After handling a very personal matter at the Steward estate, Kian returned straight to Larson. Having finished his bath, he sat vacantly in a single armchair. The atmosphere was gloomy, with twilight darkness already settling in the bedroom.

Looking back, he had done something unnecessary. If he was going to kill her anyway, it would have been cleaner in many ways to simply have a bribed maid administer the poison. Even for a family soon to be ruined, personally stirring up trouble still carried significant risk.

Yes, he admitted it. Even by his own assessment, his judgment had been clouded. But he couldn’t have endured it any other way. He should have dealt with her earlier.

Though he had wanted to slowly drain her life away, even that had been a luxury. He should have snuffed her out when she first showed her impudence by buying doll clothes.

There had been no need to dig up the former empress’s case. Why had he postponed it, wanting to savor a perfect downfall? His mind was filled with nothing but regret.

Besides dealing with the Stewards, he had been preparing other minor matters on his own. For instance, he had already arranged a family to legally adopt Vivianne.

The fallen baron’s family had welcomed the unknown foster daughter with open arms for just a few coins. That’s how empty titles truly were—just like how he, once an impurity in the Larson family, was now acting as the master.

Though it was a formality, it was a necessary procedure to remove the label of “mistress” from her. The same went for the label of “illegitimate child.” She didn’t need to play the role of a duchess. 

He only wished for her to have no shortcomings when giving birth and raising the child. With a surname attached, she would have appeared completely human to anyone, but she couldn’t wait and ran away.

She insisted she was a mermaid. What was so special about that woman that made him want to do all this for her?

It was ridiculous.

Except for his earlier outing, he had been confined to his room the entire time but hadn’t slept a wink since realizing Vivianne had disappeared. On one hand, he couldn’t sleep anyway.

Though he wanted to go out and search himself, he needed to receive reports through various channels about the search progress and give appropriate instructions. Since he had ordered the knights to search day and night, he too had to stay awake.

Kian stared blankly at the wide bed. Perhaps because he hadn’t lain on it once, the bedding remained disheveled just as Vivianne had left it. She had hesitated to stab the heart he had presented to her, yet she had left without any lingering attachment.

For trivial matters, she would write notes saying “Congratulations,” “Thank you,” or “Stay strong,” yet this time she hadn’t left even a simple note.

When had she decided to leave? Was it when she discovered the taxidermy downstairs? Or had it been much earlier?

Yes, she had been trying to escape from him ever since he made her wear the maid’s uniform and told her to decide whether to wear the shoes he gave her or leave. Each time, somehow he was the one who felt regretful, pretending to test her while actually holding her back from leaving. Infuriatingly, this time she hadn’t even given him the chance.

* * *

“You called for me, Master?”

As Matilda entered, Kian set down the cigar he had been smoking in the ashtray. White smoke drifted hazily upward.

“There’s something I want to ask you.”

“Yes. Please inquire.”

Kian’s lips moved slightly before he gave a small laugh. It was self-deprecating to be saying such things now.

“Theodore is nowhere to be seen.”

Matilda had no real answer to her master’s question. She was probably being cautious knowing how sensitive he had been about this issue, but her expression seemed somehow complex.

It had already been two days since receiving the report that an empty carriage was found in the northern forest. Four bodies stabbed by a sword were discovered nearby, all men. A woman’s shawl and a single shoe were also found.

When the knights brought them back, he confirmed they belonged to Vivianne. Only Vivianne had vanished without a trace.

At first, he had felt relieved. The fallen assailants and the missing Vivianne—considering all circumstances, it meant one of the knights on the search had rescued her. If that were the case, she should have returned within a day at the latest, but there was still no news.

Additionally, he hadn’t seen Theodore once since returning from the Imperial Palace. When he had returned to the mansion, the search was already underway, so he hadn’t even suspected anything. But for it to be a mere coincidence seemed somewhat dubious.

“…I don’t know either.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Matilda answered calmly.

