The Marquis’ Lost Mistress - Chapter 25

“… …”

 

The door was locked. He looked at the exterior of the house again, holding the doorknob.

 

Not a single light leaked through the cracks in the tightly covered windows.

 

Cold sweat ran down his palms and brushed his spine. Something was wrong.

 

Without hesitation, Theon gave strength to his hand that grabbed the handle.

 

The iron door, which Leila had always firmly believed in, was torn like a soft piece of paper in front of Theon’s power.

 

The first thing he saw through the crack in the forcibly opened door was the dark and quiet landscape of the house.

 

Theon opened the door completely and entered.

 

What greeted him was nothing else, but white cloths that were clearly visible in the dark.

 

As the door suddenly opened, white cloths that were covering the furniture gently swayed. The sight was so bizarre that Theon held his breath for a while in this place filled with darkness and silence.

 

A chill came from his fingertips, ran down his wrists, elbows, and shoulders, and came towards his face.

 

It was very cold.

 

“You’re here?”

 

He didn’t see anyone who always greeted him.

 

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

 

The person whose eyes twinkled as if she was meeting someone who came to rescue her from hanging on a cliff, or seeing the most valuable thing in the world.

 

“I missed you.”

 

There was no one who smiled sadly and lovingly. Ah, now he knew why it was so cold.

 

There was nothing in this house that could be called human warmth.

 

“My lord?”

 

The servant holding the luggage involuntarily called Theon.

 

It was a reaction that came out of surprise when the Marquis, who had broken the door, entered the house, and stood blankly, suddenly strode forward.

 

Theon walked around the house.

 

‘Not here.’

 

He opened all the tightly closed doors without hesitation.

 

‘Not here.’

 

He quickly climbed the stairs and reached the upper floor. He wandered in the dimly lit place.

 

‘Not here.’

 

But there was no sign of her anywhere.

 

Sweat welled up in the raging chill and ran down his forehead, cheeks, and chin. Without even feeling it, he grabbed the handle of the last door.

 

‘Theon?’

 

She had to be here. She would be sitting on the sofa reading a book, and she would be startled by the sudden opening of the door and had to turn her head to look at himself.

 

As if in embarrassment, she would close her eyes a few times, then open them all up, then get up from her seat with a smile. She would run to him without hesitation.

 

She would hug him as hard as she could, as if hanging with her slender arms, as if begging, as if she did not want to let him go again.

 

If he hugged her warm and soft body, the cold that gripped his fingertips would disappear.

 

“… …”

 

Drops of sweat that reached the tip of his chin fell to the floor when he opened the last remaining door.

 

She wasn’t there. She wasn’t anywhere. Even here.

 

The only thing that greeted him was a white cloth covering the furniture to keep dust from accumulating.

 

“Leila.”

 

Theon grabbed the doorknob and called her name softly.

 

“Leila.”

 

One more time.

 

“Leila!”

 

Yet again.

 

But no answer came back. The only sound in the room was his own voice.

 

How long had he been standing there? His hand on the handle was numb, as if frozen.

 

Theon took his hand off the handle and walked across the room.

 

‘What happened…’

 

Otherwise, there was no way Leila would suddenly disappear. Something huge and dangerous might have come to her.

 

‘No. If she had been aware, she would have reacted to that.’

 

Theon sat on the sofa covered with a white cloth. He placed both of his elbows on his thighs and lowered his upper body.

 

When Leila first came to this house, she was extremely unstable.

 

She cried as if breathing, and she slept when she didn’t cry. She was extremely thin because she refused to eat.

 

One day, as if she had let go of the thought that everything would be fine, she couldn’t stand it and wanted to die. She had no will to live. Theon still remembers it clearly.

 

She was sitting on the floor with her skinny body.

 

The pale face that could be seen through her messy hair.

 

The unfocused blue eyes staring endlessly at the leash hanging from the chandelier. The dry voice that flowed from between her bruised white lips.

 

“I don’t want to live, I have no reason to live, so why is it so difficult to die?”

 

A broken doll. There was no other way to express her other than that.

 

He was anxious. He feared that the broken doll would die, and that someone would take the precious doll that he barely got.

 

He was worried because he couldn’t always be by her side. So he tried to attach an escort, but even that was difficult.

 

Leila was unstable, but was very wary of others.

 

Unable to attach an escort, Theon gave it to Leila as a temporary measure.

 

It automatically protects Leila’s body when it’s harmed, whether voluntarily or involuntarily.

 

Since receiving it from Theon, Leila had never taken it off her body.

 

If something went wrong with Leila, it would have sent a signal to Theon. Therefore, it could be said that Leila’s life was safe now.

 

If so, where did Leila go?

 

“Kidnapped…?”

 

Is there a way to kidnap without physically harming them?

 

They could have lured her with clever words and let her follow without knowing that she was being kidnapped.

 

‘No. She’s not that ignorant.’

