TYMC 15

Chapter 15

“I’m going to head off now. Thank you, everyone!”

Using an errand as an excuse to part ways with the maids, I went to the study located in the room at the far end of the annex and gathered the documents Lys had mentioned.

Once I delivered these, I wouldn’t have any more work for the afternoon.

But why was it…

“Young Master?”

No matter where I looked, Lys was nowhere to be found. I checked the flower garden, library, training hall, and even the study where he was likely to be, but he wasn’t in any of them.

“Del?”

Even Del was nowhere in sight. I searched every floor of the main mansion from the first to the fifth, and even asked passing servants if they knew where Lys was, but no one seemed to know his whereabouts.

‘…Could he have gone to the West Wing?’

The head maid had casually mentioned that Lys hadn’t so much as breathed in that direction for nearly ten years, but there was always a chance.

If he wasn’t there, then the only other possibility was the Black Forest.

But the entrance was locked.

“I heard there are barely any servants in the western building because of the Duke’s orders… I’ll just look around nearby and head back. If I get caught snooping around, it’ll be troublesome.”

I had heard that the Cassio bloodline didn’t particularly enjoy being surrounded by people.

That was why they rarely appeared in high society and only showed their faces when the Emperor personally summoned them.

“I wonder what kind of power lets them act so arrogantly.”

Aside from my assignment, I couldn’t help but be curious.

After all, part of my mission was to uncover the secret behind Cassio’s power. It was only a matter of time before I found out.

“Wow, this place feels completely different from the east side.”

As I approached the area surrounding the western main residence, I instinctively narrowed my eyes at the bleak scenery.

I had only visited this place once before while familiarizing myself with the Duke’s estate, but the atmosphere had changed completely since then.

Back then, it had felt like a peaceful garden filled with drifting flower petals.

Now it felt like abandoned land left to decay on the outskirts of civilization.

“It really looks like no one’s here—huh?”

Someone was sitting inside a snow-white pavilion not far away.

A man with black hair sat in a cold chair among frozen flowers, calmly drinking tea.

The back of his head looked familiar enough that I nearly called out, “Young Master!”

But the man’s frame was far too large.

He resembled the target, but he wasn’t the target.

‘…It’s the Duke.’

I had only just been wondering about him moments ago, but I never expected to run into him this quickly.

My feet froze on their own.

There had to be a reason everyone feared the Duke far more than Lys despite them sharing the same Cassio bloodline.

For example, perhaps he freely wielded the power people called monstrous…

‘No matter how elite an assassin I am, I don’t have confidence in dealing with an unknown power.’

I had only intended to observe him from afar.

I never planned to face him this closely.

‘His name is Callan Cassio. Officially, the only things known about him are his name, age, the fact that he lost his wife under mysterious circumstances ten years ago, and that he has a single son…’

The reason I had survived fierce competition to become one of Black Rose’s elite assassins wasn’t just my skill.

I also possessed good judgment and a rational mind.

And right now, it would be a problem if the Duke noticed me.

A very big problem.

Unlike Lys, whose possession of power remained uncertain, the Duke obviously had it.

If I annoyed him even slightly, I might die.

Having reached a quick conclusion, I quietly stepped backward.

I needed to leave the western residence before the Duke noticed my presence.

“You there.”

A voice cut through the cold and struck my back.

I immediately froze.

Turning around with a troubled expression, I found the Duke looking directly at me.

The Duke resembled Lys to a surprising degree.

His deep-black hair and dark violet eyes made him an exceptionally handsome man, and the hair that fell to the nape of his neck softened the wolf-like sharpness of his features.

“Would you come closer?”

His tone sounded like a request.

In reality, it was an order.

The image of servants trembling whenever his name was mentioned flashed through my mind, and my body stiffened once more.

‘Ah, I didn’t expect this.’

I never imagined he would call me over.

After a brief moment of confusion, I bowed respectfully.

