The Search for the Duchess’s Husband Chapter 110

Crank’s voice crackled in the room.

 

“Whenever the nobles gather, they see your ugliness. Not only did you get a divorce, but you instigated the Countess of Elysium to turn her husband into a criminal. Do you know how humiliated I am every time I hear about this? You’ve done a great disservice to the family name!”

 

Artia was not surprised, for she had always said of him, “A woman has brought House Edenberg to this point.

 

‘What can I say?’

 

Crank’s thunderous exclamation was directed at Artia, who looked thoughtful.

 

“Send Lady Elysium home now and get down on your knees and apologize to Count Elysium! Tell him you are sorry for luring his innocent wife into this dishonorable affair!”

 

Artia, who had stood silently listening to him, spoke up.

 

“No.”

 

Crank’s eyes widened in embarrassment at the bluntness of her answer.

 

Artia spoke up, her tone impatient.

 

“Apologizing is for the one who’s in the wrong, so it should be Count Elysium who hit his wife, not me.”

 

“What, what…”

 

“If you’ve said all you have to say, I’ll leave you to it.”

 

Artia bowed slightly and turned to leave, a muffled voice behind her.

 

“Isn’t that why I told you I’m in no condition to repent with words?”

 

“……!”

 

Artia spun around, her eyes wide.

 

In the room where she thought she was alone with her uncle stood a man she had never imagined. It was Count Elysium.

 

“How could you…”

 

Count Elysium’s thin lips twitched, looking as grumpy as any man in days.

 

“It is time for you to pay the price for your unbridled rage, Artia von Edenberg.”

 

“……!”

 

With those words, Count Elysium clamped a white towel over Artia’s mouth. Artia struggled, but it was no use.

 

After a few moments, she lost consciousness and closed her eyes.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Vivi’s dark eyebrows knitted together as she sat in the outsiders’ common room.

 

‘This conversation is getting too long…’

 

A maid is supposed to wait loyally for her master, even if it takes longer. Normally, Vivi would have done this without a word.

 

But it felt so strange.

 

She didn’t have a plausible reason, just a hunch.

 

A gut feeling that something had happened to her master.

 

And her instincts were always frighteningly accurate.

 

Without thinking, Vivi left the common room and went to the room Artia had entered. In the doorway stood the servant she had seen earlier.

 

Sensing Vivi’s unusual vigor, the servant spoke nervously.

 

“What is it?”

 

“I have something urgent to tell my master, so please let me in.”

 

“If you tell me, I will deliver it.”

 

“No, I must tell her myself.”

 

The conversation ended there. Before the servant’s body had hit the floor, Vivi had thrown open the door.

 

Inside the huge chamber, Crank stood startled, and Artia was nowhere to be seen.

 

Vivi’s auburn eyes glowed sharply.

 

“Emergency.”

 

“How dare you come in on the subject of a maid…”

 

Crank didn’t forget the words. In a single step, Vivi was on him, untying the leather cord that bound his hair and throwing it around his neck.

 

With the look of someone seizing an animal, Vivi said, “Where’s my master?”

 

“Hey, what are you doing…”

 

Instead of answering, Vivi yanked on the leash and strangled Crank.

 

“Kerr, kerr.”

 

Choking, Crank let out an agonized moan. Just before he lost consciousness, Vivi loosened the leash.

 

“Next time I’ll tighten it until you can’t breathe.”

 

“Hmph, hmph.”

 

“Answer me. Where is my master?”

 

The high-pitched voice was sinister.

 

‘If I don’t answer this time, this bitch will definitely kill me.’

 

Instinctively, Crank realized that the voice was sincere, and he felt a tremendous sense of fear. Crank opened his mouth, his face white with fear.

 

“Uh, Count Elysium took her.”

 

“……?!”

 

Suddenly VIvi’s hand tightened. The rope around his neck tightened, and the terrified Crank blurted out the unasked-for words.

 

“Eh, Count Elysium has threatened to unite with the other nobles and declare war on our house if we don’t cooperate, and we can’t risk our house for one Artia… heck!”

 

Vivi grabbed Crank’s throat. Crank’s eyes went wide with the force that threatened to break his neck.

 

Vivi asked, “Where has Count Elysium taken my master?”

 

“Mo, mo, I don’t know… big…”

 

Crank replied, barely managing to keep his voice from cracking.

 

Only to live.

 

Vivi realized with her uncharacteristically sharp senses that he was telling the truth and that there was no point in holding him any longer.

 

Vivi whispered in a low voice.

 

“If anything happens to my master, I will kill you. I will skin you alive, disembowel you and cut you into pieces.”

 

“……!”

 

“So find my master now and protect her, that’s what you’re going to do.”

 

Vivi left the room with a chilling threat and disappeared.

 

As Vivi left the mansion, she thought to herself.

 

‘Should I go to Count Elysium?’

 

But even for Vivi, searching the mansion of a noble family alone would take a long time. No, she couldn’t do that. She had to find Artia as soon as possible.

 

Vivi made a quick decision.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The Imperial Palace.

 

 

Inside the huge room, Killian sat arrogantly with his legs crossed, muttering as he flipped through papers.

 

“Long time no see.”

 

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Vivi appeared. Killian’s golden eyes widened at the thought of the shameless assassin.

 

“Are you…”

 

Vivi skipped the greeting and got straight to the point.

 

“Your Majesty, I need your help to find my master!”

 

“……!”

 

Killian didn’t ask Vivi what had happened. Instead, he just stared at Vivi with an eerie expression.

 

After a moment, his golden eyes began to sparkle like flames.

 

Vivi’s eyes widened as she stood before him.

 

‘This is…’

 

The magic was obvious.

 

The omnipotent power of Orpheus, the first emperor who founded the empire. A rare ability that only a few imperials were born with.

 

‘But I’ve heard that Lord Killian can’t use magic at all?’

 

Vivi realized that what she had heard might not be true.

 

The strange aura emanating from Killian’s golden eyes was eerie enough to make her entire body tremble, and a normal person would have fainted.

 

After a few moments, Killian’s voice came out in a hushed tone.

 

“I found her.”

 

Before Vivi could ask what he had found, Killian transformed into a black panther. The panther moved with lightning speed and disappeared through the window in a flash.

 

Vivi’s eyes widened in disbelief, and when she saw where Killian had left, she spoke up.

 

“He should have told me where my master is.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Artia opened her eyes.

 

In the darkened room stood Count Elysium.

 

His eyes were bloodshot, his beard scruffy, and he reeked of alcohol.

 

Count Elysium looked nothing like he used to, and he looked down at Artia and opened his mouth.

 

“You’re not an easy woman to find, being a husbandless wench.”

 

The security at Edenberg Manor was tight. Even getting close to Artia was difficult, especially with Vivi by her side at all times.

 

“So I asked the elders of Edenberg for help. Crank von Edenberg said he would help me, as if he had been waiting for me.”

 

Count Elysium chuckled.

 

“You’re a pretty mean bitch, to be hated so much, even by your own blood.”

 

Artia, who had been listening quietly, retorted.

 

“It’s not that I’m a mean bitch, it’s that my uncle is an incredibly mean bastard, selling his niece off to a man of another family because he doesn’t like her.”