Rihanel was in the orphanage building.

She didn’t want to show him this state she was in.

“Ah….”

What caught Janet’s eye was a storage shed. The storage shed that had been used since the old Philodis Cathedral.

She went inside.

Bang, the door closed.

***

Rihanel, returning to the grassy field after finishing his conversation in the orphanage building, looked around. A slight wrinkle formed between his eyebrows.

The woman who should have been there was gone.

She wasn’t beside Tailey and Vanessa Wilton, nor beside Panianna Monder.

He thought she might be talking with others, but that wasn’t the case either. Everyone was enjoying this charity event to the fullest in their own places, but that woman alone was missing.

Rihanel headed straight for Panianna. Her face brightened when she saw her nephew approaching.

“Here comes my nephew Rihanel. Rihanel, look here, would you believe that Viscount Olbe…”

“Where is Janet?”

Panianna’s lips quivered with a slight spasm.

She was quite displeased that with so many people in front of her, he didn’t even think to greet them first but immediately asked for his wife.

But what could she do? Panianna responded with all sincerity.

“Hmm? As soon as you went into the orphanage, she said she was going to get some fresh air. Said she’d rest a bit.”

Rest?

Rihanel slightly furrowed his brow. He couldn’t understand.

After all, he had left her with family to rest. So where on earth had she gone?

Rihanel sighed and asked Panianna,

“…Where did she go?”

“Hmm?”

“Janet. Where did she go?”

“Why are you…”

She was about to ask why he was asking her, but seeing Rihanel’s expression that clearly expected Panianna to know, she remembered.

Come to think of it, Rihanel had said to her, “I entrust my wife to you, Aunt.”

She had thought it was just a customary phrase, but had he really meant it?

“Well, you see…”

She had no idea where Janet was. She rolled her eyes to look sideways, but everyone else seemed equally clueless.

However, judging from Rihanel’s expression, she felt she absolutely had to answer now.

“…She said she’d walk around here once, then rest in the orphanage. There are plenty of places to lie down there, aren’t there?”

Janet had never said such a thing, but Panianna made an educated guess. The girl’s complexion had looked like she might collapse at any moment.

Looking around, the only place to rest nearby was there, so she was almost certainly in the orphanage.

Rihanel looked back at the orphanage building he had just left. The conversation had gone on long enough that quite some time had passed.

Had Janet been alone all that time?

Without much thought, almost reflexively, he began to move toward the orphanage building.

Panianna hurriedly grabbed him.

“Hey, she said she’s resting, so leave her be for a bit. She might have fallen asleep. What if you go and wake her?”

Though she spoke as if concerned, what Panianna was actually worried about was the possibility that Janet might not be in the orphanage at all.

If they waited, she would surely return on her own, so why go looking for her and risk exposing Panianna’s lie?

Fortunately, Rihanel glanced at the orphanage once and then nodded obediently.

Yes, she did seem to be struggling with the unexpected visit to Philodis Cathedral. It wouldn’t be bad to give her some time to collect her thoughts.

In any case, she would surely come out by the commemorative speech that marked the end of the event.

Thinking this…

Why isn’t she coming out?

Rihanel’s brow furrowed. He looked back at the orphanage building again. An hour had passed, and Janet was nowhere to be seen.

“Your Grace, it’s time for the commemorative speech.”

Flan approached quietly to inform him as people were waiting.

Had she really fallen asleep? Rihanel sighed. Finally, he called a female servant at the venue.

“Bring the Duchess of Reynes from the orphanage. As quickly as possible.”

The servant ran to the orphanage building. Rihanel stared intently at the orphanage with his arms crossed.

The woman who seemed unable to sleep except in a house with a large green roof was now sleeping in that building where Rihanel had spent 7 years.

That fact gave him a strange feeling.

The woman who had been sleeping with her eyes neatly closed would wake up.

Blinking her shining golden eyes, she would slowly rise. Her steps through the corridor would be light.

And the woman appearing here, on this green grass, would say in a clear voice that made it hard to believe she had just woken up,

That she had fallen asleep without realizing it.

That it was already this late?

And…

That she was sorry.

That’s what she would say.

“Hey, Rihanel. Perhaps…”

Panianna spoke casually while covering her mouth with a fan. Rihanel looked at her, still with his arms crossed.

