Chapter : 102
Dayna, who had been listening carefully, looked around and narrowed her eyes.
The sound of a crying child continued, but she couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from.
“Sir Hertas!”
At Dayna’s call, Kleian turned around.
“Don’t you hear the crying? It sounds like a child is trapped!”
“The crying?”
Kleian bent his waist, straining his senses. Then, he suddenly lifted his head and pointed somewhere.
“It seems to be coming from that direction, as the young lady said! I’ll go check—”
Bang!
Before he could finish speaking, a large crash rang out as another wooden support holding up the ceiling collapsed.
“Ahhh!”
“Dayna!”
Nox, standing beside her, quickly shielded her, taking the falling debris on his own body.
Feeling the ground shake, Dayna instinctively closed her eyes tightly in his arms.
“…Did we survive?”
A moment later, when she slowly opened her eyes, the commotion had quieted somewhat.
The wooden debris that had fallen to the floor had caught fire, acting as fuel for the blaze, which roared violently. The heat was almost overwhelming.
“Ugh…”
“Duke, are you hurt?”
Hearing the groan, Dayna immediately grabbed Nox. He was squinting his eyes in pain, probably burned by the falling hot wood.
W-what should I do…!
“Uwaaah!”
It was utterly maddening.
Amid the chaos, the sound of a child crying echoed in the distance.
“Dayna…”
Nox whispered her name softly, his expression darkening. Whether from the burns or trauma, his breathing grew increasingly labored.
Dayna grabbed his face with both hands and shouted.
“Duke, stay with me! We can get out now!”
“….”
Nox’s eyes began to lose focus.
The red flames and crying had consumed his mind with trauma. Just holding on this long had nearly exhausted his mental strength.
Behind him, another pile of wood crashed to the floor. There was no more time to waste.
“…Sir Hertas.”
Dayna, looking at the struggling Nox, seemed to make a decision.
“Take the Duke out safely.”
“And the young lady?”
“I’ll go out with the child.”
“That’s not possible.”
Kleian immediately said.
“I’ll rescue the child and follow. Milady, you evacuate outside with the Duke.”
“Don’t you see the passage over there? The debris from the collapsing building has blocked it, Sir Hertas can’t get through. I might squeeze through because I’m small, but—”
“Still not possible.”
No, it is possible!
Dayna shoved Nox into Kleian’s arms, who caught him in surprise. Then she turned sharply and ran toward a small opening.
“Young lady!”
Ignoring Kleian’s shouted warning, Dayna didn’t look back and ran toward the crying.
Thinking of the child alone inside the burning building reminded her of Nox’s childhood.
She couldn’t leave such a lonely and scared child behind.
And she believed that rescuing the child safely might finally end Nox’s long-standing trauma.
“Waaah…!”
“Little one, where are you? I’m here to save you!”
Crawling through the narrow opening, Dayna looked around.
The place was engulfed in flames, making it hard to find direction.
Carefully stepping while watching the collapsing ceiling above, she heard the cries grow closer and moved toward them.
“Waaah! Waaah!”
At the bottom of the stairs at the end of the corridor, a child had fallen and was crying.
The child seemed to have injured their leg from the fall, blood streaming from their knee.
“Little one!”
Dayna shouted, and the child looked up. Seeing Dayna from a distance, the child cried even louder.
“Waaah!”
“Wait a moment! I’m coming to save you!”
Dayna leapt over scattered debris, moving closer to the child.
The child, tears streaking their face, reached out their arms, and Dayna reached back.
“Come here!”
Finally, Dayna scooped the child into her arms. She held the slipping child tightly, adjusted her grip, and turned her body.
Now, where to go?
Every direction was engulfed in scorching flames.
The building’s interior was so confusing that even the passages were hard to distinguish.
Swallowing nervously, she carefully moved her legs. From now on, she had to rely on instinct.
“Don’t cry, let’s get out together, okay?”
“Sniff…sniff.”
Still, even at this moment, the fact that she wasn’t alone gave her small comfort.
Dayna, feeling responsible for the child in her arms, carefully avoided the fire on the floor.
Suddenly, with another crashing sound, a large column ahead began to collapse.
Carlisle frowned as he watched the flames engulf his villa.
A small fire had started and quickly consumed the wooden building, turning it into a massive blaze.
“Count…!”
One of Peinstein’s subordinates ran to him.
After a brief pause to catch his breath, he spoke.
“The fire… it spread larger than we expected…”
“The nobles?”
“All of them who were invited to the party were safely rescued! The pre-planned evacuation routes from the ballroom helped greatly!”
Carlisle glanced at the nobles outside, catching their breath after fleeing the fire.
Once safely outside, they adjusted their clothes and composure, embarrassed but relieved.
Watching them, Carlisle spoke again.
“And that woman?”
“She is not visible. Also…”
Peinstein’s subordinate trailed off awkwardly.
Carlisle gave him a sharp look, and he hurriedly continued.
“…Also, Duke Betelgeuse is not visible.”
“If it’s Duke Betelgeuse, I would have instructed the treasurer and adjutant to take him out beforehand.”
“That’s right. We had brought him to the reception room, the easiest escape point at the time of the fire…”
The subordinate glanced at the treasurer and adjutant wiping sweat under a tree, then quickly added:
“They went back to find the lady.”
“Hah.”
Carlisle let out a scoffing breath.
It seemed the young duke, who rarely showed emotion, genuinely cared about his wife.
Originally, the plan had been to get rid of that woman, who was a thorn in his side, in the fire—painfully.
And to prevent any future trials involving the Bibewood family.
‘Daring to test the Peinstein family, huh?’
The villa prepared for that purpose had been rebuilt, with a stage set for all nobles to witness, yet Duke Betelgeuse willingly joined her final path—something that was never part of the plan.
‘Now I have to deal with the hassle of explaining this incident.’
Carlisle frowned at his incompetent subordinate, then relaxed his expression.
After all, he could easily blame the subordinate for the fire.
“Ah! There!”
“The Duke is coming out…!”
At that moment, the nobles began pointing toward the mansion entrance.
Turning to look, Carlisle saw Duke Betelgeuse and his aide limping out between the collapsing buildings.
