The rumor that I spread with Derek’s help will soon entice Theodore into the lake mansion.
So in the meantime, I left Arbela.
I always thought.
One day, my peace at Arbela’s lake mansion may falter.
I have always thought and prepared not to be surprised and panicked when such a day comes.
Thanks to that, I was able to calmly organize the situation and leave Arbela.
‘I feel sorry for Benjamin.’
He’ll be surprised if he realised that I disappeared without saying a word.
But I couldn’t leave a letter for him. Just in case Theodore finds out.
Erwin and Odelia would be spending time in a hotel with Laura.
While cleaning up the mansion, I gave a large amount of severance pay to the few employees and sent them out in advance, but Laura insisted that she would follow me without hesitation.
You are so cold-hearted! You are going to leave Caligor just like this?
However, you’re originally from Caligor…….
I don’t have any family or relatives left! Besides, it is hard taking care of the young master and the young lady alone!
It’s not hard for me?
I didn’t want to send Laura away, who I’ve been attached to, but I decided to leave, pretending to lose to her strong argument.
I left the children to Laura and was preparing to leave the Caligor Kingdom.
I’ve already handed Frederick over to the King of Caligor, and with the money I gained from saving him, I’ve already found a new place to move.
This time, I am planning to take a boat and leave for a place far enough to not get any news of Theodore.
I have to come to the port capital to catch the boat.
I was able to move only after I heard that Theodore had emptied the capital and headed toward Arbela.
It was my goal to hurry out of here before he came back.
Along with the rumbling of iron, knights dressed in the costumes of the Albrecht Imperial Army were seen passing by from the opposite side.
I pressed the brim of the hat that I was wearing for nothing down and covered my face.
Just as I was waiting for them to pass.
‘What?’
Suddenly, my eyes widened to see the face of a man passing far away.
It was a face I knew well and missed terribly.
‘Brian…?’
Short silver hair with curls.
Wide green eyes with fresh colors as if they contain summer.
It was Brian.
Brian and I, who were siblings with the same hair colour, are actually half-brothers and sisters who have different mothers.
Nevertheless, our very similar faces were inherited from our biological father.
‘No way. It’s really Brian.’
I heard the Emperor found someone here. A survivor of a great family named Chernicia.
What’s the name of the survivor?
Brian Chernicia.
It seemed it was not a rumor.
‘So it was true.’
Brian was moving under the cover of the Albrecht Imperial Army.
I could see him conversing with the knights, but I couldn’t hear them because of the distance.
‘What happened? Why is Brian here…….’
I couldn’t take my eyes off Brian like I was possessed and was lost in thought.
When I came to my senses, I was chasing after him without realizing it.
Then, when Brian moved away from his group and entered a deserted alley alone.
I quickly followed him in.
Feeling my presence, Brian turned to me unconsciously.
“Oh…”
Then our eyes met, and Brien’s eyes grew round.
“Yv…!”
Before he could finish his word, I hit him on the back of the neck with my hand.
Thud!
Brian’s fainted body dropped to the floor.
I squatted down and looked at him.
‘It’s really Brian.’
Indeed, the Brian I remember was right in front of me.
He was not made of black magic or a strange prank, but a real living Brian.
‘How did Brian…….’
But there was no time to continue thinking.
Just outside this alley, the Albrecht Imperial Army, which was escorting Brian, was wandering around.
And my behavior now was very suspicious even to myself.
‘We have to move before people’s eyes could gather.’
That’s how I unintentionally kidnapped Brian.
* * *
When I tried to hide him, there was no suitable place in the unfamiliar capital of Caligor.
Except in the hotel room where Laura and the kids are waiting…….
“Oh, My Lady! No, no, could it be, you killed the man.…!”
Laura freaked out when she saw Brian on my back.
“I didn’t kill him. I just knocked him out.”
“Phew, that’s a relief. I was surprised because I thought the owner crossed the irreversible river*.”
[T/N: The phrase ‘irreversible river’ means ‘the point of no return’, but I suppose in the text it meant ‘crossing the boundary of morality’.]
Laura helped me lay Brian on the bed.
“Did you kidnap him because he fainted?”
“What do you mean kidnapped? I just brought him unconscious because it was necessary.”
“Then it’s kidnapping.”
“…….”
There was nothing to answer Laura’s unnecessarily sharp point, so I closed my mouth.