Chapter 8: The People Looking for Her

“What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself.”

Lloyd Persi sat arrogantly while coldly glaring at Grit.

Receiving his gaze, Grit wore a kindly smile on his face while harboring his boiling anger inside.

He had certainly thought Clea would return to the duke’s residence within a day.

Even though she was his child, in his eyes, Clea was pathetic and incapable of doing anything without the family’s help.

Such a child had turned her back on the family and tried to leave on her own.

At first, Grit felt ridicule and arrogance.

He thought she would surely return before a day had passed.

Since she left in the evening, he thought she would return quietly in the middle of the night.

But several days passed, and Clea did not return.

Adult nobles are typically very proud. Sometimes they even treat their parents with disrespect.

But when they go outside, they realize.

That the warm room, beautiful clothes, delicious food, and safety until morning – knowing no one will attack them – don’t come for free.

‘To show such an attitude before even inheriting the position of Grand Duke!’

Grit clenched his fist.

Even if Clea didn’t return, Grit had stationed knights from the mansion to be able to catch her at any time.

The Odoi family knights should have been more than enough to subdue even street thugs if they got involved.

Logically, knights were an elite group who had received tremendous training, unlike common thugs.

However, she never returned, and the knights were all assassinated at their posts.

In any case, since it was true that Clea hadn’t returned, Grit had first planned to send a letter to Lloyd in Clea’s name.

But before he could, Lloyd showed up at the Odoi mansion without any notice.

And after that, things were as they are now.

“You haven’t forgotten how much money your family has borrowed from us, have you, Duke?”

“I know well even without Young Lord mentioning it.”

“Then how does it make sense for you to treat me this way?”

Lloyd frowned at Grit.

Meeting his gaze, Grit suddenly wanted to stand up and teach him where he learned such manners.

He too was one of the empire’s dukes.

Not from a fallen house, but one of the few dukes in the empire.

But he didn’t have the courage to say those words out loud.

Even if he was a duke, the man before him was the future heir to a Grand Duchy.

He wasn’t ignorant of what it meant to go against the Persi Grand Ducal family. He knew now was the time to lower himself completely.

“Was my request to keep watch over one daughter so difficult?”

“I understand well what the Young Lord is saying.”

“So where is Clea?”

Lloyd continued growling while distorting his expression.

Those who saw Lloyd thought:

Surely the Grand Duke and his wife must have scolded him again after hearing about what happened between Lloyd and Clea.

That his mood was so poor because he had been reprimanded.

However, they were wrong in their thinking.

In fact, the Grand Ducal couple still didn’t know about what had happened between Lloyd and Clea.

“Hey, Lloyd. Calm down.”

“What?”

“There’s no way Clea could be in danger, right? This is the middle of the capital, not the countryside.”

Steve stepped in to help after seeing his father in a difficult situation.

But his choice was completely wrong.

Steve had always thought of Lloyd as a friend.

He had spent time close to Lloyd, sharing various conversations, and imagining the future of the empire they would lead together.

However, that thought completely crumbled at Lloyd’s next words.

“Who are you to casually call my name?”

“L-Lloyd?”

“What relationship do you and I have if my relationship with Clea falls apart?”

“Well, friends…”

“That’s laughable, Steve Odoi.”

Lloyd shot back at Steve with a contemptuous gaze.

Everyone present was shocked by the sudden turn of events.

They hadn’t expected Lloyd to speak so directly to Steve like this.

Steve looked at him with trembling eyes.

Meanwhile, Lloyd clicked his tongue, looking annoyed, and spoke one-sidedly.

“If you want to maintain relations with me and the Persi family, you’d better find Clea as soon as possible.”

Though Grit and Steve tried to say something in response, Lloyd stood up as soon as he finished speaking.

They tried to somehow stop him, but they couldn’t bring themselves to grab him.

It was difficult to approach himsince they didn’t know what kind of rebuke they would receive if they stopped him here.

In fact, if they had tried to grab or block him, Lloyd would have truly exploded this time.

His mood was very low.

