Chapter 051
The first person to notice Charlotte was missing was Luna.
She never slept in and was an early riser.
As usual, she knocked on Charlotte’s bedroom door at the time she normally woke up.
There was no response.
Luna waited another 10 minutes before speaking.
“I’m coming in, Duchess.”
Carefully, she opened the door.
Her eyes blinked slowly as she looked inside.
The room was empty.
There were signs that someone had been there, but Charlotte was nowhere to be found.
A cold feeling spread through Luna’s chest.
She swallowed nervously and looked around.
Why is my bad feeling always right?
She hurried out of the room, stopping every person she saw to ask,
“Have you seen the Duchess?”
“No. Why? What’s wrong?”
Everyone gave the same answer.
Luna’s heart dropped.
It felt like something was squeezing the air out of her lungs.
By the time she had asked everyone, she had no choice but to accept the truth.
Charlotte had disappeared.
Whether she left on her own or was taken, there was no trace of her.
The Duchess’s disappearance shook the Istheria family awake.
The night guards were called in, and a search began to find any possible witnesses.
“If no one knows where she is, did she leave on her own?”
Cassius muttered coldly.
If she had, it made even less sense.
Why?
For what reason?
Charlotte had nowhere to go.
Her original family, the Solovis Count family, was as good as nonexistent.
And they would never take back a daughter who had abandoned them.
To them, daughters were nothing more than tools for the family’s benefit.
So then, what was next?
Was there a next?
Charlotte barely had any personal relationships.
The only people she was close to were Theo and Stephanie.
But the two children were in their room, reading a book together.
Then where did she go?
A heavy frustration settled in Cassius’s chest.
There was even a chance she had been kidnapped while taking a walk.
The search continued late into the night.
But all they found was a ribbon from Charlotte’s hair, lying in front of the mansion.
It was trampled and dirty, its color faded.
Cassius clenched his fists.
Meanwhile…
Theo nudged Stephanie.
“You still don’t feel it?”
Stephanie nodded.
“I can’t smell Charlotte anywhere. My nose never lies.”
Theo jumped up from his seat.
He was sick of adults treating him like a child who didn’t understand anything.
They had known since morning that Charlotte was missing.
People had tried to keep it from them, but it was obvious.
The gentle hand that always woke them up every morning was missing.
During breakfast, the voice that usually scolded them from across the table was gone.
And when they lay on the floor reading, no one nagged them about ruining their eyesight.
Even their lessons had been canceled for some reason.
“Get up, Spaghetti.”
“What are you trying to do?”
“We need to tell my brother that we’re going to look for Charlotte.”
Stephanie frowned.
“They don’t take us seriously. They’ll never allow it.”
“They do not consider us to be worthless. We are just young.”
Theo corrected her.
Anyone would think they were treated terribly from the way she spoke.
Muttering under his breath, Theo grabbed Stephanie’s small hand.
“Let’s go! You have a strong nose, Spaghetti. If you track her scent, we can find Charlotte in no time!”
“Are you seriously treating me like a tracking dog?”
“Of course not! Tracking dogs can’t talk, but you can. You’re way more amazing!”
“Obviously.”
Stephanie raised her chin proudly.
A dragon’s pride would never allow being compared to a mere dog.
Theo and Stephanie knocked on Cassius’s door.
“Come in.”
A tired voice answered.
The two children exchanged glances, then gathered their courage and stepped inside.
Cassius was seated, listening to reports with a cold expression.
He was desperate to go out and search himself, but he couldn’t.
He had to stay and wait in case any news arrived.
Right now, Cassius was the one leading the entire search effort.
Without his orders, nothing would move.
His dark, exhausted eyes turned toward Theo and Stephanie.
“What is it?”
His voice was hoarse with fatigue.
“Brother, we can find Charlotte.”
Cassius’s eyebrow twitched.
“What are you talking about, Theo? How—”
His gaze shifted to Stephanie, who was looking up at him with sparkling eyes like a little star.
She smiled.
“Stephanie has a strong nose. She is even better than a tracking dog.”
Cassius’s eyes widened.
Stephanie!
He had forgotten!
Because she was always with Theo, he had started thinking of her as just another child.
But she wasn’t.
Stephanie was a dragon.
She could track a person’s scent with ease.
Cassius shot up from his seat.
“Theo, you stay here. Stephanie, come with me—”
“No!”
Theo suddenly screamed.
Cassius stared at him in shock.
Theo had never disobeyed him like this before.
“I figured it out! I will find Charlotte myself! You don’t know anything, Brother!”
Cassius swallowed hard.
Stephanie was also glaring at him with a look full of judgment.
“Tsk tsk.”
“Theo is worried about Charlotte too! Theo wants to find her too! Why do you always treat me like a little kid? I’m not a baby!”
Theo stomped his foot, and tears burst from his eyes.
All the fear he had felt since this morning—since Charlotte didn’t wake him up—finally exploded.
In truth, Theo wasn’t okay.
He had been holding everything in, pretending to be fine so he wouldn’t make the adults worry.
Cassius ran a hand through his hair, looking flustered.
There was no time for this.
But seeing Theo like this, he had no choice but to say,
“Fine. Let’s go.”
Theo sniffled, nodded, then hiccupped.
Even though he was still crying, he grabbed onto Cassius’s pants and followed him.
Cassius felt bad seeing him like that.
“Where did you go, Charlotte?”
Suppressing his anxiety, Cassius picked up both Theo and Stephanie under his arms.
They were too slow, and there was no time to waste.
He rushed outside.
“I’m joining the search team. Get me a horse that can carry two children—”
Cassius suddenly stopped speaking.
Stephanie sniffed the air.
Beyond the flickering torchlight, something was moving in the darkness.
Stephanie sniffed again.
Her eyes widened in excitement.
“I know this smell! It’s Charlotte! She’s coming!”
Overjoyed, she started kicking her legs.
Cassius accidentally let go of the children.
Theo and Stephanie ran forward, tumbling across the ground, then stopped near the door.
Thud.
Thud.
But something felt… wrong.
The presence approaching was huge.
Far too big to be Charlotte.
“What is coming toward us?”
Cassius placed a hand on his sword and signaled the knights.
The knights quickly grabbed Theo and Stephanie, pulling them back.
Everyone held their breath.
Then, a faint but familiar voice came from outside.
“Cassius, please open the door. Cassius, it’s me.”
Cassius instinctively turned to Stephanie.
Stephanie nodded hard like an excited puppy.
That meant it was Charlotte.
“Hurry, hurry!”
Cassius gave the signal, and the knights opened the door.
Thud. Thud.
Cassius narrowed his eyes.
Not just him—everyone in the mansion was frozen in confusion.
Because right in front of them…
Wrapped up like a cocoon in a thick fur cloak, Charlotte was being carried in the arms of a giant Snow beast.
“…What the heck, Charlotte? Are you a silkworm cocoon?”
Theo mumbled blankly.