If the Duke decided to hold me accountable for wandering around the western building on my own, things could become very troublesome.

Reluctantly, I approached him.

He slowly set down the teacup in his hand.

The bitter scent of herbs stabbed at my senses so strongly it nearly numbed my nose.

“So you’re the child from the East Wing. What brings you here?”

“I was looking for the Young Master and accidentally lost my way. Please forgive me…”

“Are you playing hide-and-seek with my son?”

Contrary to expectations, the Duke didn’t seem particularly annoyed at having his tea interrupted.

Instead, he naturally continued the conversation and even smiled faintly.

“…Something like that.”

We weren’t exactly playing hide-and-seek, but it was true that I had no idea where Lys was.

I nodded vaguely.

“If you head east, you’ll find him. That child is always doing unnecessary things.”

The Duke’s words drifted away like the wind.

It felt like a lonely conversation.

The sort of thing he might have muttered to himself even if I hadn’t been there at all.

“I’ll check the East Wing again.”

“No, not there.”

The Duke pointed somewhere with a finger, as though reminding me that there was another place in the east.

I followed the direction of his gesture and stared thoughtfully.

Could he mean…

Then again, was it really okay to mention it?

From what I’d heard, the Duke disliked any discussion regarding the Black Forest.

“The Black Forest… as far as I know, entry is forbidden.”

After some hesitation, I spoke cautiously.

After all, the reason I had come here directly was because I had already ruled out the Black Forest.

The Duke let out a quiet hum and took a sip from his tea, which had long since gone cold.

“You have permission.”

With that, he pulled something from his pocket and handed it to me.

The object that landed in my hand was an old-looking silver key.

I immediately realized it was the key to the gate leading into the Black Forest.

‘Giving this to me means…’

Apparently, the Duke already knew I was Lys’s personal maid.

Of course, as the head of the household, there was probably very little about the estate he didn’t know.

Still, it was quite unexpected that he paid attention to Lys at all.

“Be careful.”

The Duke suddenly added those strange words.

Telling me to be careful out of nowhere.

I couldn’t tell what he meant, but it didn’t seem like pondering it would produce an answer.

“I’ll take my leave now.”

After bowing deeply, I hurried out of the western residence.

Only then did I realize that I had been tense around the Duke.

If I had merely been afraid, I could have dismissed it as instinctive fear toward an unknown power.

But tension was slightly different.

How should I describe it?

It felt like the strange unease one experienced standing before someone hiding something far greater than themselves…

‘I’ve never felt nervous even when facing assassins and killers far more aggressive than him.’

In any case, thanks to my unexpected meeting with the Duke, my report would be unusually detailed.

Before that, though, I intended to visit the Black Forest as he had suggested.

‘I’m curious why he gave me permission to enter the forest.’

Thanks to the unexpected key, I could now enter and leave the forest openly whenever I wished.

‘Lys doesn’t have a key, so I doubt he’s in there. He’s probably somewhere reading a book.’

Besides, the entrance was wrapped in thick chains.

There was no way Lys, whose health had become noticeably worse lately, could have made it through there—

“…He did?”

The chains at the entrance to the Black Forest had been loosened.

Clear signs of rough, careless force remained all over the gate, as though someone had simply torn them apart with their bare hands.

“This could be ripped apart with strength alone!?”

Staring at the pathetic chain dangling in my palm, my mouth fell open in disbelief.

I had chatted with the maids and stopped by the western residence, but it was still daytime.

The sun hadn’t even noticeably moved.

Which meant not much time had passed since I had separated from Lys.

Yet in that brief span, he had broken through the gate and entered the forest?

‘Impossible. Even a strong grown man would need quite a bit of time to tear apart chains this thick!’

There was something far more terrifying than all the ghost stories the maids loved telling.

“So you’re telling me my frail little treasure entered the Black Forest—a place crawling with demonic beasts, haunted by ghosts that supposedly lure people astray, and generally a complete disaster zone…”

…This has to be a dream.