“Master, the guard is here . ”
“Enter,” after I said this, Jude opened the door and the guard entered the room .
“Sorry to bother you . ”
The person who had entered was around the same age as Grace Remington .
“I am Harold Molesey, the captain of the 2nd Guard Unit . ”
“Dean Albans and my son Luke Albans . ”
Luke and Harold lightly bowed their heads at each other . The 2nd Guard Unit was in charge of the Royal Capital . So this man also didn’t have the magic of the Four Marquises .
“I want to talk about Ojou-sama and about how the Special Forces weren’t able to catch up with her . ”
“We did catch up with them, you must have heard that we caught the criminal who was leading them, right? Don’t say anything else about that . ” I snapped . At the very end, the guards failed to catch Leila because of their oversight . They didn’t have any right to speak of it as if it were someone else’s problem .
“Well then, the culprit who kidnapped Leilsama is without a doubt, the maid Hannah . But judging from how her things are still here and the testimonies from her colleagues, she had no intention of leaving the mansion . She was only supposed to hand Leilsama to the criminals . ”
“I see . ”
“Also, it seems like the gardener is also a traitor . He also disappeared the night when Leilsama was taken . His things are completely gone . ”
Hannah should be the only new hire . If there were others, then they were the ones who replaced others when I got married to Claire .
“And?”
“And the common factor is the butler named Sebas . ”
“Why do you think that?”
“He was in charge of the personnel, went missing after the day of the incident, all his possessions are gone, and- . ”
“And?”
“I think that he ran away with Hannah’s family . ”
“I see . ”
Luke seemed like he wanted to say something and I stopped him with my hand . Don’t talk back . Luke was surprised and nodded .
“Are you certain that he ran away with her family?”
“Well, the maid’s mother works at Marquis Remington’s mansion . Sebas should also be a former servant at the Remington mansion . He immediately went to see her the day after the incident, so they certainly know each other . ”
“Hannah was hired based on Sebas’s recommendation . It’s not weird even if he did know her parents . ”
“But both Hannah’s family and Sebas disappeared on that night, so it’s impossible to insist that he is innocent . ”
Something’s bothering me .
“What about Remington . ”
“He has nothing to do with this incident . We were allowed to talk to the servants, but further investigation was denied . ”
Even I would refuse . But why did Hannah kidnap Lei? She’d disappeared, but they would’ve caught her if they found her .
“The motive?”
“Her colleagues say that Hannah has money problems . Apparently her brother is suffering from a nasty disease . ”
“And how does that connect to the kidnapping?”
“Perhaps, they offered to give her brother medicine in exchange for her help . ”
“Sebas did that?”
“Indeed . ”
“Then what is Sebas’s motive?”
“That’s-……”
Molesey wiped sweat that wasn’t even coming out from his forehead . Even if the circumstances were there, they didn’t have a reason . That’s probably what it is . Molesey averted his gaze as if he couldn’t say .
“We think it’s because he was unsatisfied with the way your child was being treated . ”
I stopped Luke again . I know . It’s about what happened before .
“I see . So which criminal organisation is connected to this?”
“That’s, mm, we’re not sure yet . ”
“I see . ”
I put my hands on my desk and placed my chin on it .
“And the investigation from now on?”
“Hah, we are tracking down Sebas and Hannah’s family . ”
“And the perpetrator and organisation behind this?”
“All we know is that they got Leilsama out of the border . ”
“So that’s finished?”
“At least the 2nd Unit will be searching in the Royal Capital . ”
They decided to put the liability on Sebas because he’s disappeared and end the investigation . There’s nothing they could do since he’s gone . The kidnapping case will never be solved like this . I see .
“Do you know where Sebas was headed?”
“Three people fitting their description is travelling to the east, so we’re focusing our investigation there . ”
“Is your unit doing the investigating?”
“No, the 3rd Unit . ”
“I see . Alright, thank you for your cooperation . ”
“You’re welcome . Then, I’ll be off . ”
Molesey left the room while wiping his sweat .
“Otou-sama! Sebas doesn’t have any complaints towards you! He thinks about our family more than anyone!” Luke said as soon as Molesey left the room .
“I know . I know . ”
Sebas cares about Luke and Lei more than anyone . Perhaps, even me . He must have a reason .
“Let’s go to Lei’s room . ”
I left the room together with Luke and we headed towards Lei’s room . I stopped myself from opening the door . Whenever I opened the door a little, a mischief Lei would come crawling out from within .
“Otou-sama . ”
“Sorry . ”
When I opened the door, the room was still left as it was; it was like Lei had gone outside to play . I looked at Luke and nodded, then we searched the room .
“When Lei hadn’t started walking yet, she would often roll around in this room . I would sit on the desk and she would roll beside me . ”
“Yeah, the three of us would lie down and read picture books together . When we laid down, Sebas would look at us happily…… Luke!”
“Yes!”
We probably looked foolish doing this, but we got down onto the floor, and looked around the room .
“Otou-sama! Under Lei’s bed!”
“This!?”
Something white was stuck under the bed . I grabbed it with shaking hands and saw that it was, indeed, Sebas’s scribbling . His writing was methodical and beautiful even though he was scribbling .
“Otou-sama! What is it?”
“Oh…… As I thought- . ”
I read it out loud for Luke, “Hannah’s brother doesn’t have a nasty disease . She was tricked by someone . At this rate, her family will be blamed and executed and nothing will be solved . Lei-sama will be most sad when she returns and learns of this . I will do what needs to be done . ”
Luke shut his eyes and gripped his hands . I thought for a while, what needs to be done .
“Luke . ”
“Yes?”
“Sebas feared that Hannah’s family would be executed so he took them away . He threw everything away . For Lei . So that Lei wouldn’t be sad . ”
“I know!”
“The culprit is someone else . What is their purpose? Why are the guards not cooperating with us? I don’t care if I have to throw everything away to get Lei back . But, what is the most suitable solution?”
What must I do?
“If the best thing for me to do is to throw everything away right now and search for Lei, then I will . But, that’s not it, right Otou-sama?”
“Yeah . ”
“Then, I will also think about what I must do as Sebas is doing . Lei will return . I will think about what I should do when she does return . ”
“Yes, that’s right . Luke!”
I hugged Luke tightly while still holding Sebas’s letter .
We’ll find Lei . In the meantime I have to do what I can . Isn’t that right, Sebas?