Chapter 95
- The Seriousness of the Situation
2024.01.03.
A black horse galloped at full speed along the long, metasequoia-lined driveway.
It was dawn, with thin raindrops scattering like sleet.
Hearing the sound of hooves, the gatekeeper of Lancelot Castle came rushing out of his hut, on high alert.
The moment he clearly saw the pure white diamond mark on the center of the black horse's forehead, which was rapidly approaching through the bluish air, he hurriedly opened the iron gates with all his might.
Darkstar, carrying Edgar, passed swiftly through the main gate without slowing down.
In the fleeting moment as the Marquess's profile flashed by, the gatekeeper froze. He completely forgot that he was supposed to bow.
With a terrifying crash, the front door of Lancelot Castle burst open as if it would fall off its hinges.
Startled servants rushed into the central hall, lighting the castle. It was an extremely impolite hour for a visit.
"L, Lord?"
The butler's eyes widened at the sight of Edgar.
"What brings you here at this hour? Without any notice."
Edgar didn't stop walking despite the butler's flustered question. Instead, he ascended the stairs even faster.
The butler followed Edgar with an uneasy heart. The atmosphere of Lancelot Castle, which had been quietly preparing for the morning, instantly became as fragile as thin ice.
"The Duke just fell asleep a little while ago, Lord."
The butler, keeping pace with Edgar, gasped as he spoke. He muffled his footsteps and voice, afraid of waking the Duke.
Duke Lancelot's grumpiness and sensitivity stemmed from chronic insomnia.
As with most patients, the Duke would unleash a torrent of anger if his hard-won sleep was disturbed.
"If you have business, please attend to it after daybreak."
Water dripped from the marble floor with each stride along the long corridor.
It was clear that something unusual had happened, considering he had ridden all the way from Litten at this early hour.
But barging into the bedroom like this would not end as a minor disturbance either.
"Lord."
The young master, who usually listened to the old butler's words, seemed like a great wall today.
His words echoed emptily in the air, like raindrops hitting a windowpane and bouncing off.
"Why don't you catch your breath for a moment before seeing him?"
He remembered the time when the master's son was born, waiting in front of the birthing room and rushing to the Duke with the baby in his arms, handed to him by the head maid.
He had watched over the Lord since then. He had never seen him lose his composure.
"Then, Lord, I will go ahead and inform him..."
Before he could finish speaking, Edgar grabbed the doorknob of the bedroom and flung it open.
In front of the butler's pale face, the corridor, which had been filled with a bluish aura, fell silent once more with a thud.
Edgar strode across the Duke's bedroom.
"Where is Olivia?"
Standing before the bed, Edgar glared at his father, growling with clenched fists.
Duke Lancelot frowned. He had woken up from the commotion outside and was in a very sensitive state.
The Duke rose from the bed and slowly approached Edgar, like a prowling beast.
In the next moment, sparks flew from Edgar's eyes. Edgar's head snapped around from the tremendous blow.
"Explain."
A terribly cold gaze flew and pierced Edgar.
"What have you done, Father?"
Edgar bit his lip, righting his head. He was on the verge of exploding, but Edgar suppressed his anger with slow breaths.
"Speak plainly."
"..."
Edgar's thick eyebrows twitched strangely.
"Olivia has disappeared."
"So that's all it was. That's why you've committed such an outrageous act."
With a thwack, his head snapped around again. It was a sudden blow.
One side of Edgar's cheek flushed red. But Edgar felt nothing.
"Why would you think I would get involved in such a troublesome matter? What benefit would I get from it?"
Edgar's mind went blank as if he had been hit hard on the back of the head by the cold voice.
"...Father."
Edgar desperately held onto his contorting facial muscles.
"It wasn't you?"
He felt the blood chilling in his veins. He wasn't the type to do something and then pretend he didn't.
He preferred to get straight to the point, threatening or making deals with whatever he held in his grasp, and then announcing his demands.
Then where... where is Olivia?
He was back to square one. Realizing that something was terribly wrong, the thread of reason he had barely been holding onto snapped.
The Duke, who had been looking at Edgar askance, opened the cigarette case on the side table.
"Pathetic."
The Duke spat out, lighting the cigarette he had placed in his lips.
Edgar slowly wiped his damp face with his hand.
He had ridden his horse recklessly without considering all the variables. Such hasty actions were among the things he hated.
But he was not in his right mind now.
Was it Anne Boleyn after all? Or the Crown Prince?
Or perhaps...
Edgar's eyebrow slowly twitched.
