Chapter 29

I want to erase every trace of Edzov.
Because I don’t want her to feel even the slightest pain when she hears that name.
But—

“That’s impossible.”

He could never give her something real.
What he offered was only a form—an imitation.
From the beginning, there were far more things about him she didn’t know than she did.

“Tiers will be here soon.”

Eclite’s voice rang out, somewhat stiff.
Amelia glanced at his hardened expression and nodded slightly.

“Right. We didn’t come here for fun.”

“Let’s go back now.”

Amelia turned around to leave, but something caught her eye.
Until she was completely out of sight, her gaze lingered with curiosity.

As she and Eclite walked toward the place where the Tiers would meet them, lively music reached their ears.
Street performers were putting on a show, and people were gathering around the central plaza, dancing joyfully.
Amelia stopped to watch the cheerful scene.
How could they all laugh like that, so freely?
For nobles, dancing was never something that brought joy like this.

“Yes… that’s what it means to truly enjoy something.”

Then her thoughts shifted again as she looked closer.

“No. You can enjoy it.”

She noticed who people were dancing with.
Children with their parents. Lovers. Friends, family, people dear to each other.
It wasn’t about the dance—it was about who you danced with.
As long as it was someone you wanted to be with, anything could be joyful.
Amelia snuck a glance at Eclite and smiled quietly.

“You can be happy, too.”

At that moment, while she let her guard down for just a second, she was swept up by the crowd of dancers.

“My lady!”

Eclite immediately reached out to grab her,
But Amelia was already pushed all the way into the plaza and surrounded by a group of local young women.
She was completely flustered by the sudden situation—
And it seemed that the women, fond of the handsome “young man” in disguise, eagerly approached her.

“Oh my, what a cute young gentleman!”

“Dance with us!”

“How is your skin so smooth and fair?”

“You’re not from around here, are you? Are you visiting? Our village isn’t really much of a tourist spot…”

“It’s been forever since we saw someone from out of town! Let’s have fun!”

“Ah—no, I mean… just a moment…”

Amelia stood frozen, unable to do anything, when Eclite suddenly stepped forward, wrapping an arm gently around her shoulders to shield her.

“My apologies, ladies. This one’s my partner.”

“Oh my!”

With an awkward smile, Eclite led her away.
Amelia whispered with a flustered expression,

“Thank you… I didn’t expect it to turn out like that.”

“I thought I only had to keep an eye out for other men. Didn’t think women would be competition, too.”

“That’s not what this is!”

The two of them tried to leave the plaza in a hurry.
But the crowd had grown thicker, and before long, the music shifted—the dance had truly begun.
Amelia glanced at Eclite’s panicked face and let out a soft laugh.

“Well, no way around it now. I guess we’ll finally get to use that dance we practiced.”

“Ah…”

“Let’s just think of it as a live test.”

“Aren’t we both men right now?”

“If that’s the only issue…”

She reached up and took off her hat.
Violet hair spilled out beautifully under the moonlight.
It was a bit tousled, but in his eyes, she looked stunning.
She extended her hand to him, careful and graceful.

“For now, I’ll be Amelia again. Just for a moment—like it’s a real secret rendezvous.”

“Not just friends?”

“Not friends,” she replied, her voice a little shy.

“…Lovers.”

“…I’m okay with that.”

Before either of them could say who moved first, the distance between them vanished.
It felt nothing like the rehearsals back at the duchy.
Eclite’s hand gently pressed against her back.
Even through her clothes, it felt like a burning heat on bare skin.

Amelia held his large hand tightly and looked straight into his eyes.
Everyone else danced with cheerful steps,
But the two of them moved slowly, their gestures filled with something tender.

Before they realized it, the crowd faded from view.
Even the music had vanished.
All they could hear was the sound of each other’s breath.
All they could see was each other.

Amelia heard Mami’s words echo in her mind again—that she liked him.
But…

“It’s not that I like him. But… I don’t dislike him either.”

Because she didn’t dislike him, she kept wanting to ask.
As the music reached its climax, Amelia, who hadn’t missed a single step until now, faltered in the very last moment and stumbled forward—pressing in closer to him.
Their noses were almost touching.
Their uneven breaths, stirred by the dance, tangled in the space between their slightly parted lips.
Both of their faces were flushed with heat.
They couldn’t look away—
Yet they couldn’t go any further, either.
Because if either of them crossed that line, there would be no going back.
Because nothing could be allowed to start.
And yet, swept up in the mood, Amelia whispered the words she hadn’t meant to let out.

“Your Grace…”

“Go ahead.”

Eclite answered carefully, each word delicate.
He was holding himself back with every ounce of restraint he had.
Trying to push away the urge to grip her hand more tightly.
Trying to suppress the desire to pull her in, to breathe in her scent growing thicker in the air.
He focused all his attention on her voice.

