TMC 03
CHAPTER :03
2. The Lady Has Disappeared
The man stepped closer.
Stella took a step back, intimidated by his towering build and sharp gaze.
Though the crowd’s noisy commotion rippled around her at his appearance, only one thought occupied her mind.
*Hurry, I have to run.*
It didn’t matter who was standing before her.
The only thing that mattered was escaping a threat to her life.
Just as he had ruthlessly severed the old man’s arm, the man before her approached with a deadly, razor-sharp gaze.
Stella flinched, averting her eyes from the man in the blue uniform.
*Will he kill me too?*
She clenched her fists.
The voice ringing in her head had warned her that someone was threatening her life.
That “someone” could very well be this man. She had no choice but to remain on guard.
*No, I won’t die here.*
With every backward step she took, the damp, fishy smell of water enveloped her.
Though fear clouded her vision and made her tremble, she kept her senses sharp, scanning for an opening to escape.
As she flinched at every tiny sound, he spoke to her.
“My lady.”
“!?”
“Are you alright?”
His voice was low and strangely gentle.
Would things have been different if he had approached and spoken to her like this from the beginning?
Having almost been dragged away by the old man just moments ago, Stella’s wariness was at an all-time high.
Avoiding his gaze, she scanned her surroundings.
“……D-Don’t come any closer.”
“Ah, I have startled you.”
He wiped the blood from his face with his thumb.
“No matter how urgent the situation, I should not have drawn my sword in your presence.”
With a single gesture from the man, not only the old man but everyone who had gathered around her vanished.
In their place, several others in similar uniforms now surrounded them.
She wondered if she had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire—fleeing a fox only to cross paths with a lion.
Stella wrapped her arms around herself and asked,
“Are you going to kill me too?”
“No.”
“Then why are you… c-coming closer?”
Perhaps sensing something unusual in her terrified words and demeanor, his brow furrowed slightly.
Her shoulders flinched at his gaze.
After a brief, thoughtful silence, he held up both hands to show he harbored no hostility.
“Do not fear. I have absolutely no intention of harming you, my lady. I only approached because you looked as though you needed help. If you wish, I will not take another step.”
His attitude, so different from the old man’s, made Stella look up at him blankly.
Meeting her eyes, he smiled gently and introduced himself.
“I am Adrian of House Castillo.”
“Castillo.”
The word she whispered felt familiar.
It seemed that even though she had lost her memory, her acquired knowledge remained intact.
As Stella fell into thought, Adrian added to his introduction as if to confirm something.
“Yes. I belong to the House of Castillo, one of the empire’s three ducal families.”
While she remembered nothing, the kind approach of a man from a familiarly named family softened her guard slightly, but…
“Do you know me?”
“Yes.”
“Then… why?”
*Why are you trying to help me?*
She was still suspicious of his kindness.
Not only did he accept the fact that she was wandering with no memory without a second thought, but he also seemed to see right through her anxiety.
“I understand this situation must be confusing.”
Adrian slipped off his coat and draped it over Stella’s shoulders.
“Above all, it is only natural to trust no one when wandering a place like this all alone.”
Where the stranger’s hands brushed her shoulders, a sudden warmth flared, and her heart began to beat wildly.
She thought she finally understood why people said a beautiful man was dangerous.
Her heart pounded so fiercely that it became difficult to breathe.
She gripped the coat tightly and stared into his glowing red eyes.
At that moment, another knight approached.
“Dawn will soon br— My apologies, sir.”
At his subordinate’s sudden intrusion, his red eyes flickered with displeasure.
Startled, the subordinate hastily took three steps back.
Stella turned her head, observing the surroundings instead of Adrian.
Though the guards were keeping the perimeter clear, more people began to gather than before as the sky grew lighter.
Scanning the area, he made an unexpected proposal.
“Will you come with me?”
“To the Duke’s residence?”
“Yes. Do you have anywhere else to stay?”
Fiddling with the hem of Adrian’s coat, she shook her head.
With no memories, there was no way she had another place to go.
Even the final voice urging her to run hadn’t specified where she should flee.
Stella shook her head bitterly.
“I don’t know.”
“I see.”
He added gently,
“You may stay at the Castillo residence for now, and if you wish, I can arrange a separate place for you later.”
Unlike the old man, Adrian allowed her to make her own choices.
*Can I trust this man? What if he’s a bad person like that old man? But…*
Stella looked down to inspect her state.
She was dressed only in a white nightgown, and her bare, shoeless feet were a filthy mess.
She drew her toes together and squeezed her eyes shut.
*How long can I keep running in this state? I don’t remember much, but the House of Castillo is one of the most powerful families in the empire…*
Stella pressed her hand to her chest.
*If he wanted to kill me, he would have done so right here. He wouldn’t be trying to persuade me like this.*
Yet, despite the obvious choice, she hesitated because his crimson eyes felt strangely familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere before.
*But his gaze feels so familiar…*
While she peeked at Adrian, lost in thought, a shop door in the square creaked open.
Startled by the loud noise, Stella took a sharp step closer to him.
“*Yawn.*”
What caught their attention was a child.
Stepping outside, the child patted their mouth.
Following closely behind, the child’s mother saw Adrian and made a clumsy excuse in her panic.
“Oh dear, the child just doesn’t sleep well and is causing trouble. We didn’t see anything!”
The woman scooped up the child and hurried back inside the shop.
Flustered, Stella’s eyes widened.
He turned his head toward her.
“My lady.”
“Yes?”
“You are too close.”
She blinked.
