Chapter 26

# 26

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The evidence Filipa possessed was not just a single ledger.

She had collected various pieces of evidence of embezzlement over the long period during which she had been misappropriating funds.

Originally, these would have been enough to get her executed by Nikan, but things were different now.

"Search the kitchen!"

The search proceeded quickly.

"What, what is this, all of a sudden!"

The cook's face turned pale at the sight of the knights and administrative officers who had suddenly burst in like a bolt from the blue.

He had done so much wrong that his guilt was eating away at him.

Inside his quarters, there were numerous expensive items, far more than what he could afford on a cook's salary.

The administrative officer, with a fierce expression, said to the cook,

"Administrative officers have also been dispatched to the merchant who colluded with you. It would be best not to try to deny it."

While the cook was being searched, Linden and Filipa ransacked Charlotte's quarters.

When a trinket similar to the one recorded in the ledger was found in the room, Linden's expression turned grim, while Filipa looked triumphant.

"Find Charlotte immediately!"

They couldn't let a mere servant who dared to disrupt the great Agnes's discipline go unpunished.

However, Charlotte was nowhere to be found.

Filipa, cursing Charlotte for making things more complicated, went to Navia's room.

If she wasn't anywhere else, Navia's room was the only place left!

"Charlotte!"

Filipa opened the door and called out confidently, but then hesitated.

There was no one in the room.

'Not here either? Where could that Navia have gone?'

Could they be plotting something?

There was no reason for both of them to disappear at the same time!

Filipa, growing anxious, pressed the servants.

"Find Charlotte quickly! We need to catch her before she escapes!"

Filipa strutted around the mansion, treating Charlotte as a criminal.

"There is no servant named Charlotte in the mansion!"

"Huh..."

Filipa was taken aback but almost cheered.

It was for the better.

While the cook's guilt was clear, the evidence against Charlotte was flimsy, consisting of just a few trinkets.

But by hiding at such a crucial moment, the picture was now complete.

"That damn thing must have realized and fled! We need to find her quickly!"

Linden sighed in frustration.

'Charlotte yesterday, Charlotte today. And it seems there's really a problem today.'

If he reported to Nikan that a corrupt servant had fled, he might get into trouble.

They needed to catch her before Nikan returned from the royal city.

"Increase the search party!"

They were expanding the search to the garden, greenhouse, and annexes.

"We found her!"

At the welcome sound, Linden hurriedly followed the servant to one of the annexes.

Filipa quickly joined the butler.

She needed to corner Charlotte, who would deny the corruption.

And then.

"…What's going on here?"

Charlotte was in an annex that was currently unused and sealed.

However, she was unconscious.

"Something's wrong, sir. This annex was locked from the outside."

"What? Then someone must have knocked Charlotte out and locked her in!"

Filipa, sensing that things were going awry, spoke urgently.

"Was it the cook's doing? He must have done this to cover up his embezzlement!"

It was a far-fetched claim, and everyone just frowned without responding.

"…Move Charlotte and take her to the doctor."

"Yes, sir."

Linden thought the situation was taking a strange turn.

A servant, who had been searching the mansion, cautiously spoke up.

"By the way, Miss Navia hasn't been seen."

"What? Since when?"

"Since we started searching for the servant Charlotte, she hasn't been seen. She might have been missing before that..."

At that moment, a harsh voice came from behind.

"What do you mean by that!"

Linden, looking startled, quickly turned around.

Nikan, who had just returned from a mission, was approaching with a terrifying expression.

"M-Master!"

"Explain what's happening immediately!"

Linden reported the situation, from the cook's corruption that Filipa had uncovered to the current state of affairs.

Nikan's expression grew increasingly grim as he listened.

He couldn't tolerate a servant daring to embezzle from his household.

But Navia was missing, and her dedicated servant was unconscious and locked in an annex.

This was clearly a kidnapping! He was so angry that he felt dizzy.

'How could this happen when I had already arranged a meeting with the empress?'

Nikan, losing his composure, shouted.

"Find her! Search the entire capital if you have to, but find Navia immediately!"

* * *

Blink.

Navia wasn't sure if she had actually blinked.

It was pitch black, and she couldn't see anything.

'Where am I?'

She could feel the floor behind her back.

Navia, lying down, moved her hand slightly to feel the floor.

'It's a wooden floor.'

Additionally, the place smelled musty and damp.

"Damn."

She could easily guess the situation when she recalled her last memory.

'…I've been kidnapped.'

That damn Wood had ignored his father's threats and finally made his move.

"Ouch…"

The spot where she had been hit when she was kidnapped throbbed with pain.

Navia took a short deep breath to calm her racing heart.

'First, stay calm. Panicking won't help.'

If Wood had kidnapped her, she needed to check her physical condition.

She might have broken something in the process.

Fortunately, it didn't seem like she had been hit anywhere else.

Moreover, she wasn't bound.

'No gag, no restraints on my hands or feet.'

The situation was surprisingly sloppy, and Navia was momentarily taken aback but quickly assessed the situation.

'This doesn't look like the work of a professional.'

It seemed Wood had ordered a servant to lock her up here.

'The reason I'm locked up here is obvious.'

He was likely trying to incapacitate her without using magic.

However, Wood hadn't touched her.

He wasn't here either.

This meant he could return at any moment.

Or something unexpected had happened, forcing him to leave.

'Like Nikan finding him.'

There was one thing she could deduce from this.

'I'm still inside the Agnes mansion.'

If so, where was she? Navia wanted to check the interior, but it was too dark to see anything.

So, she closed her eyes tightly and focused all her attention on her hearing.

Where was she, how long had she been unconscious, and was anyone outside…?

Then she heard a sound that could help her estimate the time.

'It's a bird's chirping.'

She wasn't sure what kind of bird, but she recognized the sound from the nights.

'So it's night now?'

She also gained another piece of information.

'The musty smell and the fact that I can hear outside suggest this is an external storage room.'

Where was Charlotte?

Would Charlotte, noticing her absence, lead people to search the mansion?

'That's unlikely.'

It was more probable that Wood had also knocked Charlotte out and locked her elsewhere.

'Cold…'

Navia shivered.

The mansion was well-heated, so she was only wearing a thick dress.

Navia stretched out her hand to feel around and, finding nothing to obstruct her, cautiously got up.

She didn't plan to stay locked up.

'If there's even a small light, it would be helpful.'

Navia felt around the floor to explore the interior.

Clunk!

Her foot hit an empty wooden box.