The Fake Madam Disappeared

“Y-Young Lord!”

They had always believed that aside from their appearances, Damian and Edmund shared no similarities. Damian was constantly smiling, never used informal speech, and was always polite. However, at this moment, it was as if they were looking at Edmund himself.

“T-That is…”

Sophia interjected.

“This is a matter for the adults.”

“Godmother.”

“Madam has committed an unforgivable act. She was unfaithful to her household and committed adultery. And that’s not all – she even ran away in the dead of night.”

Damian pressed his lips together tightly.

“Young Lord, please don’t concern yourself with this. You shouldn’t have to listen to any of it.”

“Godmother, how could I not—”

“His Excellency has returned!” At that moment, one of the servants rushed in, shouting.

“His Excellency has returned!”

Edmund had come back.

“Your Excellency!”

The door to the living room swung open, and as Edmund entered, everyone in the room immediately stood up. Edmund narrowed his eyes as he took in the sight of the vassals sitting round the table.

“What in the world is going on here?”

His deep, low voice conveyed his mood clearly. Damian glanced behind Edmund, but the person he had hoped to see was not there, and the door soon closed.

“Your Excellency, please have a seat first, and let us discuss this.”

At Sophia’s urging, Edmund took a seat.

“First…”

Edmund, pale-faced, cut her off. Whatever had happened, he seemed more on edge than usual. Sophia hesitated, wondering whether it was wise to continue, but soon spoke up.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Would you please take a look at this first?”

Sophia handed him the letters exchanged by Daphne. Edmund skimmed over them with indifferent eyes. As he began to grasp their contents, Sophia continued.

“It’s evidence of the Madam's affair, discovered by a maid.”

“Affair?”

“Yes, it’s why the Madam disappeared. She ran away in the middle of the night.”

“Ran away…”

Edmund’s reaction was unexpectedly cold. No matter how cold-hearted one might be, he was still a human. His wife had committed adultery and fled in the night, yet there was no change in his expression.

Edmund simply continued to read the letter slowly, as if examining each word. With every passing moment, Sophia grew more anxious.

“So?” Edmund finally spoke after a long silence. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

Sophia was momentarily flustered by his unexpected composure, having anticipated that Edmund might stand up in a rage.

“...You need to divorce her.”

The vassals, waiting for this moment, chimed in.

“Her actions clearly show a complete disregard for the House of Winter.”

“Indeed. To cleanse this shame, a divorce is necessary.”

“Daphne is pregnant.”

“But you still need to divorc— Pardon?”

A heavy silence fell over the room. Sophia stammered, repeating Edmund’s words. Daphne – the Lady of the House – was pregnant. She was with child.

“Your Excellency,” Sophia rose abruptly from her seat, “If she carries another man's child, then all the more reason for a divorce. This is absurd!”

“It’s my child.”

Sophia was at a loss for words. She tried to convince Edmund again. “...There’s no guarantee that the child is yours, Your Excellency.”

“Are you saying I’m wrong?”

Sophia could not bring herself to reply. The moment her eyes met Edmund’s, she froze.

In the meantime, Edmund took the papers Sophia had presented as evidence of Daphne’s affair and tucked them into his coat pocket. Before Sophia could stop him, Damian stood up. He glanced around at the vassals before following Edmund out.

Edmund said nothing. No one dared meet his gaze; they all avoided his eyes as quickly as possible.

“Disperse at once.”

— — — 

“Father!”

Damian quickly followed Edmund into the hallway. For a moment, Edmund stood idly, staring down the corridor, before turning around.

“Mother... She’s here, isn’t she?”

A sigh of relief escaped Damian. Then, unable to contain his thoughts, he began to pepper Edmund with questions.

“She wasn’t injured by the mutants, was she? She didn’t catch frostbite, did she? Where did you find her?”

“Damian.”

Instead of answering, Edmund called his name, calming him. Damian realized how agitated he had become and took a deep breath to steady himself.

“It’s late now. Visit her tomorrow.”

Just as Edmund was about to turn away, Damian called out again.

“Father.”

Damian hesitated.

“Did Mother really...?”

Damian couldn’t bring himself to stop Edmund as he walked away. Even after returning to his room, sleep eluded him. 

When Benjamin had come to tell him he should head downstairs, Damian hadn’t thought much of it. But from the doorway, he had overheard everything. He had heard the vassals’ insults directed at Daphne – his mother – everything.

Could it be true? Could his mother really have run away with another man, as the Godmother claimed?

‘I... I don’t know anything.’