 

Leila regained stability within a few years, however, it was not that easy to lower her vigilance.

 

After all, Theon had tried to attach an escort to Leila several times before, but Leila refused.

 

“Just, I don’t know. I prefer it this way.”

 

Whenever this topic came out, Leila changed the topic, looking troubled.

 

Would it be possible to coax such a person to follow someone she did not know?

 

Theon sat on the sofa and thought and thought about why Leila had disappeared.

 

His back ached from having his torso bowed for quite some time. He leaned against the back of the sofa.

 

“… …”

 

A rustling sound was heard. It was the sound of the white cloth covering the sofa being crumpled by Theon’s body.

 

“The maids…”

 

There was no way Leila could have done it herself. This was obviously done by the maids, they must have known that Leila was gone.

 

Years ago, when Leila was still a broken doll, the maids were the first people she opened up to at the time.

 

Theon hired two experienced maids for Leila, about the age of Leila’s mother.

 

It was unknown what kind of inspiration it gave Leila.

 

But at least she didn’t refuse the meals they recommended, and she didn’t want to die as long as they were there.

 

If Theon had not hired two maids of that age then, Leila might have died suddenly one day.

 

What if the maids were involved in this? Did Leila ever doubt them?

 

Theon jumped out of his seat and stood up.

 

***

 

“Umm… Mother.”

 

The son who went to meet the late-night guest called Marie with an anxious face.

 

“You have a guest…”

 

The son was speechless.

 

“Did the guest specifically look for me?

 

“Yes.”

 

With the news of the pregnancy of her youngest daughter, who had married last year, Marie, who was making clothes for her children, stopped working.

 

“Why did you make such a face?”

 

“I think that’s a nobleman. Probably.”

 

Marie put the baby clothes she was making into the basket. She then pulled out Leila’s letter she had kept in one of the drawers.

 

“I’ll go out. Go into the room and be with your family.”

 

She was relatively calm. She just got it right as expected, and what was supposed to come came.

 

Marie arrived at the front door. Through the open door, the figure of the Marquis could be seen again.

 

“Thank you for visiting this shabby place, Marquis.”

 

“… …”

 

The Marquis did not respond to Marie’s words. He looked piercingly into her face with red eyes that looked sharp even in the dark.

 

“It’s only natural that I should bring you inside…”

 

“Where did Leila go?”

 

Theon interrupted Marie and asked. Without panicking, Marie took out Leila’s letter from her sleeve.

 

“I had it just in case.”

 

Theon accepted the letter. It was undoubtedly Leila’s handwriting.

 

However, the writings in it were completely unacceptable to him.

 

“Did you believe this?”

 

Theon burst out laughing as if it was ridiculous and waved the letter.

 

“Yes. How can ignorant commoners like us understand the will of the nobles? She left a letter telling us to do so, so I cleaned up the mansion and waited for a call.”

 

“I am the one who pays you, but you didn’t even contact me?”

 

Marie swallowed with her dry throat. A few weeks ago she received a month’s pay from the Marquis through the guild.

 

She could have passed the words then, but she didn’t.

 

“It was because it was written in the letter that the Marquis was accompanying her as well.”

 

“… …”

 

“My apologies. I’ve gotten used to living as I’m told, so I couldn’t raise my head to question.”

 

Theon held the letter in one hand and brushed his hair with the other.

 

Then he looked down at the old woman who politely folded her hands and bowed her head.

 

She is an experienced maid. She didn’t have any problems when working.

 

It was just closing her eyes and ears, shutting her mouth, and staying alive.

 

Just like now.

 

“When did you get this?”

 

Theon clenched his teeth and asked a question in order to quell the rising anger.

 

“I think it’s been a little over a month or so.”

 

“More precisely.”

 

“It seems like a month and a fortnight have passed.”

 

“More precisely.”

 

A cold sweat trickled down Marie’s back.

 

“It was 50 days ago.”

 

“Can I trust your words?”

 

“I think it should be right. If you have doubts, ask the other maid…”

 

“She’s missing.”

 

“Yes…?”

 

In embarrassment, Marie involuntarily raised her head and looked into the face of the Marquis.

 

The Marquis frowned and closed his eyes. The blood vessels protruding from his temple were representing his feelings.

 

As soon as the Marquis opened his eyes, Marie hurriedly lowered his head again.

 

“Before I came here, I went to see her first. They said she was excited that she got a vacation, and then she just went missing.”

 

“… …”

 

“It was exactly 47 days ago.”

 

The events of 47 days ago flashed through Marie’s mind. Naira came out of Leila’s room with something.

 

“… Is that so.”

 

Marie knew at that time that they would not be able to see each other again, but it was bittersweet when that feeling came true.

 

“You don’t seem surprised.”

 

Marie’s body shook violently. She slowly raised her head.

 

With her head raised, what she saw was the face of the Marquis, who was smiling coldly.