Chapter 70

-rattle!

I slowly opened my eyes hearing the loud sound. I tried to move but I couldn’t. My body is shaking.

‘I’m tied up.’

I turned my head and looked around. It seems that I am in a carriage.

‘How about Aren?’

I was scared when I remembered the last scene, but I was relieved when I saw the corner of the carriage and found Aren there.

Even though I am in a tied state, I managed to get close to the unconscious Aren.

“Sir, wake up.”

After calling him several times, he slowly opened his eyes. I was relieved to see his golden eyes slowly revealed.

He came to his senses and looked at me, probably thinking the same way as me.

Hi sighed. “Right.”

“Yes?”

“I thought that… if I was defeated, I would be caught as well. A knight deserves to be taken as a hostage… and can be tortured for information.”

I was more shocked than moved by his spirit of sacrifice.

‘I wish he could cherish himself more.’

He couldn’t kill the enemies and save me, so he’d rather be caught together.

Isn’t that a gamble with a very low success rate?

“What if they kill without thinking? If you run away, one of the two will definitely live.”

“That’s not an option at all.”

“…….”

I was both tearfully grateful and frustrated.

Aren hurriedly added, “Even though this is on the outskirts, it will be known soon that you were kidnapped because the carriage was overturned in the capital. So I thought it would be better to be caught together.”

I sighed. “…next time, make a more selfish judgment.”

“I will try.”

That was the most insincere tone of answer I’ve ever heard from him.

“What about your wound?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

I don’t think he’s fine, but my hands are tied so I can’t examine him.

In the end, I decided to think about something else first.

‘Who’s the one who kidnapped me?’

It’s not that I don’t have any enemies at all, however, the kidnapping method was overly bold and impetuous. If it went wrong, the culprits would have been caught trying to escape from the capital.

‘There must be a reason to take such a risk and kidnap me urgently.’

A hypothesis passed through my mind.

‘…no way.’

I don’t think so.

Moments later, the rattling carriage topped.

Only the ropes on our feet were untied, it looks like we have to walk from here.

When I came out, I saw a man in rather luxurious clothes, unlike the kidnappers. I stared at his face and stiffened.

“…father.”

I hoped my guess was wrong but it was a futile hope.

I was honestly careless. I believed that since they are my family they wouldn’t do something this serious.

“I didn’t know you could do something like this.”

My biological father, Count Opion, opened his mouth, “Noel, you did something stupid.”

“To put it bluntly, it’s something to be applauded for. I tried to stop the battle of territorial.”

“No, you tried to ruin our family.”

“You would fail even if I didn’t do anything.”

Here we go!

My head turned back at the strong force that struck me on the cheek.

“If you truly care about your family, you should have lured Marquis Ainel to help your family, you traitor!”

His words heated me up. I shouted, “If you hadn’t taken excessive profits in the first place, none of this would have happened!”

“What’s wrong with selling my stuff at the price I want?!”

I grinned. “Why don’t you study economics again since you can’t communicate this kind of topic?”

Damn! A slap hit my cheek once again.

“What ridiculous logic. You want me to sell medicine that can save many people at a ‘reasonable’ price? Why should I do that?”

I can assure you that if there were just a few more people like this, humanity would have perished immediately.

“Because life is precious? No, there’s no need for weakling in that sentiment, Noel. The weak are weeded out, and those without money die. That’s the way nature works.”

“If you want to worship the rule of thumb, why don’t you give up your status as a human being?”

If you like nature that much, live by grazing in the fields.

I continued, “Because humans have morals and conscience.”

“That’s not worth much! The only things that matter to me are people who can pay. The others are trash, and there is no need to be considerate of those things,” shouted the Count.

He glared at me. “Noel, it’s the same for you now. How dare you interfere with our family business?”

“…the weak die, the poor die. Half of humanity will be gone soon thanks to that dog-shit-like logic of yours.”

“Even trash has some use. Fortunately, I heard you and your husband are getting along well these days. I will use you as a hostage to gain the cooperation of Marquis Ainel.”

‘Rupert will cooperate with you.’

I would rather be left to die.

“What happened to Harvil?”

I was curious. Did he betray me? If not—

“You mean the guy who tried to betray me by being swayed by a sense of duty?”

Count Opion laughed cruelly. “He must have been drunk when he threatened our family under that pretext. Stupid guy.”

At this point, I’m not even mad. My head immediately cooled down.

I smiled. “The day will come when your actions will come back like a boomerang.”

“That is the bullshit of a loser. Drag this woman away.”

The Count turned around.

I glared at him while being dragged away by force.

***

Noel has been kidnapped.

The moment he heard those words, Rupert felt dizzy.

“The carriage supposedly carrying Madam and Sir Aren was abandoned near the mountains to the west.”

“They tried to take a detour through a mountain road.”

It seems to have fallen into rugged terrain where you can’t use a vehicle to evade pursuit.

In terms of chasing them, the situation becomes much more difficult because you have to search the wide mountain range.

“How many people can you send out right away?”

Hillis replied, “Not many. Frankly, it’s ridiculously insufficient to scour the mountain range.”

He had simply come to the capital to attend the founding ceremony. Most of the troops were left to protect the Ainel territory without the lord.

“Catching the ringleader is far more likely to save them—”

“At that moment, we cannot guarantee the lives of Noel and Sir Aren.”

If the culprit is identified without knowing the location of the hostages, only the safety of the two is at risk.

‘I can guess who the culprit is.’

It’s obvious who’s aiming for Noel at this time.

She must be in a place where the Opion family is preparing for rebellion. After hiding the hostage in their territory, they will reveal their demands, with the hostage’s life as an excuse.

‘We have to find her before she completely falls into the hands of the enemy.’

“…father.”

While Rupert was frantically scheming with his men, Leah cautiously stepped inside.

“Leah.”

The child had an uneasy expression as she watched the adults around him panicking.

“When is mom coming? The sun is about to set….”

Rupert looked at his daughter for a moment. What should I say?

He himself was not 100% sure of his wife’s safety.

But if Noel was here, she would have told him to reassure Leah.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be back soon.”

“Really? Where is mom?”

He pondered for a moment what to say.

“…Noel is now lost her way.”

Leah widened her eyes.

“My mom become a lost child?”

Fortunately, it seems to work. Rupert leaned down and looked into her eyes.

“That’s right, that’s why everyone is busy trying to find her.”

“Father too?”

He barely managed to smile to reassure his daughter.

“Of course, I will definitely come back with Noel, so don’t worry too much.”

“…okay.”

Leah nodded her head slowly. Then Rupert ordered a nearby maid to escort Leah back.

He turned to his men. “Let’s head to the western mountains and start the tracking from where the carriage was found. Aren was kidnapped as well, so he must have tried to leave a trail.”

“Yes.”

His men nodded.

After that, everything went fast. Everyone was in a hurry to save the hostages because they had to find them before they completely crossed the mountain range.

A few hours later, Rupert’s troops arrived at their destination.

“Here, there are footprints and bloodstains,” said a soldier searching nearby.

When he got closer, he saw bloodstains near the root of the tree.

Besides that, the tips of the branches were broken, and there were some footprints.

Laurent murmured, “The trails continue.”

“When you run away in the mountains, erasing trails is a basic.”

“Could it be that they were busy or distracted because they were moving in a hurry?”

Even so, it was overly sloppy. Bloodstains in particular stand out too much.

Rupert looked around. And he realized something strange.