Upon arriving at a deadend between buildings, Cedric knocked on the wall that blocked the path.

Knock, knock, knock.

At three knocks, a portion of the shabby wooden wall opened like a door.

“Come in.”

A man dressed in black guided them into the narrow alley on the other side.

“What brings you here?”

“I am looking for someone.”

“Hmm. If it’s within the city, it’s 100 gold. If you want to search outside the city, there will be extra charges for distance….”

Illeon placed a heavy pouch in front of the man who was humming and hawing.

“It’s 1,000 gold.”

“Eek!”

The man’s attitude quickly became polite after hurriedly opening the pouch and seeing its contents.

“Who are you looking for?”

“A woman. Her name is Lona Harapaleis. She’s twentyseven. Red hair, blue eyes, clean complexion, small face, and this tall.”

“Huh. She’s not your runaway wife, is it?”

“Is that important?”

“Our guild can find people, but we don’t forcibly bring back those who say they won’t come back.”

“No.”

Illeon immediately denied it. She had left the house, but she was not ‘yet’ his wife.

“Ah. If that’s the case, there should be no problem. We will do our best. Seeing that you paid such a large amount in advance, we will put forth all our effort.”

Illeon stood from his seat and said,

“It’s a deposit.”

“Eek!”

Unlike when they entered, all the guild members who were left in the headquarters came out and bowed at a 90degree angle as they left.

“Cedric. You probably have other tasks.”

“Just give me your orders.”

The bustling crowd on the bustling street made the two conspicuous men disappear soon.

Clang!

An excited Saviel threw a silver tray filled with grapes and cheese at his lieutenant.

“What? Lona, that woman has disappeared?”

“Yes, yes. Ththat’s right, Your Highness.”

“Ha.”

In his anger, Saviel threw not only the glass of wine he was drinking but also the cushion he was leaning against at him.

“Did you leak the information to them?”

At his words, the lieutenant was shocked and bowed his head to the floor.

“No, sir. Absolutely not.”

“Then why and where did that woman disappear?”

“She was a woman who didn’t go out of the Duke’s mansion much in the first place. So we went there with a covert squad at night to escort that woman, but….”

The lieutenant managed to explain that they had tried to kidnap her at night.

“The Duke’s mansion is poorly guarded due to the small number of people staying there. We had checked in advance, so we rummaged through the space where the female maids stayed on the third floor late at night, but she wasn’t there.”

“She would be staying in Illeon’s bedroom.”

If she was serving him that much.

“The Duke is not the kind to keep women.”

“I couldn’t plant a spy in the mansion, so how did you know?”

“After the Duke lost his sight due to poison, he became suspicious and directly bought a farm to secure food ingredients. I bribed the owner of the farm to keep an eye on the courier coming from the mansion, and he said she was not a woman who spent the night in the Duke’s room but only served meals, cleaned, and talked.”

“Hmm.”

From Saviel’s perspective, it was something incomprehensible.

Did he buy so many clothes for a woman of no particular significance that were worth a year’s rent of a small house in the city? Moreover, to a commoner, not a noble, and to a hired maid, not a lover or friend.

“It can’t be.”

When I tried to open the space where she was, Illeon caught my wrist. The resentment and monopoly in his eyes at that moment. It was an implicit reaction to not touch because she’s my woman. How vivid his eyes were, I even asked if he could see. Moreover, how tightly he held it, my wrist ached for days as if it was broken.

“Find that woman, Lona.”

Saviel swallowed his saliva.

“If Ileone couldn’t touch it, then all the more reason for me to claim it first.”

Seeing Saviel, who was excited as if he found an interesting toy, the lieutenant tightly shut his mouth.

Three days had passed since arriving at the Duke of Uter’s residence.

In the meantime, Lona had been quite busy.

Mariella Uter. The Duchess of Uter was a beautiful and mature woman. And she and her husband, the Duke of Uter, were a very affectionate couple.

They were a loving and warm couple, polite and upright. Thanks to this, the atmosphere in the Duke’s mansion was as warm as it could possibly be.

“Elishia. Good morning.”

“Did you sleep well, Father?”

The Duke of Uter, Gillian, was an intellectual man with brown hair and brown eyes. Known for compiling many imperial histories, he exuded the aura of a scholar, especially his glasses, which suited him very well. Lona was confident that she could nominate her father, Gillian, as the most handsome man who suited glasses in the empire.

“Did you sleep well yesterday?”

“Yes. How about you, Mother?”

“Ho ho. As always. Let’s eat. Come quickly.”

They had breakfast together. One thing Lona found strange was, aside from Mariella, no one else seemed to take her scandal at Hadunsha as a big deal.

‘Was it a fling?’

Elishia’s going to Hadunsha was influenced by Mariella’s will. Mariella had cried in the returning carriage, hugging herself all the way. Since then, she had treated her with a bright and positive attitude.

Besides, Gillian and the servants of the Duke’s house welcomed Elishia’s return with open arms.

“We have hired a few teachers starting today.”

“So soon?”

Gillian raised an eyebrow at Mariella’s words.

“It’s not soon. We need to hurry to make a debut, even if it’s late.”

Mariella seemed determined to refill the etiquette and imperial history that had been deleted from her mind.

“I’ll try to fill the forgotten times. I’ll study hard whatever you teach.”

Lona, who could not pretend as if nothing had happened just three days after trying to comfort her unfamiliar mother, nodded reluctantly, as if forced to eat mustard.

‘Damn. I thought I wouldn’t have to study anymore after I got a job.’

That’s how unpredictable human affairs can be.

After finishing breakfast and returning to her room, a maid with a young face quickly followed her in.

“How did the matter I asked you to check out go?”

When Lona asked, she spoke confidently.

“His Highness the Archduke has opened his eyes.”