Chapter 13

It was because Roseanne—who had paid a rare visit—had turned the entire Cline countship upside down.

‘Playing such unpleasant tricks.’

Recalling kissing Roseanne in the drawing room, Emile knitted his brows. Roseanne’s tinkling voice echoed in his ears.

<Did you think I was Yvon?>

Even though she clearly knew the person Emile was waiting for in the drawing room was Yvon, she had crept up while pretending to be Yvon and even spoke just like her.

<Emile, honestly, I…>

Recalling that moment, Emile scowled.

Roseanne. Once, it felt as though they were soulmates who understood each other perfectly, but lately, one thing after another began to grate on his nerves. And after his marriage to Yvon was finalized, she became openly spiteful like that.

‘Women are so tedious. They’re fresh at first, but their demands only keep growing.’

Would Yvon be like that, too?

Trying to imagine Yvon acting coquettishly, Emile shook his head. Somehow, he didn’t want to see such a sight.

‘Pure and demure suits Yvon best.’

In his mind, Yvon was an eternal young girl.

At one time, acting like that had seemed despicable, but now it felt overwhelmingly lovely.

‘What is Yvon doing right now?’

He considered going to see her, but then buried himself back into the sofa. His headache was so severe it felt as if bugs were crawling inside his head.

As he covered his eyes with his palm, a servant informed him that the bath was ready.

Emile took off the clothes he had loosely thrown on. It was right at that moment.

Plop.

With a small sound, a piece of cloth slightly larger than his palm fell to the floor.

Yet something was a bit strange.

‘Plain patterned?’

Did he have any plain handkerchiefs among his belongings?

‘I’ve only carried around the ones Yvon embroidered for me.’

He tilted his head in confusion, but there was no way to get an answer. Emile soaked his body in the bath.

After washing up and heading downstairs, his parents and Roseanne were sitting in the first-floor dining room. Emile put on a gentle smile and kissed his mother’s cheek. He was the picture of a calm, affectionate son, just like always.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.”

As he took his seat, the same empty place from yesterday caught his eye. Countess Cline said in an anxious tone: “Yvon is late. Is she still sick today?”

The Countess hovered nervously, looking around. The Count, sitting decorously, asked Emile: “How is Yvon?”

At the question directed at him, Emile lowered his head.

“……I’m sorry. I don’t know.”

“Didn’t you go see her yesterday?”

“No, I didn’t have time.”

“She is your fiancée; you ought to take good care of her. You two are to be married soon.”

The Count’s words were correct. Emile nodded. Just then, Roseanne chimed into the conversation in a cheerful voice: “I saw Yvon wandering around at dawn. Maybe she fell back asleep and can’t wake up?”

‘Roseanne saw her?’

At Roseanne’s words, Emile narrowed his eyes.

‘Weren’t you in the study with me?’

When he woke up, Roseanne was still in the study. So when on earth did she run into her?

An ominous feeling flickered faintly in his mind. Emile bit his lip. The Countess smiled as if she had never been worried in the first place and said: “Dear me, waking up at dawn. She must be excited ahead of the engagement ceremony.”

“It’s only natural for anyone to be thrilled.”

The Count nodded his head. Left alone in his anxiety, Emile couldn’t say a word and merely stared down at the table.

Just then, a maid burst into the dining room.

It was the maid dedicated to Yvon.

“My Lady, My Lord! Terrible news!”

“Why such rash behavior!”

The Countess was also shaken by the maid’s sudden appearance. Perhaps she instinctively sensed the ominousness from the maid’s face.

What the maid held out was a small scrap of paper.

“Y-Young Lady Yvon left only this letter and disappeared!”

“What?!”

The Count and Countess were shocked as they accepted the note. Written upon it was the story of how she was leaving after being heartbroken by Emile and Roseanne’s love affair.

With a face turned pale white, the Countess turned around to face Emile and screamed in a shrill voice: “Emile, what is the meaning of this?! You and Roseanne are in love?!”

“Pardon?”

Emile knitted his brows. Naturally, a fierce glare shot toward Roseanne.

