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~Chapter 23~
[Missing Person Found]
Blake stared down at the poster with Lily’s face on it.
He tapped his mahogany desk with his fingers. The sound was quiet but somehow threatening, as if something was about to happen at any moment.
Missing person, huh…
He muttered under his breath.
‘What a shameless lie. His wife ran away and left the divorce papers, but he’s still putting up these posters? Isn’t he embarrassed?’
The poster didn’t say anything about that. Instead, it acted like Lily had been kidnapped.
‘If he had even a shred of conscience as a man—no, as a human—things wouldn’t have ended so badly between him and Lily Hedwick.’
The picture on the poster made Lily look weak and fragile, like she could collapse for no reason.
Anyone who saw that paper would want to help find her.
‘Wasn’t her ex-husband Count Fox? I think I saw him at an art auction once, but who was he again?’
But the more Blake tried to remember, the blurrier the image became. Lily’s ex-husband just wasn’t memorable.
Blake mumbled to himself.
Someday, I’ll have to see that guy’s face properly…
Just then, Il Dexter made a noise outside the office.
“Sir, may I come in for a moment?”
Blake stuffed all the news from the capital into a drawer.
After all, he’d run off to his office after the fight with Lily. He didn’t want to see anything related to Lily or the capital right now.
“Come in. What is it?”
“Uh… Well…”
Il fiddled with his glasses and hesitated as he entered.
Blake sighed, understanding exactly why Il was acting like that.
He caught a glimpse of a small figure hiding behind Il.
“Do you have something to say? I’d rather be alone right now.”
“Mr. Il, he’s asking if you have something to say.”
“He means you, Lily Hedwick.”
“How did you know I was here?”
Lily leaned to the side, her upper body suddenly appearing from behind the bespectacled man.
“How did you really know I was here?”
Of course, Lily expected Blake to realize right away.
She strode up to his desk.
“Let’s have a talk.”
She sat elegantly on the chair in front of him.
“No.”
“Don’t want to talk? Should I leave?”
Blake didn’t even look her way, keeping his eyes on some other documents.
He refused to say another word, clearly wanting to be left alone. But the more Lily looked at him, the harder it became for him to ignore her.
As soon as Lily put on her saddest face—
“…You really are clever.”
He finally had to put down his pen.
Blake and Lily were left alone in the office.
Il Dexter, who had been acting as Lily’s shield, quickly slipped away.
“To try talking when His Grace is obviously upset… She really is something else…”
Il Dexter murmured as he shut the door very gently.
He thought he could never do something like that—he’d rather stick his head in a dragon’s mouth.
Unless he got a promotion for it…
The aide shook his head and left.
Back in the office, Lily was tilting her head playfully.
“Who are you calling clever?”
“You, miss.”
She looked up at Blake from across the desk.
“But I didn’t even say anything yet.”
“Wasn’t it your eyes giving me that intense stare just now?”
The sad face, the wrinkled eyebrows—Blake twisted his lips.
Well, Lily probably didn’t even realize what she was doing. He was just being too sensitive.
He’d started noticing every change in her face and every little gesture.
“So, what did you want to say?”
He knew it wasn’t his turn to be angry.
He was the one who’d said too much, after all. No matter how much Lily’s actions annoyed him, he’d gone overboard.
Still, he’d acted like a child.
This isn’t what a man in love should be like…
At that moment, Lily replied.
“You stormed off just now. When a princess runs away like that, of course someone will chase after her, don’t you think?”
“Princess?”
“The owner of the duke’s house.”
“Oh, come on…”
Lily poked Blake’s arm.
“Are you feeling better now? I’ll apologize, princess.”
“What do you have to apologize for?”
By now, Blake had gotten to know Lily pretty well.
She would never understand why he got so mad. She’d just think he was a strange man who couldn’t accept kindness.
“Forget it. I was wrong too. Sorry for being too harsh.”
Blake remembered Lily was still being chased by her ex-husband.
He took the beautiful woman’s offered hand for peace.
“Don’t worry, princess. Didn’t you tell me not to complain about Winter Castle being rough when I first got here, princess?”
“But you still look angry.”
“Me, princess? No way, princess.”
“All right! I’m sorry too!”
Blake’s loud voice made Lily laugh.
Lily found his rough, gangster-like side funny—so different from the refined men she used to meet.
That’s why she could relax around him. This kind of playful bickering was starting to feel familiar.
Blake, now smiling, said,
“Let’s get back to what we were talking about before.”
“Uh oh.”
“About your request to forgive Sebastian. You have to stand up for yourself. Why forgive someone who tried to hurt you? You should stab him in the heart.”
“Okay, okay! If that’s how things are done here, I get it. I won’t talk about it again. Happy now?”
“And…”
Blake started to say something else but stopped.
How could he complain that he was the only one worried about Lily?
“…Fine, just go out and keep enjoying yourself.”
“I’ll escort you to the dining room, princess. How could the main character miss the party?”
Lily dramatically held out her hand, pretending to be a knight.
Blake laughed.
First she calls him princess, now she’s escorting him. Ridiculous.
Instead of taking her hand, Blake scooped her up.
“Yes. Let’s go, knight.”
He lifted her in his arms. It was a “princess carry.”
“Oh, that’s cheating!”
“In what way?”
“I don’t have the strength to carry you yet!”
“Yet? You think you’ll get that strong someday?”
“No one knows what the future holds.”
He shook his head, as if she was dreaming.
Lily tried to wriggle free, but he carried her all the way to the banquet hall like that.
After they left, the office was empty.
The chandelier’s candles had gone out, leaving only the faint scent of wax in the air.
Even in the hallway, there was no one—everyone was having a noisy time in the dining room.
Behind the rough brick walls, it was a night with no light leaking through.
“…”
Someone slipped quietly into the office in the dark.
It was Sebastian, fixing his hat. He was covered in wounds, dirt, and snow—he’d somehow escaped the underground prison.
Damn it, damn it… This isn’t right!
Sebastian couldn’t let it end this way.
No one had come to see him in the dungeon. That meant everyone had given up on him.
How could they do this to me!
He cried out in his heart.
He was the one who’d helped the maids since he was little, carried firewood for the carpenter, helped the adults.
And now, just because I made one mistake, they throw me away and choose her?
Sebastian had already forgotten he’d tried to kill someone.
The boy limped to the office.
He needed to plead his case to Blake, the man he respected. Blake would surely listen…
But only a cold, dark fireplace greeted him.
No one was there.
If I wait, maybe he’ll come back…
Then Sebastian saw a paper on the floor.
A ray of moonlight slipped through the curtains and shone on it.
It was a missing person notice for Lily—the one Blake had hurriedly tried to put away.
“What’s this…?”
Sebastian muttered in shock.
He didn’t know where Lily had come from, or how she’d ended up at the duke’s lands—but now he understood.
She’s the lady of House Fox? Her husband is looking for her? He really thinks she’s missing…
Sebastian felt sorry for Lily’s husband.
But the truth is, she’s here by choice…
Lily must have run away for a reason. If he brought this paper to the right people, maybe they’d take her back.
Maybe this was a chance for Sebastian, too.
If Lily left, maybe the people of Winter Castle would come to their senses. In the end, it was him—Sebastian—who belonged with them!
With the paper hidden in his clothes, Sebastian moved quickly.
He planned to escape to the capital and find Count Fox.
At the same time, in the banquet hall—
Blake’s instincts made him look up.
…?
It felt like the moment an enemy aimed a rifle at him from the bushes—his neck tingled.
There hadn’t been a loud noise, but the old nerves from war came back to life.
He left the party to look for the source of the uneasy feeling.
