The Fake Madam Disappeared

“That…”

His tone wasn’t questioning. Yet, Damian felt his toes curl and his hands became damp.

“That… I need to ask… mother something…” He stammered, trying his best to continue speaking.

Edmund called his son again, “Damian.”

“... Yes.”

“Do you remember what Daphne looked like?”

“...”

Damian remained silent. His lips moved but he couldn’t say a word. Demian was perplexed.

‘How could it be?’

Why can't I remember my mother’s face?

“You may leave now.”

He wasn’t sure how he managed to speak until then.

“Young Master?” Vent, who had been waiting outside Edmund’s office, spoke to his Master, but kept his gaze fixed straight ahead and continued walking. Even though Vent kept pestering him, demanding to know what had happened, it all sounded distant, like ringing in his ears.

Then something caught Vent’s eye. A building visible through the window, a bit away from the castle.

‘... The greenhouse.’

‘Madam loved looking at the flowers.’

“Vent, don’t follow me any further.”

As if drawn by a force, Damian headed toward the greenhouse. The moment he stepped inside, his body, which had been briefly exposed to the cold, quickly regained its warmth. The greenhouse, which he hadn’t visited in a very long time since childhood, looked just like it did in his memories: warm, with beautiful flowers blooming.

Damian wandered towards one of the many flowers.

Mother’s favorite flower.

He had no idea that Daphne liked flowers. No, he didn’t really know what his mother liked at all.

‘Did Mother miss the capital while she was in this warm greenhouse? Did she hate this place so much? Is that why she left?’

Damian sat down on the floor without even caring about his clothes getting dirty.

“Do you remember what Daphne looked like?”

He couldn’t answer.

He couldn’t give an answer.

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Because he couldn’t remember.

‘... I just need to ask her.’

*‘I’ll find Mother and ask her one question. Why did you give me that sword? Just that one question.’ *

Damian lifted his head. The blizzard was raging outside the greenhouse.

‘Where in the world is Mother now?’

— — —

“Your Excellency, I brought the painter.”

“...”

“Your Excellency?”

Edmund raised his head.

“Let him in.”

The door, which had just closed, opened again. The painter, Philip, entered. Having been holed up in his room for days, Philip looked much more gaunt than the last time Edmund had seen him.

“I greet Your Excellency.” Philip, his body slouched, offered what he had been carefully carrying in his arms. It was a small portrait, along with another painting that Edmund had specifically requested.

“This is a rough draft. The final version to be mounted on paper will have refined lines and added color.”

Edmund turned the canvas over.

“...”

There was a picture that wasn’t fully finished. A face staring straight ahead with a faint smile.

“... Surprising.”

It was the most accurate depiction of Daphne that Edmund had ever seen in Philip’s work.

He reached out and caressed her lips in the painting. The upward curve of the lips disappeared, revealing a face that looked exactly like Daphne’s. Of course, it did. Daphne had never looked at Edmund with such a bright smile, so this version was more accurate. And so, Edmund stared at the canvas, feeling an odd sense of awkwardness.

Philip, who had been cautiously observing, noticed that Edmund had covered the mouth.

“Shall I fix the lower part of the face, Your Excellency? Perhaps, make her more expressionless…”

“No.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Edmund dismissed Philip’s suggestion. He didn’t want to see a cold, expressionless Daphne, not even in a painting.

“... I will send you the additional 1,000 gold through my subordinate.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Philip swallowed hard upon hearing about the extra thousand gold coins. Three thousand gold. A simple painting had just earned him an additional thousand gold. The desire to collapse onto his bed vanished the moment he heard about the extra gold. He could sleep all he wanted after he was dead – what did it matter? Three thousand gold was right in front of him.

Philip, now eager to pour his soul into perfecting the painting to earn his three thousand gold, reached out to retrieve the canvas, but even after a while, it wasn’t returned to him. Surprised, he slowly looked up, only to find Edmund still gazing intently at the painting.

Just when Philip began to worry if he had made a mistake in the painting, Edmund spoke.

“I’ll take this painting.”

“But the lines are still messy. If you can give me some more time, I can make it perfect…”

“No, I want this one.”

Puzzled by Edmund’s sudden strange insistence, Philip had no reason to refuse.

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

It wasn’t a problem for Philip to recreate the painting since he already had Daphne’s features fixed in his mind.

After the painter left, Edmund couldn’t tear his eyes away from the painting until Johann arrived with Nick.