‘Did she really meet Yvon at dawn?’

Meeting Emile’s gaze, Roseanne flinched and pulled her shoulders back. Then she stepped forward to deny it out loud first: “Th-This is definitely a misunderstanding on Yvon’s part!”

She clasped her hands together and put on a sorrowful expression. Tears quickly welled up in her large, deer-like eyes.

“She actually said strange things to me a few times before. Asking if I was trying to seduce Emile, saying she wouldn’t leave me alone if I caught the Young Count’s eye.”

“Yvon did?”

Absurded, Emile let out a dry laugh.

Yvon threatening someone? Even if he tried to imagine it, it was unimaginable.

The Countess made a fuss and shouted at Roseanne: “Good heavens, if such a thing happened, you should have said so sooner!”

It was a strange chiming in, as if taking Roseanne’s side yet simultaneously not. Realizing that the words weren’t entirely in her favor either, Roseanne blinked her eyes in flustered confusion. She then made an excuse in a stumbling voice:

“I-I told Yvon multiple times that it was a misunderstanding. Later on, she even apologized to me.”

Then, changing the mood, she spoke in an annoyed voice as if criticizing Yvon: “Isn’t this too much? Disappearing recklessly leaving just a single letter without even checking the truth. I’m truly disappointed; I didn’t think she was such an irresponsible child. She must be acting while expecting the engagement ceremony to become a mess, right?”

“That’s…”

‘You intentionally guided Yvon to do that.’

At the words criticizing Yvon, Emile scowled. The Countess stood up from her seat, screaming hysterically: “N-No! We have to find that child!”

“Countess!”

“That child is Emile’s only bride! Find Yvon immediately. We can never let her run away!”

Roseanne parted her lips in utter disbelief: “What? Even after running off like this, Yvon is still Emile’s bride…?”

As if someone like Roseanne wasn’t even visible in her eyes, the Countess shouted at Emile: “Emile, I strictly impressed upon you! You absolutely need that child! It can only be that child!”

Emile grabbed the Countess’s arm. He then tried to persuade her in a calm voice first: “……Calm down, Mother. Yvon has never left this Countship before. She couldn’t have even left the territory yet. She wouldn’t even know how to get out.”

Even up until that moment, Emile didn’t think Yvon had actually left the territory.

Because she had been raised to be unable to do anything on her own.

How could a young woman who had never bought items or paid money herself, and rarely even had the chance to talk to strangers, possibly leave the Cline Countship? At most, she would be wandering around near the estate.

‘We just need to bring her back.’

Punishing Roseanne would come after that. Even in this situation, Emile wasn’t particularly pressed.

‘Rather, taking it slow to find her will be advantageous for restoring our relationship. If I appear when she is wandering the streets without help from anyone, she will realize how precious of a person I am to her.’

He didn’t know how Roseanne had provoked Yvon, but once she went outside and realized she had no one to lean on, she would listen to Emile again.

‘That’s fine in its own way.’

Right now, wasn’t Yvon’s mind completely filled with thoughts of Emile anyway? Emile smirked to himself. He then answered his mother reliably: “Don’t worry, Mother.”

Even at his words, the Countess could not settle her excitement: “There shouldn’t be even a one-in-a-million chance of her escaping! Don’t you understand what I’m saying?!”

“I will dispatch soldiers across the territory.”

“You must, Emile. You must. You absolutely have to find her, do you understand?”

Emile nodded cautiously.

Yet mockingly to that caution, even after leading the soldiers out into the territory, he could not find Yvon.

Not even a single strand of her brilliant silver hair.

***

Leaving the Cline Countship behind, a vast plain soon stretched out before them. Though no villages were in sight, herds of sheep and goats could be seen scattered across the field.

“Wow.”

It was my first time seeing sheep and goats in person. As I stuck close to the carriage window and gasped in admiration, Rowan, sitting across from me alongside Dante, covered her lips and chuckled: “It seems this is your first time stepping outside the Cline Countship.”

I nodded vigorously.

“Yes! The Countess strictly warned me that I must never go outside.”