Chapter 4 – Part 13

“Lord Grit. An urgent letter has arrived from Devens.”

Leton urgently delivered a letter to Eli.

Eli’s expression stiffened as he tore open the letter.

“Leton, bring my personal physician. We’re going to Devens as quickly as possible.”

“I understand.”

If it was an urgent letter from Devens, it must be related to the Marchioness, so Leton quickly moved upon receiving the command.

“What’s going on?”

“Ruby’s fever hasn’t gone down for quite some time.”

Following Eli, who was putting on his coat to go out, Kane asked.

The letter had said that Ruby hadn’t told them that she was sick, and they only realized she was ill when she’d asked to stay in her room for a few days.

As Eli mounted his horse, he grew anxious, thinking that the delayed treatment might have left Ruby seriously ill. The timing of this event closely coincided with their divorce in the past.

Eli quickly explained, and Kane followed him, feeling unnecessary anxiety.

***

“My Lord?”

“How is Ruby’s condition?”

Arriving at the villa, Eli headed towards Ruby’s room, questioning.

“Well, that…”

In response to Baccara’s hesitant answer, Eli stopped in her tracks. Even when Eli turned to look at her, Baccara couldn’t raise her head, as if she lacked composure.

“Speak.”

It was a low, commanding voice.

“Madam, she has disappeared.”

At the sudden revelation, even the experienced housekeeper, Baccara, trembled with fear in her voice.

“What do you mean? How could someone who’s unwell just vanish?”

“It’s because…… asked me to bring her water, and in that brief moment, she disappeared.”

“When?”

Suppressing his rising anger, Eli asked.

“Two days ago.”

It was around the time Eli received the letter and departed from the capital.

“You didn’t know when Ruby disappeared, and you still haven’t found her?”

“I’m sorry.”

Baccara clasped her trembling hands together.

“Leton!”

“Yes.”

“Use all available resources nearby to find Ruby. Immediately!”

“Understood.”

Leton rushed out of the villa.

His sudden command startled the maids present, and they all bowed their heads, trembling with fear.

“First, check Lady Ruby’s room. There might be some clues.”

Kane, standing nearby, tapped Eli’s shoulder, trying to calm him down. Agitation would only delay their response in such a situation.

Guided by Kane, Eli followed Baccara.

As they made their way to the room, Eli’s mind raced with thoughts of what would happen if something went wrong with Ruby, and at the same time, he remembered her sleeping form in the morgue. It was an image that stayed with him.

In that moment, Eli stopped in his tracks.

“Are you okay?”

Eli nodded his head. But his face, now pale and different from his response, clenched his fists tightly.

Kane, thinking Eli was angry, lightly patted his shoulder, trying to reassure him. In situations like this, getting too worked up would only slow down their response.

Kane guided Baccara as she took the lead.

“Here you go. I haven’t touched anything since Lady Ruby disappeared.”

Proving her words, the bed covers were arranged in a way that seemed familiar to Ruby’s posture when she woke up.

All the windows were closed except for one, and there were no signs of breakage. The curtains were intact.

“Any possibility of an intruder or kidnapping?”

“We haven’t figured that out yet.”

With a face lacking composure, Baccara lowered her head again.

“Where is her personal maid?”

Eli asked, exasperated, letting out a deep sigh. The head maid’s expression showed signs of fear as she lowered her head.

“This is the maid who tended to my lady that day.”

“You are not her personal maid.”

The maid who stood before Eli, terrified, was not the Dominic he had hired.

“Lady Ruby’s personal maid you hired then left for personal reasons.”

“When?”

“Before my Lady fell ill, which was approved by my Lady, who was informed of the circumstances.”

This revelation made Eli narrow her eyes.

Eli’s brow furrowed at that.

He was very particular about who he hired at Devenshire House, especially someone who would be Ruby’s closest confidante.

