Eventually, the day dawned.

Throughout the night, not only the Grand Duke’s staff but also the capital’s security forces were mobilized to search for the Grand Duchess, but no trace of her was found anywhere.

As he watched the red sun rise, cutting through the dawn’s light, Gregory, his face pale, let out a deep sigh. His despairing eyes turned to his lord, who was preoccupied with the search for the Grand Duchess without a moment’s sleep.

The Grand Duke, poring over a map, appeared to overlap with the image of a commander-in-chief preparing for battle. His eyes shone brightly as he carefully examined the areas where the Grand Duchess could have moved since her disappearance. Soon after, he placed a paper on the map and began writing something down.

“Your Highness……”

“Go to the Imperial Palace right now.”

Caeron handed over a letter he had written himself. The letter likely contained instructions to seal off the capital and strengthen checkpoints in surrounding cities to search for the Grand Duchess.

“Yes. I’ll be on my way.”

Gregory took the letter and immediately boarded a carriage bound for the Imperial Palace.

After sending Gregory off, Caeron leaned forward and pressed his forehead with both hands.

‘Aidel……’

Caeron deliberately focused on devising strategies for the search. He feared that if he thought about Aidel, his mind would go blank and his reason would be paralyzed.

However, after giving instructions for the operation, his thoughts were once again filled with nothing but her. As these thoughts deepened, his complexion darkened.

‘Who on earth dared……!’

A grinding sound could be heard as he clenched his teeth between his closed lips beneath the hand on his forehead. Anger rose against a target he couldn’t yet clearly identify. His entire body grew hot with the fiercely burning rage.

‘If I catch them……’

He would never let them off. He would use every means at his disposal to thoroughly punish them.

Caeron raged against the unknown man who had kidnapped Aidel. It was crucial to identify the culprit as quickly as possible.

He sank into thought, recalling the words of Ena, the only witness who had seen the Grand Duchess’s last appearance.

− Answer me. Where did the Grand Duchess go? Who did she meet?

− W-well……”

The face of the trembling, crying child showed fear along with some hesitation. Finding this strange, Caeron asked sharply.

− Were you threatened?

− ……!

The child looked at him blankly with wide, surprised eyes. As expected…… The kidnapper had used the child to lure the Grand Duchess.

− It doesn’t matter what threats you received. I’ll guarantee your safety, so don’t be afraid and tell me everything you know.

− Is, is that really true? That man…… said he wouldn’t leave my siblings alone.

− Don’t worry. I’ll catch the one who threatened you and make sure he’s punished. The Grand Duke’s house will also guarantee the safety of you and your siblings.

When the Grand Duke asserted this, the child seemed to finally feel at ease. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and carefully began to speak.

− After I first met the Grand Duchess, I was on my way back to the factory. A man approached me and started talking.

Ena began to recall, tracing her memories. It was what happened after she accidentally bumped into Aidel near the factory.

− That man asked if I was curious about what I had talked about with the Grand Duchess. When I told him we had discussed working at the factory and agreed to meet again later, he said he understood and disappeared.

Until then, nothing unusual had happened. The problem occurred when Ena left the factory and was heading to the place where she was supposed to meet the Grand Duchess.

− As I was going to meet the Grand Duchess, that man appeared again. He said he wouldn’t leave me alone if I didn’t do as he told me.

The man knew not only Ena’s name but also the names of her young siblings and their home address. He said he had already captured her siblings and that they would be in danger immediately if she didn’t do as he said.

− So I did as that man told me. I deliberately sprinkled the dye bottle on the people who were with us. He told me to bring only the Grand Duchess to this alley when the others left.

Handing her a prepared bottle of dye, the man explained in detail how to lure the Grand Duchess alone. He said that if the Grand Duchess didn’t come alone, she should cry and throw a tantrum to bring her.

− I came to this alley with the Grand Duchess alone and met that man. And then…… I ran away immediately.

Ena felt too ashamed and sorry to face Aidel, who had trusted and followed her. She was afraid to see her disappointment. In the end, the child couldn’t bear the pressure and ran away from the spot.

− I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…… I did wrong. Please forgive me……”

As those emotions resurfaced, Ena burst into tears again and begged with her hands clasped before the Grand Duke.

She had rushed straight home and felt relieved to find her siblings safe, but…… when she realized that the beautiful and kind Grand Duchess was now in danger, guilt washed over her.

Caeron looked at Ena’s tear-stained face for a moment before speaking.

− I don’t intend to punish you. You’re a victim too.

Then he continued in a cold voice.

− Instead, tell me everything you remember to help find the Grand Duchess.

