Ansi’s eyes wavered. Help her? Himself?

The ingrained suspicion reared its head.

But the doubt soon dissipated. She had doubted Simon before. And then she realized. How sincerely this woman treated her.

“…The study. I need to make a call.”

Ansi quietly replied to Simon. Simon nodded.

They walked together as if nothing was amiss. When they encountered others, Simon signaled that she would handle it, just like before, and let them pass.

Thus, pretending to head for the garden, they arrived at the study unnoticed by anyone.

“I’ll wait outside.”

Simon let Ansi in and left. She was certain that without her, Ansi wouldn’t have made it this far.

Ansi let out a sigh of relief. But there wasn’t much time. If Ansi was out of sight for too long, anyone would surely become suspicious.

Ansi unfolded the note she had brought. It was the number of the Orpheus ducal residence she had written down before.

She hurriedly dialed. A series of regular connection tones rang out. During that time, Ansi’s insides burned.

– This is the Orpheus ducal house.

Finally, someone answered the phone. It seemed to be the butler of the residence. Ansi began calmly.

“It’s Ansi de Orpheus. Please connect me to the young duke.”

Please, please let Kardian be there. Ansi prayed countless times inwardly. Even with Simon’s help, there was no guarantee that she would have another chance to make a call like this again.

So she had to talk to Kardian now.

Ansi held her breath and waited for the butler’s reply.

– Yes, please wait a moment.

Ansi let out a small sigh. Fortunately, it seemed Kardian was at the ducal residence now.

How long did she wait like that?

– It’s been a while, Ansi.

Kardian’s voice came from the other end of the receiver. At the extremely calm voice, curses rose to the tip of her tongue. But suppressing it with effort, Ansi spoke.

“I listened to your demands. So tell me quickly. Where is Derel?”

– Well. You didn’t do as I told you.

“What?”

– I clearly told Ansi never to go to that hotel, but you went. And… did you forget? I told you to leave Damion and come to me, Ansi.

Kardian sighed as if blaming Ansi. Ansi’s face was painted with shock. It seemed Kardian really wanted her to fulfill that absurd demand. He added in a regretful tone.

– Bekishi is dead… so you just need to leave Damion now.

“You crazy bastard.”

– That kind of talk is only amusing once or twice.

“Where is Derel? Tell me. Please…”

Ansi’s voice became pleading. She couldn’t possibly leave Damion or stand by Kardian’s side.

But when she thought of Derel, she felt like she was really going crazy. If she could save him, she could even kneel before Kardian and kiss the tip of his shoe.

– Hmm…

A dissatisfied hum. Then Kardian spoke calmly.

– I pondered deeply. Why Ansi can’t accept me.

He paused for a moment. Tension-filled silence flowed through the receiver between them.

– Did you know? About your father’s affairs.

“…!”

Ansi nearly dropped the receiver as her hands trembled.

Kardian was so calm that it made her wonder if he was really talking about what she thought he was.

What should she say here?

If she told the truth that she knew everything he had done, would Kardian leave her alone like this? No, it wasn’t like that. Rather, it could end up being a situation where she lost the chance to get Derel back.

So she had to pretend not to know no matter what. Even if it was infuriating. Just as she had always done until now.

Ansi was about to open her mouth.

– You knew, didn’t you?

Kardian burst out laughing.

Ansi’s heart sank. Cold sweat drenched her body. In contrast, her lips were parched dry.

“What do you mean by that…”

– It’s too late, Ansi. You took too long deliberating your answer.

Further excuses or denials were of no use. Kardian was convinced that Ansi knew. That shameless bastard, as if finding this situation amusing, continued speaking in an intrigued voice.

– Don’t worry, Ansi. Derel is comfortably and peacefully well.

Kardian was satisfied with the informational advantage he had gained from the newly realized fact. It was a somewhat surprising thing, but not a major threat. He had the Derel Rubella card, after all.

So Kardian willingly decided to show Ansi a favor and tell her one fact.

– Ah, did you know? He can’t hear sounds. Unfortunately.

“What…?”

Ansi asked stupidly. He can’t hear sounds, does that mean there’s something wrong with his ears? Even though it was clear information, it took a while to process and recognize the content in her head.

“…Give Derel back.”

Ansi’s voice trembled.

“Let me see his face, at least.”

– Leave Damion. Choose only one between Ansi’s brother and Damion.

