Chapter 1.6
As he was carefully reading the documents, Rayan’s green eyes drifted down to the back of a maid kneeling at his feet.
“Disappeared? That woman?”
To him, it was an unbelievable story.
Rayan considered a few possibilities in his head before turning back to the document, as if uninterested.
“Search properly. Maybe she just got lost somewhere in the annex.”
Ines had nowhere to go. The annex in the imperial palace was full of Eleanor’s people—those assigned to watch her under Rayan’s orders.
Not only the maids, but even the knights stationed there were all private soldiers under Eleanor.
A small, powerless woman like Ines could never avoid all those eyes.
Rayan resumed reading the document. It was about the budget for the Grand Duke’s estate, something he hadn’t reviewed in a while.
“We’ve looked everywhere… absolutely everywhere, Your Highness. Not just the annex, but even the back garden of the main palace…”
This year’s estate budget was 70,000 gold.
A third of it had been used for charitable work for the duchy’s people.
“I clearly saw her head toward the garden for a walk. We waited for her to return, but she never did. The sun has already gone down…”
A third of the budget, spent on charity…
“We also requested the imperial guards to help with the search, but even after hours of looking, no one could find her anywhere…”
Charity work…
Only after reading the same line three times did Rayan slowly place the document on the table. His green eyes, now looking back at the maid, had turned cold.
“So, you didn’t find her?”
The maid, Berry, noticed the dangerous air from her master and pressed her forehead close to the floor. Rayan stared at the maid’s trembling back and stood up.
In his head, he still couldn’t believe it. For Ines, Lezan was a completely foreign land.
Even if she somehow managed to slip out of the annex, it was impossible to get past the front gate of the palace.
<Why are you so kind to me?>
That innocent voice echoed in his ears.
<You let me stay in a nice place, wear nice clothes, gave me precious gifts… treated me kindly.>
With such eyes, she had asked him in such pure sincerity—and then ran away?
Impossible.
Even while thinking that, Rayan stepped past the maid and left his office.
But when he arrived at the annex in the palace, what greeted him was a cold room, without a single trace of warmth.
The silver dress Ines had worn yesterday was neatly folded and placed on the table. The necklace he had personally put around her neck just a few days ago was also there.
Just yesterday, the colors he had proudly claimed as his own had been gently cast aside.
Yes, they had been thrown away.
“…”
That wasn’t all that Ines had left behind. The yellow dress she had worn that morning and the silver hair ornament were neatly placed on the bed.
Instead, the shabby white dress—carelessly shoved in the corner of the closet—was gone.
The thin scrap of cloth Ines had worn on the day she arrived in Lezan.
The maid, trembling, spoke.
“I’m sure… she went out empty-handed… I don’t know how she managed to take that dress with her…”
Aside from what she wore when she came, she left everything else behind.
The meaning was clear.
She wasn’t kidnapped—she ran away. On her own two feet.
“…Ridiculous.”
Even though that was what he muttered after a long silence, Rayan’s face showed no emotion.
He looked down at the emerald necklace, shimmering with light.
He had let her out, just briefly, so she could feel how cold and harsh the world outside Eleanor’s protection was…
And yet she had the nerve to run away?
Rayan Eleanor was a man who had never failed to get what he wanted.
He calculated the value of things, judged the effort required, and achieved his goals. Whether in politics or on the battlefield, it was the same.
And yet, a low-born woman, less than a commoner, had slipped through his grasp.
A bastard child had escaped. Again.
That fact brought back memories from ten years ago.
The day his uncle—who had been as kind as a parent—betrayed him, the former Grand Duke and Duchess, and Eleanor itself.
A hollow smile appeared at the corners of his lips.
“…I was wrong. Completely.”
He should’ve skipped the formalities. He should’ve dragged her underground and threatened her.
Bastards were never to be trusted. So what had he believed in, with the lingering heat of her lips still fresh?
The emerald necklace twisted powerlessly in his large hand.
Then came the order.
“…She can’t have gotten far. Send out the knights.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Rayan felt the cold texture of the necklace wrapped around his fingers and slowly called back the knight.
“…No.”
When the knight turned around, confused, he saw a rare sight—an emotion clearly showing in his master’s eyes. It was the look of a hunter who had spotted his prey.
The man who always kept his composure now had twisted lips.
“I’ll go myself.”