Amelia, too, spoke with tense hesitation.

“Is there… someone you like, Your Grace…?”

But at that moment, the music ended, and the crowd erupted into cheers.
Her words were swallowed in the noise, and the atmosphere was broken completely.
She quickly came to her senses and took a step back.

“Still, I did pretty well, didn’t I? Only messed up once. I didn’t even step on your foot! I think I won’t embarrass myself at the real ball.”

“I would never let that happen.”

“Haha. That’s very reassuring.”

Eclite led Amelia out of the plaza, fixed her hair gently, and placed her hat back on.

“But earlier, what were you about to say?”

“Oh, nothing important. I just wanted to say… thank you. For bringing me here today. You must be really busy. I don’t want to take up any more of your time, so let’s go back quickly.”

Though he found it a bit puzzling, Eclite didn’t press further and simply walked with her.

Amelia couldn’t bring herself to be brave again.
That question had been absurd.
It was something she had no right to ask.

“Who do you like?” She wasn’t even truly his wife.
That question crossed the line— It was something that should never be asked.

Heart, stop. This isn’t right.
Even now, just like back then, the reason her heart beat out of control was—

“It’s because my heart is still too weak.”

Isana arrived at the orchard with the newly formed search party.
There, several young men stood ready with bows and swords, preparing for a hunt.
Anek spotted Isana and came rushing over with a bright smile.

“Captain! The head of the house sent you?”

At his words, the other young men also relaxed their previously tense expressions.

“Having a sharpshooter squad makes things easier. Hunting with guns is a real advantage.”

“We’re truly grateful! It means a lot that our new lord is looking out for us like this.”

“I’ll do whatever I can to help. But first…”

Isana smiled gently as he spoke.

“I’d like to take a look around the damaged area of the orchard.”

“Ah! I’ll guide you. Please, this way.”

The orchard’s owner led Isana forward.
The vineyard stretched endlessly, rows of grapevines spreading in every direction.
There didn’t appear to be any fences around them.

“Where exactly was the damage?”

“The grapes weren’t really affected. It was the livestock that were attacked.”

The owner brought Isana to a pen located on one side of the orchard.
It was surprisingly large and built with sturdy fencing.
Isana touched the fence and examined it.

“What animals were kept here?”

“Sheep. We lost half of them. The remaining ones were temporarily sent to a friend’s place for safekeeping.”

Isana looked around the pen.
There were no signs of digging under the fence.
And it was too high for something to easily jump over.

“So how did the beast get in?”

“It broke the lock.”

“The lock?”

The owner took a shattered lock from his pocket and held it up.

“It chewed it apart.”

“A beast… broke a lock?”

Normally, a wild animal would dig or try to break through the fence itself.
But this one seemed to understand that breaking the lock would open the door.

“How strange. It must’ve been incredibly smart.”

“We’re guessing it was a wolf. Some fur was found near the site.”

“You’re just guessing?”

“Yes. No one actually saw it. But what else could’ve done something like this? It has to be a wolf.”

The owner led Isana to the area where Shuran had disappeared.

“There were drag marks over here. Blood, too.
Ah… I still don’t know how it happened.
If only he’d screamed… we might’ve been able to save him.”

The owner bowed his head in silent mourning, wearing a sorrowful expression.
Isana felt a growing sense of doubt.

“He didn’t even cry out?”

“No. No one heard anything that night.
Maybe he was too scared to scream as he was being dragged away.
That’s why we think it was a wolf.”

“…I see.”

Isana scanned the ground, but the bloodstains had mostly faded.

“Still… not even a single footprint?”

He began searching within the perimeter.
The owner watched curiously as Isana looked around and spoke.

“What are you looking for? We already searched everything we could besides the beast’s fur, and there was nothing.”

“That’s not it. I’m thinking… was there something the beast could’ve sneaked in to drink…”

“Drink?”

At that moment, Isana spotted the well and walked over to it.

“Is this the water the sheep drank from?”

“Ah, yes. We draw from it and give it to them.”

As Isana looked inside the well, his lips curled into a cold line.

“So this is what His Grace meant as the cause.”

He drew up a bucket of water from the well—
And inside the bucket, a discarded liquor bottle clattered into view.
The owner looked stunned, clearly seeing it for the first time.

“Wh-Why is there a liquor bottle in the well?!”

Isana examined the bottle, but there was no authorized label on it.

“So this is the unlicensed liquor His Grace warned about—the kind that excites animals.”

Someone had deliberately poured that illegal liquor into the well.
The wild animal didn’t just happen to attack.
Someone had lured it here and triggered the incident.

He glanced up at the sky.
Night was approaching, and soon, the full moon would rise.

“We need to find out who this bottle belongs to.
When black market trading happens at night markets, where does it usually take place?”

“Pardon?”

At the word black market, the owner flinched and avoided eye contact.

