Chapter : 10
Hailey in her past life never liked children, and this life was no different. It wasn’t out of a love for children that she had raised him until now. It wasn’t out of a sense of duty, either. It was, purely and simply…
‘Hailey! Does this mean we’re going to be happy now?’ ‘Yes! Just the two of us, we’re going to be happy.’ ‘That’s so wonderful!’
It was because that child was Theo. He was a child so lovely she couldn’t help but love him, the only being who shared warmth with Hailey in her lonely life.
‘Okay. Hailey, have a good trip!’
It felt as if her heart was being ripped out. She had never imagined a life without Theo. ‘How could they… to that little child…’ Hailey stopped and turned back. The face of the Baroness, standing a few steps above her, looked hideously distorted. ‘Ah, she’s a monster. Who on earth did I trust to come all the way here…’
The Baroness watched Hailey climb the stairs again with eyes devoid of life, a fleeting thought crossing her mind that something had gone wrong. But it was only for a moment. No matter what, there was nothing a girl like her could do.
“…”
Yes. That was how it was supposed to be. Slap! A dull, crashing sound cut through the air. It was a sound so sharp it wasn’t even drowned out by the flowing music. Hailey had struck the Baroness across the cheek with all her might.
The force was so great that the Baroness fell completely over on the stairs. She was so shocked and dazed she couldn’t even let out a scream. After a few seconds, as the heat and pain began to radiate, the Baroness’s lips trembled involuntarily. She wanted to lash out at Hailey, who was looking down at her, but the pain was too intense for her voice to emerge.
“From now on, until the day you die, the only thing you’ll do is regret.” “You… you dare…!” “Watch closely and see who the real fool is. You picked the wrong opponent.” “…” “How dare you touch my child.”
Hailey stepped right over the hand the Baroness reached out to grab her and headed back up the stairs. She had to make a quick decision. In the dramas she watched in her past life, they said you must find the answer within 24 hours of a child disappearing.
The only thing that mattered to Hailey now was finding Theo safely. This was no time to be picky about methods, and she couldn’t find Theo alone with nothing but the empty title of a Baron’s daughter. She had no money to hire people; she had nothing.
She needed someone who could help her. Someone who would actively assist in finding Theo. Someone who could profit from it.
“My Lady?” “Where is he?” “Pardon?” “The Prince. I need to give him my answer. Right now.”
The bewildered Khalid swallowed hard as he looked at Hailey’s flushed face. It was a night where it felt like something was bound to happen.
The moment Axel saw Hailey leave the banquet hall, he lost interest and followed suit. Though he appeared leisurely, his situation was anything but. He had said he would renounce his status as a Prince, but the procedure was complicated. Since no prince in the history of Zenobia’s founding had ever voluntarily stepped down without a scandal, the palace officials were having quite a headache.
The complex process, which seemed like it would never end, was finally expected to conclude within a month. That meant he had to leave the palace within a month. Axel thought he should pester Khalid to send a formal proposal to the Langston Barony first thing tomorrow.
‘No, should I go myself?’ The thought just occurred to him, but it seemed like a good idea. A Prince visiting in person with a proposal in hand. “She shouldn’t get too touched, though.” After all, they’d have to divorce in a year.
Axel felt a sense of pride as he dismissed all his attendants and entered his study, which doubled as his office. Though he had already handed over all his duties to Anais and had no reason to use this office anymore, Axel simply liked brooding in this space. His “brooding” mostly consisted of useless worries, like how to coax that woman—without making her fall too hard for him—into signing a marriage contract with favorable terms.
“She was quite skilled at playing hard to get.” Perhaps it wasn’t a sincere rejection, but a strategy to negotiate the reward. Axel decided that when he brought the proposal tomorrow, he would also bring the candy he failed to give that cheeky brat the other day.
‘The Langston Lady is certainly tall, so she stands out.’ ‘Is she tall? I didn’t really notice.’ ‘By your standards, Your Highness, of course she would be.’
Khalid had been talking about Hailey’s height, but Axel had been thinking about her build. Recalling their mismatched conversation at the banquet, Axel thought: She’s just tall; she’s thinner than most women. How can someone who looks like they’d break if you tapped them be “big”? Axel couldn’t agree with his adjutant Khalid.
“Your Highness, excuse m—Lady Langston! You can’t just go in like that!”
Lady Langston? Axel’s head snapped up involuntarily. Hailey was in no mood to listen to Khalid’s pleas to wait. She pushed past Khalid and kicked the door open. Khalid followed behind her in a panic.
Watching her walk toward him from a distance, Axel had a sudden flash of intuition. ‘Finally…!’ He pretended not to be in a hurry, remaining in his chair with a languid smile. “What is it, My Lady? Don’t tell me you’ve come to propose in the middle of the night?” “Yes. That’s right.” “I knew you would… What?!”
What did she just say? Axel couldn’t calm his racing heart; his eyes widened as he bolted upright. The moonlight streaming through the large office window illuminated Hailey’s face. But something was wrong.
She looked as if she were about to collapse, her eyes brimming with tears. When a woman already so thin appeared carrying such a weight of sorrow, it looked as though her very breath might stop.
“I’ll do it. That marriage.” “…”
Hailey clenched and unclenched her fists repeatedly, trying to steady her heart which was trembling uncontrollably at the fear of losing Theo forever. “So please… please help me find my Theo.”
“Your Highness. Lady Hailey’s words have been confirmed.”
The child was gone. As soon as he heard Hailey’s story, Axel had sent men to the Baron’s estate. They confirmed that the child had vanished without a trace. While waiting for news, Axel and Khalid heard the full story from Hailey.
Throughout the explanation, she remained remarkably calm and composed. Even with a face that looked ready to crumble, her eyes remained steady. Axel had met countless people as a prince and had a good eye for character. Based on his experience, the woman before him was far too intelligent and strong to be sold off to just anyone in the marriage market simply because she was the daughter of a failing Barony.
“Theo is my everything. If you find him safely, I will accept any condition.” “If you’re going that far, are you assuming the worst-case scenario?” “I believe something was exchanged between my parents and that trash—I mean, Count Roman. Today, I happened to see the Count’s servant speaking secretly with my mother. Things have been strange lately. After that incident with you in the shopping district, they should have punished me, but they were far too quiet…”
Hailey confessed the anxiety she had been feeling. Even though she knew it might sound absurd, she explained everything, clutching at straws. Unexpectedly, he listened seriously. Both Khalid and Axel agreed that Count Roman was trash.
It was true that all sorts of rumors followed the Count. He had recently accumulated great wealth, but the sources were all murky. It wasn’t the kind of money one could make through simple lending alone. Just a few days ago, there had even been anonymous tips that he was raking in money through illegal transactions in the underworld.
“Your Highness, if it’s Count Roman, could it be related to that matter?” Khalid thought for a moment and cautiously mentioned “that matter” to the Prince. Axel nodded, clearly thinking the same thing. Only Hailey was left confused, wondering what “that matter” was.
“Since you are already assuming the worst, I won’t beat around the bush. If they sent the child to an orphanage, that would be lucky. But we cannot rule out the possibility that they sold the child illegally. Since your parents were struggling for funds, the latter is more likely.”
If it were the former, they could just search every orphanage. But if it were the latter, the situation became complicated. Not knowing where or for what purpose the child was sold made it like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Hailey bit her lip so hard it began to bleed.
End Of Chapter : 10