Only then did she realize she was gripping his collar. She scrambled back, stammering an excuse.
“I-I mean, I’ve lost my memory, and everything is so unfamiliar to me. That’s why…”
“You lost your memory?”
Caught in the gaze of his slightly lowered red eyes, her breath hitched, and she didn’t know how to look him in the face.
Stella quickly lowered her head.
“Yes… That is why I made such a blunder.”
“It is fine.”
His voice was steady.
Regaining her composure at his calm demeanor, Stella turned her gaze away and thought:
*He said he knows me, so it makes sense that his eyes feel familiar. I’m worrying over nothing.*
In an instant, more eyes gathered around them.
The murmurs echoing through the streets grew louder.
Weighing her options, she realized there was very little she could do, and she clutched the thin fabric of her clothes.
“M-May I stay with you for a short while?”
“I will escort you myself.”
His voice resonated intimately in her ears.
Stella nodded naturally.
Her heart kept beating wildly of its own accord.
She couldn’t tell if it was from the tension of the unfamiliar environment or the faint scent drifting from him.
A moment later, a knight standing behind him approached with a white horse.
Adrian stroked the horse’s back with a smile and held out his hand to her.
“Would you like to ride together?”
“The two of us?”
“Yes. Or do you know how to ride?”
Shaking her head lightly, she took his hand.
The warmth emanating from his large hand chased away the chill of the dawn.
“Everyone, dismiss. You, report to Liam that everything has been resolved.”
*What is he asking them to report?*
Unable to understand his words, Stella turned to look at Adrian.
She noticed his gaze was fixed on the onlookers nearby.
*Ah, he means the commotion in the square has been handled.*
Once the curious eyes of the street, which had seemed unwilling to turn away, vanished all at once, he wrapped her slender arms around his waist and said,
“Hold on tight.”
“……”
Stella hesitated.
At that, he smiled again.
“It would be troublesome if you were to fall off the horse, wouldn’t it?”
As Stella nodded shyly and gripped Adrian’s clothes, he pulled the reins with a fluid motion and set off.
The moment they departed, the square returned to its peaceful daily routine as if nothing had happened.
Amid the bustling crowd, only the red bloodstains remained as a testament to the morning’s commotion.
Even those were quickly washed away as the child’s mother splashed water over them.
The child tilted their head in confusion.
“Mom, where did that lady and mister go?”
“Shh!”
The woman quickly covered the child’s mouth.
The child blinked their clear eyes, filled with curiosity.
Scooping the child up, the woman warned them in a stern voice.
“Sweetheart, we didn’t see a single thing.”
The child asked an innocent “Why?”, but the woman only repeated the same words.
* * *
“My lady has disappeared.”
Stella, the only daughter of the Bronte family, was gone.
Her disappearance, leaving behind nothing but a sword engraved with the family crest on her bed, turned the Marquis’s estate upside down first thing in the morning.
Having been preoccupied with an unwelcome guest during the night, Marquis Bronte, who hadn’t even realized Stella was gone, let out his fury at the sight of her empty room.
“Where on earth did she go?”
“We do not know, my lord.”
“You call that an answer?!”
Marquis Bronte’s eyes flashed fiercely.
At that, one of the maids who served—or rather, monitored—Stella spoke up.
“I think… I might have seen someone going in and out of the young lady’s room…”
As the terrified maid’s voice trailed off, Marquis Bronte’s anger boiled over.
He grabbed the head maid, who had failed to understand her duties, by her collar and spat out his rage.
“Why did you not report this immediately?!”
“T-There was a guest last night, so we didn’t have the peace of mind to check on the lady. We were shorthanded…”
“A guest.” At that word, Marquis Bronte slumped onto the sofa, grinding his teeth.
“Adrian de Castillo.”
He had felt an ominous premonition ever since the man showed up!
In the end, his fears had been realized.
His face contorted fiercely as he muttered,
“That cursed bastard!”
“……”
“I knew something was off the moment he brought his knights. He must be involved in this.”
Unable to contain his rage, Marquis Bronte’s breathing grew ragged.
If Asher, the Marquis’s son, had not appeared to calm him down, he might have collapsed unconscious right then and there.
“Father, calm down.”
“Asher.”
Marquis Bronte turned around.
“I will look into Stella’s whereabouts.”
In the House of Marquis Bronte, which consisted of two sons and one daughter, Asher had always been the dependable son.
Unlike the second son, Matthew, who spent his time wandering outside, Asher handled every task diligently.
Because of this, he was highly trusted.
At Asher’s words, the Marquis’s ragged breathing gradually settled.
“Find her immediately.”
“Yes, Father.”
“We must not make a mistake this time.”
A bitter smile played on Asher’s lips at his father’s words.
*What exactly can be called a mistake?*
The fire that had ravaged the Marquis’s estate had altered the destiny of Stella, who had been born a noble child destined to join the imperial family.
Not only had it stripped her of her place as the future empress, but it had also threatened her life.
*Whoever did this, they prepared meticulously. And yet he calls this situation a mere mistake…*
Asher shook his head inwardly, his eyes scanning Stella’s room.
Just then, a crumpled piece of white paper rolling on the floor caught his eye.
He picked it up.
*For honor?*
The words written on the paper were incredibly simple.
The problem, however, was that the handwriting belonged to Asher himself.
What if Stella had seen this and misunderstood?
It was highly likely.
After all, the Bronte family—and Asher himself—had given Stella more than enough reason to doubt them.
The blue veins in his hand bulged.
*Damn it!*
