Stepmothers Are Not Always Evil

“Count Tilburne agreed to link the Academy with the Navy?”

“That’s good, The Navy treats them well.”

“But where are we going to get the soldiers to fight the monsters?”

“There must be another way. In fact, the sacrifice has been too great.”

“It is, but… The price of magic stones will rise again.”

Today’s tea time showed no sign of ending.

The chatter continued without stopping, as if trying to make up for the atmosphere chilled by the friction between me and the Duchess of Eaton.

Unlike me, who didn’t get along well because I was uncomfortable, the Duchess of Eaton was calm as if nothing had happened.

I guess that’s what it takes to survive in social circles.

I looked around the garden, turned from the gossip.

The disappearing Escal was nowhere to be seen.

‘He’s obviously broken-hearted.’

He’s been depressed since our last meeting, and it must be upsetting to be scolded for something you didn’t do.

‘Is my greed too big?’

If I hadn’t attended this meeting, there would have been no argument.

I wondered if what I had done for Escal had only burdened the child.

‘I must have been a long way from becoming a mother.’

I sighed and reflected on my shortcomings.

“Shall we end here today?”

After checking the time, the Empress announced.

The wives stood up from their seats with a look of regret even after making such a fuss.

As I left the pavilion, the servant rang the bell.

The children who had been playing scattered all over the garden returned to their mothers one by one.

‘Where’s Escal?’

Escal did not show up, even though the attendants looked around the garden and summoned all the children.

“Escal, you need to go back.”

I raised my voice and called Escal. But no answer came back.

“Escal.”

Where did he go?

“Escal?”

I went around the garden looking for the child, wondering if he might have fallen asleep in the corner, but Escal was nowhere to be seen.

“Escal! Answer me, Escal!”

My heart sank.

The Empress who was about to get on the carriage approached me as I was looking for Escal while I was stood there.

“What’s going on, madam?”

“I can’t see Escal.”

“What are you all doing? Go find the young master Anthemion!”

“Yes.”

Dozens of servants scattered around at her command and started looking for Escal.

I also searched through the trees and into the fountain, but Escal was nowhere to be found.

After searching the garden for a while, the palace servant returned empty-handed and opened his mouth.

“It seems he’s not here.”

“What do you mean? So where did he go?”

“I was wondering if he might have taken a wrong turn into the hunting grounds…”

“A hunting ground?”

The Empress frowned upon hearing the report.

“Isn’t the hunting ground blocked?”

“It is true, but it would not have been difficult for a young master to move in and out.”

“There must be many dangerous beasts in the hunting grounds. There are wolves, and there are wild boars…”

The Empress’s muttering made my mind blank.

“Which way is the hunting ground? Please guide me.”

“Madam, calm down. We’re not sure yet…”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Please go back first.”

As I resisted the Empress’s disapproval and moved toward the hunting ground, the servants ran in dismay and stopped me.

“The Duchess, we will find him again.”

“That’s okay. Just tell me what I need to do to get into the hunting grounds.”

“The hunting grounds have been closed for a long time, so entering alone can be dangerous. I’ll call the soldiers….”

“Then what about Escal? Escal is over there!”

I shouted back. I couldn’t hear the servants’ urgings or the ladies’ chatter.

I found a small door on one side of the garden, blocked by iron vines, and walked towards it.

“Everyone, don’t just stare and stop the Duchess!”

“Madam, you can’t do this.”

At the order of the Empress, the servants blocked my front layer by layer.

“Get out of the way!”

“I’m sorry, madam.”

I shouted and pushed them like crazy.

“Come on, get out of my away! I need to find Escal!”

“What are you doing! Contact Duke Anthemion! hurry!”

****

“You lost him?”

“I am sorry, sir.”

“You bastard, you can’t handle a single kid straight away!”

The Duke of Eaton smashed the desk ferociously.

The man who lured Escal into the forest lowered his head and opened his mouth.

“Still, he fell off the cliff, so he wouldn’t have survived.”

“Who knows that!”

The Duke of Eaton threw the pen he was holding at the man’s face. A sharp nib scratched his cheek.

The man picked up the pen that had fallen on the floor without hesitation and put it on the desk.

“What if he comes back alive!”

“I told him it was done by his mother, so there is nothing to worry about.”

“You’re so proud of yourself that you don’t even reflect on your failures, Harriet.”

Harriet Tuffman, was the Duke of Eaton’s dog, quietly bowed his head.

“It’s already the second time. You messed things up.”

“……”

“It’s not like you killing Baron Rockefeller. If this happens, Helios will go crazy.”

“If anything happens, I will take responsibility.”

“Can you say that for sure?”

The Duke of Eaton looked at him with bitter eyes. Harriet nodded bluntly.