But Dominic, who hadn’t had much experience as a servant, had been chosen to be Ruby’s personal maid because she’d done her best to accommodate her when she’d been ill at Shuban, even as a helpless young maid, and because Ruby had taken a liking to her.

As far as he could tell, Dominic had been helped by Ruby before.

She had helped her when she was younger, when Marie had tried to chastise her for her little mistakes. At the time, Ruby had been ignored by the Marquis, but not so much so that she couldn’t give orders to her employees.

In response to the head maid’s insistence that there was nothing she could do to help because all the positions were filled, she decided to use Dominic, who had just joined the marquis, as a servant to help her when she needed it.

It turns out, as Eli investigates, that the head maid was trying to get rid of Dominic by blaming her for her own misdeeds.

In any case, Dominic was freed thanks to Ruby, and after she left the Marquisate of Grit, she moved on with a favorable recommendation.

It was Eli who approached her and made the first offer, and Dominic accepted without hesitation.

Eli looked around the room with a different gaze, his heart beating uneasily.

“I need to see some of Ruby’s things.”

***

Eli thoroughly searched the drawers, cabinets, under the bed, and any hidden places where Ruby might have stored her belongings. His touch became more and more urgent, and tension built up.

“Master, if there’s something specific you’re looking for, we’ll help.”

“Yeah, I’ll help you look.”

Kane also interjected at Baccara’s words.

But Eli, who had been searching alone for a while, spat out a frustrated voice.

“Nothing.”

Even with the surrounding voices, Eli, who had been searching intensely, exclaimed in a voice filled with despair.

“What are you looking for? If you tell us, we can help you find it together.”

“The things Ruby cherishes are gone.”

Eli muttered quietly but absentmindedly.

“Ruby’s missing items are only the ones she cherishes, leaving behind these valuable jewels.”

“…”

“That’s not the kind of stuff a kidnapper would leave behind.”

And coincidentally, the missing items were things Ruby had taken with her in her divorce, things Eli saw as her only keepsakes in the past.

“Find a carriage in Devens with one or two women aboard. The destination should be a distant area from the capital or Deven.”

There was no strength in Eli’s voice as he gave the order.

Ruby wasn’t kidnapped; she had run away from him.

Eli, engulfed in despair, wiped his face harshly with one hand.

***

The day Ruby decided to leave Devenshire was a bit windy.

It might be challenging to walk outside, but it was a day when those guarding outside would find it hard to notice even small sounds.

Ruby slipped out of the room through the window, heading towards the path Dominic had informed her of.

Her white chemise was dirty, but she would discard it once she left the villa.

Her clothes snagged on the branches near the cottage, and her hands and feet were scratched up from having to make her way through the dark, lightless space.

Still, Ruby didn’t stop walking.

When she arrived at the place where she had stabled her horse, a carriage was waiting for her.

Inside was a change of clothes. Ruby pulled the curtains off the carriage and changed into the dress. She hadn’t gotten any makeup done because she was sick, so the plain dress didn’t look out of place.

As the carriage left Devens, Ruby finally leaned back, exhaling a sigh of relief.

***

“What on earth is going on?”

After Kane dismissed the people and was left alone with Eli, he asked about the reason for the silence.

“What’s going on?”

Facing him, maintaining silence, he asked again.

“Ruby’s cherished items. I think she must have taken them.”

Eli tried to carefully talk about Ruby’s past, avoiding creating a situation to discuss her death.

“Those items are gone.”

“They might have been taken by the kidnapper.”

Kane thought he was judging too hastily. Given his recent extreme behavior, it seemed plausible.

However, Eli firmly shook his head.

“Why would someone kidnap the Marchioness for that? They would be people involved in her value or politically connected, and they wouldn’t bother taking worthless items, leaving behind expensive jewels.”

Annoyed, Eli ran his hand through his hair.

“So the Marchioness ran away herself?”

“Yes”

“What do we do?”

“We have to find her.”

Despite Eli’s powerless voice, the answer was clear.

There was no other option for Eli.