The moment she heard the thug’s question, Edith felt her heart sink.
『 Does he know that I’m working with Walter? How?』
But the thug, Geoffrey, had no intention of giving her time to think.
“Answer with your head.”
He pressed her, clenching her jaw tightly.
Since she was not pregnant with Walter’s child anyway, Edith shook her head.
But Geoffrey just smirked.
“If you reply late, it will be obvious that you’re lying. Would the Viscount really break his plan and lay his hands on you?”
He pushed Vivian between the bushes with his foot and dragged Edith toward the place he had planned out in advance.
Fortrion already had no money, so there was a shortage of personnel, and today, a pregnancy celebration party was taking place in the garden, so everyone, whether knight or servant, had their attention focused there.
So, he intended to hide Edith in the luggage compartment of a private carriage he had brought and secretly take her away.
“Well, we’ll discuss that later. You still have a few months before giving birth.”
Geoffrey nodded to his companions he had brought for this purpose.
Geoffrey had hired them with money he had scrounged from the Viscount and other people in gambling circles over the years.
After understanding his command, they lifted Edith up, blindfolded her, and gagged her.
She couldn’t even whimper as she was silenced and threatened with death at the same time.
“If you don’t want to die, just stay here quietly and don’t think about doing anything else.”
The carriage he had brought had an empty space under the seat, allowing him to hide something.
Geoffrey took advantage of the absence of people and squeezed Edith into the cramped space beneath the seat, which was so narrow that it made movement difficult.
Bang―
When the lid closed, the box she was trapped in appeared to be an ordinary chair from the outside.
“You two, stay here. I’ll see if we can leave the manor now. I’ll come back after checking.”
Geoffrey said before leaving for a moment.
Edith couldn’t believe what had just happened to her. Her body trembled, and tears welled up from fear.
Although she felt like her mind was slipping away, Edith tried to hold onto her senses by biting the flesh inside her mouth.
『 If I panic in a situation like this, I’ll miss any chance to escape.』
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, she had already endured the hardships of kidnapping and confinement, and her mental strength had been somewhat toughened by the dire circumstances.
Edith carefully pondered who this thug might be.
⋙“Is it true that the child you’re pregnant with is not the Viscount’s seed but that of the kidnapped stableman?”⋘
⋙“If you reply late, it will be obvious that you are lying. Would the Viscount really break his plan and lay his hands on you?”⋘
The stranger spoke as if he knew the Viscount’s intentions well. It was certain that he had at least some contact with the Viscount.
『 He spoke as if he knew why the Viscount kidnapped me.』
If she hadn’t been suddenly kidnapped, she would have used him to find out the Viscount’s intentions, which had intrigued her more than anything else.
But now, even if she exerted a little force, she could only touch the rough, wooden surface.
“I’m sitting on the chair, so don’t try to escape by force.”
“…”
With two men, accomplices of the thug, guarding her, it was impossible to make any noise or escape on her own.
The bigger problem was that she couldn’t leave the manor because of the imprisonment spell that Sophia had cast on her.
『 What will happen if the thugs try to drive the carriage out of the manor?』
The thug, his accomplices, the carriage, and even the horse might pass through the barrier, but her body couldn’t.
Her mind began to run wild with her imagination.
The carriage would not come to a sudden stop because of her body. Her years of working in the clinic had convinced her countless times that the human body is not that strong.
『 So, if the carriage leaves the manor, will I get crushed between the barrier and the carriage?』
Edith felt like all the blood had already drained from her body as she imagined the gruesome outcome worse than a carriage accident.
『 If I tell them that I can’t leave due to an imprisonment spell… they might think it’s a ploy to keep the carriage from leaving.』
Edith chewed her mouth hard and rolled her head again and again, but this time no sharp idea came out.
All she could do was fervently hope that someone would come to her rescue.
──────────✿◦•
“Sophia, hasn’t Edith been gone for too long?”
Isabelle cautiously inquired, briefly addressing Sophia.
“I was thinking the same. I sent a maid to Edith’s room a few minutes ago, but she’s not there… I instructed the maid to search the premises for her.”
“What? Where could she have gone?”
As Isabelle responded with a worried expression, the guests in the garden suddenly became agitated.
“Oh my god. Are you hurt?”
“Sophia, please summon the doctor!”
Pale and trembling, Vivian, supported by the maid sent by Sophia, was walking unsteadily.
“Vivian?”
“M’lady. Lady Edith…”
Vivian struggled to convey the news of the kidnapping and then lost consciousness again.
Her words instantly stirred commotion in the surroundings.
