Kidnapping

The carriage continued to shake violently from side to side.

“What on earth is going on…….”

I wanted to calmly assess the situation, but the carriage was rocking so hard that I couldn’t. I’d be lucky if I didn’t get motion sickness. It was dizzying to the point where rational thought felt impossible.

“……!”

As my body swayed with the rattling carriage, Enoch pulled me toward him.

“Be careful.”

“Thank you.”

I grabbed Enoch’s arm and barely managed to find my balance.

“Get out!”

From outside, the shouting continued incessantly. It sounded like they were poking and prodding the carriage with long sticks.

Did the Ducal house go bankrupt while I was away? Are they trying to seize the carriage too? No, that wouldn’t make sense—this wasn’t even a Ducal carriage.

If I stayed inside much longer, I felt like I was actually going to be sick. Just as I was debating whether I really had to get out—

“Wait a moment.”

“Pardon?”

CRASH.

Enoch kicked the carriage door straight open. Or rather, he obliterated it with a single kick.

“…….”

Why bother breaking the door when there’s a perfectly functional handle?

As the grey dust settled, people began to come into view.

“……! O-oh, Miss?”

“What? Did you say ‘Miss’?”

What entered my sight wasn’t a bandit or a debt collector. Instead, they were faces far too familiar.

“The young lady is in this carriage!”

It was the servants of the Ducal house.

Upon seeing my face, they turned pale with shock and began to shout up a storm.

“……Exactly what is the situation here?”

I cautiously descended from the carriage, supported by Enoch’s escort. Looking around, everyone was frantically searching for someone.

“Lady Evelyn, where are you!”

“My lady, please return!”

……Huh?

“Hey, the young lady has returned!”

“What? Really?”

All these countless people had been searching for me. The ones standing in front of the carriage cried out.

“Miss, we are so glad you returned safely!”

“What a relief!”

They shouted, overwhelmed with emotion. Some were even shedding tears as large as chicken droppings.

To think a single night away would cause this much of a riot. ……Maybe I wasn’t such a neglected lady after all?

While I was lost in that fleeting thought, someone emerged from the crowd.

“Evelyn.”

A voice thick with a mixture of fury and relief. It was Gervan.

“Brother?”

I didn’t know what had happened overnight, but his face looked utterly drained of life. Even when he was swamped with work, he had never looked this exhausted.

“……Just where have you been?”

Gervan began to walk slowly toward me. I could feel the weight and tension in every single step. Judging by how his facial muscles were frozen, something major had definitely happened during the night.

“……Who are you?”

At that moment, Enoch stepped between me and Gervan. It was a protective gesture, meant to shield me from a stranger.

I mean, he looks suspicious, sure, but he’s still my brother.

“…….”

Gervan faltered for a moment, then scanned Enoch from head to toe. He asked back as if it were utterly absurd.

“And who might you be?”

His tone was filled with contempt and mockery. His gaze said, How dare a wretch like you block my path?

“…….”

Enoch hesitated to answer. It was a relationship that was hard to explain. Truthfully, we were practically nothing to each other.

However, I couldn’t just send him away—this man who had shown me kindness, and who was also the final male lead.

“I asked who the hell you are—”

“He’s my personal knight.”

“What?”

I stepped out from behind Enoch.

“I said, he’s my knight.”

“…….”

I felt the gazes of both Enoch and Gervan on me. Both looked quite flustered.

“……You’re telling me this beggar is your knight?”

“Don’t speak of him so recklessly.”

Gervan let out a scoff of pure disbelief.

From his perspective, it was understandably ridiculous. To bring home a personal knight after a single night away—and without the permission of the head of the house.

“By whose authority did you bring a knight home?”

“Whose authority? I choose my own people.”

I decided to push forward with even more bravado. It was a ‘He’s already here, so what are you going to do about it?’ kind of attitude.

……Is his likability going to hit -100% because of this?

Even as I defied him, a part of me felt anxious. I cautiously activated the likability gauge.

◎ Gervan’s current likability is 15%. ◎

Ding.

◎ Gervan’s current likability is 16%. ◎

‘……?’

It was fluctuating between 15% and 16%. I was sure it was lower than this yesterday—was it 10%?

I thought it would surely drop since I ran away without a word, but it had actually risen. And it looked like it wanted to climb even higher.

Leaving the likability aside for now, I decided to change locations. It would be a disaster if Gervan ordered the servants to kick Enoch out right then and there.

“You, there.”

“Pardon? Yes, Miss!”

I called over a servant who was blankly watching the scene.

“Show Enoch to a guest room and make sure he has clothes to change into.”

“A-ah, understood!”

Enoch and the servants entered the mansion first. I was about to follow them when—

“…….”

Gervan grabbed my wrist.

“I was trying to understand why you didn’t return without a word.”

“…….”

“But do you think it makes sense to bring a strange man—especially one with such a dubious background—into this house?”

He wasn’t wrong. It was actually surprising that someone with his prickly personality had even attempted to overlook me staying out all night.

Regardless of his intent, it was a situation that Gervan had every right to be angry about.

