Pristin realized something was terribly wrong with the situation. But it was too late when she realized that.
Pristin looked at Akkad with a bewildered expression. What was the real intention of that expression of regret?
“Lord Bachell…Now, what the hell is this…”
“I’m sorry, Countess Rosewell.”
His voice was as sad as his expression.
“If you sleep for a moment, it’ll all be over.”
“What the hell is that…”
She wanted to ask what nonsense he was talking about, but drowsiness washed over her. Her vision became increasingly blurry, and her mind foggy to the point where it was impossible to think.
She struggled to stay awake, but it wasn’t easy, especially since she was already drugged.
“How could the lord…”
Before she could finish her resentful sentence, Pristin closed her eyes.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Meanwhile, Jerald, who remained in the ballroom to deal with the aristocrats, felt strange at some point.
‘I can’t see Pristin.’
It had been hard to see Pristin in the crowd, but she was still there. The problem was that at some point, she disappeared altogether. At first, Jerald didn’t think much of it, but he grew increasingly uneasy. It was even more so because the remnants of the upsurp were in the palace.
“I don’t see Countess Rosewell.”
“Shall I look for her, Your Majesty?”
Jerald nodded. The servant who had disappeared approached him with a grave expression.
“She does not appear to be in the ballroom.”
“…Then where is she?”
Jerald quietly exited the ballroom and made his way to her palace, wondering if she had gone back to Camer Palace first. But what he received was a hopeless answer.
“Her Excellency has never been here since she went out with Your Majesty.”
“We thought, of course, that she was with Your Majesty all this time…”
Jerald realized something was wrong, looking at the expressions of the troubled maids. He ordered the maids with a serious look on his face.
“Seal the palace gates at once and find Countess Rosewell.”
“But, Your Majesty, we can’t seal the gates during the ball…”
“There is still time before the ball ends.”
Jerald ordered in a sharp voice,
“Lock it down immediately. And don’t let anyone go outside.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“The countess is pregnant. We need to find her as soon as possible.”
That fact made Jerald even more anxious. If something bad happened, it would be difficult for a pregnant woman to survive.
His expression was tinged with anxiety.
Please, nothing happen.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
The ball ended two hours later.
All ballroom attendees could only get out through one door. The nobles would generally cooperate well, although they were embarrassed by the out-of-the-blue restrictions. Nevertheless, none of those people were with Pristin. Even the suspicious ones. Eventually, all ballroom attendees returned home, and the chamberlain who was doing the checks noticed something.
He immediately reported to Jerald.
“Your Majesty.”
“Did you find her?”
“No, but I did find something.”
“What is it?”
“All of the attendees have returned to their respective homes.”
Jerald gave his chamberlain a look as if that was some kind of special report.
“Except for one person.”
“…That means.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. It’s a long shot, of course, but we believe that person has something to do with Countess Rosewell’s disappearance.”
“Who is that one person?”
The name that came out of the servant’s mouth was one that Jerald could not have imagined.
“Lord Akkad Bachell.”
“…”
When Jerald first heard it, he couldn’t hide his bewilderment. Akkad Bachell, and no one else? The man who seemed to have a crush on Pristin?
“Does that mean he’s one of the usurper’s people?”
“That seems most likely at the moment.”
Immediately, the chamberlain raised another possibility.
“But I’ll also look into other servants in the palace. It’s difficult to catch someone for no reason.”
“…Right.”
Jerald nodded, his expression grim.
“We’ll have to find him as soon as we can, so tell the checkpoints in all the districts to beef up their checks right now.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
With that short reply, the servant left, and Jerald buried his face in his hands with a deep sigh. His heart was beating fast and his lips were dry.
He wondered if something bad had already happened. He tried not to think bad thoughts, but it was hard to calm his mind.
“Please, please, please be okay, Pristin…”
That was all he wanted right now.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
Checkpoints near the capital were ordered to increase inspections, but no news had been made that Pristin had been found anywhere. Jerald stayed up all night and did not sleep a wink until the next day, but the situation was the same.
“Lord Bachell has been absent for two days.”
This made it clear that Lord Bachell had kidnapped Pristin.
