Late at night.
Arianna hurriedly walked, wrapped in a thick robe.
Pondering over this and that, she didn’t even realize how much time had passed.
She had to hurry and deliver it before it got any later.
Arianna walked briskly, looking only ahead.
With the robe pulled low, barely allowing her to see in front, she moved her feet without rest.
If she showed signs of being pressed for time, people would look at her suspiciously, but she couldn’t leisurely walk as usual either.
Arianna walked with her hand in her bosom, ensuring the letter inside wouldn’t fall out.
Please, let me arrive without being late.
She gritted her teeth, praying fervently in her heart again and again.
Fearing the servants might notice, she couldn’t take a carriage, let alone ride a horse.
It was quite a distance from the Valois family’s townhouse to her destination.
But the young lady of a noble house, with only gold coins on hand, couldn’t take a public carriage either, worried she might be suspected.
There was nothing to do but walk, walk, and walk some more.
Fortunately, she knew the way, having ridden there on horseback before.
Arianna moved her feet without hesitation, thinking only of reaching her destination.
She felt like she had walked a long way from the townhouse, yet her destination was still far away, with sparse light seeping out in the pitch-black darkness, faintly illuminating the road.
Just a little more, a little more.
As the dimly shining building was getting closer and closer, at that moment.
“It seems your parents never taught you not to be out at such a late hour?”
A familiar voice, but one that shouldn’t be heard now, rang in her ears.
“If I ask where you’re going, will you tell me?”
Step. Step.
The footsteps drew nearer and nearer.
The street where the faint and dark light could barely illuminate what was right in front.
On the opposite side of that street.
From a place no longer visible, a sound slowly, slowly approaching.
That sound couldn’t be more terrifying.
Arianna unknowingly dragged her feet and took a step back.
“…How did you.”
“What do you mean, how. Did I come to a place I shouldn’t have?”
And at the figure revealed amidst the dim light.
“Th-that…”
Arianna’s face turned deathly pale.
[This is the timeline separator]“Your Highness! Your Highness!”
It was early morning.
Not long after falling asleep after talking with Leoprick about this and that all night.
Someone urgently knocked on the door.
“What is it?”
Leoprick, who seemed to have woken up before me, wrapped me in the blanket and asked.
I lifted my head, blinking drowsily.
Then he gently soothed me in a low voice.
“I’ll go out and check, so sleep a little more.”
“Mmm, but…”
It was clearly Betty’s voice who had knocked on the door urgently.
Then could it be because of the guild’s business?
I should be the one to hear such things directly.
Although his hand stroking my shoulder was excessively cozy, I rubbed my eyes hard to chase away the sleepiness.
“Let’s listen together. We don’t know what happened.”
As I got up from the bed and put on a shawl, Leoprick looked at me for a moment before getting out of bed.
Then he approached the door and let Betty in, who had been fidgeting outside.
“What’s the matter, Betty?”
Betty, who entered the room, had a face as white as a sheet.
Even in the dim morning light, it was clear enough to see her face devoid of any color.
I felt the drowsiness that had been sitting on my eyelids vanish in an instant.
“Breathe, Betty. Breathe. I don’t know what happened, but first calm down and…”
“La-Lady Valois has disappeared!”
“Take a deep breath first… What?”
I was about to calm her down first, wondering what on earth happened to make the usually composed Betty so anxious.
Even Leoprick, who was standing behind, had a worried look on his face, seeing how bad Betty’s condition seemed.
But the words she spat out were enough to make me understand the current situation.
Arianna Valois had disappeared.
And that too, just a few hours before she was supposed to meet me.
“What do you mean by that? Lady Valois is missing?”
“W-well… The maid went to wake her up because there was an appointment today, but she wasn’t in bed.”
Trembling all over, Betty explained the story.
Since she had been instructed in advance to wake her up early as she had an appointment with me today, the maid went up to the lady’s room early in the morning to wake her.
But no matter how much she knocked, the lady didn’t answer, and she got an ominous feeling that something was strange.
In the end, with the help of the head maid, they opened the door and entered, only to find an empty bed sitting alone in the room.
“Are you sure she’s not somewhere else?”
“No, they said she always told them if she was going somewhere. But just in case, they searched the entire mansion and couldn’t find her.”
Betty rubbed her arms, shivering slightly.
