Chapter 39
“Welcome—oh? You’re that person from yesterday!”
As we pushed open the arched guild hall door, we found Julie — one of Luan’s former followers — sweeping the floor inside. She seemed to recognize us immediately.
Well, of course. Who could forget the strange combo of a handsome man and a wild colt? And now we even had a dog and cat tagging along.
“Where’s Sophia?”
“Sophia? She hasn’t come in yet…” Julie answered with a puzzled look. Seemed like we’d come to the wrong place.
She wasn’t at home or at the guild. Where could she have gone?
“…I see. Oh, I also wanted to pick up the merchant license I applied for yesterday.”
“Oh, sure! Just a moment… hmm… Zoé Blanche… found it! Here you go. By the way, what’s your relationship with Sophia? Coming to see her this early in the morning…”
Julie looked curious, clearly probing after seeing Luan show up at dawn asking for Sophia.
“I happened to meet her yesterday and she invited me over. But I left something important at her house. I have to leave town soon, so I went by her place this morning—but she wasn’t there.”
Luan’s calm answer made Fiona’s eyes go wide.
“She’s not home? Sophia?”
“What the—Fiona? I thought you had the day off.”
Everyone turned toward the voice.
There stood a woman with the same bright orange hair as Sophia, eyes wide in surprise.
She was so similar in height, hair color, and face that at a glance, one could easily mistake her for Sophia’s twin—except for the freckles.
“…And you are?”
“M-my name’s Fiona. Sophia and I… we’ve been friends for a long time. But… are you sure she really wasn’t home?”
“Yeah. I knocked plenty, but there wasn’t a sound.”
“Oh no… that can’t be… unless she’s… there…”
Fiona muttered nervously, eyes darting as if panic was setting in.
I jumped down from Ruby’s back and hopped up toward Luan.
He immediately scooped me up into his arms as if expecting it.
“Luan, that Fiona woman seems suspicious. We should question her.”
“Yes, I feel the same.”
He nodded at my whisper.
“You seem to know where Sophia is. Speak. Where is she?”
“M-me? I… well…”
Fiona bit at her half-broken thumbnail, stammering. Dried blood cracked as fresh drops fell from her fingertip.
“You’d better answer now—unless you’d rather explain yourself under interrogation at the constable’s office.”
“W-wait, sir! Please calm down! Fiona, what’s wrong with you? Just tell them already!”
Julie, startled by Luan’s threatening tone, raised her voice at Fiona.
“…It’s just that… Lord Gerald came to my house last night… he demanded I tell him where Sophia lives… so I did, but then…”
“What? That obnoxious brat again?! Gods, Fiona! You know how awful he is—why on earth would you tell him?!”
“B-but, Julie, you know my mother’s a merchant too… We’re refugees—we barely managed to settle here! If the guildmaster gets mad at us, we’ll be ruined…”
“Still! Ugh, Fiona… you almost got killed by a monster last time because of his errands! Are you going to keep obeying everything that brat orders?!”
Julie clutched her temples in frustration as Fiona finally collapsed to her knees, tears streaming down her face.
Judging by her defeated expression, it seemed Gerald had long been exploiting her weaknesses, treating her like his personal servant.
This stinks. Badly.
While Luan had been away searching for me, Gerald must have stormed Sophia’s house.
And knowing how obsessed he was with her… if he’d found her—
“So. Where exactly is Sophia now?”
“Sob… if I’m right… she’s probably at that place… Gerald bought a small cabin outside the village—without the guildmaster’s knowledge. It has a basement…”
Basement. That word alone screamed one thing—kidnapping.
That bastard Gerald had kidnapped her.
Lunatis, who’d been silently listening, suddenly dashed outside with a feral glare.
“Wait—wasn’t that cat yours, sir?!” Julie cried out.
“Luan.”
“Let’s go after him.”
As we were about to run out, Fiona hesitated and called out, “Um… that cat… it’s Sophia’s, isn’t it?”
“How do you know that?”
“I knew it. If you see Sophia… please tell her I’m sorry.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sophia, Lord Gerald, and I—we’ve known each other since we were kids. That’s how I knew about the cat. But the day before Sophia moved away… Lord Gerald asked me to do something.”
“…What kind of something?”
“He told me to cover my face, pretend to be Sophia, and tell the cat to meet her in the evening, not the morning.”
Seeing Fiona’s guilt-ridden face, I finally pieced everything together.
“She knew how much that cat meant to Sophia… but back then her family was barely surviving, so she couldn’t refuse. She didn’t think the cat would actually be fooled…”
“Then she could’ve confessed once Sophia came back to the village,” Luan said sharply.
“I was afraid she’d hate me. Every day I told myself I’d tell her tomorrow, but I never could… So please, instead of me—”
“No. You must tell her yourself, and sincerely ask her forgiveness. Sophia isn’t the kind of person to hold hatred in her heart—you know that.”
Fiona bit her lip, holding back tears.
Right. Lunatis was smart, sure, but back then he was still young. Seeing Fiona—who looked just like Sophia—in their usual meeting place, he could’ve easily been tricked.
“Yes. Then… please, save her. Please save Sophia.”
“Of course. We’ll bring her back safely.”
Sophia, Lunatis, Fiona—all of them victims of that bastard Gerald.
So what should we do?
Easy. We’ll crush the perpetrator.
“Ruby, can you track Lunatis’s scent?”
“Leave it to me, Zoé! Sniff sniff—this way!”
“Hello?! Is anyone there?!”
Sophia screamed from behind the iron bars of the basement cell.
But no sound came from outside.
“Please… anyone?!”
Her voice was growing weaker after spending the freezing night alone in that cold, damp basement.
With solid walls and no windows, she couldn’t even tell if it was day or night.
Leaning her body against the cold metal bars that smelled of rust, Sophia recalled the night before.
‘Sophia, please open the door. I truly want to apologize for everything.’
‘…Fine. Come in.’
She hadn’t liked Gerald barging into her home—especially since she’d never given him her address—but not wanting to make a scene late at night, she’d reluctantly let him in.
‘Sit down and wait, I’ll bring some tea.’
Before she even realized it, Gerald had rushed up behind her while she was brewing tea, covering her mouth with a cloth.
A sharp, sickly-sweet smell filled her nose—and she blacked out.
When she came to, she was here—alone, locked in this underground cell.
“Ugh… my head…”
Her skull throbbed. Fever, probably from the drug. She rubbed her temples and forced her eyes open to look around.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
‘How much longer can I hold out…?’
In despair, Sophia drew her knees close and buried her face in her hands.
And then—
