Pendlore’s gaze turned to the window again. Radilt’s work lasted three days and rested for one. It meant she wouldn’t come looking for him until tomorrow.

Since the first banquet had ended without incident, there was no longer any need for daily lessons as before. In the end, they met only once every four days.

Pendlore fell into brief contemplation.

‘How often do ordinary lovers meet?’

Isn’t once every four days too infrequent? Radilt and Pendlore still had to pretend to be lovers for nearly two months, and even at the moment of parting, they had to appear passionate.

So they shouldn’t look like they had already cooled off.

‘Would it be better to have dinner together every two days or so?’

Even to him with no dating experience, the current frequency of their meetings seemed too low. Unless it was like Cherse who had sent his lover overseas, such infrequency within the same capital was undesirable.

Pendlore decided to send someone to Radilt tomorrow.

However.

“I’m told that Lady Brill did not return home yesterday.”

The servant who went to find Radilt early in the morning reported. Pendlore’s expression hardened.

“Lady Brill didn’t return home yesterday?”

“Yes. Her household asked if she was with you, Lord Duston.”

The servant relayed that her mother-in-law had expressed angry complaints, saying she frequently stayed out overnight. She didn’t seem to be lying.

Pendlore agreed with that assessment. The woman who was Radilt’s mother-in-law was not the type to hide her daughter-in-law; she would rather sell her.

“……Send someone to Langfiel’s workshop, no. I’ll go myself.”

Could she have worked overnight at the workshop?

Pendlore frowned, thinking that if that were the case, he would drag her straight to the mansion and confine her to the bedroom. He boarded the carriage, thinking he would threaten to make her quit her workshop job again if she didn’t get proper sleep.

“Lord Duston!”

Philip greeted Pendlore warmly as he entered Langfiel’s workshop. He continued with a confused expression.

“Did you perhaps come with Lady Brill?”

At Philip’s question, Pendlore’s expression darkened. Those words meant that Radilt wasn’t here either.

“……I heard Lady Brill didn’t return home yesterday.”

“What?”

Philip’s complexion also changed. He showed a golden key in confusion.

“I gave this key to Lady Brill, permitting her to use the composition room. But this morning, there was no sign of her, and only the key was on the composition room floor.”

“If only the key…… was the composition room door open?”

“No, it was locked. That’s why it’s even more strange.”

Radilt had disappeared, leaving only the key in a locked room. Sensing something was amiss, Pendlore asked Philip.

“The composition room.”

“This way.”

Philip quickly guided him to the composition room. The spacious interior was dim and quiet.

“It’s untouched, just as it was. The key was lying right here.”

Pendlore stood where the key had fallen. A window was visible right in front. Philip also looked at the same spot.

“Ah, the window has been open since yesterday……”

“It was thrown in from outside.”

Pendlore immediately turned around. He went to the backyard to check the ground near where the composition room window was located.

Dug-up soil, scattered footprints.

Pendlore could picture Radilt urgently throwing the key through the window.

At that moment…

“Master Philip! This is!”

Apprentice Ger appeared holding a dress. Pendlore and Philip turned to look at him simultaneously.

“Isn’t this Radilt’s dress!”

“Yes! This dress was definitely hanging in the break room yesterday!”

Radilt hadn’t changed her clothes. She had disappeared still in her work clothes. Pendlore asked Ger.

“Have you checked the stable?”

“It was empty when I came with the master.”

“Tell my servant outside to go to Old Peshu right now and find out if the horse is there.”

As apprentice Ger quickly ran off, Pendlore and Philip looked at the dress that remained.

“……It seems someone attacked Lady Brill here.”

In response to Pendlore’s questioning gaze about any suspected locations, Philip let out a low groan.

“Could it be…… but indeed, it’s only that fellow……”

“It seems there is someone.”

Philip nodded heavily.

“There’s an apprentice of mine named Saldat. He was a foolish fellow who was jealous of Lady Brill. He hasn’t come to the workshop for two days…… that fellow would have recognized the key she had.”

“I see. The fact that Lady Brill threw the key into the composition room to avoid having it taken means her opponent was someone who knew the value of the key and tried to steal it.”

“……There are quite a number of valuable items in the composition room. That Saldat, in the end—!”

Philip sighed deeply and bowed his head to Pendlore.

“I am truly sorry, Lord Duston.”

“……But if he’s after money, he won’t harm Lady Brill.”

