“I’ll be going now. Thank you, everyone!”
After using the errands as an excuse, I parted ways with the maids and headed to the study located at the far end of the detached building. I picked up the documents that Lise had mentioned.
Once I delivered this, I would have no more work for the afternoon.
And yet, for some reason…
“Young master?”
No matter how much I looked around, Lise was nowhere to be seen. I checked the garden he might frequent, the library, the training room, and even the study—but he wasn’t anywhere.
“Del?”
Even Delma was missing. I searched the main building from the first floor to the fifth, and even asked passing servants about Lise’s whereabouts, but no one knew where he was.
“…Could he have gone to the west annex?”
The head maid had once casually mentioned that Lise hadn’t so much as breathed in that direction for nearly ten years, but still—there was always a chance.
If he wasn’t there, then the only remaining place was the Black Forest, but that area was locked.
“I heard the western building is rarely used by servants under the Duke’s orders… I should just check nearby and come back. I don’t want to get in trouble for overstepping.”
I’d heard that the Casio bloodline disliked crowded places.
That was why they rarely appeared in social circles, only showing themselves when the Emperor summoned them.
“I wonder what kind of power makes them act so arrogantly.”
Aside from my mission, I was genuinely curious.
After all, my assignment was to uncover the secret behind the Casio family’s power. I would learn it sooner or later.
“Wow, the atmosphere is completely different from the east.”
Arriving near the western main building, I frowned reflexively at the bleak surroundings.
I had once visited this place before to get a sense of the Duke’s estate layout, but the atmosphere had completely changed since then.
Back then, it had felt like a quiet garden filled with fluttering petals. Now, it looked like an abandoned outer land long forgotten.
“Looks like no one’s here—huh?”
Not far away, someone sat in a white pavilion.
A black-haired man was calmly drinking tea on a cold chair placed among frost-bitten flowers.
His back looked familiar enough that I almost called out “Young master!”—but his build was too large. Though similar to the target, he was not the target.
“…The Duke.”
I had only just been thinking about wanting to meet the Duke, but I hadn’t expected to run into him like this. My feet froze in place.
Even though they shared Casio blood, everyone feared the Duke far more than the young master.
Perhaps it was because of the “monster-like” power he was said to wield without restraint…
“Even if I’m an elite assassin, I can’t handle unknown power.”
I had no intention of meeting him this closely. I only planned to observe from afar.
“The Duke’s name is Kalon Casio. All that’s officially known is his name, age, and that he lost his wife in an unknown incident ten years ago, leaving behind a single son…”
I had become an elite assassin of the Black Rose not only for skill, but also for judgment and rational thinking.
And right now, meeting the Duke directly would be very problematic.
Because unlike the uncertain power of Lise, the Duke definitely possessed power.
One wrong move could get me killed.
After quickly deciding, I slowly stepped backward.
I needed to leave the western annex before the Duke noticed me.
“Over there.”
A voice pierced through the cold air behind me, and I froze instantly.
With a troubled expression, I turned around—and the Duke was looking directly at me.
He resembled Lise with uncanny similarity.
Jet-black hair like the deep sea, and striking dark violet eyes. His hair fell to his neck, softening his otherwise sharp, wolf-like appearance.
“Would you come closer?”
Though spoken like a request, it was clearly a command.
Remembering how servants trembled at even the mention of him, my body stiffened again.
“…Yes, Your Grace.”
Reluctantly, I bowed and approached.
As I drew near, he gently set down his teacup.
A sharp herbal scent hit my senses, almost overwhelming.
“You’re a child from the eastern residence. What brings you here?”
“I was looking for the young master and must have lost my way. Please forgive me…”
“So you’re playing hide and seek with my son.”
Unexpectedly, the Duke didn’t seem particularly displeased at having his tea interrupted.
Instead, he responded naturally, even with a faint smile.
“…Something like that.”
We weren’t exactly playing hide and seek, but since I didn’t know where Lise was, I nodded vaguely.
“Go east, then. That boy is always doing unnecessary things.”
His words were like the wind—light, almost like he was speaking to himself.
“Shall I check the eastern residence again?”
“No, not there.”
He pointed somewhere further east.
I followed his gesture carefully, then looked back at him with uncertainty.
“…The Black Forest is forbidden, as I understand it.”
“Yet you have permission.”
He took something from his pocket and handed it to me.
I accepted it instinctively.
It was an old-looking silver key.
At a glance, I knew—it was the key to the Black Forest gate.
“So this means…”
The Duke already knew I was Lise’s personal maid.
Of course, as the head of the family, there was little he wouldn’t know about his estate.
But still, his interest in Lise was unexpected.
“Take care.”
He added those words suddenly.
I didn’t understand his intention, but overthinking it wouldn’t lead anywhere.
“I will take my leave.”
I bowed quickly and left the western annex.
Only then did I realize I had been tense in the Duke’s presence.
It wasn’t exactly fear—something more ambiguous. Like standing before someone hiding something vast and unknowable.
“I’ve never felt this way even in front of assassins aiming to kill me.”
Still, thanks to the unexpected encounter, my report would be more detailed.
But first, I planned to visit the Black Forest.
‘I’m curious why he gave me permission.’
With the key unexpectedly in my possession, I could now enter freely.
‘Lise doesn’t have a key, so he probably isn’t in the forest. He’s probably somewhere reading a book.’
And yet—
“…He is?”
At the forest entrance, the chained gate was loosely undone.
The metal looked as if it had been carelessly torn apart with brute force.
“What… this can be broken by force?!”
Holding the dangling chain in my hand, I was left speechless.
Only a short time had passed since I parted with Lise.
But in that brief moment… he had entered the forest?
“That’s impossible. Even a strong man would take time to break this kind of chain!”
Something more terrifying than ghost rumors the maids had whispered about was right here.
“So… my fragile young master has gone into a forest full of monsters and wandering spirits…”
…This is a dream.
