Chapter 23: Vol. 1 - Chapter 23

Unaware of the situation, Noah spoke in a friendly tone.

“Noah, do you remember the one we sent to North this time?”

“Oh, yes, yes. That guy who hasn’t responded well to brainwashing and had no other use so he became a tool dispatched to the North.” Sergei pointed to the crystal ball. Noah clicked his tongue when he noticed the broken screen.

“Who broke it?”

“Come closer and take a good look.”

Sergei gestured to him with his hand. Squinting his eyes, Noah stepped closer.

“Th-this…”

Only then did Noah realize it was one of the things he was responsible for. As he stepped back, startled—

“Ugh!”

He screamed and clutched his face. Blood poured down his fingers as it gushed from his nose, already flattened from a broken bone. Blinded by the blood, Noah groped through the air and clung to Sergei’s leg.

“I’m... I’m sorry! I’ll do better! Please, just give me one more chance...! Wait, wait—Aaargh!”

Bang! Bang! Noah cowered low, pleading, but the pain raining down on his face did not cease.

“Hah…” Sergei, who had been pounding the crystal ball onto Noah, finally straightened up and let out a light sigh, “Now, I feel a bit calmer.”

Meeting Sergei’s smile, the subordinate realized that he had been holding his breath all this time. His eyes turned to Noah lying on the floor. Noah’s face was a pulpy mess, smeared with blood. His bones jutted out, and his features were twisted and deformed.

“Ugh…”

The subordinate hastily covered his mouth, suppressing the urge to vomit.

“Oh dear. Would you like to calm yourself with this?” Sergei, furrowing his brow in mock sympathy, held out a glass of red wine. Noticing a piece of Noah’s flesh dangling from Sergei’s long fingers, his subordinate could no longer hold it back.

“Ugh! Ueeeegh!”

“Looks like you’re not in the mood to eat,” Sergei commented as he tipped the glass back and drank.

The subordinate collapsed on the floor and retched, gasping for air.

“Haa, haa…”

“Feeling better now?” Sergei asked in a disturbingly calm voice, as if he hadn’t just killed a man.

The subordinate trembled in fear. He had long suspected that Sergei wasn’t as he appeared, despite the rumors. But he’d always assumed his colleagues had exaggerated the truth. They said Sergei enjoyed pulling out nails during torture or that he drank red wine after killing someone, as if it were blood. None of this seemed to match his beautiful, kind face. He had a cold side, yes, but the subordinate never imagined the rumors could be this worse. He glanced around, but Noah’s body had already been dragged away.

Sergei wiped the remaining flesh from his hands with a handkerchief.

“Being both incompetent and shameless, he deserved to die, don’t you think?”

“Y-yes... Yes.” The subordinate could barely nod his head.

“Oh, but now Noah’s gone,” Sergei clapped his hands, as if remembering something trivial,

“How about you take over as Noah from now on?”

“Wh-what?” His sudden promotion took him aback, making him raise his head.

“Now that he’s dead, someone needs to take his place.”  Sergei blinked innocently as if he couldn’t understand why it would be a problem.

“I will now give the new Noah my first order.”

The subordinate realized that this was now his opportunity.

“Find out about Daphne’s whereabouts.”

Barely able to steady his trembling body, the subordinate – now Noah – forced himself to stand. Though his legs still shook, he bowed deeply.

“I… will follow your orders.”

“Good. Now, go.” 

Staggering, the new Noah left the room. Sergei stared intently at the broken crystal ball.

He had been watching the interrogation with Edmund, wanting to discover how they had managed to exchange letters for five years. But he had heard something completely unexpected.

“Does Marquis Bled know that Daphne disappeared?”

“My dear sister.”

Sergei couldn’t have imagined that his sister would coax their father into letting her slip out of his grasp. Even more unimaginable was that she had managed to escape in person. At the coming-of-age celebration for the Young Lord Winter, his sister had left the capital, furious at him.

“We’ll meet again soon.”

Sergei muttered softly, anticipation dripping from his voice.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“When and where?”

The moment Edmund brought Alec into his office, he bombarded him with questions. Expecting this, Alec calmly began to explain.

“After receiving your orders, I searched the entire estate. As they say, the darkest place is under the lamp... It seems Madam stayed in the village before leaving.”

“...The village?”

“Yes, Your Excellency. I found out she left around the time the search party was disbanded.”

