“Could something have happened?”
Erin murmured with concern as Mila did not show up.
“Just relax and wait a bit longer. She might simply be delayed.”
The madame waiting with her advised.
“Yes, that must be it.”
But still, she did not arrive.
The appointed time had long since passed.
An uneasy feeling settled in.
“I think we should find out where she is.”
It was when Erin could no longer just wait that she made a decision.
With a knock, a middle-aged man appeared.
“Who is it?”
The madame asked, following an employee who came in behind him.
“He says he’s a servant from the Zahard family. He’s come in place of Count Zahard, so I brought him here.”
“A Zahard servant?”
Erin’s gaze turned to the man.
As the employee stepped away, the servant stood before Erin.
“The Count had an urgent matter and could not make it, so he sent me in his place.”
“Then where is my sister now?”
“She is at the Count’s residence. The lady requested that you come in her stead.”
Upon hearing the servant’s message, Erin’s eyes narrowed.
“Is that so?”
Erin replied meaningfully as she rose from her seat.
“Then I must go.”
Before following the servant, Erin turned to the madame and gave a slight nod.
***
Mila was doing a decent job of reorganizing the employees.
Although she felt more tired and sleepier than usual, she still tried to wake up early every day.
As usual, she woke up in the morning, finished her simple preparations, and left her bedroom.
But something was off.
The employees seemed tense, different from normal.
Mila was about to ask one of the employees if something was wrong when she heard it.
“You’re up now, I see.”
The low voice from behind made Mila startle.
It was a voice she could recognize in an instant, unmistakable.
‘But it can’t be. That voice shouldn’t be here.’
Slowly, Mila turned around.
She thought she was witnessing a nightmare.
There stood Gael and Helena, who should not have been in the mansion, looking bizarre.
They had disheveled hair and their clothes were torn and worn in places.
Their faces and bodies were covered in dust, looking filthy at first glance.
It was impossible to imagine that these two people, who normally cared about their appearance as much as their lives, could look like this.
“How did you…?”
Mila stepped back in confusion.
‘Weren’t they supposed to be in prison, being transferred to the border?’
They should have left the capital by now, so why were they standing right in front of her?
It was at this moment, as Mila looked at them in turmoil, unable to hide her disturbance.
“Why. Is it strange that we’re here? This is our home, isn’t it?”
“…”
“Oh, so now it’s yours, is that it?”
“What did they say? Something about Countess Zahard?”
“…”
“After selling out your husband, your mother, and taking everything for yourself, how does it feel?”
Before she knew it, Gael had stopped right in front of Mila’s nose.
“How dare you betray us?”
Gael reached out his hand towards Mila.
It was when Mila instinctively flinched and tightly closed her eyes.
She felt a weight over her head.
Gael was stroking her head as if to press it down.
“Although what you did is unforgivable, I will hold off for now.”
His voice sounded oddly gentle, which made it all the more eerie.
In that moment, the mansion’s door closed.
“You’ll have to do something for us for the first and last time.”
“…?”
“Then maybe I can forgive you a little for what you’ve done.”
Gael smirked, his mouth twisting in mockery.
Mila knew she was in danger. She also knew she had to run away immediately.
But it was already too late.
A shadow fell across Mila’s face.
Helena had seized her wrist with a crushing grip.
The strength in Helena’s jaw, where only malice remained in her eyes, was tremendous.
Unable to shake off her hand, Mila looked anxiously at Helena and Gael.
Everything ahead seemed dark and uncertain.
Mila carefully wrapped her other hand around her stomach.
***
Erin arrived at the Zahard family’s mansion, guided by an employee.
The employee pointed out the way to Erin, but she stopped in her tracks and stared intently at him.
At Erin’s gaze, the employee first avoided eye contact and then began to tremble slightly.
“I’m sorry. I was threatened…”
He then muttered excuses in a subdued voice, as though crawling.
“My family was taken, I had no choice. Please forgive me!”
The employee groveled on the floor while still trembling with fear.
“…Hah.”
Erin let out a short sigh.
She had expected this kind of situation when she noticed the employee’s anxious behavior on the way here.
Erin looked at him with a cool detachment.
She could guess what the situation must have been but did not want to show understanding.
Erin gave him a sharp glance and entered inside.
“I have done what I was asked, I will leave now.”
With those words, the employee vanished as if fleeing.
The mansion was eerily quiet.
Not a single employee was in sight.
Instead, only Gael, Helena, and Mila were waiting for her.
Mila was tied up with rope, looking at Erin.
The agony of guilt towards her was palpable.
Erin frowned.
‘Why do grim predictions always come true?’
The two had taken Mila as a hostage.
“How could you be so contemptible?”
She had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.
Erin’s expression soured as she scolded them.
It was clear what Gael and Helena’s plan was.
They intended to hold Mila hostage to kidnap Erin.