It was maddening. He kept tossing and turning, his mind racing, his heart pounding too hard to sleep. Was it from anxiety or anticipation?

‘Anticipation?’

Damian was startled by his own thoughts. What in the world was he expecting? Flustered, he sat up abruptly before sinking back into bed.

‘Once I see Mother, all of these emotions will be resolved. That’s why I’m waiting.’

Damian squeezed his eyes shut.

* * *

Crash!

The room was filled with the piercing sound of shattering glass. Sophia, the one who had caused the noise, was shaking with fury.

“Your Grace, please calm down—”

Sophia whipped her head around to glare at the maid who was trying to stop her. Her hair, which had once been elegantly styled, was now a disheveled mess, and the blood vessels in her eyes had almost burst from the stress.

Sophia, too exhausted to even remain angry, collapsed onto the sofa.

“I must have... been under some kind of spell.”

Otherwise, she would never have been swayed by such a flawed plan. Sophia shook her head, trying to make sense of her actions.

“No, something’s wrong... something isn’t right.”

No matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t understand why she had made that decision at the time.

‘Tsk.’

Watching the confused Sophia through a crack in the door, Marinda clicked her tongue in frustration. The plan was beginning to unravel.

She had struggled a bit to win Sophia over, but everything had been going according to plan. The vassals had almost been completely on her side, and if Edmund hadn’t shown up when he did, it would have succeeded. Her plans were ruined. 

‘Why doesn’t he believe it?’

Falsifying evidence had been easier the second time around. The proof was nearly perfect. But both then and now, Edmund didn’t seem to be fully convinced. Even though his expression remained unreadable, Marinda was certain. Edmund wasn’t even suspicious.

‘Could he have met Madam?’

Chewing nervously on her fingernails, Marinda tasted the metallic tang of blood and stopped.

‘I need to confirm.’

In the quiet hallway, only the sound of Marinda’s footsteps echoed. Soon, she arrived in front of Daphne’s room. After glancing around cautiously, she opened the door.

The cold, empty air inside washed over her.

‘...She's not here?’

The room was completely vacant.

* * *

“Your Excellency.”

Panting heavily, Johann bowed deeply the moment he arrived.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect something like this to happen while I was briefly away.”

He had gone to meet an informant stationed in the capital who had run into trouble, but it had only been for half a day.

“That’s enough.” Edmund seated himself. He was still dressed in his uncomfortable outerwear.

“Allow me to assist with your clothing.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Edmund waved off Johann as he approached. Johann hesitated awkwardly, lowering his outstretched hand.

“...May I ask where you went?”

Without lifting his eyes from the documents he was perusing, Edmund answered.

“I went to find Daphne.”

Johann’s eyes widened in surprise; he had heard no such news.

“No, I found her myself.”

Edmund’s hand, which had been flipping through the papers, stopped.

“She is carrying my child. Is it strange for me to go looking for her?”

“Your Excellency, that’s not what I meant…” Johann faltered, unable to respond. He had spent his life prioritizing Edmund above all else. 

Every word and action Johann took was calculated to avoid causing harm to Edmund. They were a deeply loyal master-servant pair. 

That was  the norm until Madam had disappeared.

“...I overstepped.”

Johann resumed his delayed report.

“There was an attack while they were transporting the Holy Knight.”

Incidents of killing their own people to prevent information leaks were commonplace. But Johann shook his head.

“It seems likely that it was the Imperial Family.”

“What could the Imperial Family possibly know?”

“They know nothing. It seems they found something suspicious and acted without thinking. Since they weren’t certain, the number of attackers was small, and they weren’t particularly skilled.”

It was absurd. He hadn’t expected the Imperial Family to be foolish enough to launch an attack based solely on suspicion.

“Moreover, the Emperor is suspicious about Nick’s death... It seems he has secretly ordered the Crown Prince to investigate.”

The worst situation had occurred, but no one was surprised.

Since the plan had been made in haste, even if it succeeded, they had expected it would take some time. They had already cut all ties and fabricated evidence in advance, so the investigation would flounder for a long while before being abandoned.

As the report neared its end, amidst the strong smell of tobacco lingering in the air, Johann caught a whiff of blood.

“Your Excellency, are you injured somewhere...?”

Before Johann could finish his sentence, Edmund pulled something from his coat and handed it to him.

“This is...?”

T/N: I’m thinking they found Daphne too quickly. I wanted them to find her after the child had grown up instead.

E/N: Yeahh that'd have been such good angst. I'm surprised the author didn't try to prolong the search by letting Daphne run away in the train as Edmund watches and misses her by a second.