Chapter 53

He searched for a day and a half, but no results came out.

Leon took all the maids and servants around Dana into the dungeon.

There were a total of ten people.

Chedron, the butler, took their work diaries and flapped them open to question them about the day one by one.

“Chelsea, you were on duty for dinner that day. Didn’t you know that the lady disappeared?”

“That’s… She doesn’t really eat dinner…”

“So? You didn’t even go to ask?”

Chelsea’s face turned muddy. Chedron asked the next person without paying attention to her.

“John, you need to know the number of people entering and leaving the castle. Did you make sure she left or came back?”

“That is… I knew she would be around.”

“Did you see her go out? When did she go out?”

“…”

Chedron sighed and shook his head. Leon was angry out of his mind, and if he couldn’t find Dana, he wouldn’t forgive them.

They weren’t just here for negligence in work. As soon as Leon was away, the feelings of those who secretly ignored Dana were revealed.

The problem was that he was in charge.

“What should I do?”

While sighing, someone walked into the quiet cellar. The faces of those who saw him were filled with contemplation and they made excuses regardless of who should go first.

“Your Grace! We don’t know it well either!”

“I only heard that she ran away.”

“I heard someone say she often lamented that she couldn’t live here because it was difficult.”

They accepted the rumor that Dana had already fled as a fait accompli (something that’s already happened) and told Leon.

Chedron looked at Leon with a puzzled expression on his face. Their excuses only made Leon angrier.

“Even so.”

An angry voice filled the dungeon with low eerie energy, it became quiet everywhere for a moment.

“Your sin will not be eliminated, Chedron”.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Until you find the woman, lock them up and don’t give them a sip of water.”

“Yes, yes.”

Chedron replied with a lower voice than usual. He was nervous about what kind of punishment would befall him, but Leon disappeared without adding any more words.

“Sigh…”

“Master!”

“Let everyone reflect.”

Chedron locked the door of the dungeon, vowing to correct the disorganized discipline.

* * *

“She ran away. Is that it?”

He couldn’t believe everything the servants said, but he couldn’t help but believe what everyone said.

It was hot as if his heart was burning. If he can’t put this fire to rest, he will burn not only himself but also her.

What does that mean? If only I could find her.

Dana’s betrayal as she left without saying a word, and the obsession to somehow capture her were growing.

As long as he could find her, he wanted to lock her up in the castle and keep no one in contact. He wanted to tame her to look only at himself.

“Sigh.”

Leon took a short breath and calmed himself down. He swept his disorganized bangs with his hands.

“At this rate, I’ll go crazy even before I find her. No, I’m already crazy.”

He was muttering words to help himself, and someone walked up from the hallway.

“Leon, they sent a message saying they would come soon.”

Owen looked at him with twirling eyes as if he knew everything, and Leon looked at him but did not hide his uncomfortable feelings.

“It has nothing to do with me.”

“It does. Because you said you were going out.”

“Do it on your own. Father, leave.”

A cynical voice came from behind Leon, who was about to turn around.

“I thought you’d welcome me. Wasn’t it you who told me to come all the way? If that’s the case, I’ll go back.”

Only then did Leon think of Sophia. He bit his teeth and barely turned around.

“Have you met your mother?”

“Yes. We couldn’t talk because my mother was sleeping.”

“Why on earth are you so hard on her? Can’t you be a little more human?”

Owen smiled an unknown smile at Leon’s resentment and spoke as if he was kind-hearted.

“Once you’re out there, I’ll consider it.”

“I don’t understand at all. Why is she so desperate to get married?”

A sense of contempt slowly bloomed in Leon’s eyes. As expected, they looked alike. When he felt a stubborn and blind obsession, Leon closed his eyes and turned his head again to look away from Owen.

“At 4 p.m. tomorrow, I told them to come to this castle, so get ready. For now, they know it’s simply a place for transactions, so you should understand that.”

Owen, passed Leon’s silence, considering he was well understood and disappeared to the end of the hallway.

“Sigh.”

A long sigh once again went through the empty hallway. He turned his head a bit to the side. He felt somewhat resentful towards the person there. But soon the gaze turned and fell to the floor.

Mother.

* * *

Lisa, who was preparing breakfast and resting on one side for a while, spoke to Dana, who was sitting next to her.

“Sarah, what’s been going on these days?”

“Oh… Lisa.”

Lisa was also busy, so she didn’t care, but she could notice that Dana was thinking about something.

As expected, I should tell Lisa.

“Well, an official merchant recently suggested something. It’s unexpected…”

“What? What happened? How long have they seen you and let you work separately?”

“Who did I look like…”

“Just in case.”

Lisa made a harsh look, grabbed Dana’s shoulders tightly, and asked,

“Is it a young nobleman?”

“Well… It’s not him.”

Dana didn’t see her face either, but she heard that there was such a person. Lisa hated the person particularly, and the resentment seemed deep beyond the feelings of hatred.

“Anyway, they said it’s something that I could go to the castle for. The pay was pretty high.”

“Duchy… Well, you said you came out of the castle. There’s nothing free in the world. I think it’s dangerous. Are you sure it’s okay?”

“…”

To be honest, it wasn’t. He had dragged her from the beginning, and the words he explained were different from the phrases on the contract. In addition, she was somewhat reluctant to do what she was told to do.

However, I can meet Leon at the castle. Everything will be fine when I meet him.

“Yes, it’ll be okay.”