“Could Janet be deliberately not coming out?”

“She’s not the type to be so irresponsible.”

Rihanel immediately shook his head and responded gruffly. At his firmness, Panianna pursed her lips in a pout.

Why was this child, who usually listened so well like a love-seeking child, being so prickly about matters related to Janet! Anger bubbled up inside her.

Meanwhile, time continued to pass.

As the time for the commemorative speech arrived but the ducal couple had still not ascended the platform, people’s gazes could be felt constantly directed this way.

Everyone was waiting.

Rihanel stared at the orphanage building again. But whether she was throwing a sleeping tantrum or playing hide-and-seek, Janet still hadn’t appeared.

Irritation showed on Rihanel’s face. He couldn’t delay any longer.

Finally, Rihanel went up to the platform alone. He could feel people glancing at the empty space beside him.

Erasing his irritation, he opened his mouth with a light smile.

“My wife was looking forward to this event, but it seems she felt a bit burdened by too much attention focused on her. I’ll give double the greetings on her behalf.”

The bizarre image of the witch who burned down Philodis cheering for Philodis’s happy future—it was quite disappointing news for those who had been expecting this interesting scene.

Regardless, Rihanel finished by expressing his gratitude to those who had attended the charity event and requesting continued interest in other orphanages.

“Today’s party ends here. Thank you for coming. See you in the capital.”

As Rihanel came down from the platform, people began to leave one by one. The crowd that had filled the grass receded like an ebb tide.

That’s when it happened. Against the current of people leaving the grass, someone approached from the orphanage.

It was the servant who had gone to wake Janet.

Rihanel’s eyebrows rose fiercely. She was running alone. Not bringing Janet with her.

Rihanel strode toward the direction the servant was running from. The composure had already been wiped from his face, replaced by coldness.

“Where is the Duchess of Reynes?”

“She… doesn’t seem to be in the orphanage building.”

“What?”

Now he couldn’t even think of managing his expression. A strange anxiety rose fiercely like a wave.

Rihanel turned sharply to Panianna and asked coldly,

“Didn’t you say Janet would be in the orphanage?”

“…She’s not there?”

“No. Did she really say she was going there?”

At his accusatory tone, Panianna opened her mouth.

No matter how precious his wife was to him, how could he question his aunt who had cherished him like gold and jade in such a tone?

“Hey, Rihanel. Are you angry at me right now?”

“……”

“I’m hurt, really…”

Panianna let her voice trail off dejectedly. As Rihanel was about to respond, Panianna immediately continued,

“Well… Actually, Janet didn’t directly say she was going to the orphanage building.”

“What do you mean…”

“I was the one who suggested she go there to rest if she was struggling. It seems Janet left before hearing me properly…”

“So she didn’t go to the orphanage.”

“No. I thought I was being considerate since she seemed to want to be alone… If I had known this would happen, I would have stayed with her until the end.”

She was even on the verge of tears. In the end, Rihanel turned away without pressing Panianna further.

“…I understand.”

Because what’s important now is finding where Janet is.

“Look for places Janet might have gone.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

He gave the order to Flan in a suppressed voice. Flan took some servants and scattered in different directions.

Panianna, wiping away tears, spoke in a worried voice,

“Perhaps… that child Janet just returned to the capital? She clearly seemed uncomfortable here. On our way, I noticed there were places to catch stagecoaches nearby.”

“She’s not the type to…”

Rihanel swallowed dryly without finishing his sentence.

Is she really not?

Suddenly such a doubt arose.

Janet isn’t an irresponsible person?

She’s not the type to leave because she’s uncomfortable?

His own thoughts seemed infinitely ridiculous now.

After experiencing that all the images of her he had believed in were lies, he was thinking like this again. What soft, yielding thoughts.

But it’s still too early to draw conclusions.

Rihanel turned away from Panianna.

“…I’ll go look for my wife now.”

Rihanel moved with irritation in his steps.

If she’s not in the orphanage, where on earth has this woman gone? Did she really go to get some fresh air? Or…

Rihanel shook his head roughly. To clear his mind and focus only on finding Janet, he moved ceaselessly, searching the surrounding area.

His legs felt heavy, as if large weights were attached to them. His whole body seemed to be consumed by the anxiety and impatience rising from deep in his chest.