“Squeak…”
Cynthia, who had been flinching at the distant sound of gunfire, discovered a lone baby bear.
The baby bear whimpered and grabbed Cynthia’s leg with its front paws.
“You shouldn’t mess with cubs.”
Carlos knew very well that baby bears were more dangerous than adult bears. The mother might return and deliver a fiery blow.
“How cute.”
Despite Carlos’s warning, Cynthia began to cradle the baby bear like an infant, patting it gently.
“I told you not to touch it.”
“It’s so cute… Look, it likes it too.”
“Put it down unless you can do the same a year from now.”
“It’ll be the opposite then, I guess.”
As Cynthia carefully put the baby bear down, she spotted someone and her eyes widened.
Masera was looking down at her, breathing roughly.
Cynthia tensed up as if she had encountered a wild beast, seeing his disheveled hair and murderous gaze. There was blood splattered on his face, of unknown origin.
“Brigadier General?”
Masera approached Cynthia and took off his wool coat.
“Ah.”
Then, he irritably snatched away Carlos’s coat that had been draped over her shoulders and threw it to the ground.
“Why are you getting angry?”
Carlos, looking at his coat thrown on the floor, asked in an unpleasant tone.
Masera, who had put his coat on Cynthia, turned to Carlos.
Soon, he approached Carlos with measured steps and raised a hand with a blank expression.
Thwack!
With the sound of impact, Carlos’s head turned to the other side. His cheek swelled up instantly, and his lip burst, drawing blood.
Masera warned Carlos, who was rubbing his cheek, in a frighteningly calm voice.
“Don’t cross the line.”
“What?”
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
His voice was rough, like scraping against his throat.
Masera turned his back on Carlos and picked up the bewildered Cynthia in his arms.
Cynthia, curled up in his arms, silently watched him walk.
“Um, Brigadier General. To explain, I took medicine and woke up to a strange ceiling, you know? Suddenly, I was locked in a basement?”
“I know you were kidnapped.”
“But why are you angry…”
Masera’s lips formed a straight line.
The answer came a long time later.
“Being kidnapped together means you were in the same room, doesn’t it?”
“I was asleep then. And we’re family, so why…”
Ha, his eyes rolled upward as he sighed. He looked very displeased.
“That’s the problem. Crossing the line of family.”
Cynthia frowned, clutching her coat tighter.
“I think you’ve misunderstood, it’s nothing like that at all.”
But it would be ridiculous to explain in detail that she had no interest in Carlos and, in fact, disliked him.
Masera said.
“Just behave yourself and don’t create misunderstandings. It’s not you, but that ‘man’ who is unnecessarily approaching my wife.”
Cynthia felt his arms around her tightening.
Soon, a low voice mixed with heavy breaths reached her ears.
“It’s not like I can lock you up.”
Why was he making such an obsessive, possessive statement?
Cynthia shrank back, seeing his fierce eyes.
As an extrovert who constantly needed to meet people, becoming the protagonist of a confinement story was practically a death sentence.
Anyway, she had to explain about being in the same room as Carlos.
“He said he received a note asking him to come to my room. I didn’t send it, so I don’t know what it said.”
“I have that note. I found it first in your room.”
He seemed very on edge, and she had a feeling he would get even angrier if she asked about the contents of the note.
So Cynthia kept her mouth shut and quietly stayed in his arms.
But the chatterbox’s silence didn’t last long.
“Are you hurt? There’s blood on you.”
Masera turned his head away, avoiding her hand as she tried to wipe the blood from his face.
‘Tch…’
That man is seriously sulking!
It felt like walking on thin ice. No, it felt like being thrown onto thin ice.
Whether it was guilt from having committed many sins, or because of the subtle emotional fluctuations, she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
As she endured the uncomfortable silence, she spotted someone’s foot sticking out from the thick bushes.
Instantly, Masera’s large hand covered Cynthia’s face, blocking her view.
“Just now, what was that?”
“What are you talking about?”
“No, there was a man lying in the bushes?”
“Talking about other men in front of me is forbidden.”
“……?”
In the end, she never found out what it was that she saw in the bushes.
