ESL Chapter 7

“If it hadn’t been for that artifact, I might have really been in trouble…”

After a good night’s sleep, Kaid smiled unconsciously as he headed to the office to have an audience with the Emperor. He had never imagined that the assassination organization would attack with such tactics. No matter how much of a Sword Master he was, how long could he have lasted if he had been constantly ambushed without sleep for days on end?

‘I suppose I should say I was lucky.’

Suddenly, as he recalled the beautiful red eyes that had looked at him, a smile appeared on his lips. He had a feeling they would meet again soon. Walking along in a good mood, he spotted someone in front of the Emperor’s office and his eyes lit up with recognition.

“It’s been a long time, Duke Kaien.”

As he approached with a greeting, beautiful red eyes—so similar to the person he had just been thinking about, yet bearing the traces of time—turned toward him. A handsome man with jet-black hair who appeared to be in his early forties bowed his head slightly and quietly paid his respects.

“Did your journey go well, Your Highness?”

“I was lucky to return alive. Are you here to see His Majesty?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I heard you’re looking for a new administrative officer. That the previous one passed away…”

“Yes. I haven’t found one yet, but thank you for your concern.”

Duke Kaien, who despite entering middle age still possessed such refined features that women couldn’t take their eyes off him, had been a prudent person who showed no emotion even in his youth. After marrying the woman he loved, he occasionally smiled or showed emotion, which surprised people, but after a certain incident, he became like his former self again—no, even colder than before.

‘It was after the former Duchess went missing… that the Duke changed…’

Kaid recalled the Duchess’s disappearance that he had heard about from others. After a year of marriage, when she even became pregnant, the ducal couple had been happy enough to make others envious. But just before the birth, the Duke had to go to war, and he received word from the battlefield that his daughter had been born. They said the Duke’s expression at that time looked as happy as if he owned the whole world. But a day later, urgent news arrived that the Duchess and baby had disappeared, and though the Duke rushed home, he couldn’t find his wife and child.

‘But what’s strange is that he took in a new Duchess in less than half a year…’

That’s right. Less than half a year after the Duchess and baby went missing, the Duke took in a new wife. So people even suspected that the Duke had killed or driven away the Duchess and baby because he was having an affair. But such misunderstandings disappeared due to the Duke’s unchanged attitude toward the new Duchess—the Duke hardly accompanied the new Duchess anywhere, and even when he inevitably had to accompany her to events, he made absolutely no contact such as holding her hand to escort her. His gaze was also so cold that the new Duchess seemed pitiful. It was enough that even the servants whispered that the Duke wouldn’t lay a finger on the new Duchess.

‘Looking at the Duchess, the saying that you must be careful about bringing a woman into your home feels like truth…’

As Kaid thought of the Duchess, he unconsciously shook his head. The former Duchess had been so dignified and gentle that she was the very picture of a noblewoman, but the current Duchess caused trouble wherever she went. Her hobby was using her position as Duchess to look down on other noble ladies and trample their pride, and she acted so arrogantly that many nobles who had maintained close relations with the ducal house had now turned their backs. What was strange was that there was no restraint whatsoever from the Duke regarding the Duchess’s misdeeds. Even knowing that his position was becoming increasingly narrow, he took no action. Well, if it were for love there would be nothing to say, but there wasn’t even a hint of love visible.

“Do you have something you wish to say, Your Highness?”

Lost in thought, Kaid looked at Duke Kaien for a moment at his question. Then he spoke as if joking.

“Actually, during my travels, I met a young woman… Surprisingly, she looked exactly like you, Duke. Her hair was covered by a robe so I couldn’t confirm the color, but her eyes were the red eyes characteristic of the Kaien ducal house. Eyes like burning flames, those kind of eyes. Moreover, that young woman’s sword skills were astonishing. I thought if you had a daughter, she might feel like that. By any chance, do you have any relatives, even from branch families, with such eyes?”

In truth, he hadn’t expected any particular reaction. He had brought it up wondering if perhaps Lea had inherited the blood of the Kaien ducal house, and if perhaps there was someone among the branch families, he might be able to find out where she was. But Duke Kaien’s response that followed surprised him.

“…How old did she appear to be?”

That Duke Kaien, who had never lost his composure even on battlefields where flesh was torn and blood flowed, was urgently asking him with a stiffened face. And with wavering eyes, no less.

“Well… I didn’t ask, but she appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen.”

“Where did you meet her?”

“I met her at the Krauzen Mountains. We parted ways that very day, but from the direction she was going, it seemed she was also coming to this country… Is something wrong?”

Duke Kaien’s mouth shut tight. Glaring fiercely into the air with a serious expression, he turned his head and spoke to Kaid.

