Before Duren could even think deeply, his body moved on its own.
To him, his first mother was someone who had left only sad memories. But after parting with her, the grandmother he met gave him nothing but good memories.
Just like now.
"Duren!"
When Duren suddenly let go of her hand and ran off, the startled Estelle tried to chase after him.
But the crowd was so dense that even taking a single step meant bumping shoulders with others, making it hard to follow.
As Duren quickly vanished into the sea of people, Estelle's face turned pale.
"Madam, I'll go after him!"
One of the knights hurriedly rushed after Duren.
Unaware of the commotion behind him, Duren ran fearlessly through the narrow alleyways and grabbed hold of his grandmother's hem.
"Grandma!"
Grandma! It's Grandma!
"Hm?"
The grandmother turned around.
"Child, who are you?"
Still unable to accept the fact that he would never see his grandmother again, Duren stared fixedly at the woman's face without even blinking.
For a very long time.
The short white hair.
The hunched back.
Everything looked so much like the grandmother Duren remembered.
But "similar" did not mean "the same."
She was not his grandmother.
"Little one, where's your family? Why are you alone? Hurry back to your parents."
Family…
Duren, who had been so full of disappointment, suddenly snapped back to his senses.
Huh?
"Mother!"
His mother was gone.
The best thing to do when separated from a guardian was to stay put.
But Duren had no way of knowing that.
So he just started to run.
Thud—
While running without properly watching his surroundings in search of his mother, Duren crashed into something.
He fell on his bottom and lifted his head.
There were some rough-looking men.
He had run all the way into a secluded place with no people around.
"What's this?"
One of the men, already in a foul mood, grew irritated when a child suddenly ran into him and glared fiercely at Duren.
"Just look at him—he's from Winterlen. Don't get involved, just pretend you didn't see."
Still, the man beside him was rational enough to recognize Duren and try to restrain his companion.
"Wait."
But not everyone in the group thought the same way.
"Hey, kid. Are you alone? Where's your dad?"
Dad? There was no such thing.
Duren shook his head.
"Isn't this a big chance to score?"
"Oliver, he's from Winterlen."
"So what? That just means Winterlen will owe us a favor."
"What do you mean?"
"We just keep hold of the child until the Duke of Winterlen, who lost him, offers a hefty reward."
" …."
"It's a simple matter, isn't it?"
Sensing danger, Duren tried to run. But even standing up was difficult.
He thought crawling on all fours might be easier, so he stretched out his hands—
"They're looking for a lost child, we make a fortune, and everyone ends up happy. Why would we pass that up?"
A large hand blocked Duren's vision.
With Oliver's shout, everything before Duren's eyes went black.
"It is not Madam's fault."
"That's right! It's entirely our fault, Madam bears no blame!"
The knights tasked with protecting Estelle and Duren bent so low it seemed their foreheads would hit the ground.
"If it were me, I'd spend that time searching instead of making excuses."
Having heard the full report, Lennox fixed them with a cold, sharp gaze.
"Y-Yes! We will find the young master without fail!"
As soon as Duren disappeared, a knight rushed after him—but could not find him.
Instead, in a secluded alley, he discovered something unmistakably Duren's: a half-eaten chicken skewer.
A chicken skewer, left behind in a deserted place.
Duren, vanished without a trace.
It seemed far more likely that someone with ill intent had taken him, rather than that he had simply gotten lost.
Lennox immediately ordered the village sealed off and launched a search.
He even went out himself with Estelle to look for Duren.
At first, he hadn't been pleased to accompany Estelle.
"Have you seen a little boy?"
" …."
"Black hair, red eyes. About this tall, around five years old."
"If you've seen him, please—please let us know. Please, I beg you."
But as Estelle stopped every passerby, pleading so earnestly, Lennox could no longer glare at her with cold eyes.
He, who hadn't even bothered to glance in her direction before, now looked at her with a strange expression.
Her throat was already raw from repeating the same words over and over, her voice hoarse and breaking.
Then she began to cough.
Cough, cough.
Estelle hurriedly pressed a handkerchief to her mouth, her face pale.
Blood?
It looked as though there was blood on the handkerchief, but she hid it so quickly that Lennox couldn't be sure.
Normally, coughing up blood would cause alarm.
But her reaction was as calm as if she had merely stifled a light cough.
Lennox couldn't tell if what he'd seen was real or just his imagination.
"You don't need to be out here yourself. If you're tired, go and rest. The moment we find the child, you'll be informed—there's nothing to worry about."
Since her complexion was undeniably poor, he urged her to rest.
But her reply was firm.
"I can't. It's all my fault."
Her face, twisted with both guilt and sorrow, bit hard into her lower lip.
"If only I had held on to Duren a little tighter…"
" …."
"No, it shouldn't have been me—it should have been the knight holding Duren's hand."
At first, Lennox had doubted Estelle.
Perhaps she was only pretending to blame herself, trying to preempt criticism.
Or maybe she was just putting on the act of a good mother to gain his favor.
But watching her closely at his side, he began to think differently.
"Didn't you hear what the knights said earlier?"
" …."
"It isn't your fault."
That must have been why.
Why Lennox offered words of comfort he hadn't needed to say.
Estelle only gave a faint smile in reply, without a word.
It didn't seem as though the comfort had done much.
"Duke!"
And then—less than an hour after the search for Duren had begun—
"We've found them!"
The search party returned.
"We've located the ones suspected of abducting the young master."
"And Duren?"
At the knight's report, Lennox's voice cut sharp.
"Unfortunately, the young master was not with them. They claim he escaped, but we have not yet found him."
"Men who dared abduct someone of Winterlen—there's no guarantee their words are true. I'll interrogate them myself."
"Yes, understood."
At that moment, an unexpected voice broke in.
"I'll go too."
It was Estelle.
"You'll see things you won't want to."
"I'll be fine."
"As you wish."
Let's just hope this interrogation doesn't drag on so long that the woman starts gagging.
With that thought, Lennox moved forward.
Lennox kicked the man bound to the chair.
"Argh!"
Crash—!
Oliver, the man who had kidnapped Duren, toppled backward with the chair.
His head throbbed from hitting the floor, but with his body already battered and broken, the pain hardly stood out.
"Th-that's a lie, I—I swear it's not true!"
Teeth knocked loose from the brutal interrogation, Oliver shouted with a lisping tongue.
"L-look, my… my arm! Please, look at my arm!"
"Check it."
Lennox gave a slight nod.
Waiting nearby, Pippin stepped forward and rolled up Oliver's sleeve.
"There are bite marks."
"T-that kid bit me!"
"The marks are definitely small. It's highly likely they came from the young master."
"…Things have gotten complicated."
Lennox let out a sigh.
Duren had escaped from his kidnappers.
It was commendable—but for the rescuers, it meant their paths had crossed and missed.
"We'll have to search again, starting from the area where this man was found."
"Understood. But, my lord… what shall we do with him?"
"Dispose of him as you see fit."
"Mm—mmph!"
At the merciless command, Oliver tried to beg for his life.
But Pippin swiftly clamped a hand over his mouth, silencing him completely.
Lennox dismissed Oliver's muffled whimpering as little more than the buzzing of flies. His gaze slid briefly to Estelle.
So that was the reason she boldly claimed she wouldn't run, back when we first met.
Even after witnessing such a brutal interrogation, Estelle neither vomited nor trembled.
Instead, she seemed deep in thought about something.
Strong nerves. Nothing bad about that.
Better this than collapsing in a faint.
As Lennox was thinking that, Estelle, perhaps sensing his gaze, lifted her head and spoke.
"I think I know where Duren went."