“If things go wrong, you die first. Did you know?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re going to the magic stone mine for the time being.”

“Yes, sir.”

Harriet gave a short answer and left the office.

Duke Eaton looked at the closed door and raised the corner of his mouth sullenly.

“That damn bastard must be in a hurry by now.”

If it hadn’t been for that guy Helios or his wife, who was digging into the case, and fussing around, this wouldn’t have happened.

“So, you have to look at people’s status before touching it.”

The yarn from Glatan that was thrown into the furnace ignited.

****

The search, which started at night, continued into daylight.

The hunting ground, which had been closed for a while, was overgrown with weeds, making it difficult to search.

The soldiers sent by the Emperor and dozens of knights from the Duke Anthemion family searched the hunting grounds like this, but there was no news that they had found Escal.

“You still haven’t found him?”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“I don’t need you to say sorry, keep searching”

While investigating the case of Baron Rockefeller, Helios, who heard the news that Escal had disappeared, ran to the hunting grounds and rebuked the soldier with a nervous voice.

‘Where did the boy go?’

No matter how wide the hunting ground is, it’s strange that I can’t find a single hair after searching through it like this.

Even if he was attacked by wild beasts, traces would remain.

According to Lenia, she only noticed it after two or three hours of disappearance, so I thought he might have gone outside instead of the hunting ground.

“Dustin.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We need to broaden the scope of our search. See if no suspicious people passed by near the hunting grounds at the time Escal disappeared.”

“All right.”

****

The search continued for three days.

The royal hunting grounds, as well as the surrounding area, expanded the scope to explore, but no traces of Escal could be found anywhere.

To make matters worse, the sudden torrential rain in early summer wiped away even the remaining traces.

After several days of forced march, the search corps also started to fall tired one by one.

Dustin brought the news to the disturbed Helios.

“Your Excellency, it appears that one of the servants who was mobilized for the meeting on the day of the disappearance has vanished.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ve heard it from several people, so it must be true.”

“Have you identified him, and which palace does he belong to?”

“That is… No one knows.”

“What?”

Helios raised his eyebrows.

“Isn’t there a list of servants?”

“It seems that someone who is not on the list has been hiding.”

Bang! Helios hit the wall.

If a person disguised as a servant took Escal, it means that he intentionally took the child.

“Keep this a secret, release the person and track them down in detail. Pay particular attention to the Duke of Eaton.”

“All right.”

Dustin leaned back and then continued.

“And… They have inquired about the permission to bury Baron Rockefeller’s body.”

“Ah.”

Helios, who had completely forgotten about the Baron Rockefeller incident, was focused on finding Escal, and rubbed his forehead.

Baron Rockefeller’s body was embalmed to identify the weapon, thinking that the killer would be caught soon, but it was too old to leave it unattended.

It’s irresponsible, but with Escal missing, there was no time to worry about the case of Baron Rockefeller.

Helios had to make a decision as he couldn’t delay the investigation for personal reasons.

“I will tell Your Majesty directly.”

“Yes.”

That afternoon, Helios stopped the search and went to visit the Emperor. Upon hearing the news from the Empress, the Emperor welcomed him.

“I see Your Majesty the Emperor.”

“Come here, Duke. Did you find your child?”

“Not yet… We are still looking for him.”

“It’s raining like this, so it’s a big deal.”

The Emperor looked at him with sad eyes as he was dripping water.

“You don’t know how sorry the Empress is, either. If you need anything for the search, you can tell me.”

“Thank you for your words.”

Helios lowered his head deeply and spoke with difficulty.

“I have come to see your Majesty because I have something important to tell you.”

“Tell me.”

“It seems that the investigation into the Baron Rockefeller case will no longer be possible.”

I didn’t know how ignorant it was to give up the investigation after taking the investigation right away from the Imperial investigation team, but the investigation was difficult as it was.

Finding Escal was also a problem, but the shock Lenia received was indescribable.

He barely stopped her from jumping into the hunting grounds to search and sent her to the mansion, but she couldn’t eat or sleep, and she was anxious and worried that something might happen.

“I apologize for neglecting my official duties due to personal reasons. I will take responsibility for this after I find the child.”

The Emperor sighed and waved his hand.

“As a father of three children, I fully understand the Duke’s feelings. Please do that.”

“I’m sorry. your majesty.”

“No. I’ve also sent portraits of Escalium’s to the army across the Empire to look for him, so you’ll find him soon.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“You may go.”

****

“Ugh….”

A thin moan escaped from the child’s mouth, which had been sleeping for a long time.

It felt like my head was going to break.

No arm, no back, no throat, no place that didn’t hurt.

Mom…

Through his charred lips, Escal struggled to lift his eyelids.

“Oh, he woke up.”