I Won’t Accept Your Regrets

That woman from the Duke's house who smelled vaguely.

The feeling of something close.

"Speak."

"Neither nor commoners know about a woman. She never appeared anywhere else. The merchant was very surprised that day and said that the woman immediately disappeared. And the identity of the woman was unclear to him. There were many other oddities as well."

Identity unknown. Hasn’t appeared anywhere else…

"Her face, hair color and eyes were not like Ellie, but her voice was like hers."

The appearance can be changed using magic. However, she wouldn’t have been able to change her voice and her unique aura.

"Of course… What if Ellie returned after hearing of Duke Croft's disaster? What if she broke into the estate to check if her father was okay?"

She appreciated the people close to her. The Duke was in danger, and she simply couldn’t stay still.

Raymond's heart beat faster.

As if Ellie was right in front of him. He already felt anticipation, as if he could hug her if he reached out his hand now.

But at the same time, he was insanely nervous.

As if that brief meeting at the Duke's estate was on that and all that was prepared for him from her.

"Carter."

"Yes."

"Don’t disdain by any means. Find that woman. At any cost."

"Yes."

"I won't miss her a second time."

* * *

In the middle of the night when all the shops were closed.

The crew drove up to the gates of the capital.

"I'll check the identification."

When the doorkeeper knocked on the small window of the carriage, it immediately opened.

A man with red hair handed an ID card to the guard.

" Phoenix Organization. I just need to find out something. I will leave before dawn."

"Oh yeah. Okay."

The guard opened the gate without a second thought.

The carriage window closed and Lumont sighed with relief.

"This is luck. What if he read the paper."

"Is the servant waiting in a safe place?"

We were on our way to meet with Count Barten's servant, who will be a witness from our side.

"Yes, don't worry."

He directed the servant to wait out of sight.

"The trial is already tomorrow. We must succeed…"

Shortly before my sortie, news came that the trial would take place already tomorrow.

Time was running out, but there was no guarantee that the servant would play his part in the court.

"It will work. Count Barten is famous for his temper. His servants have little devotion to him."

The character of Count Barten was hot-tempered and cruel, which was well known in the secular world.

In addition, Count Barten had little understanding of how to manage the estate and family.

So when I first heard that he had something to do with Metas, I thought Lumont was wrong.

Because such a person could hardly be suspected of a cunning conspiracy.

If you look at the imperial nobility for my father's ill-wishers, the most capable was Duke Drua.

Duke Drua was the oldest and most respected duke of the Empire.

However, he was on the side of the former crown prince and put a spoke in the wheels of Raymond after his ascension to the throne.

Raymond wanted to completely oust Duke Drua from noble circles, but my father dissuaded him.

He said that the Emperor had already shed a lot of noble blood and if he treated the Droit family in this way, an influential family that served the country since the first Emperor, the nobles would act as a united front against such a decision.

It saved the Duke's life, but nothing more.

Since then, Duke Drua has become a simple small landowner.

At that time, there was a famous case when Duke Drua, unable to bear the shame, played a tantrum in front of the Imperial Palace.

Raymond completely ignored him, and the Duke, unable to overcome his anger, was beaten by the guards and given to the servants.

Duke Drua was a man with a strong sense of superiority, with a sense of the ‘chosen one’, so he couldn’t easily forget such a shame. Shame on the bastard Emperor and my father, who was honored for serving such an Emperor.

Because of this, I considered Duke Drua the prime suspect, but suddenly Count Barten came into play.

Count Barten would not have had the brains to pull off such a delicate operation.

This probably means that someone else is behind him.

And after Count Barten…

"Marquis Sios."

I spat out this unpleasant name.

Marquis Sios, Lisa, Edmund.

I haven’t yet understood why Marquis Sios was targeting my father, but if we remove Count Barten, Sios will also follow him.

The carriage stopped.

"We've arrived," Lumont said.

And the carriage door opened.

"Be careful."

Lumont handed me a glowing mana stone. As I stepped out of the carriage, a cold night breeze swept over my body.

There was a small hut at the foot of the mountain.

As if people didn't live here at all, the place was overgrown, and the road was unkempt.

"The place was abandoned a long time ago, and the local climate is ideal for drying tea leaves, so they set up a warehouse for precious tea leaves from Eastern countries."

"Great job."

As I approached the hut, the escort at the entrance bowed their heads.

"Servant inside? He's safe and sound, right?"

At Lumont's question, the knight just nodded.

Lumont looked at me and I entered the hut with him.

A small boy with brown hair, sitting in a hut lit by only one candle, suddenly began to babble.

"Glad to meet you. Call me Tun."

He didn’t give his last name, which means he is one of the commoners. Seeing how his shoulders tremble, as if he was very nervous, I gestured to the knights to leave.

"You can get up. Nice to meet you. I'm Ellie Croft."

The boy slowly raised his head. He was amazed.

Is he about 17 years old?

I smiled at the boy and held out my hand.

Lumont, who was standing next to me, was surprised by my gesture. But I needed to buy the boy's favor.

He was our only witness to turn the game around.

The boy's cheeks turned red. He took my hand.

"You said your name is Tun? I want to ask you something. If you do me a favor, you will no longer have to live like a servant."

The boy nodded slowly.

"How… How can I be useful?"

I looked at the boy and smiled broadly.

The story was not long in coming.

Thun was already dissatisfied with the mere cruel character of Count Barten. It was said that there were times when he beat the servants to death.

"If you take me away from Count Barten, I’m ready for anything. Please get me out."

Thun prayed to us.

"Do not worry. I will not return you to the count."

"Thanks. Many thanks."

"No, it's too early for thanks. I think your testimony will be handy for us."

For the first time in his life, a nobleman behaved like this to him, and the child looked very moved.

"As soon as tomorrow's process is over, we'll give you a job in the Phoenix Organization. Accommodation and meals at our expense."

Thun's gaze turned to Lumont for confirmation.

"If someone bothers you, tell me right away. Understood?"

"Yes, thanks a lot. You saved my life. Thanks."

Looking into his kind brown eyes, I smiled tenderly.

I also needed to prepare for trial. It was time to leave.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow at the trial. Lumont, let's go."

Coming out of the hut, the waiting knights put Thun in a cart and drove off.

Convinced of this, I got into the carriage with Lumont.

* * *

"Did they disappear right here?"

In a dark forest, where even the moonlight couldn’t break through.

There was a sharp neighing from the horses.

A low male voice continued:

"Yes. Apparently they entered here, but no one saw them after. When I arrived here, the tracks had already disappeared… Sorry, sire."

The knight knelt in front of Raymond's horse and bowed his head.

That night, Raymond went in person to find a witness who could point to a connection between Count Barten and Viscount Metas.

And the knight before him just missed this witness.

Raymond's face was colder in the light of the lamp than the night air in the mountains.