Jerald immediately called in the Duke of Bachell, the lord’s father.
“I think Lord Bachell kidnapped Countess Rosewell.”
Duke of Bachell seemed very confused when he heard him. Jerald asked with a puzzled expression,
“The lord hasn’t entered the manor for two days. Is the duke hiding his son?”
“I swear that is not the case, Your Majesty.”
The Duke of Bachell opened his mouth with a look of great surprise and contrition.
“In fact, the boy, Akkad, has not been to the Bachell manor for quite some time.”
Jerald couldn’t help but be surprised at that.
Was Lord Bachell at odds with his father?
He hadn’t heard any reports of such a private life.
“Then where is the lord, who is not even married, staying?”
“I’m not sure about that either… It’s been a while since we’ve been in touch.”
“…”
Jerald was briefly lost for words when he heard the words. After a long moment, he spoke up, sounding uncertain.
“I’m sure Akkad Bachell is in communication with Emperor Albert and he’s been leaking information from the palace and acting as a spy. At first, I wondered who on earth would do such a bold thing in my palace…”
Jerald asked, his eyes sharply open,
“Duke, you’ll have to answer me well, are you one of them?”
“No, Your Majesty, I swear I am not.”
“How am I to believe you?”
“I haven’t spoken to Akkad in a very long time, and I don’t even know how he is.”
The look of frustration was not that of a liar. But apart from that, Jerald felt it was absurd. How can a father be so uninterested in his son?
He stopped himself from prodding. Instead, he ordered a servant in a cold voice,
“Detain all members of the Bachell family in the manor, and strictly control their movements in and out of the manor.”
“Your Majesty, I really feel wronged!”
“Of course, you may be right, and it is possible that you are not in league with the usurper.”
Jerald continued, his voice calm,
“But your son is now a criminal who has kidnapped the next empress, and what do you expect me to trust you with?”
“…”
“Consider yourself fortunate that it ended with detention. If things worsen, you could end up in prison.”
The Duke of Bachell felt deeply aggrieved.
It had been a long time since he had such a profound conversation with his eldest son. Of course, he was unaware of whom his son was communicating with. This situation was utterly absurd, yet inevitable.
In the end, Akkad’s legal father was himself. Eventually, he bowed his head and accepted the emperor’s decision.
“Thank you for Your Majesty’s grace.”
Duke Bachell said as he left the emperor’s audience chamber with faltering steps. Jerald felt a headache coming on. He had hoped that digging into the Duke of Bachell would yield more, but all he had learned was Akkad’s family history.
Finally, on the third day, news spread that Akkad Bachell had kidnapped Pristin Rosewell, resulting in the entire Bachell family being detained. Additionally, notices were posted throughout the empire offering a reward to anyone who could locate her.
At this moment, Jerald felt that finding her would be worth sacrificing his entire fortune.
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
“Mmhm…”
With a small, dry sound, Pristin rolled over slightly and opened her eyes. She didn’t know how long she’d been asleep, and even when she opened her eyes, her senses didn’t return for a while.
“…”
After lying there for a while, Pristin remembered the last thing that had happened to her. She remembered talking to Akkad in the ballroom, then moving to a quieter place, taking the medicine he’d given her…
‘Seems like I blacked out.’
And now it seemed like she had awakened.
Pristin unconsciously placed her hand on her stomach. If she had been pregnant for a few months, it would have been easier to notice, but right now, she couldn’t gauge the state of her belly at all.
Pristin bit her lips with an anxious expression. First, there was no pain, and there was no sign of miscarriage. Pristin decided to relax for now.
‘Where the hell am I?’
Pristin looked around with a puzzled expression. She was on a bed in a room that was neither large nor small. There was no one else in the room except for her, though that didn’t mean it would be easy to escape.
Cautiously, Pristin slid off the bed and surveyed her surroundings. The room didn’t seem to be decorated much, so it wasn’t a typical mansion room. She wanted to see what was going on outside, but the lack of windows made that difficult. It was when Pristin was closely examining the room.
— Creak
The door opened and someone came inside. Reflexively, Pristin turned her head to see the face that had entered, and was stunned.