And among all of them, Sophia was particularly pale.
Her heart began to race, not only out of concern for Edith’s life but also at the thought that her only means of survival might be severed.
『 Edith was kidnapped by some thug?』
Edith cannot leave the mansion due to the imprisonment spell.
If Edith dies, all the money and effort she put into her, as well as the authority and wealth she tried to gain by using her, will all be in vain.
“Summon the knights and servants if necessary, but find Edith! Prevent the carriages from leaving the manor!”
Sophia commanded almost ruthlessly.
Fortrion’s knights and servants, who had suddenly received orders, gathered their weapons and opened the stable gates.
“What’s going on?”
When Walter and Cassius, who noticed the bustling movement, asked, a knight answered with a sense of confusion.
“Lady Edith has been kidnapped.”
“…!”
“Lady Sophia ordered all the knights and servants to quickly find her… Hey!”
Before the knight could finish speaking, Walter snatched the horse from the knight and immediately mounted it.
Then, he grabbed an axe hanging from the stable’s wall and began to move quickly.
Though there was no way to guess who the culprit might be, if the kidnapper had any sense, they would try to hide Edith in something, like a sack or a chest, and attempt to leave the manor.
Carrying something heavy would attract attention, so they would probably load her onto a carriage or cart.
『 Trying to load someone under an imprisonment spell onto a carriage and escape…』
Walter, who had attempted to escape secretly several times, knew better than anyone else how powerful the imprisonment spell was.
When he thought that Edith’s body might be crushed between the barrier and the carriage, he became intensely alert, as if sensing a threat to his life.
His muscles stiffened with tension, and his heart pumped blood at an incredible speed due to heightened nerves, more so than ever before.
When Cassius barely caught up with him, he shouted at him.
“Walter! I have a suspect!”
Without slowing down in the slightest, Walter listened to Cassius’s words.
“His name is Geoffrey, and he’s a well-known gambler in the territory. He’s close to the Viscount, so he may know something and that’s why he kidnapped her.”
“Where is he?”
“Keep heading in the direction you’re going. Look for a dark purple carriage. One of the knights saw him acting suspiciously near the carriage.”
Walter violently pulled on the reins.
People believe that Edith was pregnant with the heir to Fortrion, so it could have been his intention to kidnap her and extort money from the Viscount in exchange for her return.
If Geoffrey is acquainted with the Viscount who has imprisoned Walter for seven years, Geoffrey will also be able to make creative use of kidnapping and imprisonment.
Just as he was about to reach the vacant lot where the carriage was parked, Walter suddenly slowed down.
『 Why is the pursuit so fast? Was there such a reckless guy in Fortrion?』
As Geoffrey returned quickly after looking around the entrance of the manor for a possible escape route, he found Walter holding a sharp axe, looking around with menacing eyes.
But when Geoffrey looked closely, he saw that his appearance was familiar.
Black hair, green eyes, a physique, and muscles even more impressive than the knights.
『 Isn’t that guy the Viscount’s stud?』
Seeing him looking for his mare, his guess seemed correct.
『 Well, that guy can’t leave the manor anyway due to the imprisonment spell.』
After making his decision, Geoffrey quickly climbed into the driver’s seat of the carriage.
Since that guy couldn’t leave the manor anyway, he could just evade him.
“I’ll drive the carriage, so you guys handle that blue-haired guy.”
The thugs he had hired took out their swords hidden in the carriage and charged straight towards Cassius.
Neigh―!
“What-what?”
Cassius’s horse, startled by the sudden attack, raised its front paws and began to move as it pleased.
At the same time, the carriage from which the thugs had emerged started accelerating rapidly.
“Walter! Follow him first!”
Knowing that Cassius was exceptionally skilled at handling horses, Walter quickly changed direction and pursued the carriage.
『 Wha-what!』
Geoffrey noticed Walter catching up at a terrifying speed and urged the horses on.
Even if the stableman was a natural fighter, there was no way he could destroy a moving carriage with an ax that was not long enough.
“Mmph…Mmph!”
Edith, realizing that there was no one in the carriage compartment, desperately cried out.
Walter caught Edith’s terrified whimper and tightened his grip on the axe.
There was a sturdy wooden support connecting the carriage and the horse. If he didn’t destroy that part with a single blow, Edith would be crushed to death.
“Umph…umph!”
The moment Walter heard her desperate voice, he threw himself off the galloping horse and swung the axe.
Thud―
The air vibrated with an unknown force along with a loud noise.
❀.°• ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ •°.❀
