Sitting in the restaurant, Lina couldn’t tell whether the food was going through her nose or her ears as she ate.

“Do you have no appetite?”

“Huh? Oh, no.”

She still couldn’t properly meet the Duke’s eyes because of what had happened a little earlier.

It wasn’t just because she had been in Duke’s arms. The cheeky words that the man had said to her lingered in her mind and tormented her.

‘How can a person change so suddenly in just one day?’

She was confused about how to respond to the Duke’s attitude, which had changed as easily as flipping the palm of a hand.

Even if that man said he liked her, she was still the Duke’s maid.

‘I can’t refuse, but it’s awkward to just accept it with pleasure.’

As Lina fumbled with the soup in front of her, a sigh escaped her inwardly.

Duke Valige, who was eating, casually spoke.

“In two days at most, Lorenz will come here to fetch us.”

“Huh? How so?”

“I happened to find some people going to Harlen territory in this inn, so I asked them to deliver a letter.”

She had heard that from Denver, Harlen territory was a halfday’s journey by carriage.

Even if they run right now, it won’t be until tomorrow that the Duke’s people will be able to arrive here.

“Anyway, we have some time left, so let’s take a look around the village. We need to buy some clothes too.”

Lina eagerly nodded in agreement with the Duke’s last words. It was no wonder, since they had both been wearing the same clothes for several days.

‘Luckily, they don’t smell.’

It wasn’t a trivial matter to continue wearing clothes that had been soaked in rain and even river water.

“Great! I wanted to change clothes anyway.”

The thought of wearing new clothes lifted Lina’s spirits, and she took a spoonful of soup.

Watching Lina, Valige quietly smiled.

When Duke and Lina were almost finished with their meal, voices came from the next table.

“Did you hear that sound?”

“What sound?”

“Something very strange is happening in the capital now!”

Men who appeared to be merchants cautiously exchanged words as if discussing a secret.

“A strange thing? Has an incident happened?”

“People are disappearing in the capital.”

“Disappearing?”

“Yes, I heard that mainly young girls are disappearing.”

Lina, who had been listening to the men’s conversation without much thought, became quite serious.

‘Young girls are disappearing?’

The unexpectedly dark news had Lina looking cautiously at the Duke, and Valige’s face had darkened as well, having heard their conversation.

“It seems we’ll have to go to the capital soon.”

The Duke, who seemed to have finished his meal, quietly muttered, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

“Do you think what they just said is true?”

“We’ll know when we go.”

Lina just nodded at the Duke’s words. It seemed that something unusual was happening in the capital.

“Shall we get up, having finished eating?”

“Yes.”

Lina, who got up following the Duke, was about to step outside the inn first when the door suddenly burst open, revealing familiar faces.

“Huh?”

Startled by the sudden appearance of familiar faces, Lina blinked with wide eyes.

“You……!”

“Lorenz?”

Seeing the Duke who followed Lina, Lorenz called out the Duke’s name with a voice full of emotion.

“Your Grace!!”

Though they had drawn the attention of everyone in the inn, Lorenz continued speaking as if he didn’t care about the surrounding atmosphere.

“I knew you would be safe.”

“Here, how did you know to come? The letter couldn’t have arrived yet.”

“A letter, Your Grace? We followed the river down, and we saw the tracking signal you left in the forest and followed it. Thanks to you drifting further than we expected, it took longer to find you than we thought. I apologize.”

It seemed that they had followed the marks the Duke had left on the trees as he walked through the forest.
“No. You arrived sooner than I expected.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine. Rather—”

Duke Valige briefly answered Lawrence’s question and looked at the unfamiliar man behind him.

“Why are you here, Philip?”

Then the man standing behind Lawrence stepped forward and bowed his head.

“I have something to tell you in private, Your Grace.”

At Philip’s words, Valige, who had momentarily glanced at Lina, nodded briefly.

“There are many prying eyes here, so let’s go up to the room.”

“Yes.”

“Lina. Wait here for a moment.”

“Yes. I understand.”

A group of men went upstairs, leaving Lina alone, leaning against the wall, waiting for the Duke. But.

‘They’re staring too much…….’

A few people who already knew the man with her was the Duke were staring at Lina with curious eyes, murmuring.

Finally, overwhelmed by the many eyes, Lina quietly slipped out of the inn.

“Just wandering around the village.”

The atmosphere earlier seemed serious.

“It seems like it will take a long time, so it doesn’t matter.”

The Duke had told her to wait there, but a quick stroll around the village would be fine.

“Are we returning to the mansion now?”

With the Hyperion tree taken care of, the restoration of the Curpit River would proceed smoothly.