“I apologize, Your Grace.”

The butler said, bowing his head deeply. Wilson followed, stammering.

“Th-There’s no… no news from the ex-extra editions either.”

“…”

Edric said nothing.

Sitting with his back turned towards the window, only pale cigar smoke rose from him.

Though this process had been repeating for three months since the ad was first placed, today that silence felt especially long. Almost unbearably so.

The butler and Wilson exchanged glances, hesitating whether they should leave or continue to stay.

They naturally wanted to leave.

It felt as if their master’s deep anguish, and the condensed knot of other complex, subtle emotions were choking them. A little more strongly each day.

“You may go.”

As if sensing their feelings, Edric spoke. Perhaps it was too welcome in the suffocating situation.

Whew-.

The two let out sighs of relief too loudly, then both startled, covering their mouths simultaneously.

“Th-Then we’ll be… be taking our leave.”

The two hastily withdrew, leaving Edric behind.

In their haste, they slammed the door without realizing, causing an ornament on the shelf to fall and shatter from the impact, but Edric paid it no mind.

Beyond the glasses swept by the sun, his eyes were once again in a state of stasis.

Now he sank into the abyss several times a day. It was more frequent and longer than before, and once it started, he wouldn’t wake for a long time until some external trigger occurred.

There had been no news for days.

Even though the reward was continuously increased.

When the ad was first posted in the extra editions, there was a flood of contacts at first.

Saying they saw Melly on the street, or that she was riding in a carriage leaving the capital, or that she seemed to be staying at some traveler’s inn.

But most were just preposterous lies committed to get even a penny of the reward.

Among them, there were some quite meaningful contacts.

They correctly guessed her attire when she disappeared, and even her distinctive expressions or behaviors. At those times, it seemed like they might find her soon.

But like all other contacts, even those meaningful ones didn’t make a decisive contribution to finding her.

Melly had vanished. Without a trace, like dew evaporated in the scorching sun.

Even though an ad was placed in the extra editions. Even though notices hoping for her return were posted weekly, daily, enough to spread rumors throughout the empire, still Melly did not return.

Edric couldn’t accept it.

‘No. It can’t be. How much you loved me. How could you leave me behind like this?’

If it was because of the divorce papers, he should have asked.

He should have asked why she had this, when she was going to present it to him.

Then he would have said without hesitation:

‘I’ll never give this to you. Ever.’

And he would have also said:

‘If I was thinking of divorcing you, why would I have tried to give you the Renesis villa?’

There were times when he thought maybe Melly had been kidnapped somewhere. Otherwise, it didn’t seem possible that she wouldn’t appear like this, not having taken even a penny with her.

Edric conducted searches targeting families or merchant groups that were on bad terms with the duke’s family, or those who might bear a grudge.

But the forceful searches only earned ill will, and didn’t find Melly.

At such times, Edric’s eyes, which had briefly shone with hope, sank deep into the abyss of emptiness once again.

As news of the Pelton Duchess’s disappearance spread throughout the empire, the invitations flying to the duke’s family naturally decreased. But the number of visitors rather increased, and there was a clear reason for this.

Knock knock-.

The sound of knocking awakened Edric’s consciousness. Looking at the suddenly returned reality with unfamiliar eyes, he said:

“Come in.”

“Um, Your Grace… Count Royce has arrived.”

The attendant Lena entered hesitantly and reported. Still with his back to the door, Edric said in an empty voice:

“Tell him I’ll be down shortly.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

After Lena withdrew, he remained seated for a long while before suddenly turning. Then, as if a machine had suddenly started operating, he vigorously organized the scattered papers on the desk, and closed the lid of the inkwell that had just begun to solidify.

Then he stood up and went downstairs.

When he opened the reception room door and entered, Count Royce wasn’t there. Instead.

“I greet the Duke of Pelton.”

His daughter, Lady Kayla Royce, was there.

Edric’s eyes fell coldly as he watched her gracefully curtsy in greeting.

Over the past several months. Eight out of ten visitors had been women. Sometimes they came as families, sometimes alone. But most often, they came as families and then were left alone.

“Father had an urgent matter, so he returned home.”

Like now.

