Chapter 61
With eyes half-narrowed, Ian recalled the vanished whereabouts of Hezenne.
Suddenly, what came to mind was her figure from last night, sitting on the bridal chamber bed.
—Do you… think I’m the kind of woman who enjoys toying with men?
The face that had murmured those words slowly, as though trying to hide the tremble in her voice, surfaced in his memory.
That face—like a small wounded animal….
“……”
Something flashed across Ian’s mind. He suddenly raked a rough hand through his hair. Then—
“Damn it—.”
Cursing under his breath, Ian kicked back his chair and strode out of the study.
A long time had already passed since many people began searching for Hezenne.
Contrary to expectations that she would be found quickly, not a single strand of her hair turned up. Ian shifted his thoughts to the possibility that she had left Clamford altogether.
He had believed that, no matter how foolish, a properly raised noble daughter would not commit the reckless act of leaving her husband’s domain only one day after their wedding. But that belief was now meaningless.
With a stricken look, Ian ordered the butler Greg to stop the search.
At dawn, he would first go to the Savish barony and begin tracing her whereabouts from there.
Once he found her, he intended to seize her by the scruff of the neck and drag her back—then lock her in the dark basement to teach her never again to commit such thoughtless behavior.
“Send word to the Savish household at first light.”
Ed, gauging Ian’s icy tone, quietly replied that he understood.
He couldn’t claim to know a person’s true nature just from a brief impression, but the duchess he had seen that morning at breakfast hadn’t seemed like the type to do something so reckless. What on earth was happening?
Having issued his order to Ed, Ian started down from the second floor, where the search had been concentrated. He now felt it was pointless to continue looking inside the mansion.
Hundreds of people had been calling her name, scouring every corner. Unless she was deaf, she couldn’t have failed to hear them.
If she still didn’t appear, then either she was deliberately ignoring the calls—or she was in some hidden space where outside voices could not reach.
As that thought naturally crossed his mind, Ian suddenly froze mid-stride.
“A secret space… where no sound from outside can be heard.”
The words slipped out, and Greg and Ed, following behind, exchanged puzzled looks.
As if recalling something, Ian abruptly turned on his heel and strode off in the opposite direction.
Ed and Greg made to follow, but Ian glanced back and ordered in a low voice:
“Do not follow. Wait here.”
“W-what?!”
Ed exclaimed, but Ian was already striding far ahead.
Respecting his command, the two men stayed rooted to the spot, left only to watch his receding figure.
Ian soon arrived at the door of a small sitting room on the second floor. Without hesitation, he turned the handle.
Click—
The latch sounded in the hushed corridor, and Ian stepped inside.
It was the little drawing room reserved for the duchess of Clanvandy.
Since his mother, the former duchess, had passed away, he had never once come here. He looked around with the detached eyes of a stranger.
Faint memories surfaced—when he was very young, he used to come here with his mother. Sometimes, he even snuck in alone.
The reason the young Ian had been drawn here was because the room concealed a peculiar secret space—one that would naturally pique a boy’s curiosity.
Whether it was due to the eccentric tastes of Clamford’s architect, or to some specific request of the first Duke Chaister who had built the mansion, he did not know. But the mechanism existed nonetheless.
Now, with his mother long gone, Ian was the only person alive who knew of it.
He approached the wall where a portrait of his mother in her youth hung.
Gazing briefly at her face in the painting, he soon knelt and began groping along the wall beneath.
It should be around here….
At last, his fingers brushed against something blunt. Pressing hard, he triggered a faint clanking noise as the wall shifted slightly.
A forgotten childhood memory proved true. Ian felt a strange sensation.
He pulled at the edge of the loosened panel and shoved it backward with force.
A narrow rectangular opening appeared—just big enough for an adult to stoop through.
“……”
Though reluctant, Ian had no choice. He bent down and squeezed himself inside.
As a child, he’d passed through easily, but now his grown frame barely fit.
The small chamber beyond was cramped, barely big enough for a child to sit comfortably. It was the kind of cozy hideaway that had once fascinated him.
And there, curled up and leaning against the wall, fast asleep—was Hezenne.
“Haa—”
Ian had no idea how she, who had only arrived at Clamford a day earlier, had even discovered this hidden place that required effort to open. Yet there she was, sleeping peacefully. No wonder she hadn’t heard all the shouting and commotion.
For a long moment, Ian just stared at her calm, oblivious face—the face that had made so many people anxious.
“……”
Looking at her sleeping like a child, the fierce anger he had felt only moments ago—the resolve to punish her—slowly melted away.
“Mm…”
As he watched, Hezenne stirred slightly in her sleep, and Ian flinched as if caught doing something wrong.
He had been ready to drag her out and scold her, yet here he was, just watching her sleep. Realizing how absurd that was, his expression twisted with frustration.
He lifted his hand, intending to shake her awake.
But just as he was about to touch her shoulder—
“…Betty.”
In a voice so faint it could only be heard in this quiet, narrow space, Hezenne murmured the name.
And as she whispered it, a single clear tear rolled from the corner of her eye.
Ian’s brows furrowed deeply.
Meanwhile, those left behind—Greg the butler, Madam Medison, Ed, and Dustin—waited nervously where Ian had told them to stay.
Each wore a face clouded with unease, wondering what he was doing.
“Honestly, where has His Grace gone, telling us only to wait here—”
Unable to stand the silence, Ed grumbled.
“Are you certain he told you to stay put here?” Madam Medison asked, halting her restless pacing to fix him with a look.
“…Yes, I’m sure. He said not to follow, only to wait here, and then went that way….”
“But over there are only the guest rooms and the duchess’s private parlor. We’ve already searched them several times.”
“How could we possibly know His Grace’s intentions—” Ed muttered, frustrated.
Just then—
“Your Grace—!”
Madam Medison cried out, rushing forward as Ian reappeared from the direction he had gone.
Startled, Ed and Dustin spun around.
“What in the world— We searched that place over and over and it was empty….”
In Ian’s arms lay Hezenne.
Madam Medison’s eyes widened as she looked her over in disbelief.
“Quiet.”
The curt, subdued command fell from Ian’s lips, and all four fell instantly silent.