“…”

– Ansi. I can embrace you even knowing that you came to Orpheus with such impure motives. So come to me.

Kardian didn’t seem to properly recognize their relationship. If not, even knowing that she hated Kardian and the reason for it… there’s no way he could say such things.

If he was human, truly human.

– Three days, leave Damion and come to me within that time. If not… your brother will die. See you then.

The call abruptly disconnected.

Ansi hurriedly dialed the same number again. But no matter how long the connection tone continued, he never answered the phone.

Ansi weakly put down the receiver.

“No…”

Kardian found out the purpose of her coming to Orpheus. If she didn’t follow his words now, he might really kill Derel.

A terrible sense of despair enveloped Ansi.

Tears flowed from her bloodshot eyes.

But despair wasn’t the only thing that existed.

‘He must be alive.’

He can’t hear sounds. If Derel being alive was just information fabricated by Kardian, it would have been an unnecessary setup. Nevertheless, the fact that he said such a thing…

There was a high possibility that Derel was really alive.

Ansi left the study.

As she turned the corner, Simon, who had been lingering in front of it, hurriedly stood by Ansi’s side. And naturally walking beside her, Simon whispered to Ansi.

“To deceive people’s eyes, it would be better to stop by the garden as well… Oh my!”

Simon’s eyes, which had lightly touched Ansi’s body, widened. Her body was like a ball of fire.

“Are you alright?”

“…”

Ansi walked blankly staring into the void, not knowing what was being said beside her. She looked like she was taking unwanted steps pushed by a storm.

“Madam, please go to your room quickly.”

Judging from her complexion and body temperature, it wouldn’t be strange if she collapsed at any moment. Simon hurriedly led Ansi to her room and laid her on the bed.

The moment he did, Ansi lost consciousness.

Deep into the night, the people filling Kardian’s gambling house were of all sorts. Damion entered the gambling house wearing a hat and mask. There were quite a few who attended without revealing their appearance in such a way, so he was able to enter without much difficulty.

Naturally, Damion sat in front of a table and grasped the cards. While doing so, he slid his gaze and scanned the hall. He could see the people he had hired and called in their respective positions.

The game started, but he had no interest. He was just waiting for the planted individuals to find the place where Derel was hidden in this gambling house building.

According to what Damion had found out, this gambling house definitely had a passage leading underground. The role of the hired individuals was to find it and subdue those guarding the front.

When they sent a signal, Damion also planned to go down to the basement.

Originally, revealing himself directly in a place where safety was not guaranteed was not Damion’s style. However, if Derel was really here… He couldn’t just wait and receive reports from the hired individuals.

Damion waited for a signal from them.

How much time had passed?

One of the hired individuals sent a signal towards Damion.

Damion stood up from his seat.

In the corridor leading to the door, two large men were lying down, and another two were collapsed in front of the door.

There may have been a small noise, but the gambling house was noisy. No one knew what was happening in the corner, drowned out by the cheers and cries of the people.

Damion opened the door.

Then, stairs leading down to the basement were revealed.

Damion went down to the basement.

Seeing the inside, Damion frowned.

What he saw was just a well-decorated corridor. If there was one funny thing… it was that it resembled the imperial palace he had seen before.

But the moment he took a step, Damion discovered something even stranger.

“Who… who is it?”

A human voice was heard. It was from underfoot.

“Is anyone there?”

“Save me!”

“Hurry and open the door!”

As soon as the question was asked, screams resembling shrieks burst out in an instant. It wasn’t just one or two people.

Only then did Damion realize. The rooms leading to the side of this corridor were all prisons.

He had thought about where Derel might be locked up, but he never imagined such an full-fledged underground prison. And in such a splendid house that seemed like playing with dolls.

Thinking about what kind of mind Kardian had when he created this place, and how much he must have enjoyed inspecting it every day, nausea rose up.

Damion endured it and diligently searched inside. He checked the appearance of the people inside the prison through the bars and asked for their names.

However…

Derel was nowhere to be found.

If Kardian had really locked Derel up somewhere, it had to be here. Then were the words he said to Ansi lies after all?

But one thing that bothered him was… one of the prisons was empty.

Damion narrowed his brows.

That’s when it happened.

“What are you looking for, Mion?”

At the sudden voice, Damion turned around.

Kardian was smiling at him.