OBML 18
Chapter 18
He looked at the wall clock hanging in the lobby.
2 PM.
Five hours had passed since they had gone out on patrol.
Did that make any sense? That they still had not found one small woman all this time?
“Forgive us!”
The three of them apologized in unison, their voices booming loudly through the castle lobby. Letting those loud voices go in one ear and out the other, Chase removed his gloves.
“Ten seconds. Make your excuse within that.”
Leaning crookedly on one leg and lowering his gaze, his voice poured heavily down over the three men’s bowed heads.
“Well, we thought we would find her quickly, so the three of us searched the Grand Duke’s castle, but no matter how much we looked, she wasn’t-”
Logan’s voice quickly trailed off. Excuse or not, there’s really nothing he could say. Ten seconds was an excessive amount of time to try to justify the result of five hours of nothing.
“Is it certain she’s still inside the castle?”
“Yes! Definitely!”
As if annoyed by how troublesome this had become, Chase pressed his furrowed brow firmly with his thumb.
“Find her. Right now. Even if you have to mobilize every servant in the castle, find her.”
“Yes, understood!”
Logan’s vigorous reply rang out. Chase handed his gloves to the subordinate beside him and headed toward the central staircase.
At that moment, Anthony, the secretary who had been waiting for him to return, quickly moved up alongside him. He was a man with a gentle impression, wearing round gold-rimmed glasses and neatly combed bangs.
“Welcome back, Grand Duke.”
When Chase gave a slight nod in response to the greeting, Anthony glanced behind him. Logan, who had risen the moment the order was given, was already gathering all the servants.
“It seems she still hasn’t been found.”
“Even so, she’s inside the castle.”
Chase replied without slowing his steps and quickly ascended the stairs.
“There are many places to hide inside the castle. Three people may not have been enough. With more personnel now, they should find her soon.”
Anthony withdrew his gaze from the bustling first floor and lightly adjusted his glasses, then took out an invitation from the stack of documents he was holding.
“More importantly, about His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince’s nighttime ball. What will you do? We need to send a reply by today.”
“You still haven’t declined it?”
Chase clicked his tongue out of habit and frowned as if irritated.
“Just in case. If we decline too early like last year and His Imperial Highness refuses to accept the refusal, that would be troublesome.”
“Decline it, and add that he should never invite me again to such a filthy event.”
“Yes. I will decline it appropriately.”
Expressing his intent to convey the message in similar terms, Anthony promptly slipped the invitation back into the documents. Then, as he was scanning the papers as if he had other matters to attend to, Chase, who had nearly reached the top of the central staircase, suddenly stopped and turned around.
“Any word from Grace?”
“…There wasn’t any, you mean.”
“Is that your subjective judgment?”
“I was just about to tell you. Well… They insist that they sent a proper mage. That Nita Grace’s condition looking poor is merely a matter of subjective judgment on your part-”
As Chase stepped onto the final stair, the corner of his mouth twisted.
“Don’t fall for their provocation. They probably just said it to be obstinate.”
“That’s likely. Still, Anthony.”
“Yes, Grand Duke?”
“At this point, wouldn’t it be no problem if I marched straight into the Grace’s territory right now?”
“…There would be problems. Many problems. Please restrain yourself.”
Anthony’s eyes wavered as if something terrible were about to happen. Chase was not someone who merely spoke. He was someone who could actually do such a thing at any moment. And once his temper flared or he became fixated on something, he was extremely persistent and never stopped until he saw it through.
While it is definitely that Grace’s fault this time, if he stormed in right now in this state, a ridiculous conflict with the mages of the Mage Tower would break out.
Of course, the one who would overwhelmingly claim physical victory would be Grand Duke Chase, but that wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was that the North currently needed mages with purification abilities, which the Mage Tower monopolized.
Anthony racked his brain.
“So, about His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince’s nighttime ball. Members of the Grace family will also be attending.”
“To the party?”
“Yes. I don’t know whether the Duke himself will attend, but they say the two Young Lords and the Young Lady will be there. How about going and having a word with them? It might be fine to speak to them using the Grand Duke’s usual approach. And you could also hear their answer about sending Nita Grace back.”
Ten days had passed since Nita Grace came to the Grand Duke’s castle. Chase had declared that he would send her back the very next day and had sent a letter to Grace. And after remaining silent for the past ten days, that was the response they sent.
In truth, no matter what response came from them, the plan had been to send Nita Grace back this morning. After that, he intended to make another request to the Emperor. He had deliberately gone through a deal with the Emperor in preparation for Grace responding this uncooperatively. Chase had more than sufficient right to do so.
