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Chapter 152. Perso’s Anguish
So Anna decided to run away secretly.
She sent Rwanda away and she urged that no one be in her room that day, and she hid in the cart of the inn workers from dawn and secretly escaped.
She tumbled down the mountain a few times on the shortcut she had foreseen, but it was okay.
It was easy for her to describe in words, but the truth was, it was by  no means a smooth escape. She was a little terrified when she took a nap in the forest, hiding behind huge rocks in an empty forest.
Why does the owl cry?
She forgot how many swear words she poured out towards the owl, who made a strange cry all the way to sleep.
After running for two days, rolling and falling, she barely reached the capital.
The emergency food and water she brought ran out, so at the end she walked and walked with desperation and spite.
In just two days, from the appearance of an elegant lady to a maniac beggar in an instant.
If there was one good thing, it was that everyone she encountered was surprised and got out of the way.
She went to her own mansion without hesitation, and she read the letter from Roselyn and ran to this place.
She was in such a hurry that she didn’t even change her clothes.
“… So, you ran away like that? To get rid of Perso Gertium?”
“Yes.”
Asha, who was surprised at first, nodded her head bitterly, and but her lips as she saw Anna eating a large piece of custard pudding that Asrell had given her.
She (Asha) quietly turned her head and covered her mouth with her hand, holding back her laughter.
Looking at it like this, it seemed that the tomboyish temperament that Anna had as a child was still there.
Anna climbed the tree and climbed over the fence.
Anna broke her leg while running around to play pirates and threw herself on Cain.
Even so, she said that she wanted to play, and she treated Cain as a horse.
Perso Gertium would never have thought that Anna would run through the woods and fields.
“Rosie, it’s because you don’t know how tenacious the man is. If I didn’t do this, I wouldn’t be able to get away from him until the end of July. And that’s not the only thing that’s weird.”
Anna slammed the mug down with a serious face.
“Why would he keep sticking to me, ignoring the imperial call? Was he trying to spy on me in the name of escort? Did he notice something?”
At Anna’s words, Asha also thought for a moment.
But without much thought, she could see that Anna’s argument had some loopholes.
“But Anna, why is he suspicious of you? Has he ever read my letters?”
“No! I burned it after I read it. My father gave me a letter once, but there was no sign of the envelope being ripped.”
“But, wouldn’t it have been better to attach a knight if he was going to monitor you? It would be more convenient to secretly attach his subordinates than the Duke did it himself.”
“That…….”
Anna had no choice but to shut her mouth as she tried to refute.
Asha was right.
No matter how suspicious she was, there was no reason for the Duke of Gertium himself to keep following her.
Since his family was famous for its brute force, it will be full of skilled knights.
In fact, it was much more efficient to follow her secretly than to follow her openly like this.
However…… .
‘If not that then what is the reason?’
Anna could not understand Perso at all.
He didn’t take his eyes off her for a moment.
In fact, this wasn’t the first time Anna tried to sneak away while he was careless.
Anna was caught trying to sneak out on horseback when she thought Perso was sleeping, and was caught again trying to get away from him on the pretext of a night walk.
One day, she pretended to have injured her leg and tried to let him go first, but he carried her around all day and took her to the doctor in person.
It drove Anna crazy because it was her first time meeting a man like this.
Every 30 minutes, he would come check on her saying there was a hard wind blowing, then again when it rained.
After Anna showed her dislike a few times, Perso did not come to check on her openly, but from a distance from her, he looked at her at the sound of her voice.
“That’s really, really weird.”
Asha also tapped the table, seemingly confused.
“Right? That man is really weird.”
Anna sighed and grabbed the teacup with her dry hands.
“…”
Tamon was also listening to the conversation between these two women with a strange expression.
“He might have approached her from a slightly different point of view?”
Asha and Anna’s heads turned to Tamon at the same time.
Tamon, who was sitting by the window, showed a friendly smile toward the ignorant women.
“I wonder if it’s possible that he really, genuinely worried about Miss Anna.”
At Tamon’s words, Asha asked with a confused face.
“Why do you think so?”
“…… Think about it, how can he be so relaxed in front of the capital city? If he is near the capital, I think the emperor is urging him to come to the Imperial Palace.”
