Published: August 15, 2025
Without waiting for Ella Fuchs’s reply, I turned on my heel.
I hurried back to the dining hall—and was stunned. Marquis Dario, who should have been there just moments ago, was gone!
Ah, he escaped! When did that happen!? Where did he go!?
I thought about going to the kitchen to call Lord Cyrus and the others, but if I did that, Ella would get away and everything would be for nothing. With a heavy heart, I returned to the entrance.
“For now, both of you, come inside…”
I let Thomas and the others into the mansion and closed the front door.
Thomas’s belt was tied around Ella Fuchs’s delicate white wrist. Holding her like that, Thomas led her inside the mansion as if guiding a donkey. Ella’s expression was, how to put it—solemn. She bowed her head so far that her bangs covered most of her face, pursed her lips, and remained silent.
“She was hiding inside the ancient city,” Thomas spat out.
Usually friendly and cheerful, his face twisted bitterly.
“The door was unlocked, so I went inside to check. There was a lit candlestick, so I thought someone might be there. I called out, but there was no answer…”
Thomas said he had a bad feeling and decided to search the entire ancient city. On the top floor, in a closet deep inside the farthest room, this Miss Ella Fuchs was hiding curled up.
When I asked in surprise why she was there, Ella just trembled and didn’t respond. We couldn’t interrogate her for long, but we also couldn’t just leave her alone, so we reluctantly brought her here.
Thomas looked more troubled than the captured Ella and sighed heavily.
“I never imagined I’d have the chance to detain someone, so I didn’t have handcuffs. But I couldn’t have her walking through the forest with her hands twisted behind her back. So, I was a bit rough and tied her wrist with my belt like this.”
I checked her wrist. The leather belt was tied securely but loosely enough to avoid cutting off circulation. No marks would remain.
Relieved for the moment, I stood in front of Ella and took a deep breath.
Then I bent down to peer into her face.
I’m about average height for a man, so I had to crouch down quite a bit to look up at her bowed face. Ella still had her thick, long hair covering half of her face. Through the gaps in her thick bangs, her violet eyes peeked out just a little. Her gaze darted around nervously, clearly terrified.
I stared deeply into those eyes.
…She probably wants to look away—no, she wants me to look away. I get it. I’m the same kind of person.
But I wouldn’t allow it. Fixing my gaze on her face, I said firmly,
“Long time no see, Ella—Miss Ella Fuchs, daughter of Marquis Fuchs. I never thought we’d meet again.”
“…Ah… y-yes… th-thank you…”
Ella gave a small nod, her body and voice trembling.
“Can you tell me—why are you here? Marquis Dario told us you were staying behind in the home country.”
“Um… well… I snuck into the carriage on my own…”
“Then why were you hiding in the ancient city? We just arrived here because we heard it would be used as Lord Alfred’s museum.”
“Ah, that… I’m Marquis Dario’s retainer… so… I was helping out…”
“Helping out? Then why here in the ancient city and not this mansion?”
“…That’s…”
Ella fell silent. I wasn’t going to let her off that easily and pressed further.
“When Thomas arrived, you didn’t even greet him and instead hid away. It’s almost like you were lying in wait for us.”
“W-waiting? No, I was just dusting the ancient city. I was cleaning so that everyone from Granado Castle wouldn’t breathe in the dust… The ancient city has been neglected for a long time, so it needs cleaning. Lady Marie has a baby, after all.”
“…I see.”
I nodded and stepped back.
Usually, a retainer wouldn’t do cleaning, but considering her personality, it wasn’t odd.
Her hiding in the back room without greeting Thomas could be attributed to shyness or just trying to avoid us. It would be hard to press her further.