Edmund was dumbfounded. He had assumed she’d already fled the North, but it turned out to be the opposite.

“We discovered her in a village near the northern border.”

“Are you certain it’s Daphne?”

“I showed her portrait to the person who found her, and they confirmed it.”

Not wanting to make any mistakes, Alec had asked multiple times, and the answer had been the same each time. It was definitely her.

Edmund closed his eyes tightly, then opened them, breathing slowly to calm his excitement.

“Who found her?”

“It’s Eugene, Your Excellency.”

“Bring that person to me immediately.”

Not long after Alec left, Eugene came in.

“I greet Your Excellency.”

“Eugene, I heard that you found Daphne.”

“Ah, yes. That’s correct.”

“What was her condition? How did she appear physically?”

If she had truly escaped from a den of mutated beasts, there was no way she could have come out unscathed.

“Well... she seemed perfectly fine.”

“Perfectly fine?”

“Yes, she didn’t have a single injury.”

Even Eugene, who knew about the robe found in the monster’s lair, added that she could hardly believe it.

‘Then what was the meaning of the robe found in that lair?’ Puzzled, Edmund decided to think on it later.

“You’ve done well. Send Alec in when you get out.”

“Yes.”

As if he’d been waiting at the door, Alec walked in the moment Eugene left.

“Send out those with the fastest legs, including Eugene, to keep watch on Daphne. No one is to touch her, only observe.”

“Understood, Your Excellency.”

Edmund turned to look at the midday sun shining high in the sky.

“We’re leaving at dawn.”

— — —

At dawn.

Edmund opened his eyes. Time had been crawling by so slowly that he had decided to rest with his eyes closed for a while. His eyes darted to the clock.

One o’clock.

The preparations for departure should now be complete.

If he could just get through the next hour without any interruptions, he would be able to meet Daphne.

Edmund was about to close his eyes again when he sensed someone pacing outside his door. Immediately alert, he focused on the presence and quickly realized it wasn’t Johann.

“...”

But soon after, Edmund got up. Opening the door, the person outside turned around in surprise.

“Y-Your Excellency.”  It was Marinda, the maid who had reported the painting’s whereabouts.

Edmund racked his memory. Marinda had been sentenced to two weeks of detention, and she hadn’t yet completed that time. And yet here she was, roaming freely. Edmund’s brow furrowed.

“Oh, I must be disturbing you. I’m truly sorry.”

Flustered, Marinda bowed hastily, causing her loose nightgown to slip off one shoulder, exposing her pale skin. Edmund simply gave her a single order.

“Go back.”

He was about to close the door, but Marinda grabbed his sleeve, making him pause. As Edmund stared at her hand clutching his sleeve, Marinda gasped in surprise and quickly released him.

“S-sorry, I’m so sorry!”

Edmund wasn’t interested in scolding her. He just wanted her to leave quickly before the commotion attracted Johann.

“I have something to tell you.”

“I need to tell you something.”

“...What?”

“I think I need to say it now. It won’t take long.”

“I need to tell you now.”

“It’ll only take a moment.”

Edmund blinked. At that moment, Daphne’s voice echoed in his head. Time slowed down.

“I’ve thought about it a lot. But... I believe I should show this to you, Your Excellency. It’s the reason I came out, even though I was still serving my sentence.”

Edmund stared blankly as Marinda handed him a note. The handwriting was familiar – too familiar. He had seen and read it countless times before. It was Daphne’s. The only difference was that it looked as though it had been written in a hurry, with emotions tightly restrained.

I despise you. I’m sick of this place.

Edmund read and re-read the two short sentences, but the content didn’t change.

“Madam often confided in me, telling me how much she wanted to leave this place... But I never imagined she would really leave... Hic…”

Marinda stifled her sobs, covering her mouth, “She left a message for me to pass on to you.”

“What did she say?” Edmund’s voice came out tight, his words barely audible.

His heart pounded violently. Even when he had been surrounded by enemies on the battlefield, or when his arm had started to rot from a monster’s venom, he had never felt such dread. He wanted to avoid it. For some reason, he didn’t want to hear what Marinda had to say. But before he could stop her, she spoke.

Their eyes met as Edmund tore his gaze from the note to look at Marinda.

In that instant, Marinda’s eyes flashed red, gleaming brightly before quickly fading away.

“Madam said…”

……