78.

“The Heart of Winter, sold for 300,000 Derk!”

Upon hearing that announcement, I clenched my fist tightly.

‘Got it.’

At the same time, Benedict leaned towards me.

“You seem happy.”

“Yes, I’m really happy.”

For once, feeling genuinely pleased, I answered honestly.

Of course, I had obtained the key to escaping the boarding school. How could I not be happy?

But then.

‘Huh?’

I felt a gaze piercing through me from somewhere.

Turning around unconsciously, I flinched.

It was Dante.

Sitting arrogantly in a position where he could overlook all the auction participants, he was staring directly at me.

‘Did our eyes meet?’

I felt my mouth go dry.

I was currently in disguise, wearing a wig and mask to cover my appearance as much as possible.

The only thing that could reveal my identity were my eyes, but the distance was too great for him to recognize the color.

Still.

‘I should leave this place as quickly as possible.’

My instincts screamed a fierce warning.

I whispered softly to Benedict.

“Count.”

“What is it?”

“I think we need to use that insurance now.”

“…”

Benedict glanced behind us and quickly nodded.

“Understood.”

Damn it.

I cursed inwardly.

I had tried to avoid leaving the Heart of Winter with Benedict as much as possible.

But it was better than getting caught by Dante.

“Thank you to all our guests for attending today’s auction. We have prepared a banquet, so please enjoy yourselves!”

Just then, the auctioneer announced the end of the auction.

The participants began to rise from their seats.

“Today’s auction was incredible!”

“Indeed, not only items from Baron Albertton’s collection but also the heirloom of Kalleid…”

“The skills of Marquis Offenheir are truly impressive!”

The area became noisy in an instant.

I discreetly blended into the crowd.

* * *

Finally, the auction ended.

The first floor was a mix of guests heading to the banquet hall and those leaving early, making it very crowded.

Among them was a man moving swiftly through the crowd.

It was Dante.

“Marquis! Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

Liam, horrified, followed Dante.

But Dante was focused solely on one spot in the first-floor hall.

In the distance, he saw Benedict.

And next to him stood the silver-haired woman.

Striding towards them, Dante suddenly grabbed the woman’s shoulder.

“Ah!”

The woman let out a sharp scream.

Dante tore off her butterfly mask.

And the revealed face was…

“…Wh-what is this?”

A woman, completely different from Elze, looked up at Dante with a frightened expression.

“Marquis Offenheir?”

At the same time, Benedict glared at Dante with a sharp gaze.

“What on earth are you doing?”

“Hah.”

Dante let out a dry laugh and twisted the corner of his mouth.

Why was it?

Even though the woman before him wasn’t Elze.

…He couldn’t shake the feeling of irritation.

“Damn it.”

Dante muttered under his breath and glanced at Liam.

“Liam. Handle the situation.”

“What?”

“And find her whereabouts immediately. Report to me as soon as you find anything. Understood?”

After growling at his loyal secretary, Dante pushed through the crowd and walked away.

He was going to find Elze.

* * *

A little past 10 PM.

The sudden arrival of Dante caused panic among the staff at the boarding school.

“W-we welcome the Marquis.”

“Forget that, where is she?”

Dante asked in a sharp voice.

“Where is she?”

“L-Lady Elze…”

The servants, who had been exchanging glances, cautiously answered.

“She went out and hasn’t returned yet.”

“Out?”

Dante’s voice immediately turned sharp.

“So, where did she say she was going?”

“T-that…”

The servants stammered and bowed their heads.

“She didn’t say…”

“…”

Dante’s face hardened frighteningly.

It felt like someone was tightening a rope around his neck with all their might.

His heart pounded madly, and his mouth went dry.

‘Where on earth did she go?’

‘Did she run away from me?’

‘Why?’

‘Could it be that she fell for that bastard Benedict?’

His mind was in complete turmoil.

Even though he had confirmed that the woman with Benedict earlier was not Elze,

he couldn’t shake off the paranoid thoughts.

He felt like he was about to go insane, biting his lips until they bled.

“Marquis?”

A calm voice called out to Dante.

He spun around as if he had been jolted.

“…Elze?”

It was Elze, in her outdoor attire.

Perhaps due to the summer heat, she was holding a large hat in her hand.

Unlike Dante, who was on the verge of losing his mind due to inexplicable anxiety, her face was annoyingly serene.

“Is something wrong?”

Elze took a step closer to Dante with a concerned expression.

“You look pale.”

“Everyone, leave.”

Instead of answering, Dante growled at the servants.

The frightened servants scattered like sparrows doused in cold water.

Afterward.

Dante stared directly at Elze.

“Where did you go?”

His voice was low and growling.

Elze couldn’t hide her puzzled expression.

“Well, um…”

She hesitated a little.

Seeing this, Dante’s eyes glinted with menace.

“Answer me.”

Dante leaned closer, tilting his head as he looked down at his lover.

Her clear honey-colored eyes looked up at him.

Even at this moment, those eyes seemed irritatingly sweet.

“Hah…”

Dante let out a dry laugh for a moment.

Then, in a menacing voice, he pressed Elze for an answer.

“Where did you go?”

“…I…”

Elze’s lips moved hesitantly a couple of times before she lowered her eyes.

Then she answered cautiously.

“I went to see… Countess Martin.”

“What?”

The murderous aura around Dante suddenly softened.

Elze explained with a somewhat timid expression.

“Countess Martin came to the capital.”

Dante looked at her, signaling her to continue.

Elze spoke carefully.

“Well… the Countess spent a long time at the boarding school. So when she left, she found she had very few friends.”

“…”

“She wanted to see my face, so I had gone to visit…”

Trailing off, Elze lowered her head deeply.

“I’m sorry. As a manager, I should have set an example and followed the boarding school’s rules.”

Rosenkreuz boarding school staff were strictly prohibited from having personal relations with former students.

This rule was to prevent any collusion between staff and former students.

Elze apologized with a guilty expression.

“Even though I knew it was against the rules, I went to see Countess Martin.”

“Why?”

Dante, who had been staring at her, suddenly asked.

“Even though you knew it was against the rules, there must have been a reason you went to see her.”

“That’s…”

“I want to hear that reason first.”

Elze looked at Dante with a troubled face.

And then.

“For me…”

Her rosy lips moved with difficulty.

“Countess Martin is the only person I can call a friend…”

“…”

For a moment, Dante’s red eyes darkened.

It was truly strange.

Elze had broken the rules of the boarding school.

So normally, he should have been displeased that she didn’t follow his words.

But now…

“You mean to say, Countess Martin is your only friend?”

Dante felt an odd sense of pity for Elze.

Of course, Dante himself didn’t have a single person he could call a friend.

But that was because he didn’t particularly want friends.

Fundamentally, Dante had a deep-seated distrust of people.

He didn’t believe in the soft relationships called friendship.

He had been abandoned by his own mother who gave birth to him, so how could he trust such a trivial relationship as friendship?

But in Elze’s case…

‘She might have wanted friends.’

Thinking about it, girls of Elze’s age often hung out with friends of similar age.

But since becoming Dante’s lover, Elze had never enjoyed such simple everyday pleasures.

Her life was confined solely to the boarding school.

Also, Dante himself had been displeased with Elze looking at anyone else.

He wanted to possess her from head to toe.

That made him even more obsessive in controlling her.

…However.

‘Was I being selfish?’