Still, I couldn’t exactly reveal that I’d die if I didn’t court Enoch. How was I supposed to convince him?

Just as I was about to speak after a brief deliberation—

Ding.

◎ 1. (Ignore him and walk past.)

2. (With an icy gaze) How can I trust anyone you pick for me?

3. (Sarcastically) Since when do you care about me? I’ll handle it myself. ◎

‘……Why did behavioral prompts suddenly get added?’

For some reason, all three options were negative. I thought there was usually at least one “cute” option. Well, I wouldn’t have picked it anyway.

I began to calmly narrow down the choices.

◎ 2. (With an icy gaze) How can I trust anyone you pick for me? ◎

Not a good move. With his likability on the rise, an answer like this would only breed mutual distrust.

◎ 3. (Sarcastically) Since when do you care about me? I’ll handle it myself. ◎

Sarcastically? Based on my brother’s personality so far, the thing he’d hate even more than direct anger was sarcasm.

◎ 1. (Ignore him and walk past.) ◎

‘They say indifference is scarier than hate, but…….’

In this current situation, it was undeniably the best choice. I calmly selected number 1.

“…….”

Without a word, I brushed his hand away. I walked right past Gervan without even meeting his eyes.

I knocked on the door of the room used by the head butler.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Elliot.”

Hearing my voice, Elliot hurried to open the door. He looked a bit surprised, but his manner remained as benevolent as ever.

“I’m here because I have something to say. May I come in?”

“Something to say?”

Though his voice carried a hint of curiosity, he readily welcomed me inside. Shortly after, we were sitting across from each other on a plush sofa.

“Elliot, about that errand the other day.”

“Ah, yes. The errand!”

“Pardon?”

The purpose of my visit was simple: to apologize for failing to complete the errand properly. Since the errand was in Elliot’s name, I felt it was rude of me to have delivered the documents so poorly.

However, he offered a genial smile as if recalling a pleasant memory.

“I heard you delivered the documents well that day. Thank you, Miss.”

“……I delivered them well?”

Elliot smiled brightly and nodded. After we had such a massive fight and parted ways, he told him I had delivered them well?

I truly couldn’t understand the intentions of that man I call a brother.

“The mansion was a bit noisy when you returned, wasn’t it?”

“Pardon? Ah.”

I nodded cautiously.

“It’s because of the kidnapping incident that happened last night.”

“Kidnapping?”

Elliot continued.

“Yes, everyone was waiting for you, Miss, but…… in the middle of the night, the Imperial Guard arrived. They asked if we had seen a young lady who had been kidnapped.”

So, while I was out last night, a noble lady had been kidnapped in the capital.

“Unfortunately, her destination was similar to yours, which sent the Ducal house into even more of a panic.”

“…….”

What an incredible coincidence.

“They were shaking the carriage and telling me to get out—why was that?”

“Ah, that was……”

Elliot set down his teacup with a smile.

“His Grace ordered a search of every single carriage passing in front of the Ducal estate.”

“Brother did?”

“Yes, the servants might have been a bit rough, but…… it was because of his orders. Please be generous in your understanding.”

I understood the servants running around looking for me. Regardless of how neglected I was, I was still a lady of this house.

“His Grace was also pale with worry as he searched for you.”

But Gervan searched for me? And he was pale with worry?

‘…….’

No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t seem like Elliot was lying just to make the relationship between my brother and me better. Above all, Gervan’s haggard face I saw earlier was the proof. He definitely hadn’t slept at least a day.

“Miss, are you in here?”

“Emma?”

Emma’s voice came from outside.

“I’ve brought the young lady’s guest!”

By guest, she surely meant Enoch.

“Come in.”

Emma pushed the door open, and Enoch appeared behind her.

“…….”

Elliot adjusted his glasses as if to make sure he was seeing correctly.

‘……I knew he was handsome, but I didn’t realize he was this handsome.’

Once properly dressed, he didn’t look like he was from the slums at all. Perhaps because he grew up in a harsh environment, his lean muscles visible here and there spoke of his masculinity. His face made the clothes look dazzling.

“This feels a bit awkward.”

“It suits you well.”

I offered a nonchalant compliment to a bashful Enoch.

……Wait, aren’t the male leads usually the ones who dress up their partners? Corporate directors, crown princes, grand dukes—isn’t it people like that? Why am I the one doing it?

“Is he the young lady’s guest?”

“He’s the young lady’s personal knight!”

Emma was practically bouncing, as giddy as a young girl.

“Oh, is that so? Well, the young lady has reached the age to have a personal knight.”

“Only our young lady could have a knight this handsome.”

Elliot chuckled and set down his teacup.

“Then you’ll be participating in the knight’s oath ceremony with the Duke.”

“Pardon? With my brother?”

He asked back as if wondering why I would ask something so obvious.

“Surely you knew? To become a knight of the Ducal house, you need the permission of the head of the family.”

“…….”

At that moment, the face of Gervan, whom I had coldly ignored and walked past earlier, flashed through my mind.

Ah.

I shouldn’t have ignored him.