Chapter 073
The power Joy had just used was a search-type magic that spreads a vast energy to locate a specific individual among many people.
Since humans are born with a basic level of magical power in their bodies, it is said that this magic can identify a specific person based on that power.
“Then, could it be that the child has already left the castle?”
“That’s not it. We’ve already searched outside the castle, and he’s not there. Children have a different magical energy compared to adults, so it’s easier to find them.”
Listening to Joy, I spoke up with a serious expression.
“But even if he’s been missing for over 30 minutes, it’s impossible for the child to have left the territory alone.”
“That’s true…”
Joy also seemed puzzled by the situation, continuing to mumble to himself, lost in thought.
Seeing Joy lost in deep thought, I urged him to snap out of it.
“Let’s search separately for now.”
Finding the child was our priority.
Joy seemed to agree with my suggestion and stepped outside with a nod.
I first made my way to the infirmary, where the child’s mother was.
“He’s not here.”
I rushed to the infirmary, hoping to find him, but all I saw was a woman lying there as if she were dead.
If the child had been here, the servants would have found him by now.
Everyone had searched not only inside the castle but also outside, but the result was still the same.
‘Where could he have gone? Could he have been kidnapped?’
As I walked, increasingly imagining the worst about the mysteriously vanished child, I suddenly heard a low voice accompanied by the sound of a horse’s whinny in my ear.
“What are you doing there? I thought you’d fainted after wandering around the mountains all day.”
As I raised my head at the rough tone, the figure on the horse was illuminated by the moonlight.
“Evan, right now, the child…!”
Sniff.
For a moment, my joy turned to silence as I tried to convey the news of the child’s disappearance, interrupted by a small sob.
It was a faint and delicate sound, like the breath of a fragile animal.
Soon, I found the source of the sound in an unexpected place.
“Evan, what are you holding?”
I pointed to Evan’s side.
Evan, who was casually holding something wrapped in his clothes like a sack, spoke in a nonchalant voice.
“I found it on the way.”
As I approached him, I could hear the muffled sobbing coming from the bundle wrapped in his clothing.
Slowly pulling back the cloth revealed a face soaked with tears, as if it had been crying silently for a long time.
“Where did you find him?”
This was the child that everyone in the castle had searched high and low for but had not yet found.
“I found him at the corner of the stable.”
While returning from surveying the border area, Evan said he found the child Aires crying among the hay piled in the corner while he was putting the horse away.
He had been trying to stay hidden, but Evan had found him and wrapped him in his clothes before returning.
“Aires.”
Hearing Evan’s words, I looked back down at the child.
His face, flushed with heat from sweat and tears, was pitiful to behold.
“Why did you go out alone? It was dangerous.”
At my question, Aires quietly inhaled and simply lowered his head.
Seeing his face drooping, as if he knew he had done something wrong, I could no longer say anything, so I decided to return inside with Evan and the child.
“Ah? You found him! Where did you find him?”
Just then, we ran into Joy on our way back.
Joy rushed toward the child and, seeing Aires sobbing weakly, asked Evan, “Did you scold him? Why is he crying so pitifully?”
“He’s been crying since I first saw him,” Evan replied, furrowing his brow in protest.
When I told Joy where the child had been, she exhaled as if in disbelief and said, “You’re just making trouble for the adults. You little one, you’re going to get in trouble!”
At Joy’s scolding, Aires’s eyes grew even wetter.
Even though it was clear from his face that he was scared of being scolded, the only reaction from the child was to quietly pout his lips.
“Why is your face so dirty? Come here, let’s wash up and eat first. Then we can scold you.”
Joy seemed to find Aires’s reaction amusing, smirking as he put on a mock serious voice.
“Oops. Customer, then I’ll take this little one first. I have to check… no, I need to wash and feed this child. It’ll be a bit busy, you see. Right?”
Just as Joy was about to take a step with Aires in his arms, he said, “What? Do you want to take this uncle with you too?”
The tiny fingers that slipped from Joy’s grasp were desperately clutching the hem of Evan’s clothing.
He was gripping so tightly that his little fist was visibly trembling.
Evan raised his eyebrows at Aires’s sudden action and looked at the end of his sleeve.
“Hey, kid. You chose the wrong person to cling to. That uncle will definitely not go with you.”
“Eek.”
As soon as Joy finished speaking, tears like chicken droppings fell from the child’s eyes.
Was it really that sad that Evan wouldn’t go with him?
Evan also looked at the child with a face that showed he didn’t understand.
“Evan, if it’s okay, can you stay with Joy until the child calms down?”
“Will it really help to stay together? I don’t know how to play with kids.”
Evan muttered with a sour expression.
“I don’t know why he’s acting like this all of a sudden; he’s usually such a quiet child. Just stay beside him until he falls asleep.”
As soon as I finished speaking, I noticed the child’s grip on Evan tightening even more.
Reluctantly, Evan moved his body in response to Aires’s touch.
“Customer, am I really going to be alone with your husband?”
There was another person who wasn’t pleased with the situation.
Joy, who had been watching, asked repeatedly in a hesitant voice if Evan was really going with him.
Cough.
Joy’s attempt to argue further was interrupted by the child’s cough.
“Then I’ll really go…”
“I’ll be back soon.”
Realizing that staying outside any longer would only negatively affect the child, the two began walking toward the tower without further discussion.
Watching the two disappear into the darkness, I thought, ‘They both don’t seem like it, but they’re surprisingly affectionate.’
Their personalities were completely opposite, yet in the end, they both acted as if they couldn’t refuse and went along with it.
It would be nice if those two could become friends during this time.
Chuckling to myself, I entered the castle, only to see Lucy and Vera running toward me with faces that looked like they were about to cry.
“M-Madam! Cough, no matter how much we search, we can’t find the child.”
“Lucy, Vera, I found the child.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes. He was hiding in the stable.”
At the news that the child had been found, the twins, along with others, visibly let out sighs of relief.
“You all worked hard until this late hour, so go in and get some rest.”
At my words, the servants began to return to their rooms one by one.
Lucy and Vera, who seemed to have been the most distressed, finally turned toward their room after I reassured them that it was okay.
“Madam.”
Just as I was about to head to my room after resolving the situation, someone called out to me from behind.
“Oh, Nora.”
When I turned around, I saw Nora standing there with a face that suggested she had something to say.
“Is there something you want to talk about?”
“Well…”
In contrast to her usual sharp and decisive demeanor, she appeared hesitant and unsure, which felt unfamiliar.
After silently moving her lips in hesitation, Nora eventually opened her mouth with a determined expression.
“It’s about Aires. Something seems off.”
midori
thanks! oh yeah, Nora is right, something is definitely off…he may even have had a spell/curse put on him. lolol this Aires just clings to everyone