“B-Black market? I don’t know anything about that…”

But Isana gave him a sharp, cold smile—the kind that strips away lies.

“Let’s not play games.
I already know your neck-deep in gambling debt.”

“Wh-What?! Where did that even come from?!”

“When we first heard a worker had gone missing, we asked ourselves—
Did the owner sell him off? Was there some grudge involved?
That’s how we start our investigations.
Because people… are always scarier than beasts.
And it’s easy to pin it on a voiceless animal.”

The owner turned pale and frantically shook his head.

“That’s not it! Yes, I have gambling debts—but I didn’t sell him!
He was really attacked by a wild animal!”

“All right, all right. I believe you.
But you know how it is—places where people gamble is full of dirty rumors.
So just tell me where the real information is.”

This case wouldn’t be solved just by hunting the animal.
The incident hadn’t happened because a hungry beast randomly attacked livestock.

“And the target… definitely wasn’t the animals.”

He thought of the missing worker.

“Same type of crime… but aimed at something else.”

Amelia and Eclite arrived at the spot where the Tiers would come to meet her.
She looked up at the sky, roughly estimating the time, and spoke to Eclite.

“You’ve brought me all the way here, so… you can go now.”

“I can’t do that. I’m staying with you.”

Eclite replied firmly, as if that option wasn’t even on the table.
But Amelia remained just as stubborn.

“Sir Kamari is on the move right now, isn’t he?
It must be hard doing it alone. Dangerous, even.
Please go! I really don’t want to get in the way of your work, Your Grace.”

“But still…”

“If you go now, then we’ll have another chance like this next time, right?”

Amelia coaxed him softly.

“I had fun—even if it was just a little while.
It’s my first time… doing something like this.
So just today isn’t enough.”

“My lady…”

“Next time, let’s go out again.
No, let’s go out properly—when the festival comes.”

“Go out and… have fun?”

“Your Grace hasn’t had a chance to truly enjoy yourself, right?
Exactly. That’s why we need to learn how to have fun.”

Amelia took his hand and hooked her pinky with his.

“Let’s promise. Like this. Okay?”

Eclite looked down at their linked fingers, his breath catching in his throat.

“A promise, huh…”

It was such a simple word, yet it filled him with warmth.
Because it meant together again.
Yes—he would be the one to stay by her side moving forward.
There was no reason to stay shackled to a past full of wounds and hatred.
This woman had a way of melting away his doubts so effortlessly.
She always gave him something gentle to hold on to.
Eclite gently clasped her hand as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

“Then teach me properly. I’ll be waiting.”

“Okay. So, for now, you should—”

Just then, a staggering man bumped into Amelia,
And before she could react, Eclite immediately caught her in his arms.

“Are you all, right?”

But both Eclite and Amelia froze at the same time.
Their eyes followed the man who had bumped into her as he passed by.
His eyes darted around anxiously, scanning his surroundings—
Then, he quietly slipped away into a less crowded alley.

Amelia instinctively recalled the scent lingering at the tip of her nose.

“Reeked of alcohol…”

She lifted her gaze and realized Eclite was thinking the exact same thing.

“We’ve found it. The black-market location.”

“Go quickly. It might be nothing, but there’s a strong chance it isn’t.”

“……”

“He’s the only one stumbling around this crowded place, completely drunk and out of it.
And I think he’s the only outsider here besides us.”

Even though it was a night market, it wasn’t very large.
Most of the people were locals—
They greeted each other with familiarity even just by exchanging glances.
Back in the plaza, everyone had instantly recognized that Amelia wasn’t from the village.
So, that man wasn’t local either. He was an outsider.

“But… Tiers hasn’t arrived yet.”

“Tiers will be here soon.
Didn’t I say I didn’t want to get in your way?
I’ll see you back at the Ducal house. Now go.”

Amelia gave the hesitant Eclite a firm push, her expression resolute.
If he kept resisting, she might actually get mad at him.
Afraid of disappointing her, Eclite nodded reluctantly.

“…Understood. Then I’ll see you at the Ducal house.”

“Don’t get hurt. That’s an order.”

At her words, Eclite smiled.

“I won’t. I wouldn’t dare disobey a direct command.”

He kept his eyes on her until the last moment,
Then disappeared in the direction the man had gone.

Amelia watched him go, worry lingering in her eyes.

“Please… let nothing happen. Please.”

As she prayed, her gaze was suddenly drawn to something.
Her eyes locked onto it, her expression turning slightly unreadable.

A moment later, the Tiers arrived at the meeting place to pick up Amelia.
But no matter how hard they looked, she was nowhere to be found.

“Huh? Did we get the place wrong?”

“No, this is where she said to wait.”

“She said she’d be in disguise. Lord?”

The Tiers spread out, searching carefully.
But in the end, Amelia was nowhere to be found.