe.

“Gone?” Emilian’s voice was calm, but his eyes burned with intensity. “Explain properly.”

Faced with his piercing crimson gaze, Natalie struggled to maintain her composure. She spoke as evenly as she could manage.

“This morning, when I went to escort Lady Anise, she didn’t come out despite my waiting for a long time. I checked her room, but she wasn’t there. Most of her belongings were gone as well.”

Natalie reached into her coat and pulled out an envelope, offering it to Emilian.
“And I found this letter on her desk.”

Emilian snatched the letter and unfolded it, his eyes scanning the familiar, tidy handwriting.

It explained that an opportunity had arisen for her to fulfill her long-held dream of using her pharmaceutical knowledge to help sick children. She apologized for leaving so abruptly, saying she couldn’t bear to tell him in person, fearing it would make her departure even harder.

I’m so sorry for not telling you beforehand. If I saw your face, I don’t think I’d be able to leave.

Thank you for everything. Even from afar, I’ll be wishing for your happiness.

Take care of yourself. Don’t get sick, and stay healthy.

-Your close friend, Anise.

Emilian stared at the forcefully pressed period at the end of the letter before crumpling the paper in his hand.

She expected him to believe this? It was laughable.

“…If you’re going to make excuses, at least make them convincing, Anise.”

He spat the words through clenched teeth and turned on his heel, abandoning his path to the reception room. Instead, he headed straight for Anise’s quarters.

As Natalie had reported, the room was empty.

The bookshelves, once crammed with pharmacology texts, stood barren. Her desk, which had been piled high with research notes and dried herbs, was wiped clean.

Emilian searched everywhere—drawers, wardrobes, the vanity—but every space was void of her presence.

The room was a shell of its former self, devoid of even the smallest trace of Anise.

A bitter laugh escaped his lips.

She had erased every sign of her existence, as if declaring she had no intention of ever returning.

Was she so repulsed by his confession that she couldn’t even bear to see him again? Had she left the palace just to escape him?

He had thought her rejection wasn’t genuine, that she hadn’t meant it. But was he just deluding himself? Was it nothing more than his own arrogance?

Emilian clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

“Ha…”

The laugh kept coming, hollow and bitter, echoing through the desolate room.

“You forgot your promise to stay by my side, didn’t you, Anise?”

His unanswered question dissipated into the empty air.

Natalie and Leonard, who had followed him into the room, stood silently, unable to interrupt.

How long they remained like that was unclear. Eventually, Emilian raised a hand and wiped it down his face, as if pulling himself back together.

…I have to find her.

She couldn’t have gone far.

Seeing that Emilian’s thoughts seemed to have crystallized into resolve, Leonard cautiously stepped closer and asked,

“Your Grace, what will you do now?”

“I’ll find Anise,” Emilian said firmly.

“Do you have any idea where she might have gone?” Leonard asked, his voice tinged with concern.

Anise had no family. No matter how hard he thought about it, there wasn’t an obvious place for her to go after leaving the palace.

“No, I don’t,” Emilian admitted. Then, with a determined glint in his eyes, he added, “But there is a way to find out where she is.”

He had used the same method to locate her seven years ago.

Of course, it would only work if she still had that particular item in her possession.

But there was no time to second-guess or weigh the odds. If there was even a chance, he had to try.

Without hesitation, Emilian turned and strode toward the temple. There, he would find someone who could assist him.

“I’ll never let you run away from me.”

The obsessive gleam in Emilian’s crimson eyes sent a chill through the air, an unyielding determination that bordered on perilous.

***

At dawn, I left the palace and used the teleportation portal to arrive in Lagtia.

The unfamiliar cityscape gave me an odd feeling.

Perhaps it was the realization that I had truly left the palace.

Pulling my hood tighter against the chill of the early morning breeze, I pushed away the guilt gnawing at me for deceiving everyone and fleeing. There was no turning back now, so I hurriedly moved forward.

From here to Petra, I would need to travel by carriage. However, traveling alone as a woman was far too dangerous.

At sunrise, I visited the mercenary guild to hire someone to escort me to Petra.

