Chapter 3

"Hey, answer me! Did you hear anything from Adel!?"

"Eh...?"

"No way, Adel! You can't possibly be lying about this!"

Finally, the viscount's hands moved away from his chest, and he clutched his head. The viscountess's face was a mess of tears and snot. Watching the unusually flustered pair, Marguerite was so stunned that she couldn't even straighten her clothes.

After standing silently as usual for a moment, the viscount gathered the few servants and, with bloodshot eyes, asked about Adel. As she listened to the conversation, which grew fainter, it seemed that Adel had disappeared from the mansion.

"What are we going to do!?"

"There's less than a week until the agreement! Adel must have been unable to accept it. What should we do...!"

"I thought Adel had fully accepted it. If this continues, what will become of the Nefashal family!"

The two, who were worried about the Nefashal family rather than Adel, puzzled Marguerite. They were supposed to prioritize Adel above all else, but something seemed off. It turned out that Adel had been arranged to marry a month ago, and Marguerite was hearing about it for the first time. Adel herself had said she accepted the marriage, but the situation suggested otherwise.

"Where is Adel now! I can't believe she would go with a man like that..."

"It's all because of that second son of the baron! I thought we had finally distanced her from that rotten playboy, but this happened."

"Oh, Adel...!"

"If we go look for her now, we might still catch up with her!?"

"There are wheel tracks from a carriage! It's too late, we can't catch up."

There were no words to comfort the weeping Viscountess Nefashal. From the conversation, it seemed that Adel had fled through the back door right after breakfast and eloped with Owen Bayzley. Adel had told her maid, Ray, that she wasn't feeling well and would rest until lunch, and Ray had believed her and continued with her other duties.

(With so few servants, it's easy to slip out of the mansion without being seen.)

The Nefashal family had only three servants, including Marguerite. The mansion looked grand, but it was empty inside.

Adel's elopement partner, Owen, was the second son of Baron Bayzley. The Bayzley barony was next to the Nefashal viscounty, but it was known as a lawless area with poor security. Marguerite didn't want to think about how they made their money, but they had good cash flow and a more luxurious mansion with many more servants than the Nefashal family. The barony's title had been bought with money.

Marguerite had only seen the Bayzley baronial mansion when she was a child, and since then she had worked as a servant, so she didn't know much about it. However, in recent years, there had been constant bad rumors, and the barony was a problem in society. The royal family was also having trouble with the Bayzley family, and the Viscount Nefashal had kept his distance.

Adel and Owen were only acquaintances, but Marguerite had seen them meet secretly several times recently. She had even seen Adel leaning out of her window at night, whispering to a young man who was declaring his love. That must have been Owen. However, Marguerite had no intention of reporting this to the Nefashals. She owed them no loyalty or gratitude.

For Adel, who had been pampered and doted on all her life, being attracted to Owen, who was free-spirited and a bit of a rogue, was not surprising.