Chapter 18
“Amelia, wait a moment.”
I poured some warm water from the kettle and handed it to Amelia. She needed to calm down.
“So, your parents passed away, but you still have a family member who can take care of you? And that family member is desperately looking for you?”
While Amelia drank the water, I summarized what she had said.
Of course, I was just repeating what I already knew from the original story.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Amelia nodded. Thanks to the warm water, she seemed much calmer than before.
“My uncle is… Marquis Agris. If you contact him, he will respond quickly.”
“So, I just need to send a message to the Agris family?”
“Yes. But please make sure it reaches my uncle directly. I can’t trust anyone else.”
Amelia had been disappointed by many adults while staying at the orphanage. It was only natural that she found it hard to trust people.
“…Were you surprised?”
“Yes, a little.”
I already knew that Amelia was from the Agris family, so that part didn’t shock me.
What surprised me was that she trusted me.
Ever since she arrived at the orphanage, she had been mistreated by the director and staff.
Since adults had ruined Amelia’s once-peaceful life, I assumed she wouldn’t trust me easily. To her, adults were something to be feared.
And yet, she trusted me.
She shared her secret with me alone and asked me to find her uncle.
I couldn’t help but feel amazed.
“She’s already been hurt so much. I can’t let her get hurt again.”
The weight of her trust filled me with a strong sense of responsibility.
“Alright. I’ll find your uncle. So don’t worry too much.”
“…Thank you.”
“This will be our little secret, right?”
“Yes. Please keep it that way.”
“Got it.”
Amelia bowed slightly and left the office, still holding the music box close to her chest.
I stood up and put on the coat I had taken off earlier.
“I was planning to stay a little longer, but I should head back to the mansion now.”
Amelia would be anxiously waiting for her uncle to arrive.
If I wanted to shorten her wait, I had to act quickly.
Marquis Agris, the new head of the Agris family, sat on the sofa with a tired expression.
Once again, he had spent the day searching for his missing niece. And once again, he had returned home empty-handed.
“Amelia, where on earth are you?”
He murmured as he looked at the portrait of Amelia on his desk.
It had already been a full year since the carriage accident. His servants had told him it was time to give up.
But he couldn’t.
He couldn’t let go of even the slightest hope.
What if Amelia was still alive somewhere, but he just hadn’t found her yet? If he gave up, he would never be able to face his late brother and sister-in-law.
That was why he had been secretly searching for her all this time.
“My lord, may I come in?”
“Come in.”
Marquis Agris pressed his fingers against his tired eyes as his butler entered the office.
“A letter has arrived for you today.”
The butler handed him a bundle of letters. Most of them were useless invitations to parties and gentlemen’s clubs.
Still, Marquis Agris carefully read through each one. There was always a chance that a clue to Amelia’s whereabouts could be hidden in one of them.
Then, his eyes landed on a letter sealed with red wax.
“Lucella Rilfrey?”
It was an unfamiliar name.
Judging by the surname, she was likely from the Rilfrey family.
As a wealthy and unmarried marquis, he often received letters from noblewomen he had never met.
With his power, wealth, and handsome appearance, he was considered as the perfect marriage partner.
“It’s probably just another meaningless love letter.”
He thought as he unfolded the letter.
[I am protecting your niece, Amelia Agris. If you wish to see her, please come to the Busnie Orphanage in the Bellomon Duchy.]
Crash!
He stood up so suddenly that his chair fell backward. But he didn’t even think to pick it up.
This was no ordinary letter.
Like a child reading for the first time, he read it over and over again.
“My lord, what’s wrong? Is it bad news…?”
“Prepare a carriage immediately.”
The butler, startled by his master’s sudden outburst, asked hesitantly.
“What?”
“We’re going to the Bellomon Duchy right now! There’s news about Amelia!”
“Is that true? Wait, there’s no time to ask! I’ll prepare the carriage at once!”
There was no need for further thought.