The news she heard in the morning must have been quite a shock.
I brought a shawl and covered Betty with it, then sat beside her.
“So the news came from Valois? Saying they can’t meet today because the lady has disappeared?”
“No, it’s from… the Imperial Knights.”
“…The Knights?”
If the Knights were talking about it, there must be something big going on.
What on earth happened to the person I was supposed to meet so early?
“W-well, they said the lady’s belongings were found on the road from the townhouse to the palace. But there was blood…”
“Blood?”
Blood?
As I widened my eyes, Leoprick beside me also made a surprised face.
What in the world is going on all of a sudden?
“I haven’t received any reports. Did the Knights not share any other details?”
“No. Nothing in particular. They told me only because of what they heard at the mansion while investigating.”
Since the maids at the mansion told them she had an appointment.
They speculated that she might have been attacked while on her way there.
So one of the investigating knights came to the palace to tell them and left.
“But the appointment time was much later…”
“Could there have been a reason she had to come much earlier? If not, why…”
Betty looked as confused as I was.
And Leoprick, who had been listening to the story, also got up from his seat.
“I’ll go first. I think I need to go and check.”
“Yes. If you find out anything, please let me know.”
After Leoprick left the room, Betty shivered and lowered her head.
No matter what was happening, hearing that someone was in danger didn’t feel very pleasant.
Especially the person I was supposed to meet.
“Betty, could you find out if there were any other witnesses on that street last night?”
“Mmm, yes. I will. The knights were saying it’s difficult because there are no witnesses.”
Betty sighed, wrapped tightly in the shawl.
“But it’s strange. The Duke of Valois seemed to have no idea. Moreover, they said the lady didn’t take a carriage or a horse…”
As I listened to Betty relaying what she had asked the knights earlier, I felt many things were suspicious.
The father doesn’t know his daughter has disappeared, and a noble lady went out without taking a carriage or a horse?
Then does that mean she was walking on that dark road?
“Does anyone know when the lady disappeared?”
“No. They say no one saw her from the time she went to bed last night until morning. That’s why it seems to be even more difficult to find the culprit now. There are hardly any people on that street at that hour.”
As time passed, it would become increasingly difficult to find the perpetrator.
It was a situation where it would be hard to point to someone as the culprit unless there was a confession.
I let out a short sigh and stood up from my seat.
“For now, let’s try to take some action too. Contact Hayley and tell her to mobilize the guild’s information network, and see if there are any other witnesses in that area.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“And tell the people inside the Knights to report immediately if they notice anything suspicious.”
“I will. We have some of our people in the Knights, so we’ll be able to know the situation.”
Betty nodded in agreement as she stood up as well.
Seeing her a little more composed than before, I gently patted her shoulder.
“Since it happened so early, everyone must be in a state of confusion. Pay a little more attention and let me know right away if you find out anything.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
What on earth happened to Arianna Valois?
I was about to sigh shortly and get dressed.
“Ah, and Your Highness. A letter arrived from the North.”
“From the North?”
Betty took out a letter from her bosom, saying it had come from the North, and held it out.
In the letter I hurriedly received and unfolded…
[This is the timeline separator]Arianna Valois had gone missing.
In the middle of the capital, on the way to the Imperial Palace.
The capital was in an uproar.
It wasn’t just anyone, but the daughter of the Valois, one of the most powerful families in the Empire.
Known to be quite cherished by her father, at least outwardly.
“They still haven’t found her?”
“Yes. The knights say they are searching, but…”
It was a shortcut entrance often used by coachmen.
That’s where Arianna Valois’ belongings were found.
The incident came to light when the owner of a pawnshop, suspecting something amiss, reported a vagrant trying to sell it.
That’s because a man in shabby attire brought a hand mirror that was clearly a precious item no matter how you looked at it.
The mirror, undoubtedly made by a noble house, with initials engraved, was stained with blood.
Anyone would find it suspicious.
Leoprick tilted his head after receiving the report on the circumstances uncovered so far.
Then another question remains.
Why on earth.
Did Lady Valois rush out so early without a carriage or a horse?
What was so urgent?
“Did you find out more about Lady Valois’ whereabouts?”
“That’s all we have to report for now, Your Majesty.”
It’s getting more and more hopeless.
Leoprick heaved a long sigh, looking at the situation that anyone could see would be difficult.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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