Chapter 42
I remembered that he had once arrived a little earlier than our appointed time.
I adjusted my necklace again and tidied the hat I wore to block the sunlight.
After a short while, a carriage appeared in the distance. But it wasn’t the golden-trimmed carriage I expected—it was a completely black one.
Curious, I stepped forward, squinting to look again. No matter how I looked, it seemed to be Mr. Shuwalt’s carriage.
Sure enough, it really was Mr. Shuwalt’s carriage.
As soon as the carriage stopped in front of me, its door was roughly opened.
“Mr. Shuwalt! What’s the matter?”
“Bella. Get in quickly.”
“Huh?”
I repeated my question, not understanding his urgent tone.
Unlike usual, Mr. Shuwalt’s expression was tense and firm.
Before I could even think that something was wrong, he reached out and grabbed my arm.
“Get in. Bella. We have to go.”
“What’s happening? I was supposed to meet the Second Prince today. You said it was important.”
I had promised to come no matter what.
“The plan failed. We have to join Luchellai immediately.”
“B-But… Then I’ll just deliver the message and follow you right away, okay?”
“There’s no time. Get in!”
Mr. Shuwalt’s urgency was clear.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t match his strength. I felt pulled into the carriage and climbed in.
“Ah.”
In my rush, the necklace Valeri had insisted I wear snapped off and fell to the ground. It had been so strong…
“W-Wait!”
I hurriedly tried to step out to pick it up.
But Mr. Shuwalt wouldn’t let go.
“Close the door.”
“Ah, wait! Just a moment!”
Thud!
The carriage door slammed shut roughly.
I could only watch helplessly as the carriage left, unable to retrieve my broken necklace from the ground.
The carriage sped away, quickly moving farther from the house.
What on earth was happening?
For the first time, I felt an overwhelming frustration and bit my lips.
I had come out early to enjoy the morning sun, but now the sunset had arrived. Darkness would fall soon.
She was late. She hadn’t arrived at all.
Several hours had already passed since the appointed time. I wondered if perhaps I had given the wrong time.
But Valeri had never made that kind of mistake. And since he had sent the carriage, he would have known even if the time was different.
He had told her to wait so she wouldn’t rush, but she shouldn’t be this late.
The bouquet he had prepared was already wilting.
He had wanted to give her the most beautiful flowers, but that had failed.
Valeri abandoned the idea of preparing something else, but still waited a little longer, unable to leave.
The strength in his straight shoulders gradually faded.
“……”
Even as night fell completely, she did not appear. Her bright face, promising to meet again, kept coming to mind.
It couldn’t be that she was in trouble… could it?
“I need to make sure she’s safe.”
Valeri didn’t return to the palace. Instead, he went to Bella’s house, unwilling to give up hope.
If it wasn’t a refusal, and something had happened, he would help her gladly. Being late wasn’t important at all.
But her house was dark, with no lights on.
Valeri stepped out of the carriage.
Besides his own, there was another carriage—the one meant to pick her up—still waiting, empty, just as it had been when it first left.
“They say someone saw a red-haired lady riding the family carriage this morning.”
Since she belonged to the Ariandel family and had taken their carriage, it wasn’t a serious problem. That was a relief… at least.
“Your Highness, we should return now.”
Joanne approached cautiously.
Valeri had thought today would be the happiest day, but it seemed that hope had been his alone. I had no idea it would be the first time he would feel such disappointment.
Thud.
The bouquet he had prepared fell weakly from his hands.
“Let’s go back.”
He turned silently. Soon, all the carriages in front of her house had left.
Only the wilted bouquet he had dropped remained in the empty space.
The next day, he received the necklace from Joanne.
“This was lying on the ground?”
Valeri had asked Joanne to check Blake’s house again last night, and she had found the broken necklace there.
Even by this morning, Blake Ariandel had not appeared.
Valeri looked down at the shattered necklace in his hands.
Had she thrown it away, or had it been lost? He assumed it was lost, but he hesitated, worrying that she might have discarded it on purpose.
He simply held the broken necklace quietly for a long time.
“Yesterday…”
“Yesterday?”
“No.”
When Joanne quickly denied it, Valeri’s eyes sharpened. She couldn’t hold out and spoke again.
“Yesterday… it seems there was a meeting with the First Prince at the Celestial Hall.”
“With your brother?”
“Yes. I’m sorry for checking on my own. Since he had an incident with a kidnapping before, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t the same this time…”
Joanne nervously continued. Usually, Valeri would have scolded her, but not this time.
“Why did she meet your brother?”
“I’m not sure. It seems it was just a simple meeting. Should I investigate further?”
“No. It’s faster if I ask him directly.”
“Was there any other problem?”
“No. Apart from meeting a friend, nothing special was noticed.”
“……Alright.”
Later, Valeri found out about Blake Ariandel while checking if she was safe. He hadn’t moved even when his subordinates suggested it, but he insisted on finding out.
The meeting between Delkian and Blake was concerning, but it wasn’t problematic. That was fine.
However, the house she had been picked up from was empty. Investigating left no trace.
Even the name she had given him belonged to someone who had already left the country a year ago and had not returned.
She had disappeared like smoke.
Valeri visited her house several times afterward. Even seeing red or silver hair would make him stop in his tracks.
If she was safe, that was enough to reassure him—but he couldn’t shake the feeling that she had abandoned him.
She was the first woman to express her feelings honestly. He had believed she was truly sincere.
And yet…
He could not understand why she had disappeared without a word.
Then he realized.
Why he couldn’t find her.
What she had been hiding.
I had escaped by quickly taking the carriage with Mr. Shuwalt to meet my mother.
The carriage hurried somewhere without giving me a chance to ask questions. When I finally realized where we were, it was a large estate under heavy guard.
After that, I didn’t see Mr. Shuwalt or my mother again.
They had placed me somewhere safe, but I couldn’t leave the estate for weeks—it was frustrating.
Only after a few days did I realize this wasn’t the Empire of Kasineth. It was in a neighboring country.
Although close to Kasineth, it was on the route to Northern Liwendel. The Duchy of Seserade had a climate similar to the northern city of Siseta where I had stayed.
“I need to know what went wrong to understand.”
At first, I thought it might have been the Marquis of Laduke, but if that were the case, I’d likely be in a prison, not here.
“It’s Ian.”
A voice came from outside the door.
“Come in.”
When Ian entered, I hurriedly asked,
“What happened?”
“I delivered the message. Since it’s a distance across the border, it will take some time.”
“That’s fine. As long as we can communicate from here.”
With all information cut off instantly, it was even hard to use Nina.
Even if Iscar was powerful, that only applied inside the empire. He could send someone, but after the previous deal, the other side could simply ignore it.
Still, just in case, I sent Nina and Ian to the town to deliver a letter. Ian said it could take a week, or even up to a month at worst.
Even though it was a neighboring country, it would take that long.
