Upon returning to Vaylern Castle, Claret went to the Marquis of Vaylern.
“I heard you went out to shop outside today, but you came early.”
“I urgently returned because I have a request for you, Uncle.”
“Did something happen to you outside?”
“Not me, but my friend.”
“Do you mean Countess Rosewell?”
“Yes. Her sister went missing a few years ago and she saw someone who looked like her on the street.”
“Goodness.”
“So, I need Uncle’s help.”
“I see what you mean, Princess.”
Marquis Vaylern came up with a solution in a gentle voice.
“I’ll send a good painter to Countess Rosewell’s room. If the person she is looking for is truly within the lands of Vaylern, we should be able to find them quickly.”
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
“She’s about a thumb shorter than I am, and her hair is red.”
Pristin continued her explanation, recalling Christine’s still-vivid appearance,
“Her eyes are black, and there’s a small mole beside one of her eyes. Also…”
“Could you also describe the shape of her ears?”
“I’m not sure about the other details, but her earlobes are detached from her jawline.”
“Yes, that should be sufficient.”
Moments later, the painter showed Pristin the completed portrait.
“Does it resemble her?”
“Well…”
Pristin opened her mouth after carefully examining Christine painted by the painter.
“If you draw her eyes a little bit longer from the side, I think it’ll be more similar.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“Can I find my sister with this?”
“Absolutely. If your sister is indeed in Vaylern, one of the many people who sees this portrait will find someone similar to her.”
“I hope so. Thank you so much for drawing this.”
After a while the painter went outside, and Aruvina spoke in an excited voice.
“I really hope we can find her. You’ve been searching for her so desperately for a long time.”
“But it’s strange to be here. Why on earth would she have come all the way to Vaylern?”
“I thought it was strange, too. Vaylern doesn’t have many outsiders, mostly being people who have protected this place for generations. As you know, the land here is harsh and barren.”
“Regardless of the circumstances, I really hope we find her. I should have stuck with her more diligently earlier…”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Your Excellency. What matters now is that we’ve discovered the possibility of her being here.”
Aruvina consoled Pristin with a warm voice.
“I’m sure good news will come. Just wait until then.”
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
The finished portrait was quickly scattered throughout Vaylern. Pristin tried to appear nonchalant, but in reality, she eagerly awaited any good news.
But after a day and two days, there was no good news, and Pristin only grew tired. And by the third day, Pristin concluded that she might have seen it wrong.
“There are many people in the world with red hair and black eyes. Maybe I was wrong.”
Because of the possibility, Claret and Aruvina were unable to comfort Pristin. They cautiously suggested waiting a little longer for any news. Although Pristin left a glimmer of hope, deep down, she was almost ready to abandon expectations.
And now, without Pristin realizing, a week had passed since she arrived here and four days since she saw Christine. Pristin, with Claret, spent her final moments in the northern lands, slowly letting go of the futile hope.
Initially, the disappointment was profound, but with time, Pristin’s heart seemed to regain a sense of calmness, much like before.
“Pristin, want to play hide and seek?”
“Hide and seek?”
“Yeah, the castle is vast. It might be fun to play.”
“But it seems difficult to find each other.”
“Then let’s designate areas.”
Claret suggested a solution, making it sound easy.
“The top floor of the castle is all storage. If we play hide and seek there, no one will be passing by, and it won’t disturb others. There are plenty of hiding spots, so we can enjoy it, don’t you think?”
“But won’t it be dusty?”
“It’s fine. I visited before, and they’ve kept it very clean.”
“Hmm…”
After a moment of contemplation, Pristin opened her mouth.
“Okay. Then who will be the seeker?”
“Let’s decide fairly with a coin flip. Pristin, heads or tails?”
“I’ll choose tails.”
“All right. Tails it is. You’ll be the seeker then. Now, Pristin, toss the coin.”
Pristin took a small piece of silver out of her arms and spun it against the air. Claret immediately raised the palm carefully covered by Pristin, who had covered the falling coin from the back of her hand.
“Oh, it’s tails. I’m the seeker.”
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Pristin smiled briefly and asked Claret,
“Should I count for about one hundred seconds? It’s far from here to the top floor.”
“Good. Enough is enough.”
“Then I’ll count from now on. One, two, three…”
As Pristin closed her eyes and began counting, the sound of Claret swiftly running away echoed. Thinking about not tripping and falling, Pristin conscientiously counted the seconds.
“Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four…”
To ensure the counting speed didn’t increase, Pristin matched it with a rhythm. Finally, when she counted up to a hundred, Pristin opened her eyes and slowly started ascending to the top floor.
‘Staying on the same floor all this time, I didn’t realize…’
Vaylern Castle was larger and had more floors than Pristin had thought. She climbed the stairs, gasping for breath, and finally reached the top floor. Breathing heavily, Pristin ascended the last steps.
“Phew…”
Pristin entered the corridor, but there was no sound. She looked at the top floor, which seemed quite spacious, with a puzzled expression. Eventually, she decided to enter the closest room first. Considering it was a warehouse, she expected dust, but as Claret mentioned, it was well-maintained, and there was no difficulty in breathing.
However, after searching the first room thoroughly, she found no trace of the princess. Pristin gave up and moved on to the second room. The same result followed in the second, third, fourth, and fifth rooms.
‘Well, where could she be?’
Feeling somewhat exhausted by the fruitless search, Pristin, in the seemingly silent corridor, was contemplating whether to explore further when she heard a noise.
‘…Oh?’
She was convinced it was Claret. With quick steps, Pristin headed toward the source.
‘I’m sure I heard a sound from over here, right?’
Pristin was sure it was Claret. She moved quickly.
“Princess, are you there?”
No sound was heard. Pristin’s pace accelerated.
“Princess.”
As Pristin reached the spot where the noise came from, there was no one. Pristin furrowed her brows, murmuring,
“I’m sure I heard something…”
Thinking she should probably explore the surroundings, Pristin continued to move cautiously.
“Where is the end of this place…”
Suddenly, Pristin saw familiar red hair. Surprised, she froze, and as the red hair disappeared completely from her sight, it took some time for Pristin to regain her composure and move.
“Could this be…”
Overwhelmed with surprise, Pristin’s body stiffened like a frozen statue. Eventually, as the red hair disappeared entirely from her view, Pristin, belatedly regaining her senses, moved.
“E,excuse me, wait a moment.”
Out of shock, Pristin was late to react. Nonetheless, she quickly ran toward the direction where the girl disappeared.
“Excuse me, wait!”
Pristin shouted and began to run toward the direction where the girl disappeared. After turning a corner, stairs appeared not long after. Pristin descended the stairs at a rapid pace.
“Excuse me, wait!”
However, whether the girl had already gone to another floor or not, despite shouting and calling out while descending the stairs, there was no response. Finally, after descending several more steps, Pristin came to a stop.
“…It’s clear, it was her then.”
If she was a maid living in this castle, she understood that there had been no news. Missing flyers were only distributed outside the castle.
“Ah, the princess.”
Pristin belatedly remembered leaving Claret alone upstairs. She quickly ascended to the top floor again. As soon as she arrived, Pristin easily spotted Claret wandering around.
“Oh? Pristin!”
Claret also noticed Pristin and rushed toward her.
“What on earth happened? Where did you go?”
“I’m sorry, Princess.”
“You suddenly screamed and ran out in surprise. What happened?”
“The woman who looks like my sister that I saw a few days ago.”
Pristin replied in a trembling voice.
“I think I found her.”
“Oh my, really?”
Claret asked in a startled voice,
“Could your sister have been working as a maid in this castle?”
“I’m not sure about that. However, since I found her on the top floor, she might be working here in the castle.”
“It seems so. Oh, that’s why there was no news even though we distributed flyers.”
It was a case of not looking under the lamp post. Claret reassured Pristin not to worry too much.
“If she’s staying here, finding her is just a matter of time. I’ll go meet the housekeeper, so you stay in your room. Got it?”
“Yes…”
Pristin nodded with a trembling expression. She went back to her room, as Claret said. Aruvina looked at Pristin’s face, which had somehow turned pale, and said,
“You must have played hide-and-seek very hard. Was it cold outside? Your face is a bit pale.”
“… I found her.”
Pristin looked at Aruvina with her pale face. Aruvina quickly caught on and asked,
“The girl who looks like your sister?”
“Yes. I think she’s a maid working at Vaylern Castle.”
“Oh my, really? So what now?”
“Her Highness is going to meet the housekeeper now. We might get news soon.”
“Pristin!”
At that moment, the door swung open, and Claret came inside.
Thanks for the chapter!❤️🔥