My Husband Has Changed - Chapter 148



Only Noblemtl

#148. A Terrible Thing
2024.02.25.

The atmosphere in the castle was unusual and chaotic.

The soldiers’ expressions were all dark, and the knights were gathered together and whispering, but when she got close, they shut their mouths tightly.

‘What on earth is going on?’

It felt like something terrible had happened.

While following Donovan, she had already witnessed the knights’ servants polishing their armor and weapons several times.

The sparks flying as the blades clashed against the whetstone, the pungent smell of oil applied to the armor, the fine abrasive powder flying like black fog.

All of these things created a tense atmosphere.

‘No way. Did they receive an order to leave the castle and join the punitive force?’

Adele thought for a moment and shook her head. It couldn’t be.

There were hundreds of wounded soldiers in this castle whose movements were restricted. There was no way they would have received an order to abandon them all.

‘Then, did something bad happen on the front lines?’

Please don’t make assumptions and stay calm. She desperately held his hand, but her heart, once it had started to tremble, would not calm down.

“This way.”

Donovan, who had been walking ahead, stopped in front of a large wooden door. It was in front of the central reception room that had been used as the headquarters conference room for the past few months.

It was too grand a place for a mere healer to visit. Not for the ‘Archduchess Ansgar’, though.

It really seemed like it was news from the front. Adele tried to swallow the anxiety that was rising like nausea and asked.

“Why here…?”

“I’ll go in and explain the details.”

Donovan opened the door wide and answered with a stern face.

Her usual thoughtful attitude was gone, and her anxiety was acting as if she was invisible.

Adele glanced at Donovan with anxious eyes and strode into the room, passing the door he was holding.

The knights who were leaning on the round table and talking about something straightened up when they saw her.

In the innermost part, Count Küchler, who had been appointed as the general manager of the Nassau Castle, was also visible.

“Your Highness, Archduchess Ansgar.”

“Your Highness.”

The greetings continued in a slow round as she passed by the large round table.

Your Highness, Your Highness… … . For someone who had been simply called “Adele” for the past few weeks, such a formality felt awkward. She was immediately guided inside.

Adele let out a tense breath and raised her head. She

tried to remain calm, but the situation where everyone was looking at her was unbearably uncomfortable.

As Adele approached, the young head of the Küchler family extended his hand.

When she placed her hand on his, he gently touched her forehead to show respect.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve greeted you like this.”

“Did you call me, Count?”

“Yes. I should have asked how you were doing periodically, but I’ve been so busy that I’ve been inattentive. Have you experienced any other inconveniences while staying at the castle?”

“No.”

Adele shook her head briefly. Count Küchler let go of her hand and smiled.

“Thank goodness. You seem cold. Would you like a cup of warm tea?”

“No problem, please tell me what’s going on.”

Adele demanded quickly enough that it felt stiff.

There was something else that was urgent and urgent, but what was that damn etiquette? The nobleman’s way of speaking indirectly was frustrating.

“Hmm. Shall we do that?”

The count frowned slightly, his face troubled.

“I’ve come to Your Majesty today because I have some new news that you should know, so I asked you to come. Um… … .”

The count trailed off, as if he didn’t know where to start. He could clearly see that she was worried that his words might make her faint.

“A little while ago, so… … .”

“A messenger arrived from the front line an hour ago.”

Adele turned her head toward the voice.

It was Donovan. His face was the palest she had ever seen.

Anxiety and nervousness were deeply engraved like wrinkles between his eyebrows.

Adele felt herself growing nervous and asked with an anxious face.

“An hour ago? What happened?”

Count Küchler quickly handed over his baton to Donovan as if he had done well.

Donovan accepted the baton politely and pointed to the Nassau Castle on the map spread out on the round table.

“It’s been three weeks since the punitive force entered full-scale combat. They are advancing in a circular arc along the old abandoned road.”

The voice that was trembling at first gradually became firmer as he continued.

Donovan lifted three horses representing each region and placed them on the Nassau Castle, pushing them along the road vaguely drawn on the map. The horses

that had been advancing without hesitation stopped at the Tesca Plain. A vast wasteland.