At Caeron’s words, Ena wracked her brain to tell everything she remembered about the man.

− That man looked about the same age as our factory manager.

At Ena’s words, Caeron glanced briefly at the captured factory manager. The culprit seemed to be in his late 40s.

− What about the man’s appearance? Tell me what he looked like, what features he had.

− He was wearing a hat so I couldn’t see his face well, but…… his hair was dark brown, and he had a round mustache. His hands weren’t rough, and his clothes were neat, so he looked like a noble gentleman.

As Ena described the man’s features, one of the Grand Duke’s attendants began to draw a composite sketch. However, the man’s description didn’t have any particularly distinguishing features.

‘He looked like a middle-aged noble man……’

Caeron stared at the completed composite sketch of the kidnapper and pondered the details that could be clues from what the child had said. The faces of countless nobles he had met flashed quickly through his mind.

‘There are no nobles hostile enough to the Grand Duchess to kidnap her.’

Before becoming the Grand Duchess, she hadn’t been active in social circles, and even after becoming the Grand Duchess, her actions might have drawn some disapproval from some nobles, but nothing to provoke great antipathy.

‘Then the reason for the kidnapping must be because of me.’

As he realized this fact, Caeron’s eyes took on a painful light and sank even deeper. Unlike Aidel, he had forces that were hostile to him, even if they weren’t openly apparent.

When the face of a representative woman among those forces came to mind, a crack formed between Caeron’s brows.

‘Marchioness Katrina.’

And the noble faction centered around her.

‘But……’

It was unlikely that those cunning individuals had directly acted to kidnap the Grand Duchess. Even if that crafty old fox of a woman had planned the kidnapping…… she would have chosen a suitable person to use like a chess piece and then discard, rather than using her own hands.

‘Who could that person be.’

Someone who would carry out such a reckless act as kidnapping the Grand Duchess while risking danger……”

‘Someone with a great grudge against me.’

Caeron thought about those who might have had a direct grudge against him recently. Then suddenly, a scene from the recent past came to mind.

− Baron Douglas, who has violated the constitutional spirit of guaranteeing basic human rights through slave trade, has betrayed the moral duty of noblesse oblige. Therefore, his title and all territories are hereby confiscated. His attributed property will also be seized and returned to society.

− This is absurd!

The man who had lost everything upon hearing his sentence in the courtroom cried out in despair, clutching his hair.

‘……Baron Douglas.’

Douglas’s disheveled brown hair and mustache, even his bloodshot eyes. The face of the man who had looked at him with resentment as he left the courtroom came to mind.

‘Could it really be his doing?’

Though there was no conclusive evidence yet, his keen instinct pointed to Douglas as the likely culprit who had kidnapped the Grand Duchess.

‘If it is Douglas’s doing……’

After assuming Douglas as the culprit and considering the possibilities that came to mind, a shock as strong as being struck by lightning hit his entire body.

Caeron, with a grave expression, abruptly stood up and called a nearby attendant.

“Contact Gregory, who has gone to the Imperial Palace right away. Tell him to strengthen inspections not only on land but also on all ships bound for ports within the empire.”

He was a man who had traded through sea routes. There was a high probability he would use the route he was most familiar with and advantageous to him.

‘Aidel……’

If she had been kidnapped by Douglas…… it was highly likely that Douglas would try to sell the Grand Duchess somewhere. To reduce the risk of keeping the Grand Duchess and to reap the rewards.

His mind coldly reasoned through the situation assuming Douglas was the culprit, but at the same time, the taut string of reason felt like it could snap at any moment.

As soon as the slightest possibility that Aidel could become someone else’s possession crossed his mind, a chill permeated his entire body, and his hair stood on end.

Anger, impatience, and despair he had never felt before spread from deep within his chest. His blue eyes, which had never wavered in any situation, now shook aimlessly.

Caeron covered his distorted face with both hands and closed his eyes. Try as he might to calm himself, his emotions boiled over, and his entire body was beyond control. He exhaled a rough breath between his teeth, like a growling, enraged beast.

‘I absolutely…… cannot allow this.’

She was his woman. A woman who no one else could dare covet or touch…… who should only be by his side.

A deep and intense aura enveloped his entire body. Caeron lowered the hands that had covered his face and clenched his fists tightly. Finally, he brought his clenched left fist to his lips. His cold lips touched the engagement ring that resembled Aidel’s eyes.

At the same time, he opened his eyes. The fierce aura remained, but his eyes shone with clear determination in the darkness. Like the rising sun driving away the thick darkness of dawn outside the window.

‘Wait just a little longer. No matter what happens…… I will surely get you back.’

It was a vow staking his all.