Had she met that damn reporter?
"..."
The possibility was high enough. It might have been overly optimistic to hope that Olivia wouldn't run into the guy who had stormed into the hotel that day, at that time, by chance.
He shouldn't have let him live.
As he recognized the seriousness of the situation, he felt the blood draining from his body in an instant.
His pale face, illuminated by the bluish light that began to pour in through the window, looked like a ghost.
"I'll be going now."
Edgar turned to leave. But he couldn't take a single step. He stood there blankly for a long time.
If she found out...
Then what would happen?
Suddenly, a snort of laughter escaped him. If things came to that, there was no answer.
The small breeze caused by one scandal had become a whirlwind in the form of Count Blanchett's attack.
He had brought Olivia, who was in danger of losing all her wealth, to her knees before him. It was supposed to be a perfect and clean relationship of exploitation, as always...
He had wavered.
He thought she was shaking him, but looking back now, he was the one who was shaking.
Pretending to be unbelievably kind. Smiling... and then he became sincere. Like an idiot.
Heh heh. Laughter squeezed out.
Olivia had disappeared. Or maybe she had run away.
Finally, his consciousness gradually cleared. Her sudden disappearance. As the reason became clear, he could no longer delay.
Now it was his turn to kneel before Olivia.
Edgar burst out of the Duke's bedroom and rode his horse back towards Litten. The morning glow that had dyed the sky rippled above his head.
Anne spent the entire night anxiously.
Her bloodshot eyes wandered over the empty bed, bathed in the clear sunlight.
Madam...
Madam was not in the rose garden connected to the banquet hall either.
Based on the testimony of a witness who clearly saw her going out that way, Anne had been searching every corner of the hotel since last night and again this morning.
"Madam Marie, I'm going out for a bit."
"Don't, Anne. Get some rest."
Madam Marie took Anne's hand. The half-crazed child looked like she could collapse at any moment.
"It's okay, Madam. I'm really okay."
"Blanchett will be safe too. So don't worry too much."
Tears welled up in Anne's bulging eyes and fell. Madam Marie lifted her apron to wipe Anne's cheeks when the guest room door opened.
"Madam!"
Anne shouted, turning her head sharply. She saw a fleeting illusion.
Where Madam's afterimage had disappeared, Countess Elaine was standing. Tears welled up.
"I'm sorry it's me, Anne."
"Ah, no. Madam."
Anne went back and forth between hell and heaven every time the door opened.
"No news of Olivia yet, I see."
"...Yes, Madam."
Anne's throat tightened as she answered. Elaine sighed deeply when the door opened again.
"Madam?"
"Olivia?"
This time, Assistant Gerald came in with an ashen face.
"Blanchett hasn't returned yet?"
Gerald asked what Anne wanted to ask.
"...No, Assistant."
Gerald, who had come with a small hope that she might have returned, looked perplexed.
Olivia had been out of contact until after noon.
"Where on earth did she go?"
Elaine muttered, standing by the window and looking down at the hotel grounds.
"Anne, can you think of anyone she might have gone to greet?"
"No, Madam."
"Shouldn't we report it to the police, Gerald?"
Madam Marie cautiously spoke.
A disappearance in a five-star hotel. Moreover, the missing person was the winner of the Dumblin Championship.
If this fact leaked to the outside world, the entire Litten would be turned upside down.
「New Queen Disappears from Lover's Hotel on Closing Night」
Gerald sighed in frustration.
A mysterious disappearance that anyone could see. In this situation where police intervention was desperately needed, Edgar's attitude was strange.
If it were the usual Edgar, he would not have readily allowed the intervention of public authorities, considering the hotel's reputation, but wasn't this a different case?
Moreover, in an urgent situation where Blanchett's life could be in danger.
'Find her quietly.'
Edgar's order was concise.
The problem, if there was one, was that he had been drinking since early morning when he should have been maintaining a cool head.
But he wasn't so drunk that it clouded his judgment.
His quiet eyes were as calm as the eye of a storm. That's why it was so ominous.
"It hasn't been a day yet. Let's wait a little longer."
"Then I'll go out and look again."
Anne ran out of the guest room.
Tears welled up in her eyes, which were red from crying all night.
She'll be safe.
With no time to wait for the elevator, she ran towards the stairs in the center of the hallway.
At that moment, the door of the room on the left burst open, and a black hand suddenly reached out and covered Anne's mouth.
As if being sucked into a black hole, Anne's body was instantly pulled into the darkness.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
