Chapter 08
Ethan Estevan and the Ethan I know are both the same person, but they are not the same.
The conclusion was a bit strange, but I was able to let go of old regrets.
At least I believed I had.
“…Sigh.”
Elisa, who lost sleep thinking about Ethan, let out a deep sigh and pressed her dark-circled eyes.
After harshly telling herself not to pretend she knew him, she felt so pitiful that all she could do was sigh.
She was unable to stop thinking about him despite her battle with self-disgust.
Did he run away because of the difference in status?
Or was there another reason?
If so, what was it?
What was so important that he said he couldn’t tell her now but would explain later?
She spent all night worrying, but the questions floated unanswered in her mind.
At least she wouldn’t have any regrets now, but she shouldn’t have taken the silence as a yes.
At least she wouldn’t have regretted it, even though it might have seemed pitiful at the time.
It was a big regret not to do that.
“Perhaps I should find out right away.”
Instead of wasting time blaming herself, Elisa decided to take action immediately and began preparing to go out.
The surest way to solve her questions was to ask him directly, but since he wasn’t willing to cooperate, that wasn’t an option.
Besides, it was awkward to face Ethan and speak to him.
That left only one option—investigation.
Elisa left the mansion and headed to the Information Guild.
She got off a little far away and walked to the location because it wouldn’t be good if people found out that a count’s daughter visited.
She wore plain clothes as much as possible.
The first floor had quite a few people eating, maybe because there was a restaurant as well.
It was noisy.
Since it was her first time in such a noisy place and the Information Guild, Elisa stood there stiffly like a lost child.
At that moment, a pretty woman with her red hair tied up approached her.
“Looks like you’re not here to eat. Are you here on business?” The woman pointed at the counter and asked. Understanding what she meant, Elisa nodded.
“It’s too noisy here, so let’s talk inside.”
The woman grabbed her arm and pulled her along.
Elisa followed without thinking and entered a small room behind the counter.
She looked around.
It was a small space, less than ten steps from the door to the window, with only a wooden desk, a chair, and a small bookshelf.
“Don’t just stand there, sit down.”
The woman invited her to sit on a chair near the window.
Elisa, who had been anxiously looking around like a lost child, finally sat down.
“So, may I ask why a noble lady like you came to the Information Guild in person?”
“… How did you know I’m a noble?”
Elisa was surprised and asked, since she had tried hard to hide it.
The woman laughed out loud and rested her chin on her clasped hands.
“This is how I make a living—if I couldn’t figure out something this simple, I’d have to quit this job.”
I see.
It seemed strange, but Elisa nodded anyway since it wasn’t important.
I’ve heard that you came to find out about Baron Ethan Estevan, the rumored “K.”
This was the important point.
The woman let out a short sigh and wrinkled her nose.
Everyone had tried to find out who the rumored ‘K’ was—the one who saved Prince Howard and led the allied nations to victory—but all failed.
Now that it was revealed the ‘K’ was Baron Ethan Estevan, Elisa thought she might get some information, but no.
“Is it a difficult request?”
Elisa asked carefully, and the woman scratched her cheek.
“Well, I don’t know whether to call it difficult or easy…”
“What do you mean?”
“If you want to know how Baron Estevan joined the Estevan family and what he did on the battlefield, I can tell you. But other parts are impossible.”
“Other parts?”
“For example, we can’t find out about Baron Estevan’s life before the war started.”
“That part isn’t necessary.”
Elisa knew best about his life before joining the war, so she wasn’t curious at all.
“More than that, I want to know why Baron Ethan Estevan joined the war.”
The reason he joined the war was probably why he left her without a word.
If he had run away just because he was afraid of the status difference, he wouldn’t have joined the war.
“Um, sorry, but that’s also hard to find out.”
“Why? Don’t you have access to his enlistment records?
People who enlisted voluntarily, not by draft, had to submit a statement explaining their reasons.
They looked for signs that someone was an enemy spy or had malicious intent.
Ethan must have the same situation.
Hearing that it was impossible without even trying, however, was a little unexpected.
“Is it because his enlistment records are military secrets and hard to access?”
“No, that’s not it. Military information is harder to get than simple background checks, but it’s not impossible.”
“Then why…”
“Is that possible? Wouldn’t there be issues with his unit assignment or supplies if there was no enlistment record?
“It’s very rare, but cases like that do happen. Sometimes the paperwork is lost due to an administrator’s mistake…”
The woman glanced sharply at the closed door, then leaned toward Elisa and whispered:
“If someone with a very high status—so high that even our information guild dares not touch—hid it, then we simply can’t find it.”
Prince Howard came to Elisa’s mind at those words.
The two looked closely at the banquet of victory.
Perhaps because he was saved by Ethan.
Could it be that, for the same reason, they hid Ethan’s enlistment record to protect his past as a commoner and a servant?
It wouldn’t be good if the hero who saved the allied nations was known to have been a mere servant, so that seems likely.
“I just wanted to warn you in case you waste your money. Even if you go to other guilds, the results will be the same. So it’s better to give up digging into Baron Estevan’s past.”
If giving up had been so easy, she wouldn’t have spent the past four years tormented by thoughts of him, unable to sleep at night.
Swallowing the words she could never say, Elisa took gold coins from her pocket and placed them on the table.
“Then tell me how Baron Ethan Estevan became part of the Estevan family.”
that I can tell you right away. The fee is 1 gold, including what you paid before.”
Elisa gladly paid, and the woman smiled brightly, taking a box from under the bookshelf.
She pulled out some documents and placed them in front of Elisa.
The first page had “Ethan Estevan Investigation Report” written in large letters.
“I didn’t expect you to give it to me so quickly…”
“As you know, the rumoured ‘K’ was so popular that even elderly noblewomen wanted to know his identity.”
So that’s how popular he was.
Before knowing that the rumoured ‘K’ was Ethan, Elisa hadn’t been interested at all and hadn’t realised how famous he was.
“There’s no enlistment record.”
What nonsense was this?
Elisa squinted one eye in confusion.
The woman nodded as if understanding.
“We also thought it was strange that a soldier who fought in the war had no enlistment record. We checked several times but couldn’t find it.”
“After it was revealed that the rumoured ‘K’ was Baron Estevan, many people came asking to learn about him. So we prepared these materials in advance.”
There was even a special team dedicated to investigating Baron Estevan, the woman said, shaking her head.
The fact that Elisa had never heard of it before surprised her a little, but not in a surprising way.
He had been popular for his handsome looks even when he was a servant.
There had even been requests to pay well just to get him as a companion.
When she was young, she had been proud and happy to have such a popular playmate.
She experienced anxiety and jealousy after falling for Ethan.
She didn’t want to show him to others, so she tried to keep him from going out and stayed close to him.
And now…
“Oh, by the way, one of the clients who requested a report on Baron Ethan Estevan was that person.”
That person?
Elisa snapped out of her thoughts and looked up.
The woman smiled and continued:
“Sir Derek Grenville, your fiancé. He also asked us to find out about Baron Estevan.”