When Clea had thrown tea at him, Lloyd expected that as always, a desperate letter of apology would come to his room the next day.

However, not a single letter came that day.

‘Who do you think you are? What gives you the right!’

Lloyd pictured Clea’s face in his mind.

She had always acted almost servile before him.

Clea who was like a doll – kneeling when told to kneel, smiling when told to smile.

But from that one day, she showed behavior different from before.

As if she had become a different person.

Of course, what she could do remained the same, but Lloyd was the one who felt the greatest discomfort at this change.

He narrowed his brows as if displeased, but soon smiled.

It was because he thought her current behavior was ultimately just to attract his attention.

“I’ll know when I see you again.”

Lloyd temporarily cooled the indignation in his chest.

When he sees her, he would know.

Normally, he would have completely lost his reason just from another woman throwing tea at him.

Even if the other party was a woman, he couldn’t overlook being humiliated like that.

However, at that time, Lloyd couldn’t move from that spot.

Under Clea’s cold gaze, he had frozen like stone like he was facing Medusa from mythology.

When was the last time he had properly met her eyes?

Moreover, what kind of gaze did Clea look up at him with when they first met?

Having various stray thoughts, Lloyd bit his lip.

After biting hard enough to taste blood, he became angry again at the rumors that had reached his ears.

‘There’s no way Edmund would want her.’

Lloyd, who had some friendship with Edmund, didn’t believe the talk that he had spoken privately with Clea.

He was the man who would inherit the next imperial throne.

Above all, someone who cared so much about others’ perceptions would not have approached Clea, who was notorious in social circles.

Though he was almost certain, Lloyd felt uneasy.

What bothered him to the end was that Clea never said it was a lie.

“When you return this time, I absolutely won’t stay still.”

Lloyd thought this wasn’t the time. Looking at the Odoi ducal mansion with distrustful eyes, Lloyd decided to move.

Under the good pretext of looking for his runaway fiancée.

“Then shall I visit where the other party might be?”

He turned his steps toward the imperial palace.

* * *

How many hours had she slept straight through?

Clea got up from bed while arranging her disheveled hair to one side.

The sunlight coming through the window was too intense to be morning. She looked around, thinking it must be afternoon,

“Lady Clea, did you sleep well last night? I am Anne, the maid assigned to attend to your comfort.”

A maid who had confirmed she was awake entered and stood before her. She introduced herself in a careful voice.

Anne. Clea was bothered by the name that seemed familiar.

She soon realized who she was.

But Clea didn’t say anything particular and conveyed her needs to Anne.

“Give me some water.”

Her throat was parched and cracked from how hot the night had been.

After requesting water as she felt thirsty beyond just dryness, her gaze turned to the fireplace that was still blazing.

‘Did they need to do that much just because I shivered a bit from the cold?’

Thanks to it, she hadn’t shivered from the cold during the night, but by morning it had become completely too hot.

Clea briefly furrowed her fine brows, but soon relaxed them.

Even that seemed cute when she thought it was done out of concern for her.

She turned her gaze to Anne.

Anne nodded and immediately brought water.

After lightly emptying one cup of water and then another, Clea finally had the energy to talk.

“Where is His Highness?”

“He said to tell you he’s in his office.”

“Is that so?”

With those words, Clea got up from the bed.

Her gaze went to the desk.

Having been bothered by the neatly folded paper on the desk for a while, she went over and unfolded it.

Though it could have been important documents related to the imperial family, Anne didn’t stop her actions.

The one she served wouldn’t have allowed this space without considering such things in the first place.

Thus, Clea could quietly read the neatly folded paper without anyone’s interference.

“How foolish.”

She let out a laugh.

If one heard who she meant when she said ‘foolish’, Anne would be shocked right there.

Clea paid no mind to such things and examined the contents written inside.

The contents of the paper were as follows:

[I slept with a person, not a dog, and that person was none other than you, Clea.]

The short message made Clea feel good.

To think he was bothered enough by her words to leave such a brief reply.

‘Though for someone saying that, didn’t his neck get bitten too much?’

Clea smiled softly.