Chapter 96
Cayente had said that if he showed he was properly shutting down his business, not even a scratch would be left on Yulia. But he no longer intended to wait. It wasn’t because he couldn’t give up the business.
“Then for that entire week, you’re saying they will be the ones keeping Lady Yulia with them?”
Just as Cain had said—he couldn’t leave Yulia in their hands for a whole week. That was the real reason. Cayente walked out of the president’s office and down the stairs, Henry and Cain following behind him.
“Henry, take the office sign down and call Mark. No… forget Mark. I need to go to him myself.”
“The office sign? And why Mark…?”
“We have to at least show the willingness to comply with their demand. And there’s something I ordered Mark to do earlier.”
He had endured until now because he believed the safest course was to comply with their demands and rescue Yulia. But a whole week? What of the tears Yulia would shed during that time? And now that he knew for certain that this incident had been orchestrated by forces interfering with his business, Cayente also had something he could do.
“An order? Ah… I’ll take down the sign first.”
It had been quite some time since he’d asked Mark to investigate who was interfering with his work. Mark was the type who didn’t report until he had a definitive answer, so he had been quiet—but surely he had discovered something by now.
“You’re really going to shut down the business in the Empire?”
Cain asked from behind him, sounding genuinely surprised as Cayente hurried down the stairs. Cayente paused midway down and turned to face him since an answer seemed necessary.
“There’s nothing I value more than Yulia.”
“Anyone hearing that would think you were in love.”
“…If it seems that way, then perhaps that’s what it is.”
Love…
He had dismissed it as nonsense—how could he love the daughter of his enemy? But if this feeling, this dread that he couldn’t live if Yulia disappeared, wasn’t love, then what else could it be?
It was love.
The way he didn’t know what to do whenever Yulia so much as met another man’s eyes… the heavy breaths he’d struggled to hold back when he wanted to hold her… the foolish behavior just to see her smile… all of it was love.
He had finally realized it—only barely. And now, knowing this, he couldn’t let Yulia die still believing he wished for her misfortune.
Leaving the stunned Cain behind, Cayente descended to the first-floor lobby in one stride. There, as if she had only just heard the news, the baroness was clinging to Henry’s arm, sobbing.
“What about our Yulia? What if something happens to our Yulia? Please, save our Yulia!”
“Lady Lorina, please calm down. The people who took the madam have contacted us—they promised they wouldn’t harm her.”
“How do you know that’s not a lie?! Yulia… ohh… my daughter, ohh…”
There was no time to listen to the baroness’s lamenting when time was so urgently ticking. Leaving her behind, Cayente stepped outside to check the sign—only to see Ian climbing a ladder with tools, just about to remove the sign above the office door.
Before Ian could even secure the ladder, Cayente climbed up himself and ripped the sign down, hurling it to the ground. Someone was surely watching his reaction, and perhaps because of the anger fueling him, the large birchwood sign reading Clou Weaving split cleanly into two pieces—Clou and Weaving—the moment it hit the ground.
“My lord…”
Henry, who had been consoling the baroness, let out a lament. The name Clou Weaving held symbolic weight, after all. But Cayente felt no regret. Once this was resolved, he would demand compensation from the culprits sufficient to replace it with something even better.
Above all, if such actions could guarantee Yulia’s safety, he could break a dozen signs without hesitation.
“Um… Count Clou…?”
He was scanning for a hired carriage—there was no time to take out his own from the carriage house—when a timid voice called out to him from near the office entrance. A woman approached him cautiously. She looked as though she hadn’t washed for a month, her appearance ragged and gaunt as if she hadn’t eaten properly. She was holding one of the wanted notices Cayente had hurriedly distributed.
“I think… I heard what those people were talking about.”
He thought at first she might be someone trying to earn a reward by giving information. He was about to dismiss her when he noticed the string bracelet tied around her wrist.
It was identical to the bracelet Yulia had proudly shown him, saying it was a gift.
“What did you hear?”
Cayente stepped forward at once.
* * *
The man had brought a food item like a long, hard loaf split open and stuffed with vegetables and something like ham—a kind of sandwich. He said sailors mostly ate this since they needed strength but didn’t have time for proper meals.
Only then did Yulia realize she was somewhere near the sea. No wonder she had sensed an unfamiliar fishy smell.
“Anyone would think you were my own daughter with how I’m feeding you.”
Even as she struggled to divide the tough bread into three pieces and force one into her mouth, Yulia never let go of Lucy in her arms. The man—who she thought had given up earlier—was still eyeing Lucy longingly. Afraid he might do something once night deepened and exhaustion set in, Yulia forced herself to speak to the man pretending to be gentlemanly.
“When will I be able to return home? How much money did they demand? This shouldn’t be taking this long.”
“Money?”
“Isn’t that why you kidnapped me? For ransom?”
The man, who had been eating the bread with a miserable expression unlike the others wolfing theirs down, looked startled—like he was hearing something completely new. After staring at Yulia for a long moment, he let out an “Ah,” and replied:
“I don’t think it’s money.”
“Then…?”
“They said they’d tell Count Clou to shut down his business.”
“His business?”
“They wanted him to withdraw everything he built in the Empire. The people who said they’d pay me.”
Yulia’s face stiffened.
No matter how much Cayente had changed, no matter how much gentler he had become toward her—would he choose her over his business?
Realizing she might die here, Yulia suddenly couldn’t swallow another bite. She had assumed this kidnapping was either for money or revenge. She had never imagined it was to sabotage Cayente’s business.
Would Cayente really give up everything just to save her?
He had only just begun considering raising wages for factory and farm workers, or increasing the profits distributed to the people of the territory. Would he really throw away all that for her sake?
If he gave up his imperial business, that meant forfeiting all future profits. No matter how much he had spent on this marriage, compared to potential earnings, it was nothing.
Never mind future gains—just the recently purchased factories, and the money he had poured into starting Clou Trading… All of it dwarfed the cost of this marriage.
Logically, it made more sense for him to abandon her and find another woman who could give him a child.
“My lady, you should eat more.”
“I’m fine. Maybe I’m not used to such hard bread—it’s not going down.”
Who could have an appetite when death felt so close?
“You eat more.”
“I’m fine, my lady. You barely ate breakfast—you must be starving.”
She could no longer hope for help, but she couldn’t show her despair in front of Lucy. Giving up now wouldn’t just mean her own death—if the deal fell through, the others might be harmed as well.
Lucy… at least Lucy had to be returned safely, no matter what.
Earlier, she had been terrified of death because of the uncertainty. But now that she had accepted she might really die, the fear felt strangely distant. Instead, she worried for Willy and Lucy… and strangely enough, she worried for Cayente.
If she died here, it meant Cayente had chosen money over her, so she should hate him. But knowing how hard that choice must have been for him, she found she couldn’t.
She never could. No matter how cruelly he had spoken in the past, she could never truly hate Cayente.
Even before she knew the hidden reasons for his change, she couldn’t hate him. Maybe she had fallen for him again the moment they reunited. Maybe, just like other women, she had fallen for how handsome he had grown.
—Kai!
—Yuri!
—Why are you so late! I waited forever!
—Sorry, sorry. I was packing cookies for you. Here, eat these and forgive me, okay?
Thinking about it now… maybe their childhood memories alone had been enough for Yulia to fall in love with Cayente again.