I settled on a mercenary named Scarlett. Known for being discreet and willing to take any job as long as the payment was good, she seemed like the perfect choice.

Together, we headed to the transport association to arrange for a carriage.

But what awaited us there was unexpected bad news.

“What? No carriage service? What kind of nonsense is that?” Scarlett barked, slamming her fist on the counter, her frustration boiling over.

The association’s manager looked visibly troubled as he explained the situation.

“A few days ago, heavy rains caused the bridge to collapse. All trade routes are shut down, and we’re suffering massive losses as a result.”

Hearing this, my heart sank.

Scarlett scowled deeply, her voice sharp.

“Hah, I don’t care about your losses. When’s the carriage service going to resume?”

“Once the bridge is repaired, obviously.”

Scarlett’s exasperation was evident, and I asked urgently,

“How long will the repairs take? I really need to leave as soon as possible.”

The manager replied, “They started the work a few days ago. I’ve been informed it should be finished by late this morning.”

With no other choice, he sent us away, advising patience until the repairs were completed.

Scarlett clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Damn it. Looks like we’ll just have to wait until they’re done.”

“Isn’t there any other way to get to Petra?” I asked anxiously.

Scarlett thought for a moment, then shook her head.

“Crossing the bridge is the fastest route. Otherwise, we’d have to go over the mountains, which would take longer and be a lot more dangerous.”

She assured me that the repairs wouldn’t take much longer and suggested we wait it out.

Left with no alternative, I reluctantly nodded.

Still, the thought of being stuck in this city made me restless.

By now, Emilian must have realized I’m gone.

The worry that he might start searching for me gnawed at the edges of my mind.

Even though I had rejected his confession and ignored his feelings, if he refused to let go of me…

I would have to go even farther away, to a place where he could never reach me.

So please, Emil… don’t try to find me.

***

“So, you’re saying you need my divine power to find Lady Anise?”

In the temple within the royal palace, the high priest rubbed his furrowed brow as he addressed the man before him.

“That is correct,” Emilian replied firmly.

When Emilian had suddenly appeared, demanding divine power, the high priest had been taken aback. Upon hearing that Lady Anise had gone missing, however, he began to understand the reasoning behind the request.

The high priest knew that Emilian and Anise had been close since childhood. He interpreted Emilian’s evident urgency as a natural concern for his friend’s wellbeing. With a gentle, understanding smile, he said,
“I don’t know the circumstances behind Lady Anise’s disappearance, but if you’re this worried about her, of course I’ll help.”

With that, the high priest infused divine energy into the tracking artifact.

Radiant light flowed from his wrinkled fingertips, saturating the artifact’s central mana stone until it absorbed all the divine power.

“However, Duke,” the high priest cautioned, “you’ll need to act quickly. The divine energy remaining in that necklace is very faint due to the passage of time. It wouldn’t be surprising if the tracking signal failed midway.”

Emilian was already aware of this limitation. Finding Anise would come down to a race against time.

After expressing his gratitude, Emilian left without delay.

The high priest watched him go for a moment before turning his head, as if looking for someone.

Just then, he spotted a young acolyte he had sent on an errand. Gesturing for him to approach, the high priest waited as the boy trotted over, bowing politely.

“Well, has Serena not arrived yet?”

The acolyte looked puzzled. “Pardon? Haven’t you already seen the Holy Lady?”

“What do you mean? I haven’t seen her,” the high priest said, his tone tinged with confusion.

“But she mentioned she was coming to see you and entered the sanctum not long ago.”

“Are you certain? You’re not mistaken?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” the acolyte insisted, his voice trembling slightly as if affronted by the implication.

The high priest sighed and waved the boy away, clicking his tongue.

“Where has Serena wandered off to this time?”

He knew of Serena’s preference for noble gatherings and tea parties over the tedious work of interpreting sacred scriptures. He assumed she had once again shirked her duties to indulge in leisure.

What the high priest didn’t know, however, was that Serena had indeed arrived at the temple earlier and was now hiding behind the altar, having overheard the entire exchange between Emilian and himself.