If You Leave Without a Word - Chapter 126
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
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It was also a way for Cain to test whether they could manage the estate effectively. He likely wanted to confirm whether he could trust the personnel sent by the Grand Duke and his wife.
Instead of making the most of the opportunity, she had showcased her own incompetence, all in front of the watching maids. Her ears still buzzed with embarrassment. She wanted to say that she hadn’t realized ignoring the Madam, whom even the Marquis dismissed, would be such a grave mistake, but Teschen wasn’t foolish enough to voice that thought.
A cold wind bit at her skin. Teschen sighed, recalling the coat she had hastily left behind in her rush. Her breath briefly turned to white vapor before dissipating in the air.
“It’s such a chilly day, yet you choose to leave the house. I just can’t understand it.”
Teschen knew that this incident was her fault but was still finding a way to blame Agatha.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
The bedroom, now empty of its occupant, felt chillingly empty. Cain reached out to close the window, convinced he could still catch a faint whiff of Agatha’s lingering scent wafting through the opening.
Everything about the space around him felt strangely foreign today. It was odd how the absence of just one person could make such a difference.
Cain slowly surveyed the room—the neatly made bed and the absence of warmth in the surroundings. Everything was as it had been that morning.
He had come back to double-check, worried he might have missed something. The room seemed to mock his hopes of finding any clue; it was simply cold.
It was hard to believe that Agatha had left behind the divorce agreement and disappeared. Even with the bishop’s message confirming reality, he knew denying the truth wouldn’t help, yet his heart refused to settle, despite the rational part of him insisting he needed to find a way forward.
Two questions continually hammered away at his mind: when and how?
“Let’s talk, Sir. I have something to say.”
He couldn’t quite recall her expression when she had pulled him aside like that. Cain quietly reflected on the previous night.
“I told you to relay any messages through the butler. Anything at all.”
What had Agatha replied?
“It’s nothing.”
It couldn’t have been nothing. She had rushed in and even grabbed his sleeve, clearly intending to say something important. Realizing this now made him feel truly foolish.
If he hadn’t brushed aside the thought that ‘if it were truly important, she wouldn’t have just looked at him with such empty hands,’ he wouldn’t be stumbling around trying to find a wife who had vanished overnight.
Regret mixed with a deep sigh, now that it was too late for any useful action. He couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. He needed to find anything related to Agatha, to see if she had left behind any traces, intentionally or accidentally.
As Cain opened drawer after drawer, searching for clues, his fingers brushed against something.
“This is….”
It was a jewelry box. Could it be one of the gifts he had given her? Cain quickly tried to recall, but none of the items he had given Agatha resembled this box.
A sense of unpleasantness welled up within him as he opened the box with more force than necessary. He opened it so abruptly that a card fell out and landed on the floor.
Aside from the card, the interior of the box was empty. The indentation left in the fabric lining suggested that it had contained something until recently. Cain picked up the fallen card.
[Dear Agatha, happy birthday.
John, C]
“Dear?”
Ha…
“John?”
What kind of nonsense was this? He gritted his teeth in anger.
“Marquis, the head maid has returned with the maid.”
“…….”
“Your Grace?”
“……Let’s go.”
Unaware that the rage enveloping him was actually a deep-seated jealousy, Cain followed Havel out of the bedroom, clutching the jewelry box tightly in his hand.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
The reception room at the west end of the main building was the least frequented area of the estate.
Unlike the architect’s original intention for the estate, this secluded location had become a place of neglect. Havel, the butler, had decided to keep the head maid waiting here.
Havel was indeed a seasoned butler.
“The Marquis is here.”
One of the maid standing at the door announced Cain’s arrival.
Teschen quickly opened the door from within, and Cain strode in with long strides.
The maid was kneeling, turned away from the large window.
The backlighting cast a shadow on her face. As Cain stepped in, the sudden rush of sunlight made him squint for a moment.
“Is this the maid that Agatha brought with her?”
“Yes, Your Grace. Her name is Liana.”
Teschen answered on her behalf.
Thankfully, while Cain was discussing something with the butler in the study, Liana had been found and brought back safely. If she had been any later, or if she hadn’t found Liana at all, she couldn’t even begin to imagine what might have happened.