“I apologize, Master. There’s a saying about children being in one’s bosom. It seems that no matter how much they come from my own flesh, there are things about children one cannot fully know.”

It was a clever response. The question itself had been foolish to begin with.

“All I know is that Theo is not the kind of boy who would force someone against their will.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“If what you’re concerned about has happened, then it would have been Vivi’s wish as well.”

A hollow laugh escaped him. Theodore and that woman running away together was her wish? While carrying his child in her womb?

“So Matilda… you’re telling me that Vivi is an unfaithful woman who would run away with another man?”

“No, not at all. The Vivi I knew truly only had eyes for you, Master. She was so awkward talking about anyone other than you.”

Of course she would be. He had made her that way, trained her to be so.

Despite already knowing this, why couldn’t he believe it? And why was he still asking such misaligned questions now?

He had always been anxious. Afraid she would fade away like smoke. He was still anxious now. Afraid he might never see her again. No matter how he looked at it, he was beyond salvation.

Yes, perhaps she could be safe because Theodore had found her. Even if she were lucky enough to find someone to help her while wandering alone in the forest, that naive woman would likely fall into danger.

Despite being pregnant, her strikingly beautiful appearance would eventually make her a target for filthy men. He acknowledged that having Theodore by her side was better than that.

Though he had known him since childhood, Theodore wasn’t the type to do anything reckless to people. Unlike himself, Theodore would cherish her tenderly.

Then she would surely smile brightly like wildflowers in full bloom. After all, she was a woman who smiled prettily even at a cheap ribbon.

It was laughable. Pathetically, the thought of that image drove him mad. Her clear smile, her small joys, her blue sorrows, even her world-shattering despair—all should have been his. No, he had wanted to monopolize everything about that woman.

Yet he had made her run away and ultimately failed to find her. He couldn’t even make her smile brightly, causing her to flee on her own.

What kind of mindset was this? He was so angry with himself that he could hardly bear it.

“It’s all my fault for not properly taking care of Vivi. I will take responsibility.”

Matilda bowed her head respectfully. Seeing this, Kian could only laugh dejectedly.

He had no energy to get angry or punish her. If it would be of any use, he would do so, but it would be meaningless.

There had been countless opportunities. In the end, it was he who had failed to grasp them. So who could he blame?

“I have something to give you, Master.”

Matilda took out a small cloth pouch from inside her garment and held it out to him.

“What is this?”

“Vivi gave it to me as a gift the day before she left, but it seemed strange… I thought you should see it.”

Taking the pouch, Kian slowly pulled out its contents. It was a golden compass with a cover and a gold string.

It felt somehow familiar.

“Vivi… gave this to you?”

“Yes.”

He couldn’t believe it.

“She said she’s kept it as a treasure since childhood, though she doesn’t remember clearly. But… look inside.”

No, it was an impossible story from the beginning.

Kian traced his fingertip over the letters engraved on the inside of the compass cover.

1. V. Larson

Clearly, the initials of Joshua von Larson were engraved there.

Joshua’s compass had been lost at sea the day the ship was wrecked.

But why did that woman have it? How?

“I’m… a mermaid, you know.”

That voice, crying on the verge of death, reproaching him in the room where the taxidermy was displayed.

“I made a contract with the witch for legs…”

A contract with a witch? It was a delusion that anyone would find absurd. Right?

“…Impossible.”

The mermaid’s song he had heard faintly on that rainy night echoed in his ears, making it hard to breathe. He felt like he was suffocating, swept away by inexplicable waves just like on the day of the shipwreck.

It couldn’t be.

She must have just picked it up somewhere by chance.

That must be it.

But if that were the case…

The woman he had locked eyes with behind the rock, the n*ked woman he had found on the beach, the woman who knew nothing but her name collapsing upon discovering the taxidermy—could all these be mere coincidences?

If you weren’t a mermaid, would it be possible for all these things to happen simultaneously?

It all seemed like a lie.

In the end, everything he had wanted to deny came crashing into reality.