The loyal butler, who had served the Agris family for over thirty years, rushed out of the office.
Marquis Agris quickly grabbed his coat and followed.
“Amelia… Please, let me find you this time.”
His face was filled with urgency as he thought of his only remaining family.
A week had passed since I sent the letter to Marquis Agris.
Since I used the fastest possible method, I expected a response by now.
“Why hasn’t he replied yet?”
Despite saying she would wait patiently, Amelia couldn’t hide the anticipation in her eyes whenever I visited the orphanage.
It broke my heart every time I had to shake my head.
She said she was fine, but I knew she wasn’t.
“Just a little longer…”
If the letter had been delivered properly, Marquis Agris would definitely come to the Busnie Orphanage.
So Amelia just had to hold on for a little while longer.
“Sigh…”
I heard a deep sigh next to me.
When I turned, I saw Lucian sighing heavily as if the world was ending.
“Why are you sighing?”
What could this troublemaker possibly be worried about?
“Amelia hasn’t been in a good mood lately.”
“Oh…”
If even Lucian noticed, then Amelia’s mood must have really changed.
“Edwin seems down too. Though, he’s always quiet.”
Well, Edwin was probably upset because of you, Lucian.
“You took all of Amelia’s attention.”
The last time I tried to cheer Edwin up, it turned into an impromptu hair salon for the kids.
And with everything happening with Amelia, I hadn’t been able to pay him much attention.
“Once Amelia leaves for the Agris estate, Edwin will be left all alone.”
He would feel even more down.
He might start feeling even worse about being an orphan.
“I should make sure to take care of Edwin.”
Not just Edwin, but the other kids too.
According to the original story, whenever one of them was adopted, the remaining children felt a mix of jealousy and sadness.
After all, someone else was getting what they didn’t have—a family.
They would never be alone again.
And Amelia wasn’t just getting adopted—she was returning to her real family.
When Marquis Agris arrived in his fancy clothes, the other children would surely feel envious and discouraged.
To make things worse, today’s drizzling rain made the atmosphere even gloomier.
It was the perfect day to feel down.
“I should do something to lift the kids’ spirits.”
Not just that, but I also needed to look into adoption options for them. If possible, finding them a new family would be best for their future.
Claude’s carriage had just crossed the southern border.
The Agris Marquisate was located in the central region near the capital, so to reach the Bellomon Duchy in the south, he had to pass through the southern border.
Fortunately, the road to the south was fairly smooth. Once past the long mountain range that connected the central and southern regions, the rest of the journey was mostly flat plains. The mountain paths were well-paved, so there wasn’t much difficulty.
However, there was one thing he had overlooked—the weather.
Heavy raindrops pounded against the carriage roof as if they were about to break through.
“Can’t we go any faster?”
“We’re already at our maximum speed, my lord. If we go any faster, the wheels might slip on the wet road.”
“Damn it.”
Claude’s frustration grew.
He was so close to Amelia, yet he couldn’t reach her quickly. It was driving him mad.
“Could this be another trick?”
There had been many false claims from people who said they had Amelia.
They would bring a girl who had the same hair and eye color as Amelia, but she was never the right child. Even though it had been over a year, Claude could never forget his only niece’s face.
Some people, knowing how desperately he was searching for her, had tried to take advantage of him by lying.
If this turned out to be another trick, he wouldn’t let it slide—no matter who it was, whether a noble lady or an elderly man.
Just as he was grinding his teeth in frustration—
Rumble.
“What was that sound?”
He furrowed his brows at the noise outside.
Then, the ground started to shake like an earthquake, and the noise grew into a deafening roar.
Claude quickly turned to look out the window.
The heavy rain had weakened the mountain, and now it was collapsing.
“A landslide!”
“Protect the Marquis!”
The coachman tried to speed up to avoid the falling rocks and debris, but the rain had made the ground too muddy for the carriage to move fast.
“My lord! Get to safety!”
That was the last thing he heard before the landslide swallowed the carriage.
