A territory war is when One Noble house has some problem with another house and they fight a war to settle it, with the permission from the king.
"What? ...How ?" I asked, The word felt clumsy in my mouth, a blunt instrument trying to dissect a nightmare.
"It was a Territory War, Your Grace," the butler explained, his voice low and cautious. "Apparently, The Marquis House of Galos was responsible. The new head of the Galos family wanted to form a marriage alliance with The Carvy house, but was declined. So, he framed the Carvy family with false accusations and used that as a pretext for war with Carvy."
Galos ?
The name tasted like bile and The image of a certain boy, A senior during our academy time, came to my mind.
A boy, who had only two noticeable achievements or Hobbies in his entire academy life.
One, bullying commoner students who dared to outshine him. and two, a feral, unrelenting obsession with Natasha. He was a hollow man, a 'good-for-nothing' noble who hid his incompetence behind his father's sigil, with nothing to show or offer from himself.
"So, W-what happened to the family members of the family ?" I asked with visible tremble in my voice and lips. There was a pathetic shake of the lips that I couldn't suppress.
After cutting down Hundreds or even thousands of enemies and facing unavoidable Undefeatable enemies who were far stronger than me, on the battlefield, I had thought nothing on this Verden could faze me anymore. I was convinced Nothing can make me tremble.
But, once again, I was wrong. Her existence proved me wrong.
"The Count and Countless are confirmed to be deceased."
My heart fell as I heard the news.
Since the butler himself is giving me this news, It must have already been confirmed with sufficient evidence. Which means, There is no hope anymore.
I stepped forward and grabbed his shoulders and I jolted him, my fingers digging into the fabric of his livery.
"What happened to the young lady ?!" I asked him, shouting with almost all of the air in my lungs.
The butler looked at me with visible surprise, perhaps shocked by my loss of composer.
I, myself, am also surprised but I am in no position to control my emotions right now. When I saw my own reflection in his pupils, I saw a wild, desperate man on the verge of a total collapse.
"The young lady..." He mumbled with a voice of uncertainty.
My heart trembled even more violently. "What happened to her ?!" I roared.
"We ...don't know." He answered.
"You don't know ?" I asked in an annoyed voice. the rage beginning to boil over into something far more dangerous.
"Yes, we do not your grace. The couple's death is officially confirmed but there is no official statement about the young lady. Rumor has it that she was held captive by the Galos private army, ..but we have no official confirmation."
"Then find her! Find some clues! Use as much of our forces as possible under my authority!" I commanded him as I shoved him back, my breath coming in ragged gasps.
The butler stayed silent for a long moment, his head bowed.
"With all due respect, Your Grace... if there is no official report and she truly was taken as a prisoner of war... her situation is likely... not favorable." He said in a low voice
Although He is talking in a roundabout way, I can understand what he is trying to say.
How could i not ?
If she was really caught and Galos reported that, Galos would have to send her to imperial court to receive her judgement.
But The Galos that I know is far from a person with loyalty and integrity. He would not allow that to happen. he is a guy who loves dominance and control. If he really caught her, he wouldn't let her go, given how obsessive he was with her.
There have been multiple instances of prisoners who were either not reported or reported as dead and as such, they were sold as slaves or maybe used as one. After all, If they are not reported, then they are not considered to be a part or responsibility of the Law.
The horrible image of Mike Galos, that sniveling coward touching Naty or torturing her and ever worse, far worse things came to my mind. But I shook my head and pushed it away.
Negative thoughts will only make me and my state worse.
"Use every possible resource," I ordered, my voice echoing in the stone-cold study. "Find her. Find a trace of her. Find a whisper in a tavern. I don't care about the cost."
One part of me wants to go storm straight into the Galos Mansion and wreck havoc and question Mike while pinning him to a Spike wall, Cutting each one of his limbs one by one and Stab his external and internal organs with my sword and feed him poison that won't kill him and will give excruciating pain instead. He won't get the sweet mercy of death, not in my hands, not in my watch, Not until I find her.
But, I cannot do that. I can't forget my position. I am the heir and the future Grand Duke of Volk.
I can't act recklessly. That will only get us in a war with a marquis house.
A war, where My house has nothing to gain and everything to lose. Even if our win is confirmed.
I have had enough of war. I don't want to be involved in a new one, especially not in a civil war.
I don't want my people to bleed for my own selfish reason ...At least, not until everything about Naty is confirmed.
"yes! By your order!" The butler answered.
Not long after that, in just a few days, my father passed on the title and power of Grand Duke to me.
Normally, A noble passing on his title to the heir, is a ceremony that is done along with a grand celebration.
But, such a case did not happen in my turn. It was a hasty process. the ceremony that should have been a season of celebration was over in a matter of hours.
Perhaps, my father knew what I was doing and wanted to help me, or maybe he had his own personal reasons.
But, regardless, everything was to my advantage.
I used all the resources that I could to find her or at least any traces of her. I threw the entire weight of the Volk intelligence network into the search.
Thankfully, A survivor from the Carvy estate—a stablehand who had hidden in the hay—confirmed that Natasha had escaped. She had fled into the woods with her escort knights before the main gates were breached, before the massacre truly began.
But it was not completely a good news. It was a sliver of light, of hope, but it was cold. Even if she did succeed in escaping, it does not guarantee that she was not caught in the pursuit. There can be many variables.
What if Galos anticipated her escape and stationed his men on the escape route, in advance.
What if she herself enter the area where Galos army was stationed, by mistake.
What if The escort knights that she took were not trustworthy, Or worse what if they turned out to be Galos' spy, or even worse what if they themselves harm Naty on their own accord, Out of malicious intent.
A few months passed, Every sunset was a reminder of a day lost. Every sunrise was a fresh wave of worry that made the paperwork on my desk look like meaningless scribbles.
Every day was a day full of worry, a torture. Everyday I drowned in the Hopes of 'Maybe Today' and the mental torture of uncountable 'What If's. Until that one raining night....