Chapter 29
‘What’s so important about eating…’
‘What? Not eating? Do you want to keep taking medicine until you’re full, or will you just sit quietly and eat? Choose.’
“……”
Grace had always been particular about making sure meals were eaten.
When he used to be picky about food, she would sincerely take out countless pills, as if she were ready to stuff them into his mouth if he refused to eat.
Recalling those old days, Kainel stood from his seat.
Come to think of it, there was a stew Grace always made for him when he had no appetite…
“…This is.”
Could it be a coincidence?
Finally taking a closer look at the food Del had left behind, Kainel’s expression became peculiar.
“Wouldn’t it be better to prepare fresh food for him?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Serving the Grand Duke outside food… If His Majesty were to find out, I’d be in serious trouble.”
The chef was still unhappy. After all, Del had brought this food in from outside.
No matter how popular the food might be, offering it to the Grand Duke was unthinkable!
“The reviews were good.”
“Still…”
Click.
The chef and Del, who had been lingering outside Kainel’s office, turned quickly at the sound of the maid opening the door.
“Ah…”
Seeing the empty plate in her hands, both their expressions turned to astonishment.
A smile began to spread across Del’s face. The plate was completely clean.
“Looks like I’ll have to stand in line again tomorrow.”
An hour, two hours—waiting was no longer an issue.
Crash!
At that moment, the door to the office opened, and Kainel stepped out.
He held a coat in his hand as if ready to go out.
“Where is it?”
“Pardon?”
“That food. Where did you get it?”
***
“Sister! A letter from Dave!”
“A letter?”
Yulia came running with a small envelope.
Somehow, they had managed to hear from Dave.
But even though it was the news she’d been waiting for, Yulia’s expression was far from cheerful. In fact, she looked quite down.
Ceres knelt to meet Yulia’s eyes and gently patted her back to comfort her.
“Did something happen?”
“Well… It sounds like the man he’s living with hits him.”
“What?”
“Look at this.”
Taking the letter Yulia handed her, Ceres began to read. Her brows furrowed as she scanned the contents.
The clumsily written letters were pressed into the paper, and the message itself was troubling, just as Yulia had said.
The letter mainly detailed how the man Dave’s mother had run off with was abusive and violent. Dave even wrote that he felt like he might die if things continued this way.
“Even Dave’s mom gets hit. That man must be really bad.”
Yulia, clearly worried about Dave, started speaking faster and faster.
“Sister, shouldn’t we tell Dave’s father? He said to let him know if we heard anything, remember?”
“…We should.”
Nodding, Ceres carefully folded the letter.
“I’ll deliver the message myself.”
“I want to go with you.”
“No. Stay here with Colin.”
“……”
Looking at Ceres’ face, Yulia stayed quiet for once, not throwing a tantrum.
Ceres tossed her apron aside and prepared to leave. Colin, the butler, looked at her with concern—her expression was unusually tense.
“Miss, are you sure it’s okay to go alone? Shouldn’t I accompany you…”
“No. I need to confirm a few things.”
“Confirm? What do you mean?”
“At first, I planned to let it go. Investigating something based on mere suspicion felt unnecessary. But…”
Ceres tightened her grip on the letter.
“How dare he try to use my little sister?”
“Pardon?”
Use?
Not understanding what she meant, Colin instinctively pulled Yulia a step back with him.
Ceres’ lips curled into a faint smirk, making it clear that staying close to her at the moment would not be a wise idea.
“Sister, are you angry?”
Yulia’s eyes also widened.
She had seen that expression before—when Ceres came to the nursing home to fetch her.
“I’ll be back.”
Leaving the two, who instinctively realized something had happened, behind, Ceres stepped out of the shop.
***
Knock, knock.
“Who is it?”
Unlike before, the door opened promptly, and Dave’s father appeared.
“Huh? It’s you…”
Recognizing Ceres, he gave her a puzzled look as if to ask why she was there.
“I’ve received a letter. From Dave.”
“A letter? From Dave?”
“May I come in?”
“Of course! Please, come in!”
He hastily opened the door wider and guided Ceres into the house.
“Is it true? Did you really hear from Dave?”
“Could you get me a cup of tea first? I’m a bit thirsty.”
“Oh… Just a moment.”
Hurrying to the kitchen, he prepared a drink for her.
Only then did Ceres hand him the letter she brought.
His eyes quickly scanned the letter, and soon tears welled up.
“Dave… our Dave…”
“The boy seems to be in danger, doesn’t he?”
“Ugh… Sniff!”
“Shouldn’t you report this? We need to find him.”
“Yes, we must.”
“Unfortunately, there’s no address in the letter. It would have been helpful if he had written one, considering the dangerous situation.”
“We’ll file a missing person report! We have to find him!”
He wiped his tears and shouted with determination.
“You know, if a missing person report is filed and their status remains unknown for a certain period, they’re declared dead. It’s one year for those lost in the Black Forest region and five years for others.”
“…What?”
“Oh, you didn’t know?”
Ceres murmured casually, as if stating a trivial fact, and his eyes widened, as though he was hearing it for the first time.
“Report it to the guards first. Quickly.”
“Yes, yes.”
“I’ll leave after finishing this tea. You don’t have to worry about me staying behind—I won’t steal anything.”
After hesitating for a moment, he nodded deeply, seemingly deciding that reporting the matter was the priority. He rushed out to show the letter to the guards.
Thud.
A little while later, Ceres set the teacup down firmly and muttered coldly.
“I won’t steal anything.”
But I will take a peek into the past.
She looked around the house before placing her hand on the floor.
At first, there was no reaction. Only a noticeable layer of dust on some spots.
“……”
However, as time passed, the situation began to change. Faint, unknown stains started appearing in various places.
Ceres didn’t stop there and continued reversing time.
The once faint stains began to grow darker and more defined.
And eventually, the scene in the house reached a particular moment.
“Ha…”
Ceres let out a hollow laugh.
She had expected it to some extent.
A sea of blood.
There was no other way to describe it.
The floor and walls were soaked with crimson stains, and Ceres couldn’t say anything for a while.
“So, it was the smell of blood-cleaning chemicals after all.”
There’s a specific product used to remove bloodstains from clothing after treating a patient’s wounds.
The first time she visited this house, that scent had lingered heavily in the air.
It was sweet enough that someone unfamiliar with it wouldn’t think much of it.
Of course, it could have been from a nosebleed or an accidental injury, cleaned up with the chemical.
‘But what about the insurance?’
The sudden review of the insurance policies under his runaway wife and son’s names?
The question about how long it takes for a missing person to be declared dead?
‘Is that something a normal person would do?’
Ceres couldn’t help but have reasonable doubts.
But acting on mere suspicion, especially without authority, left her feeling uneasy.
‘There’s no concrete evidence.’
So she had decided to watch for a bit longer.
“How dare he try to use Yulia?”
After reading the letter supposedly from Dave, Ceres was astounded.
It seemed like the man had tried to imitate a child’s handwriting, pressing the pen awkwardly and writing clumsily.
“For someone who doesn’t even know his son’s handwriting, he put a lot of thought into this.”
Once, Yulia had shown Ceres a letter Dave had written when he gave her a small hairpin as a gift. His handwriting had been surprisingly neat and mature for a child, leaving a strong impression on her.
But today’s letter wasn’t written in that style.
The letters were slightly tilted to one side, as if written with the left hand.
—
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