“Do you even realize that the person you’ve taken hostage is your wife?”
Erin didn’t hide her disdainful gaze toward Gael.
“And who’s in her belly.”
“So what if she is?”
Gael Zahard scoffed without the slightest hesitation, dripping with sarcasm.
In that moment, the look in Erin’s eyes hardened as she faced Gael.
Gael Zahard was not ignorant.
He was fully aware of Mila’s pregnancy, yet he still threatened her.
As a husband and as a father, he was the worst.
“How low can you go? How much more disgraceful will you become?”
Erin was truly disgusted.
She reassessed the situation once more.
With her skills in swordsmanship, Erin could have easily escaped this predicament alone.
But that would have put Mila in danger.
Even if Erin returned quickly, who knew what the vile Gael would do in his malice.
Even a slight injury could be dangerous in Mila’s pregnant state.
‘…There’s no other choice.’
She knew that this wasn’t about harming her; it was about their own ends.
Erin narrowed her eyes as she observed the two.
As much as they tried to act fearless and indifferent, their pupils flickered with uncertainty.
This was crucial.
Whether what the two really wanted was revenge, or whether it was their escape fund and safety.
And Erin knew from the start which side she fell on.
“Did you do this to take me hostage?”
“It’s not Mila who is useful, it’s you.”
“….”
“You are my daughter; shouldn’t you help your mother?”
Helena revealed her true intentions as if she had never intended to hide them.
Gael and Helena intended to use her as a hostage to extort money from Aiden.
“But you’ve been so undutiful, I doubt you’d help otherwise.”
Helena continued shamelessly as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Erin was not particularly surprised by her words.
They never felt like family, but after the past decade, she knew them.
She knew they always looked to use Erin to get money in desperate situations.
So now, she had no choice but to become a hostage.
Erin took a step forward.
Then another step, and another.
As she slowly approached the three of them, Gael, who had intended to take her as a hostage, began to panic.
“What, what is this!”
Gael cried out nervously.
Seeing him tense up just by Erin approaching, her suspicions were further confirmed.
The two wanted to kidnap Erin and hold her hostage, to get money and ensure their safety until they could escape the empire.
Erin glared at the two of them, then turned away, ignoring them.
She reached out and took Mila’s hand, who was bound with ropes.
“Do what you want. Hostage or whatever.”
Mila’s face was smeared with tears and distorted, but Erin cradled her face.
“Don’t be sorry, it’s okay.”
And Erin quickly calculated the time in her head.
‘How much time would be enough?’
Ever since Mila didn’t show up and an employee came looking, Erin had been suspicious.
She feared something might have happened to Mila.
If so, their coming to her now could be a trap.
But no matter what awaited, if Mila was indeed in trouble, Erin couldn’t ignore it.
From the beginning, it was Erin herself who had extended her hand first, wanting to help Mila in her time of need.
With that thought reaching her mind, Erin complied and went along with them, but not without preparing for any unforeseen circumstances. She had made arrangements before following the employee.
‘Something feels off. Have a knight follow me discreetly.’
Thus, the knight that Erin had arranged to follow her would likely have observed the current situation. Whether he went to Madame or directly to Lienster, as long as he reported back.
In fact, Erin was not too worried about what was to come.
Aiden would use any means necessary to come to her rescue as quickly as possible.
‘Aiden will be worried.’
She merely hoped that Aiden wasn’t worrying too much or too angry.
***
The news that Gael and Helena had escaped during transport had reached Aiden.
Furthermore, the two had taken Mila hostage and kidnapped Erin. Something that should not and could not happen had occurred.
It was an event that simply could not have happened through Gael and Helena’s unilateral actions alone. Naturally, the empire was in upheaval.
This incident was much more serious and grave than usual.
As a result, security within the capital had been strengthened and searches were underway in various places.
But even until Aiden received that news, he only thought of it as an annoying inconvenience. He hadn’t expected to hear such news within less than half a day.
The fact that Erin had been kidnapped was quickly relayed to Aiden.
At first, he couldn’t believe it. Erin, kidnapped? “Are you speaking clearly now?” With a statement that lacked any sense of reality, Aiden’s expression remained unchanged.
It seemed unlikely she would be easily caught up in such an incident, and he thought that anyone in their right mind would never dare to attempt such a thing.
“I’m sorry, but it’s true. Countess Mila Zahard is also involved; it seems Madam could not avoid the trap.”
Aiden’s face grew cold.
Although he hoped it was a misunderstanding by someone in the middle, the current situation and his instincts were telling him otherwise.
Erin had indeed been kidnapped.
She had become a hostage.
Without delay, Aiden took action.
“We must go rescue Erin immediately.”
Aiden always embarked on thoroughly planned actions.
But in the situation of Erin’s kidnapping, there was only one plan.
To save her safely.