‘Was this really what Daphne looked like?’

The vague image of Daphne from his dreams was now complete.

“Your Excellency, it’s Johann.”

“... Come in.”

Edmund, a beat behind, responded as he set the canvas down.

Johann and Nick entered. Seeing the snow on their shoulders and heads, it was clear they had returned immediately after meeting with the informant. Before they began discussing the mission, Nick posed a question.

“First of all, before we talk, is this office trustworthy?”

Edman understood Nick’s words right away.

“The person who built this office is dead.”

“That’s a relief, then.”

Nick, who had been looking around the office for some reason, let out a relieved sigh.

“There’s someone in the mansion who’s in contact with Marquis Bled.”

Edmund frowned at the mention of Marquis Bled.

“I told you to find my wife…”

Edmund stopped mid-sentence when he finally understood what Nick was implying. Edmund slowly closed and opened his eyes.

“So… my wife had been in contact with Marquis Bled.”

“That’s right.”

With that, Nick handed something to Edmund. It was an ordinary note, but what stood out was the unusual way it was folded.

“It was handmade, so it would tear if any pressure was applied.”

Edmund inspected the note. Just as Nick had said, it looked like it would tear if he tried to open it.

“I found this beneath the wall outside the Duchess’s room.”

“How do you open it?”

“I sent a replica to my subordinate. We should get a response by tomorrow at the latest.”

Nick, feeling uncomfortable, fiddled with his aura suppression collar as he continued speaking.

“But we did find something.”

“Theory of Daphne’s disappearance?”

The assumption that Bled must have had a hand in Daphne’s disappearance.

‘And the possibility that Marquis Bled kidnapped her.’

Though the latter seemed far-fetched. But Edmund decided to consider all possibilities.

“Marquisate Bled likely provided assistance. It’s been nearly four weeks since the Duchess disappeared, so we need to expand our search beyond the North.”

All the time spent searching the North now felt like a waste. If they couldn’t find Daphne within the next week, they’d have to search the entire continent. If Marquis Bled was determined to keep her hidden, it might already be too late.

“I’ll lend you the Black Knights.”

“Your Excellency!”

Johann urgently stopped Edmund.

“If the Black Knights are involved, it will attract too much attention. They’ll notice immediately. Besides, the Emperor is already suspicious about Nick’s sudden death.”

To help Nick escape, Johann had found a corpse with the same body size as Nick’s. They had concocted a story that the body was unrecognizable due to severe swelling and damage inflicted by prisoners who harbored grudges against him. However, the Emperor remained suspicious of Nick’s sudden death.

“Daphne’s portrait will be completed by then.”

“... One week. If we don’t find the Madam in a week, then we will deploy the Black Knights. It won’t be too late.”

Edmund crossed his arms and slowly drummed his fingers on his forearm.

Having known each other since childhood, Johann understood that even if he could convince Edmund to listen to him once for every ten times he spoke, Edmund’s actions were still unpredictable. Johann anxiously awaited Edmund’s decision.

“Very well.”

Johan was relieved.

The time was short, but Nick’s subordinates were fast and numerous. It wasn’t impossible. As Nick left, grumbling about how the aura suppression collar was twice as exhausting, Johann finished his report and was about to leave as well.

“Johann. Bring me a frame that fits this size.”

Edmund took out Daphne’s portrait. Even with the messy lines, Johann could easily tell that it was the Madam.

“Yes… right away.”

The office was filled with silence once Johann left.

Unconsciously, Edmund’s gaze drifted back to the canvas before he opened his desk drawer. He intended to store the canvas inside. But when he opened the drawer, he froze at what he saw.

There, lying in the drawer, was a hidden letter from Daphne. A letter he hadn’t yet read.

“...”

‘Where on earth are you Daphne?’

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Whoosh.

A fierce, biting wind swirled violently. Someone was struggling up the snow-covered mountainside. As their thick robe flapped in the wind, a slender hand grasped it tightly.

Haa, a breath escaped, visible in the cold air.

The northernmost border stretched out right in front of them. Lost in thought, their grip weakened.

Whoosh!

Seizing the moment, the wind blew even harder, flipping the robe and sending the brown hair fluttering into the air.

“…Finally.”

The green eyes flickered through the strands of hair. But the slender hand quickly pulled the robe back on, tucking the hair in carefully. Only after drawing the robe tightly over her green eyes did Daphne move again.