Tamon’s words made sense.
Asha also had thought that.
Due to Gillotti’s personality, if Gertium was nearby to protect him, he would somehow drag him in.
Especially if he (Gillotti) was mentally exhausted like these days, he would need someone who could protect him even more.
“Perhaps Gertium didn’t tell the emperor that he was near the capital.”
Tamon nodded his head as if in agreement with Asha’s words.
In fact, it wasn’t the only strange thing.
The number of knights brought by Perso was too small.
When the Gertium family returned to the Imperial Palace, they were accompanied by about 200 knights.
It was also considered to be a minimum manpower.
However, only about 50 people were led by Gertium this time.
That really meant the minimum and most elite manpower were moved.
In fact, that was enough for the movement of ordinary aristocrats.
However, the movement of Gertium was completely different in meaning because it usually means the movement of troops.
“I wonder if there is a possibility that he is really, genuinely worried about Miss Anna……”
Asha looked at Anna, remembering what Tamon had just said.
Anna, who was listening to the conversation between the two, blinked her eyes as if she was confused and shook her head strongly.
“I don’t think so. That man and I… aren’t that close.”
They deceived each other, misunderstood, and stuck with each other.
Meanwhile, there was no such thing as a bud in the relationship for him to worry about her, at least not as Anna thought.
Asha smiled softly and stroked Anna’s cheek, which had hardened in embarrassment.
“Don’t worry, Anna. I’ll see what kind of man Perso Gertium is and judge for myself.”
****
Stupidly, Perso Gertium didn’t realize Anna’s absence until a day had passed since she disappeared.
Is this how to feel like someone banged his head with a giant log? Standing in front of Anna’s empty room, Perso was completely frozen. It was the first time in his entire life he had made such an absurd mistake.
“…… why?”
Perso, who had barely come to his senses, grabbed Rwanda and asked, as if squeezing.
“Why did she disappear?”
Anna disappeared.
She also lied to everyone, and disappeared like hell, leaving Rwanda behind.
Perso, who thought that he had neither imprisoned her nor was holding her by force, could not comprehend Anna, who had disappeared without a word.
Rwanda smiled embarrassedly and shook her head.
Of course, Anna didn’t say anything to Rwanda before leaving the inn.
“If he asks you, just say you don’t know, Rwanda. Rwalda doesn’t know anything. And he doesn’t know, right?”
Anna said she would go straight to the capital.
She also told Rwanda to come to the mansion.
However, she did not say specifically why she was doing this.
Sometimes it was because of the judgment that knowing the truth could be dangerous.
“I’ll be fine. So don’t worry.”
Anna said bravely and hid herself in the workers‘ cart.
Rwanda could neither hold nor stop Anna, so she just stamped her feet and looked anxiously at the back of the cart moving away.
“Jackson, Homer. I’m going to look for her right now. Get your horses ready!”
Perso got on the horse right away, contemplating.
Without a moment to catch his breath, he followed the path Anna might have taken, but he had already intuited that he was late.
‘I was too careless.’
Apparently, the messenger sent to the mansion of Gertium came with a letter from the emperor, and he was distracted.
The content of the letter was concise, but it was enough to wrinkle Perso’s brow.
It started with a rant that the emperor needed a noble woman of dignity and blood to fill the vacant position of the Empress, but it ended with a mad cry asking Perso to send his younger sister, who was not yet an adult.
‘For the strong bond between the imperial family and Gertium.’
Bond? Can this relationship be called a bond?
Didn’t it sound like the emperor wanted to trap the Gertium, who gives out flesh and bones whenever necessary?
But did Gertium gain anything behind this unconditional loyalty?
Hundreds of years ago, he still remembered the grace of the imperial family that saved the family from crisis, and urged them to dedicate their lives to the imperial family.
If it’s loyalty for that reason, then isn’t it enough?
Since Perso was not educated in the Gertium from the beginning, he could not fully comprehend the life of the existing Gertium.
That’s why it was painful.
Was it right to follow this evil law?
Should he have to dedicate his life to this rotten sky?
Perso wanted to deny the reality, but it was very painful to deny his duties as a Gertium because of his personal values.