* * *
Carlos watched the backs of the two figures as they walked away, then spat out blood-tinged saliva. His struck cheek throbbed.
“Is it pride, or possessiveness?”
He must have found out that we were in the same room. And judging by how he’s wary of me…
Carlos smiled faintly and began to walk, dragging his limping leg.
Two soldiers who were searching the forest found him and helped him up.
Thus, Carlos returned to Major General Isaac’s villa and received emergency treatment from a doctor.
Helene, who came to his room around lunchtime, looked at Carlos with a worried expression.
“What happened? Kidnapped? Were you with Cynthia at that time?”
“Yeah.”
Carlos, lying on the bed, replied as he looked at his bandaged ankle.
“I received a note asking me to come to her room.”
“Cynthia sent the note?”
Carlos shook his head.
“I don’t think Cynthia sent it.”
“Does esteemed Brigadier General have the note? That’s evidence, too.”
“I lost it.”
“What are the details?”
“That’s all I said earlier.”
Helene, who had already searched every corner of Cynthia’s room, clenched her fist tightly.
‘Did she drop it while being kidnapped? The evidence of the scandal has disappeared, and at this rate, I’ll be framed.’
Unlike fabricating a scandal, kidnapping was a serious matter, so they would definitely find the person who delivered the note. If she was unlucky, she would even be accused of kidnapping.
‘For the incident to happen right after Carlos went to her room…’
Feeling uneasy, Helene bit her nails as she left the room.
Currently, all remaining schedules had been canceled due to the kidnapping incident, and the people at the villa were scheduled to return after providing alibis and testimonies.
She had to take action before that.
She headed straight to the banquet hall.
The people gathered in the banquet hall were sharing their opinions on the kidnapping incident.
“The fact that Prince Carlos went to the Princess’s room at that time, it seems like there was a deliberate attempt.”
Just as Major General Isaac was talking about the possibility of an accomplice inside, Helene stepped forward.
“Ah, I know about that. I just came from esteemed Brigadier General’s room.”
Clearing her throat, she continued calmly.
“Cynthia said she sent a note to Carlos asking him to come to her room. He’s someone she relies on a lot, and she was sick, so she must have needed someone to be by her side.”
If she created a misunderstanding in advance, no matter how much they denied it, it would look like they were making excuses.
People thought her words made sense. After all, Masera had come to the banquet hall alone last night, leaving the sick Cynthia behind.
Moreover, some were aware of the rumors that the siblings were particularly close.
Then, one sharp investigator asked.
“Where is the note? Could it have been fabricated?”
“He said he lost it. The victims have no reason to lie about such things. Of course, they might deny it if there’s room for misunderstanding.”
At Helene’s assertion, Valeria’s face turned red, and the surrounding whispers grew louder.
“Calling her brother to her room late at night, instead of her husband?”
“Could that rumor be true?”
As public opinion increasingly turned to the siblings’ scandal, Masera, who had been sitting silently with a blank expression, opened his mouth.
“I have the note. I picked it up from the floor in the room.”
All eyes turned to Masera.
Helene smiled sweetly and asked him.
“Can you tell us what it says?”
With a calm expression, Masera took the note out of his coat pocket and began to read.
“‘Come to my room without anyone knowing. It’s our chance to run away together.’ That’s what the note says.”
The shocking content caused a stir among the people. It was a situation where the husband was exposing his wife’s scandal.
Valeria, her pride wounded, couldn’t overcome her shame and stood up abruptly.
“Ha, there’s a limit to how much you can play with people.”
Valeria’s friends supported her as she trembled with immense humiliation.
Helene covered her mouth, trying to hide the corners of her lips that kept rising.
‘It’s going according to my plan. But who added the part about running away together?’
In any case, things were going the way she wanted. Just as she was inwardly cheering, Masera said.
“But this wasn’t sent by my wife.”
The room fell silent as if cold water had been poured over it.
“How can you be so sure?”
Valeria, who was very agitated, asked him accusingly.
Then, Masera held out the note and smiled faintly.
“What kind of husband can’t recognize his wife’s handwriting?”
