Ch. 29

'Ah! What if someone is trying to kidnap me?'I knew that there was no place safer than Duke Ferdinand's residence, but I simply couldn't brush off my uneasiness. At least not when that suspicious voice called me.

'But I miss my mom....what should I do....'

I hesitated near the door instead of just coming in but at that moment.

Ptashhh-!

The entire room became bright in an instant. My eyes, which were accustomed to the darkness, were struck by the bright light. 

"Ouch!"

When I opened my eyes, I saw something hanging on the wall. 

"...What's that?"

It was a frame big enough to cover the wall.

The painting was covered with a curtain, but I walked closer like I was possessed the moment I saw the frame. My hesitation earlier vanished out of thin air.

Step, step-

The sound of footsteps rang out in a quiet room. 

I walked across the room and stopped in front of the frame that was occupying the wall. 

A huge frame that was stored in the Ferdinand residence.

-The face that you want to see the most is here, Eve.

And the mysterious voice that brought her all the way here. 

'So, maybe....it's here....'

The face that I want to see the most.

I extended my hands cautiously toward the curtain that covered the wall.

Swoosh-!

The curtain opened by itself in the same fashion as the light earlier. I didn't need to pull back the curtain. 

I calmed myself down and waited for the curtain to open completely. 

Not long after the curtain started moving.

Thud!

When the blue curtain was completely lifted, I looked up and saw a very huge portrait.

-This child is Astrid Ferdinand.

A beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes that resemble me....

-She's your mother.

It was as if the portrait was smiling at me. I just looked at it in a daze. I could tell whose portrait it was even if the voice didn't tell me. 

'Mom.'

The beautiful woman in this portrait was my mom. 

Because she looked exactly like me. 

So my dad was right. I looked like a carbon copy of my mom.

I couldn't take my eyes off the portrait. I felt this weird, ticklish feeling in my chest. 

What is this feeling?

Even a clever eight-year-old like me did not have any idea about this kind of feeling. Or maybe because I was still fairly young. Or maybe the painting had the power to make me feel this sort of thing.

I took a look at the painting slowly. 

Next to my mom was my grandfather, but his hair was much darker than his current hair. This portrait must have been drawn when he was young. 

As I stood in silence examining the painting, the voice rang again.

-What do you think, Eve?

The voice was very warm and gentle.

-Is this exactly how you imagined your mother?

The voice filled with affection made me nod my head. 

"Yes."

And I answered with my gaze still glued to the portrait. 

"It's the same..."

Nial woke up from his sleep. 

"....Uh, the wind."

A cold wind breezed into the room. Nial got up groggily. 

'Didn't I sleep with the window closed?'

Nial fumbled at the bedside table for his glasses and put it on. Then he turned to the window only to see it was closed. 

"Where's the wind coming from?"

He muttered in wonder before turning his head to the direction the wind was coming in. 

"Huh? It's from the door."

It wasn't the window but the door leading to the hallway. The door was open the whole time.

'How strange. I'm sure it was closed.'

Even if he didn't close it, the maids who passed by would notice the open door and close it.

But why was the door open?

Nial got out of the bed and fumbled toward the door to close it himself. He wanted to go back to sleep after closing it. 

Thud-

The door closed gently. 

After closing the door, he stretched his arms over his head. 

"Now...let's see if my daughter is sleeping well."

Nial worried if the door was open for the entire night, and Eve would catch a cold because of that. So he looked anxiously on the bed that Eve was supposed to sleep on. 

He was going to adjust her blanket and give her a kiss on the forehead. 

"...Huh?"

But Eve wasn't on the bed. 

Nial rubbed his eyes under his glasses and looked once again. 

"...Not here."

As expected. she wasn't there. 

Nial pulled the soft blanket off the bed. Eve often gets buried under the sheets due to her small frame compared to her peers. 

But his daughter was not on the bed when he pulled off the blanket 

"Don't tell me....?"

Nial slowly turned his head. 

His gaze went to the door that was open until a moment ago. 

At that moment, Nial's head was filled with bad thoughts. 

'Did she leave the residence on her own? But she clearly said that she would sleep here tonight. And Eve would never break her promise! Never! If she had decided to sleep here, she 'd really sleep here. But where did she go? Don't tell me she got kidnapped?'

Nial, holding the cold blanket tightly, recalled something that his wife often told him when she was still alive.

"Nial, I'm telling you. It's supposed to be more dangerous inside the duke's residence. It's even more dangerous for our child...."

When she was alive, Astrid was always anxious that someone would take their child away. She even left a will that said, 'You must raise Eve in secret'. 

Nial began to wonder if Astrid had enemies that he didn't know about when she was young. 

Of course, he quickly brushed it off because it felt like an absurd idea. 

"Then, don't tell me...." Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ N0vᴇlFire(.)nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

The imagination that he brushed off earlier returned and overtook Nial's head. 

'No way....'

Nial's complexion turned pale due to the 'bad scenarios' in his head. 

The Ferdinand residence was turned upside down. 

"E-Eve is gone.....!"

It all started with Nial Royce's scream. His scream woke everyone in the mansion. 

Of course, the same was true of Theobold Ferdinand. 

"What do you mean Eve is gone??? What the hell are you talking about?"

"When I woke up, Eve was already gone! The door was open! W-What if someone took her...."

"Don't jinx it! What a nonsense! Who would have broken into our security and invaded the duke's mansion!"

Ferdinand Theobold snapped. 

Nial nodded with a pale face and reddish eyes. 

"I-I'll look for her...."

He looked like he was on the verge of tears when he said that. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve as he headed out.