Traces of past fires remained as dry land, black grass grew, and no living beings could live there.

And, perhaps… … . The vision of the wasteland that bloomed before his eyes like a hallucination, and the thought that had been stretching beyond it was Donovan’s voice that stopped him.

“It’s hard to estimate because they’re still moving, but the main force is probably passing this point. According to the messenger, they’ve set up temporary bases here, here, and here.”

Adele realized that the front line against the monsters was closer than she thought.

The news she heard from the castle was optimistic, but the reality was not so good.

If they could transport the wounded by carriage, she thought it was closer than she had guessed, but… … .

She barely managed to tear her eyes away from the map. That wasn’t what was important right now.

“Please continue.”

“The number of monsters has always been higher than we could have guessed, but they’ve been acting particularly strangely for the past few days.”

“Strange behavior?”

“They’ve been relentlessly pursuing you, as if they knew that your Highness the Grand Duke was the linchpin of the punitive force. In fact, there have been several attempts to isolate you even before that… … .”

Adele felt as if she’d been hit in the head. There had been continuous attempts?

“… … They said it had gotten worse since this week. Then, two days ago, they finally split up from the main force near the watchtower.”

“… … .”

“The whereabouts of the knights who accompanied your Highness the Grand Duke nearby, including Commander Gunther, are unknown.”

It felt as if something big was pressing down on her heart. Now her face had turned as pale as Donovan’s.

Adele held her trembling hands.

“That’s what you’re saying.”

My heart felt like it was beating very fast.

“To sum it up, does that mean… my husband is missing?”

Adele looked at Count Küchler with desperate eyes.

She hoped that someone would deny it, that she had misunderstood, that she had made a mistake.

However, Count Küchler avoided her gaze instead of answering right away. He barely opened his mouth.

“They say the last sighting was near the watchtower. Many people have seen the monsters surrounding the Archduke.”

“… … With only those sightings, … .”

“The surrounding area is a wide open plain up to the entrance of the ruins. The only thing blocking the view is the watchtower. If I was lucky, I would have hidden in the watchtower to avoid the monsters, but if I was unlucky, I would have already… … .” “That

can’t be.”

Adele denied it immediately.

The gaze that seemed to be looking at a widow who couldn’t accept her husband’s death followed her immediately, but this was not a simple denial of reality, but a conviction.

If he had disappeared, or if he had met death. I don’t know, but the world couldn’t be this fine.

His existence was the force that sustained the world… … .

‘Unless the world had sucked up enough of his power to sustain itself.’

Adele bit her lip. This thought was not helpful at all. Adele looked around and raised her voice.

“Could it be that you mistook someone else for my husband? Maybe it wasn’t a disappearance, but some kind of operation. From what I’ve heard before, the Archduke has taken risks alone more than once or twice… … .”

Donovan called someone with a complicated expression in response to her question.

Only then did Adele see the shabby messenger leaning against the dark, shadowy wall.

At Donovan’s gesture, the messenger approached the table, hesitant.

Adele realized that the boy was holding a bunch of flags, soaked in blood and tattered.

The torn dark blue cloth, embroidered with a wolf’s head, was clearly the symbol of Ansgar.

Adele ran her fingertips over the thread that had become so dirty that she could not even recognize the light. When she

scraped the scab off, silver thread appeared. It was the flag that was only issued to the knights who escorted the Archduke nearby.

“… … The investigation confirmed that it belonged to Knight Commander Gunther.”

Her body trembled uncontrollably. She collapsed onto the flag, feeling extreme fatigue and dizziness.

The comforting voices of Donovan and Count Küchler poured over her head.

“… … It has not been confirmed that he is dead… … So it is not hopeless… … .”

“His Highness the Archduke has ordered me to look after his Highness’s safety first if something happens to him… ….”

“… … That’s not it, but since things have come to this. The Archduchess will quickly prepare to return to Ansgar Territory… … .”

“… … We will do our best to conduct the search… … .”

Amid the roaring noise, only one word could be heard clearly.

“Search?”
　

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