Chapter 34
If Loren hadn’t misheard, something must have happened to Reia.
But that didn’t mean I could intervene recklessly.
The entire council didn’t exactly like me, and if I rushed in without caution, misunderstandings would be inevitable.
So, trying to approach as naturally as possible, I pretended to take a walk with Loren and hurried toward the annex mansion where Artemene was staying.
Luckily, it wasn’t far from where I was, so the journey posed no difficulty.
“…Exactly from which side is the sound coming, Loren? How is it now?”
I stuck close to Loren so she could concentrate as we moved together. She had her eyes tightly shut. But focusing so intensely in a short time made her lips tremble slightly.
“Ugh, the sound has quieted a bit compared to earlier… but I can still hear it. From behind the building, milady!”
“Alright, understood.”
I hurried toward the back of the building as Loren directed.
Her hearing was extraordinary, I knew that, but it still felt astonishing.
The backyard we rushed to was quiet, contrary to Loren’s claim. She insisted she could still hear something…
Scanning the surroundings, a faint sound of someone sobbing reached us. Loren and I quickly ran toward it.
The mansion where Artemene stayed was closest to Mount Noscal, and its backyard garden was several times larger than other estates.
Connected to Mount Noscal, it felt like walking through an expansive forest. Loren, frightened, clung to my sleeve and whined.
‘There’s no one around among the servants—what on earth is happening?’
The weather was gloomy today, and the estate seemed filled with a somber atmosphere since no one was about.
As if my thoughts summoned it, something suddenly jumped out from the bushes.
“Wha—! Ah! Milady! I’m scared! Let’s go back!”
“Ah!”
Loren screamed so loudly it could wake the dead, clutching at my sleeve.
“Th-that black hair! I-it’s a monster! A monster!”
“…Gah!”
I grabbed Loren by the back of her collar to stop her from running away.
“M-milady, let’s go quickly. I’m too scared to stay here!”
Loren, eyes tightly shut, hung her head, clearly distressed. As I tried calming her, the thing we assumed to be a monster pushed through the bushes.
“Sniff, sniff…”
With the sound of sorrowful sobbing, hair like seaweed sprawled onto the ground.
But then the figure rose, and I realized…
“It’s a maid…?”
Not a monster or ghost, but a girl in a maid’s uniform. Noticing our presence, she slowly lowered her hands, revealing a youthful face that left me momentarily stunned.
“W-who, hic, are you?”
The maid’s shoulders shook as she spoke. Loren had been hearing this sobbing earlier—it must have been her.
“W-who are you, hic, in Artemene’s backyard, hic…”
“I heard someone crying and came because I was worried. What’s wrong?”
I softened my expression and approached, speaking gently.
Still, the maid didn’t lower her guard and only glared at me with tear-streaked eyes.
At that moment, Loren, who had been trembling in fear moments ago, suddenly stood in front of me.
“Loren, what are you doing…”
I was shocked by what she said next.
“Hey, who do you think you’re glaring at? Do you know who this is? The one and only beloved wife of Duke Frezen Decart… hic!”
“Please, stop embarrassing me.”
“Ugh!”
I hastily covered Loren’s mouth to cut off her words.
Why was the embarrassment always my burden? Loren struggled as if insisting on saying her piece, while the maid’s expression seemed unusually tense.
“D-Duchess? Ah, no! Please leave immediately! If Artemene finds out, she’ll be furious! I’ll be scolded too! So quickly…”
At that moment, Athyl flew above us with a squawk.
The maid’s face turned pale, and she ran off in a hurry.
“Hey! Wait a moment! What’s going on?!”
I quickly chased after the young maid and grabbed her shoulder to stop her. She cried again, tears streaming down.
“Sniff, sob, what should I do now, milady? I just closed my eyes because I was sleepy…”
She repeated only one phrase: “It’s my fault.” while violently tangling her hair.
Not long after, in despair, she confessed the hidden truth.
“Miss Reia, hic, …sob… has completely disappeared.”
***
I first calmed the maid, Rina, and asked for the full story.
“Is this the first time Miss Reia has disappeared?”
It turned out Rina had been working at Artemene’s mansion for only a week. She was barely fifteen, so her youthful face made sense.
“I think so. Actually, Artemene told me never to open the window. But today, the air in the room felt so stale, and I worried about Miss Reia’s lungs…”
“You shouldn’t open the window?”
“Yes? Ah! I’m not sure why, but she said she was weak. But Miss Reia seemed suffocated, so I just opened it for a short while… Then sleepiness overtook me.”
She didn’t tell the other maids, fearing Artemene would find out and punish her.
Another fact I learned was that there were very few servants in Artemene’s mansion. Artemene disliked noise and maintained the estate with minimal staff.
‘So that’s why it was strangely quiet, and why it was hard to find anyone.’
“Rina, your priority is recovery. Searching with an injured ankle could be dangerous.”
“But…”
At that moment, the rustle of leaves announced Loren’s return, who had gone searching in my place.
“Loren, did you find her?”
“No. She’s nowhere. The little lady probably didn’t go far… But she left this.”
Loren held out a bell with a broken string. When I lifted it, a cheerful jingle rang out.
It was small enough to be considered a necklace.
But why was it here? Artemene never mentioned keeping a pet.
Briefly confused, the maid grabbed the bell and shouted.
“…Th-this is Miss Reia’s necklace! It shouldn’t fall off… Could something have happened to her?”
“…”
It turned out to be Reia’s necklace. Moreover, it should have jingled as she walked, so why did it fall off? The unease was palpable.
“What should we do, milady? Miss Reia must be in serious trouble. We need to find her before nightfall…”
The maid’s voice trembled with anxiety as she hurried away, determined to search the mountain herself.
However, she stopped abruptly when something blocked her path.
“A-Arte… hic!”
The maid’s voice hiccuped as she sank down under a looming shadow. Then, a chilling voice froze both the maid and me.
“What are you doing here? Without my permission, in someone else’s mansion?”
Indeed, what I feared had finally happened.
