As the morning dawned, Vivian quietly left the room with Sophie. As Humphrey had instructed yesterday, she walked down the hallway looking for Edwin’s bedroom. Once in front of Edwin’s bedroom, Vivian told Sophie to wait and then knocked before quietly entering.

The bedroom was filled with darkness. So much that Edwin on the bed was not visible.

The first night in a strange place was spent in a light sleep. With shallow sleep that dropped in quality, she unwillingly learned Edwin’s return time, which she hadn’t been particularly curious about.

She didn’t expect him to be awake at this hour, having returned to the mansion only when the dawn twilight stained the horizon.

Yet she approached him because she didn’t want to repeat what happened at Rotermond. When she had carelessly entered his room, saying she hadn’t shown her face. If such a thing were to happen again, she would end up swinging a fist instead of a palm, as per his advice that had become flesh and blood.

As she got closer to the sleeping him, she frowned at the vibrating smell of alcohol and cigars.

Just how much did he drink?

Though he was used to alcohol, he was never the type to drink enough to get completely drunk.

She had seen him drunk only once. Of course, that too might have been conjecture, but it was hard to say that the clean and upright eyes that had collapsed and the lewd smile dripping like a playboy who dominated the era was not a drunken appearance.

Moreover, as the words of the drunk ladies that day echoed in her ears, she inevitably imagined Edwin’s actions last night. Vivian’s face contorted sharply and her eyes narrowed.

Then, the pale silhouette sleeping in the darkness gradually became clearer.

His face, lying face down, was half-buried in the pillow, and following down from there, his broad back without a top was visible. The blanket he was covered with was draped below his waist, but no thread that should have been visible above it was seen.

Curious, Vivian moved one step closer instead of stepping back. Her pupils dilated as she finally confirmed that what was imprinted on her retina was his buttocks.

The man before her eyes was sleeping in the nude.

Vivian, her face burning hot, fumbled for the door in the darkness. Her steps tangled, having lost her sense of direction in her shock.

“Vivian.”

She should have ignored the name deeply immersed in sleepiness and intoxication. But her body moved on its own with its broken thought process.

“Yes?”

What was clearly visible in the darkness was Edwin, who had lost his judgment and whose eyes were half-glazed. He reached out his hand to the stiff Vivian.

“Come here.”

“Y-yes?”

“Come. Here.”

The half-coercive tone seemed like it would make her jump up from her spot and pull her wrist. He was certainly a person who could do that and more. If she came to her senses like that, she would be in that man’s bed, under the covers.

Judging from what had happened to her so far, Vivian realized that it wouldn’t be strange for the out-of-his-mind Edwin to do anything, and quickly moved a few more steps away. If she was caught here, all her reputation and face would be thrown into the gutter.

“Y-Your Grace, you’re completely naked right now. I’m sorry. I came in without knowing. Please sleep a bit more. You’re not sober yet. Then I’ll just…”

Vivian, who had elaborated earnestly, hurriedly left the room with quick steps. As silence returned with a thud, Edwin looked down at his own body. After confirming that he really wasn’t wearing anything, he exhaled a breath full of fatigue and fell face-down on the pillow again.

And so, he fell back asleep.

***

Passing the morning when she had seen what she shouldn’t have, in the late morning, Vivian left the mansion with Sophie and the attendant recommended by Humphrey. She informed Humphrey about going out, lest someone else be fired if she left without a word.

The morning Perington was even more lively. Vivian particularly enjoyed observing people, and what differentiated it from other cities was the attire of Perington’s people.

Even the common citizens of Perington, if they had money, dressed similarly to nobles and adorned themselves lavishly, enjoying authority no less than them. Perington was truly a city of freedom without prejudice.

Vivian looked down at her own dress. It was clothes Edwin had bought for her. She often wore the modest, neat, and tidy clothes as they were good to wear without burden. When the thought that she was unintentionally enjoying Edwin’s gift crossed her mind, she exhaled a rough breath without hesitation.

‘Just how grand a youth did he enjoy to become so insensibly drunk? To drink until the morning sun rose and fall asleep all naked without even the mind to change clothes. Really, such an ungentlemanly person.’

Rodinia was a suffocatingly closed city compared to Perington.

As if tired of such Rodinia, His Grace, who set out to enjoy his youth as soon as he arrived in the capital, unlike his clean rumors without even unpleasant scandals, enjoyed his youth among women who flirted while drinking all night and enjoying cigars.

It was the scam of the century.

Flawless? Clean? No. He was a dishonorable gentleman who enjoyed luxury and pleasure and was blinded by delight.

The criticism towards Edwin was justified. She had enough qualification to criticize him on behalf of the citizens of New Way who didn’t know the inner thoughts of the Duke with only a glossy exterior.

“But miss, why are you going to the post office?”

Sophie’s question cut off the branches of thoughts about Edwin that were spreading. What newly sprouted from the cut branches was her father’s face.

“Ah, the post office? …Just in case.”

Before her father went missing, the last place he was seen was the post office in Perington. Father had mailed a letter there, and the recipient was Karl Schmidt, who was his business partner. Afterwards, Father who had mailed the letter disappeared without a trace.

The police concluded the case by saying that Lawrence Eveline had hidden himself due to debt and people’s gazes. That’s why Mother had no choice but to take action herself, and judged that the letter Father had mailed just before he went missing would be the only clue to find Father.

So Mother headed to the address where Father had mailed the letter, that is, Karl Schmidt’s office, but the office had already been closed. So there was no way to even confirm the contents of the letter Father had sent.