Since he took Radilt instead of accessing the composition room, it seemed likely he would soon propose a ransom. Sure enough, not long after, a servant and the butler of House Duston arrived in succession.

“Lady Brill’s horse has entered the stable alone.”

The servant who arrived first confirmed Radilt Brill’s involuntary disappearance, and,

“This letter has arrived for you, master.”

Butler Roil handed a letter to Pendlore. Pendlore checked the contents of the letter.

[I have Radilt Brill. If you want her to be safe, don’t try to find her rashly.]

The content of the letter was brief. Then Roil held out a cloth wrapping something. Inside the cloth was a single earring. It was the ruby earring that Pendlore had given to Radilt.

Seeing it, Pendlore’s jaw involuntarily tensed.

“The one who delivered the letter.”

“I sent him away first so he wouldn’t be wary, then set the hounds on him. They should have found the location by now.”

“Good work. Master Philip, I must be going now.”

“Please go quickly!”

Philip apologized again and said he hoped Radilt would be found safely. He also didn’t forget to say to contact him if any help was needed.

“Shall we go to where the hounds have headed?”

“No. There’s nothing good about moving hastily. Let’s return first.”

Showing urgency would only embolden the kidnapper. Pendlore spoke calmly as he boarded the carriage. His gaze turned to the empty seat across from him.

“……”

A fierce flame momentarily flickered in his calm blue-gray eyes.

* * *

“……Mmm.”

Her head hurt. Radilt instinctively tried to touch the painful area. But her arms wouldn’t move at all. They only twitched slightly, as if she were having sleep paralysis.

“Ugh……”

The floor pressing against her cheek was hard. There seemed to be an unpleasant smell too.

Radilt painfully lifted her heavy eyelids. The first things she saw were chair legs. Then desk legs and a shabby stone floor.

‘This is……’

Where?

The situation wasn’t immediately comprehensible. It wasn’t home. Although Radilt’s residence was also an old building, it wasn’t this shabby. So it certainly wasn’t Pendlore’s mansion either.

The remaining place was Langfiel’s workshop…….

‘Ah……!’

Memories from before she lost consciousness flooded Radilt’s mind. Saldat glaring at her terrifyingly. The man who roughly lunged at her, and the key she barely managed to throw through the window to escape him. Then she had hit her head and fainted.

Radilt quickly twisted her body. She tried to get up, but not only her arms but her legs were also bound.

“So you’re awake.”

Saldat’s mocking voice was heard. Radilt forcibly raised her head. Saldat’s figure briefly crossed her field of vision.

“……What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? I’m planning to extort a hefty ransom for you and then flee overseas to live extravagantly.”

The chair made a creaking sound. Saldat’s feet fidgeted in front of Radilt’s eyes.

“I have no money. Just an old mansion, and my mother-in-law…… won’t try to save me.”

She would probably just take back the mansion she had given to the daughter-in-law who had “eaten” her son, thinking she was dead. And Radilt would be forgotten in an instant.

“There’s Lord Duston. The rich nobleman you’ve caught.”

At Saldat’s sarcasm, Radilt’s eyes momentarily turned fierce.

“That person and I have nothing to do with each other!”

“Nothing to do with each other, yet he pushed you into Langfiel’s workshop, I suppose?”

Saldat burst into a nervous, cackling laugh as if he’d heard an amusing joke. Then he abruptly stood up and kicked Radilt hard in the stomach.

“Ack!”

“You useless woman who’s nothing without a man! How dare you block my path!”

Ptui! The spat saliva landed on her apron. Saldat flopped back down on the chair. A short knife in his hand stabbed at the table, poke, poke.

“If that precious Lord Duston doesn’t contact me by this evening, I’ll cut off your clothes one by one. When midnight comes and you’re crawling n*ked on the floor—”

Saldat flashed a hideous grin.

“I’ll do to you what I couldn’t do before. I’ll make you writhe all night long, so look forward to it.”

He laughed alone, saying even if she wanted to abandon that unnecessarily large-bodied count and run away with him, he would accept her. Radilt gritted her teeth and pretended not to hear that horrible laughter.

It was miserable and frightening. Her vision turned white, and her whole body trembled. But among all that, the most distressing thing was…

‘……Lord Duston.’

The fact that he might try to save her. Even though it was fake, Pendlore Duston would act as the perfect lover. He would pay the ransom Saldat wanted and rescue Radilt safely.

That fact approached her with guilt and a faint joy, moistening Radilt’s closed eyelids.