“Your Highness. I have an urgent matter and must go in first. Please forgive my rudeness.”

Duke Kaien, who bowed his head lightly, walked away with quick steps without giving Kaid a chance to say anything. Watching his retreating figure, Kaid tilted his head briefly before moving his steps toward the office again.

While Kaid was having an audience with the Emperor, a carriage of the Kaien ducal house bearing the crest of a black lion wrapped around a silver sword exited the imperial palace. And following that carriage, two black shadows moved secretly. Duke Kaien, watching this while his entire body was covered in a brown robe, confirmed there were no watchers and rode out through the back gate on horseback.

You might not believe it, but he was being watched in his every move. For seventeen years, no less. Even knowing this, he had no choice but to let them do as they pleased. But today there was somewhere he had to go, evading surveillance. So he had put a black wig on his servant, who had a similar build, dressed him in his clothes, and sent him off in the carriage. Today that woman would also be absent attending a party, so if the servant went straight into his study, there would be no one to suspect.

Duke Kaien rode his horse toward the back alleys of the capital. And when he arrived at a tavern, he left his horse with the tavern’s stable hand and entered. The sticky sight of people drinking and prostitutes rubbing against them indicated it was a low-class tavern. The Duke paid no attention to his surroundings and walked straight to sit at the bar. Then the bartender who had been wiping glasses spoke to him.

“What can I get you?”

“Cronte. No ice, and set it ablaze.”

When Duke Kaien ordered in a low voice, the bartender’s eyes suddenly changed. He looked around briefly, and confirming no one was paying them attention, he gestured with his eyes.

“This way.”

The bartender guided him to a secret passage behind the bar and closed the door once he entered. The secret passage connected to a secret room in the tavern’s basement. And there was a branch of an intelligence organization that had been loyal to the Kaien ducal house for generations.

“Your Grace. Welcome.”

As Duke Kaien entered, a man in his mid-thirties who had been sitting at a desk rushed out and knelt on one knee in respect. A man with curly brown hair and gray eyes who gave off a neighborly uncle-like feeling.

“MacLean. You don’t need to show such respect. Stand up.”

Duke Kaien removed his robe and sat on the sofa, looking at MacLean who was bowing. Then MacLean thanked him and straightened his body. MacLean was the branch chief of the First Branch that gathered information in the capital, and was one of the subordinates Kaien trusted due to his excellent abilities. He seemed happy about Duke Kaien’s visit, but soon opened his mouth with a worried expression.

“Their movements are gradually speeding up. To visit personally at such a time, has something happened?”

“…Someone has seen a young woman who appears to be my daughter.”

“What?! You mean the young miss??”

MacLean was genuinely surprised. The Kaien ducal house’s intelligence network was the best within the Empire. But even with such a network, they hadn’t been able to find the whereabouts of the Madam and young miss. They were that meticulous and careful. But someone had seen a young woman who appeared to be the young miss…

“They said they met her at the Krauzen Mountains. They said she seemed to have come to this country. They said she had the exact same eyes as me. MacLean. Mobilize all intelligence networks to find if such a young woman is within this country.”

“Understood, Your Grace. However, it will take some time to move without them noticing. I’ll search as quickly as possible and report the results to you.”

MacLean had watched from the side how much the Duke had suffered since the Madam and young miss disappeared. If the young miss was within this country, he pledged again and again that he would find her somehow. Hope also surged that if they found the young miss, they might also discover where the Madam was.

“I’m counting on you.”

Duke Kaien, rising from the sofa, gripped MacLean’s shoulder and spoke quietly. Then he put the robe back on and left the branch. After receiving his horse from the tavern’s stable hand and returning home, he quietly slipped into his study without being noticed by the watchers. The servant who had been waiting only for his return showed relieved eyes upon seeing him entering through the window.

“You did well.”

At Duke Kaien’s words, the servant bowed deeply and left the study. Duke Kaien, who had thrown the robe onto the sofa, approached the window he had just entered through. His eyes as he stood with arms crossed gazing into the distance contained an inexplicable sadness. A daughter he had never once seen or held since birth… And thinking of his wife who must be longing for him somewhere made it feel like he couldn’t breathe. He had been sighing deeply when he turned at the butler’s voice.

“It’s Jerome. May I enter, Your Grace?”

At the butler’s voice, polite and even-toned as always, Duke Kaien unbuttoned one button at his neck to relieve the stuffiness and answered while sitting in his study’s desk chair.

“Come in.”

A moment later the door opened and the ever-loyal butler Jerome entered, holding a tray with a teapot and teacup in one hand and documents in the other. But unusually, he wasn’t alone. The sharp gaze of Duke Kaien, who had been reading one of the stacked documents, turned toward the unfamiliar face standing behind Jerome.