After Mother left for Preston, she wrote to the Perington post office several times to try to find traces of Father alone. She wrote down Father’s appearance and clothes, and asked for a reply if they found the name of Karl Schmidt, who was his business partner.

But the Perington post office never sent a reply even once.

So she had been thinking of visiting the post office whenever she got a chance to go to the capital, and coincidentally, she got that chance and immediately acted on it.

Today, she planned to meet the person in charge and ask in detail why they hadn’t replied all this time, if they really hadn’t seen our father, and if they knew anything about Karl Schmidt’s whereabouts.

Even though it was an incident from a few years ago, Father’s disappearance had attracted public attention, so it wouldn’t be easily forgotten.

Until she got off the carriage and faced the post office, she thought it would be quite an easy day.

Vivian, who got off the carriage upon arriving at the post office, froze like a statue on the spot.

On top of the white stairs that took quite a while to climb, there was a white palace. The size of the majestic building, as if recreating ancient architectural styles, overwhelmed Vivian.

Moreover, the people busy climbing up and down the stairs had such grim expressions that it was scary to even speak to them, and the place where she had just parked the carriage was causing a line to form if she didn’t make way for other carriages coming in one after another.

“Miss. What are you doing, not going in?”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

Vivian, who came to her senses, took a trembling step. As she slowly climbed the stairs, her head tilted back sharply.

She felt as if the world was lying to her and she was being momentarily deceived within it.

Vivian entered the post office, pushed by the dizzying crowd. She thought it would be a bit better, but there were more people and the paths were more complicated.

How on earth did they find our father here?

Vivian wandered, unable to find her way or where to go. Her gray eyes trembled as if about to cry at any moment, and the gentleman who bumped into Vivian’s shoulder glared at her with irritated eyes.

Although it should have been a familiar occurrence, the malice of a complete stranger in an unfamiliar place was enough to scratch Vivian’s heart. Sophie, startled, quickly approached to comfort her.

Sophie soothed the confused Vivian, saying that such things were countless in Perington because there were so many people, and that there were such nasty people.

“Miss. But where do you want to go? I’ll guide you.”

Vivian calmly organized her thoughts and once again scanned the bustling crowd.

Father wasn’t among them. She saw with her own eyes the reason why there was no reply from the post office she had written to several times, and why she couldn’t grasp Father’s whereabouts after he was last seen in the capital.

“…No. Let’s just go back.”

Vivian’s sigh was soaked in sadness as she made her decision. She forcibly turned her reluctant steps. She heard the sound of her shoes in the crowd.

It was her feet stepping on Perington soil. Her feet were on the land her father had stepped on.

Father, I’ve come to Perington. I’m in the place where you last stayed.

The last face of Father she had seen was blurry. Rather, the clear memories were only of her childhood, when they lived together laughing.

Are you here? If I wander around here, will I be able to meet you again, Father? …But you know. But you know, Father.

She stepped on the stairs of the post office, holding the wind of thick concentration in her heart. Vivian’s eyes were filled with tears. Tears poured down onto the toe of her shoe.

You’re alive, right? Right?

The branches that had spread uncontrollably sprouted leaves, bloomed flowers, and bore fruit. What had grown was a tree of despair.

***

On the morning before lunch, Edwin came out of the bathroom shaking his wet hair.

He vaguely remembered the morning’s events. How his eyes had suddenly opened like a dog when Vivian’s scent touched his nose amid such fatigue. Although the moment he reached out his hand to Vivian was hazy like a dream.

If Vivian had taken the outstretched hand. If Vivian had been by his side when he woke up.

Edwin burst into a hollow laugh at the end of the useless imagination and filled a glass with water. Meanwhile, Humphrey appeared, offering morning greetings and recommending soup.

Edwin, who didn’t feel bad despite drinking a lot, instructed to prepare a regular meal and then asked the most important question.

“What about Vivian? What is she doing now?”

What had Vivian, who had exited the bedroom like that, been doing until now? If she hadn’t eaten yet, it would be good to call her here to dine together. So he thought he should call Vivian and have her before his eyes once Humphrey’s answer came.

“The young lady has gone out for a moment.”

Clunk. The empty cup that had been filled with water landed dully on the table.

“Gone out?”

Edwin’s eyes, shadowed by the sun behind him, sharpened coldly like a blade in the deep shadow.

“She said she stopped by the post office and needed a walk, so I assigned an attendant. The maid, Sophie, also accompanied her.”

“When did she say she’d return?”

Edwin made no attempt to hide his displeasure. Humphrey also looked perplexed at the primary-colored reaction of his master.

“She didn’t say, but she’ll be back soon. She left early in the morning, so it’s about time for her to return.”

Humphrey tried to soothe Edwin, but the frigid blue eyes swirling with frost didn’t calm down at all.

“From now on, don’t let that woman go out alone.”

“The young lady is with Sophie and the attendant, and the coachman…”

“What I mean is.”

This Edwin of today was a fresh sight even for Humphrey. For the first time, he saw emotion from him who had always hidden his feelings. Although it didn’t seem to be a particularly good sign of emotion.

“Don’t let her out of the mansion without me.”

Edwin, who had finally become calm, ordered. Humphrey, who had understood sufficiently, smiled softly and bowed his head slightly.

“Yes, master. I will keep it in mind.”

“And gather the jewelers of the capital. Those with the most precious and expensive items.”

Humphrey’s eyes widened briefly, but soon regained composure and answered no differently than before.

“Yes. I understand.”

A great upheaval was about to sweep through the Baitness family. An unprecedented storm was about to blow in through the window at an unexpected moment.