IMCI 67

Chapter 67

“It’s definitely the Grand Duke’s doing! We have to save Lady Lillian no matter what. But how… how are we supposed to stand against him?”

Jeffrey slammed his fist against the carriage wall. Judging by the fact that they even killed the coachman before taking her, the Grand Duke must have been determined.

Even if he gathered mercenaries now, they would never be a match for the Grand Duke, who commanded the strongest knight order in the Empire.

“But I can’t just give up like this! The Grand Duke is definitely trying to monopolize the power Lady Lillian has.”

The Grand Duke must have pushed him aside under the pretense of an imperial order in order to take her power for himself. And wasn’t that enough—he had eliminated everyone around her as well. Her parents, Dr. Seli, and even his own family.

If she stayed by the Grand Duke’s side, Lady Lillian would surely become unhappy. She might believe she liked him now because she had been brainwashed, but she would soon realize how wrong it was.

Jeffrey urged his horse forward, intending to publicly reveal Lillian’s abilities to the world.

‘If I expose his shameless deeds, the Grand Duke will have no choice but to give her up.’

Just then, he saw the blue flag symbolizing Grand Duke Cartan fluttering in the distance.

“It looks like they’re taking Lady Lillian away, but I can’t just let that happen.”

But something quickly felt strange. If the Grand Duke had kidnapped her as he thought, the horses should have been heading in the opposite direction. Instead, they were advancing rapidly toward him.

“Is he trying to capture me too to fabricate justification?”

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he dismounted and hid among the people, watching the knight order’s procession.

‘Where is she?’

He kept watch, ready to seize a chance to rescue her, but no matter where he looked, he couldn’t find any carriage or wagon that looked like it was holding Lillian.

‘Then did the Grand Duke not take her?’

Unable to hold back, Jeffrey stepped in front of the knight order and shouted.

“Where on earth did you take Lady Lillian?!”

Cartan merely looked at him as if he were an insect and took no action. He even ignored him completely and passed by.

Enraged, Jeffrey mounted his horse again and approached Cartan.

“I’m going to take Lady Lillian back.”

“Shut up.”

“…!”

“If I had my way, I’d twist your neck off first, but I don’t have time, so I’m holding back. So don’t hover in front of me—get lost.”

After snapping at him, Cartan hurried away with the knight order. Left alone, Jeffrey felt utterly confused.

‘If it wasn’t the Grand Duke… then who kidnapped Lady Lillian?’

He felt lost, not knowing where to even begin searching for her.

“Yes, for now I’ll follow the Grand Duke. He must know where Lady Lillian is.”

13. The Chase

In truth, Cartan knew everything from the beginning. Yet he stayed still for one reason.

Because Lillian wanted it.

She already feared him; if he stopped her, her resentment would only grow. It was better to let her go for now and bring her back later. After all, the Empire was in the palm of his hand.

As expected, Lillian and that damned Jeffrey headed to Deli Island to rescue Dr. Seli. After that, they even arranged a ship to leave the Empire together.

It was a cute plan, but they were dancing on a board he had already set up.

Cartan had already ensured that Lillian wouldn’t be able to board the ship to Deli Island. Then Jeffrey would have no choice but to go alone to rescue Dr. Seli.

The moment Jeffrey stepped off the ship on Deli Island, he would be stranded there alone. There was no one on Deli Island to begin with.

Then he would simply send Lillian a farewell letter, saying Jeffrey had left alone.

After that, he would appear before the pitiful Lillian, who had nowhere to go, like a savior—together with Dr. Seli.

At that point, Lillian would no longer be able to fear or reject him. He would become the only person she could rely on in her world.

But when he received news from the coachman he had secretly planted as a spy that Lillian had been kidnapped, he realized his plan had completely gone awry.

According to the report, the ones who kidnapped her were shameless slave traders who sold women for money.

It wasn’t something that required him to personally intervene or mobilize the knight order, but his head was hot and his heart was even more impatient.

“Hurry up, everyone!”

He tightened his grip on the reins.

‘Where am I?’

When Lillian regained consciousness, she quickly looked around. It looked like an ordinary cabin.

No one was there, and ropes were tied around her hands and feet. A gag was also stuffed in her mouth, so she couldn’t even scream.

‘Scary.’

Creeeak—

She quickly shut her eyes when she heard the door open. Soon, men’s voices sounded above her head.

“How much do you think he’ll pay?”

“He’s a rich guy, so let’s make a big profit while we’re at it.”

“It’s been a while since I had a proper meal. He’ll be here soon, so keep a good watch on the woman.”

The men chuckled and left, closing the door. Only then did Lillian open her eyes and bite her lip.

‘Someone must have hired them to kidnap me, but who could it be?’

No matter how much she thought about it, no one came to mind who would do something like this.

‘First, I have to escape quickly. I can figure out who it is later.’

No matter how much she struggled, the tightly tied ropes showed no sign of loosening.

‘Is there something inside here I can use?’

Lillian carefully scanned the room. A sofa, a bed, and a small table with a vase caught her eye.

‘I could break the vase and cut the ropes, but the noise would alert them that I woke up.’

Still, she couldn’t just stay still like this. In the end, she rolled her body toward the vase.

Her skin scraped against the floor and hurt, but she couldn’t think of any other method.

‘I haven’t even rescued Dr. Seli yet. I can’t just die meaninglessly like this while kidnapped.’

Just then, she heard the door open again and hurriedly shut her eyes. This time, she also heard the sound of expensive-looking shoes.

“Oh my, my lord. I thought my neck would fall off from waiting.”

“Where’s the goods?”

It was a refined voice she hadn’t heard before. It must have belonged to the owner of the shoes.

‘He must be a noble. He definitely kidnapped me to use me after learning my identity.’

“You brought her without a scratch, right?”

“Oh, of course. We’ve kept her well, so why don’t you check for yourself.”

She felt the man’s footsteps approaching. Lillian tensed her body, afraid he might notice she was awake.

After a moment, the man’s furious voice echoed throughout the room.

“Do you know how much damage this will cause if you tie her up this tightly?!”

She flinched in surprise, but fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice.

“You idiots! Untie her immediately!”

“But what if she runs away when she wakes up?”

“Can’t three grown men handle one woman? And you call yourselves veterans?”

Only then did the men untie her hands and feet. Soon after, they removed the gag from her mouth.

One of the kidnappers said,

“Then you’ll have to pay extra.”

“Don’t worry about the money. Just do your job properly.”

Around that time, Lillian felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

‘Why does that voice sound so familiar? I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere…’

She couldn’t remember, which frustrated her. She wanted to squint her eyes open to check his face.

“Ahem, this is why I can’t work with low-class people. Tsk.”

At that moment, it felt like she had been hit on the head with a blunt object.

‘I remember! I thought I’d heard that voice somewhere!’

Suddenly, the man’s rough hand stroked her cheek.

“Oh, Lillian. You’re still so fair and delicate. My love.”