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~Chapter 26~
“Oh my, look over there.”
“What’s going on at the Fox family’s mansion?”
The capital city was packed with people and houses.
Because of that, the Fox mansion’s front gate was close to the main street. People walking by glanced at Sebastian.
The gatekeeper knight grumbled.
“Damn barbarian, even your accent makes my ears crawl. Go back to the duchy! Who do you think you are, coming here to scam us?”
“It’s not a lie! I really know where the person you lost is! The woman named Lily!”
Sebastian’s journey had been rough.
Because he wore clothes from the duchy, it was hard to get a ride on a carriage.
Why do I have to go through all this? I only got to ride the train after I offered to clean the pig pens in the animal car!
But his eyes were sharp and determined.
If he could get past this, they would go after Lily. Maybe he could finally find out what she did wrong to run away.
“Please, give me a chance to prove it! I swear, I know where Lily is…”
“You little—!”
The knight pointed a spear at Sebastian. The metal flashed in the sunlight.
“What’s all this noise? I can hear it all the way from the dining room!”
Count Fox, Lily’s husband, walked across the garden.
“You idiots can’t even handle one thing right!”
The knight was startled by the count’s anger.
“My lord, it’s not what it looks like—”
Sebastian knew right away that Count Fox was important.
He ran up to the front gate and fell to his knees.
“I know where Lily Hedwick is!”
This was the moment Blake had been waiting for.
Count Fox had no idea he was walking into the wolf’s mouth. He just looked excited, eyes wide.
“W-what did you say?”
Sebastian hadn’t even made it inside. He just knelt on the hard road and did his best to look innocent.
“About Lily Hedwick,”
He started to explain everything to Count Fox—when Lily came to the duchy, how elegantly she used her silverware, how she charmed the Winter Castle people, even how she walked.
He told it all to prove he was honest.
“Yes! The woman you’re talking about is definitely Lily!”
Count Fox was overjoyed.
He kicked the perfect lawn with his shoes. Stones scattered.
“That damn woman crawled off to such a filthy place. I should’ve known! No wonder we couldn’t find her all this time!”
Count Fox remembered the shame he felt when Lily disappeared.
On the day his hometown friend won a railway contract—
“How’s your wife these days?”
The friend’s voice, full of envy, still rang in his ears.
Even when others deserved the spotlight, people paid attention to Count Fox—ever since he married Lily.
At parties, people would come over, holding drinks, always asking about his wife or saying how lucky he was.
“Your wife didn’t come with you?”
“Haha, that’s right. Lily stays home after we got married. She just meets women friends sometimes.”
“That’s too bad. You’re not hiding your wife at home, are you? Just joking, but if I were you, I would! She’s so dazzling, haha.”
Count Fox loved being the center of attention, even if people sometimes made sharp comments.
But sometimes, he felt nervous.
At a dinner, he once overheard nobles whispering:
“It’s strange that Miss Hedwick married him, don’t you think?”
“Of course. Not that Count Fox is lacking, but he sure is lucky.”
“Who would’ve guessed her father almost lost his council seat? Good thing your cousin helped, so the marriage happened.”
“Wish I had a politician cousin to help me, too!”
Count Fox always felt insecure. He thought he was too plain.
And besides, he had problems as a man.
He was always worried Lily would look down on him.
Even when he locked her in the mansion, he still felt uneasy.
And then, he found something he liked—the feeling of control he got when he hurt her while drunk.
When he felt at peace that way…
Lily disappeared, leaving only divorce papers behind.
“Bring her back from the duchy right now!”
Count Fox shouted at his knight, full of excitement.
He’d struggled for weeks with all the rumors.
Even though he tried to keep it quiet, news had spread that Lily left divorce papers.
Lily, it’s useless. The council will never accept a simple piece of paper like that.
If he caught her this time, he would never let her go.
Luckily, he thought, he still had time before her parents found out.
Count Fox was always careful about Lily’s parents.
I’m so embarrassed because of Lily.
What kind of bad wife shames her husband like this?
He planned to hire a strict etiquette teacher to punish Lily after he caught her. He would make her pay for what she did.
“Yes, I’ll send someone to the duchy right away.”
“Make sure they bring Lily back. Think of it as your chance to stop wasting my money!”
Sebastian stayed kneeling, but slowly began to smile.
Finally, that person is leaving Winter Castle!
As the count gave orders and turned away, Sebastian quickly called to him.
“S-sir!”
“What do you want?”
“You forgot the reward money…”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“It’s written on the missing person poster! You promised this much money.”
The reward was important to Sebastian.
He made it from the duchy to the capital with no money only because kind duchy people gave him bread when he begged.
But in the capital, he couldn’t even beg for food.
If he left now, he would be worse off than a beggar, with not even enough money for a train ticket. He’d starve for sure.
Sebastian hung his head sadly, but the count’s eyes stayed cold.
He looks like he’s hiding something. And he’s a barbarian too, so why waste my money?
The count told his servant,
“Kick him out far away. If he comes back, beat him if you want.”
“W-what? Sir! Sir!”
Count Fox didn’t care about Sebastian anymore.
He disappeared into the shade of the orange trees, and Sebastian was dragged away.
Count Fox thought the barbarian duke would send Lily back right away.
He didn’t understand why the duke didn’t throw Lily out the moment she arrived. Surely she must be a bother.
But his plan failed right from the start.
The people he sent couldn’t even enter the duchy. Guards turned them away at the border.
That stupid barbarian duke. He probably needs to see documents with our family seal to understand anything.
So he sent knights with proof, but they were refused again.
The guards said,
“We have orders not to let outsiders in. Not even if the emperor himself comes.”
“What happened? Why are all the gates shut?”
“How about sending a letter to the duke?”
“It’s not the best way, but there’s no choice.”
So the count’s letter went to Winter Castle.
When the letter reached Blake, he was sitting lazily in his office.
“Hmm.”
His face wasn’t flustered, like when he was with Lily.
His sharp eyes moved slowly, like a predator.
Aide Il Dexter watched nervously.
The fireplace crackled. Blake tore open the letter with his knife and said,
“I thought the bug would send people at least five times. Switching to a letter after just two failures? That man has no patience.”
Il looked deeply troubled.
He’s really going to start a mess now, Il thought to himself.
