~Chapter 85~
“The winner of the bare-handed combat is Felix Guffero from the Edelheim Investigation Bureau!”
“What? The investigator won?”
“Yeah, he won.”
Instead of answering, I removed my hand that had been covering Shiz’s eyes and lifted her up. Since I hadn’t let her watch the match, I figured I should at least show her the award ceremony so she wouldn’t be upset.
“Wow!”
“Can you see well?”
“Yeah!”
Excited, Shiz waved her little hands toward Felix, who was standing far away.
“Do you think the investigator will see us?”
“I don’t know. It’s too far, and there are too many people in the crowd.”
The award ceremony for the combat match started, and Felix, looking full of energy, stepped up to the podium to accept his prize.
“He’s going to act all proud when he gets down.”
At that moment, Felix’s head turned in our direction.
‘Oh.’
Did he catch our eyes? That’s when the door to the VIP room suddenly knocked. Both Shiz and I, as well as the Duke and Duchess, turned our heads toward the door.
“Come in.”
“Excuse me.”
A servant, who appeared to be one of the event staff, peeked his head in through the door. His face was sweaty, as if he had been running around in a hurry.
“What’s the matter?”
“One of the guests has disappeared, and we’re looking for him. His name is Kyle Ellenstier…”
I turned my head in surprise when I heard the familiar name.
“Kyle? Kyle Ellenstier? From Wincans?”
“Yes, that’s him! Do you know him?”
I was momentarily stunned by the unexpected situation and the unexpected name.
“He’s an acquaintance of mine…?”
Kyle Ellenstier was someone I met when I was wandering in the Southern Continent. He was a noble from Wincans, and I had wondered if he might have been invited to this exchange event. But I never thought he’d actually be here.
‘It can’t be someone with the same name. There’s only one family in Wincans with the last name Ellenstier, and that’s Kyle’s.’
But to hear that he was missing?
“If you’ve seen him, please come to the Wincans delegation.”
“Sure, I’ll do that.”
The panicked servant left quickly after leaving his message, heading toward another guest room.
An ominous thought crossed my mind. What if this guy had been robbed or something?
‘He’s weak, but not someone who would get beaten up easily…’
As my worry grew, I suddenly heard a commotion from the direction of the arena. I turned around and saw chaos breaking out in just a few moments.
“What’s going on over there, dear?”
“I have no idea.”
The Duke and Duchess muttered, confused.
I stood there like a fool, watching the commotion in the arena.
A group of investigators rushed toward Felix, the winner of the bare-handed combat, and began pulling him off the podium.
***
Aska opened Kyle’s memories, “reading” them like flipping through the pages of a book.
One by one, he flipped through the memories.
And soon, the Master of the Dawn Tower found the page he was looking for.
The memory of Relshiz Baltain.
Aska peered into the time that Kyle had spent with Relshiz, a time that Aska hadn’t known about.
Relshiz, who had always been cold toward him, seemed to have gotten along well with Kyle, a man she considered more than just an acquaintance.
They had what most people would call a friendship.
Through the common thread of magic, they had grown closer.
As Aska turned each page of Kyle’s memories, a strange sense of discomfort began to consume him.
He had been the first to meet Relshiz, the first to learn magic with her. But somehow, it seemed like Kyle had become closer to her in a short amount of time.
‘Could it be this man?’
Aska dug deeper into Kyle’s memories.
But strangely, there was nothing in Kyle’s thoughts related to ‘Shiz.’
In the midst of his search, Aska realized that Kyle had married another woman, a fact that had nothing to do with Relshiz’s confession. Kyle was a man who had been faithful to his family.
This meant Kyle was neither Relshiz’s ex-lover nor Shiz’s biological father.
‘This is a dead end. He was the most likely candidate.’
Aska closed the pages of Kyle’s memories with a sinking feeling.
At that moment, the real Aska opened his eyes.
“How about it? Is this the person?”
Reyester, who had been waiting nearby, asked. Aska shook his head. Disappointment spread across the Crown Prince’s face.
By the time Aska and Reyester confirmed that Kyle Ellenstier and Relshiz were just friends, something else had happened.
“The Wincans representative, Kyle Ellenstier, hasn’t been in contact for over two hours!”
The Wincans delegation was in a state of panic.
Naturally, they hadn’t been able to locate Kyle since he had disappeared, and they immediately contacted the Investigation Bureau to search for him.
Not long after, they received a report from the investigators. They had seen a man, who matched Kyle Ellenstier’s description perfectly, being dragged away by a red-haired man.
It wasn’t hard to identify who this red-haired man was—he had been carrying around a photo of Kyle all morning near the arena.
***
“What the heck! Let me go!”
Felix’s shouting could be vaguely heard from afar as he was being dragged away.
Was this the same person who had just won the combat match?
Felix was so strong that even four people couldn’t move him.
I stood there, losing my bearings, watching the chaos unfold.
Where was Aska? What was Reyester doing? Why was Felix being dragged away so suddenly?
‘Why do I feel like all three things are connected…?’
I was also uneasy because the missing person was someone I knew.
This wasn’t a good sign.
“Shiz, did you hear any cracking sounds?”
I asked Shiz, wondering if Kyle Ellenstier had somehow gotten involved with the cracks, but she shook her head.
“No, I didn’t hear anything like that.”
Then it wasn’t a sign of cracks.
I needed to talk to Reyester, the organizer of the event. There had to be a reason for all this.
With that in mind, I approached the Duchess.
“Excuse me, can I leave Shiz with you for a moment?”
“Relshiz? Where are you going?”
“I’ll find out what’s going on and come back. This doesn’t seem like something good.”
“Oh, Mom, where are you going…?”
Shiz, who was quick to notice, grabbed the hem of my clothes with an anxious face.
She had gotten scared after seeing someone being taken away and the commotion outside.
Thankfully, the chaos started to settle down, thanks to Aska, who had appeared out of nowhere.
“Aska?”
Everyone in the VIP room turned their attention to him as he entered.
“Where have you been until now?”
“I had some things to do.”
Aska answered in a strangely curt tone. He didn’t seem happy at all.
“Aska, someone from the Wincans delegation has gone missing. I thought you could help with that.”
“Kyle Ellenstier, you mean?”
Aska immediately understood and responded. It felt strange. How had he heard that name so quickly?
“Go with Relshiz and check it out. She was planning to find him anyway.”
Then Aska’s gaze shifted toward me. His eyes slightly narrowed, showing his displeasure.
“There’s no need to look for him.”
“Huh?”
Aska sighed deeply and opened a space in the air. From that gap, he threw something large onto the ground.
It took me a second to realize it was a person.
“This… this is Kyle!”
I almost screamed as I rushed to Kyle.
“Kyle, Kyle? Are you okay? Can you hear me?”
“Ugh… Ugh…”
During the time he was missing, I had no idea what had happened to him. Kyle Ellenstier made a beastly noise, staring blankly ahead.
I never imagined I’d see him like this again.
Without thinking, my gaze shifted toward Aska.
“What the hell happened?”
Instead of answering, Aska let out another deep sigh.
Instinctively, I felt like there were many explanations I needed to hear.