Edric was a person who knew manners. He hadn’t fallen apart to the point of not knowing etiquette. Not yet, at least.

He greeted Count Royce’s only daughter, who was also his father’s friend, with a polite attitude.

“I see. Please, have a seat.”

At Edric’s words, Lady Kayla Royce sat down demurely.

As soon as the attendant set down tea and withdrew, she spoke:

“You must be heartbroken?”

“…”

“I can’t tell you how pained I am that this happened. To be unable to find the whereabouts of the lovely duchess. How could such a thing happen… I still can’t believe it.”

Kayla’s large green eyes welled up with tears, and she took out a handkerchief from her bag. Dabbing at her eyes with it, she continued her consolation.

“We too are doing our utmost to find the duchess, mobilizing all members of our household. As you may already know, our family has been in charge of the city’s security for generations, so we have some expertise in searches. So trust me and our family. Unless the duchess has deliberately gone into hiding, we should be able to find her soon.”

Unaware of how cruelly each of her words was tearing at Edric’s wounds, she innocently concluded her words of comfort.

“If you ever feel difficult or need consolation, please contact me anytime. I’ll come running right away.”

Edric quietly looked at Kayla’s face. In her face, he saw overlapping faces of the numerous women who had visited him over the past few months.

They all said the same thing without exception.

‘Your Grace, you must be having a hard time?’

‘Whenever you feel difficult, please contact me anytime. I’ll comfort you.’

They were all either closely related to his family, or even if not particularly so, were children or ladies of noble families.

Edric barely managed to suppress the urge to drive them out immediately and responded to them.

It was his long-standing habit to suppress his emotions and entertain them.

“I appreciate your consideration, My Lady.”

Edric said with a smiling face.

He exercised patience to show a natural smile.

But whether Kayla thought his smile looked sad, or whether she felt a touching emotion at seeing a weak side in a strong person immersed in loss, her eyes reddened.

She dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief once again.

“Oh my, look at me.”

As if suddenly remembering something, she put her hand in her bag. A small box came out attached to her hand. She held it out in front of Edric.

“I wanted to give you this.”

“What is this?”

Edric asked, looking down at the box with just his eyes.

Kayla said with a reddening face:

“It’s a good luck charm I made. Someone said that if you have this, good luck will follow.”

“…”

“I thought it might help Your Grace.”

Edric detached his body from the backrest he had been leaning deeply into. He bent down to pick up the box and lifted the lid. Inside was a glass pendant keychain with delicate embroidery.

“It’s a poor effort, but I did my best to make it.”

She added with an even redder face.

“While thinking of you, Duke.”

“…”

Edric’s gaze slid to her hands.

The end of the handkerchief she was holding caught his eye. The same pattern was embroidered there.

Edric Pelton had lived surrounded by the admiring gazes of countless women since childhood.

For him, such situations were no different than sitting in a room full of beautiful paintings.

There was no need to say anything just because a painting was looking at him. There was even less reason to feel upset about it.

But when Kayla Royce held out a keychain with the same embroidery she possessed as if it were a token, he suddenly felt an unbearable displeasure.

How ridiculous they must think him.

How insignificant they must consider his wife to throw themselves at him when she was still properly listed in the Pelton family register.

The displeasure towards Kayla Royce now expanded to all women.

Edric felt a deep revulsion towards the women who rushed over as soon as news of Melly’s departure was heard, trying to occupy her empty place.

He picked up the keychain from inside the box.

“Lady Royce.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Kayla looked at Edric with eyes full of expectation.

“If you ever bring such a thing again.”

“…”

“Then not even my father’s friendship with the Marquis will protect you.”

The keychain shattered in his grip.

Leaving Kayla Royce with her hurt expression behind, he rose from his seat.

He flung open the reception room door and strode across the corridor.

He didn’t know what his expression looked like at that moment. But the startled butler and Wilson hiding behind him reflected Edric’s current state like a mirror.

Everything in the house was tense. Even the cut glass ornaments of the chandelier stopped swaying and froze stiff like icicles.

“Russell.”

He called the butler’s name. Then he gave an order that had never been given since the duke’s residence was built on this land.

“From now on, don’t let any women set foot in my house except my mother’s friends.”