The Fake Madam Disappeared

“…Why are you here?”

Caught staring at Daphne, Damian retorted sharply, feeling an inexplicable pang of guilt. The wind stopped blowing. Daphne kept her gaze at him as she gathered her disheveled hair.

“Mother, isn’t this the place you longed for so much?”

The North, where snow resides for three of the four seasons, was beautiful to look at, but also bitter cold. Sudden blizzards were common and monsters frequently appeared, making it dangerous to venture out of the castle without permission.

The woman who lived under the name of his Mother seemed to hate the North. She spent her time staring out of her window at the endless snow, always bored, always wanting to escape. When he was very young, he wished that her gaze would be directed at him. Those were foolish days.

Damian silently acknowledged that the place she desperately wanted to go was the complete opposite of the North. A place with a warm and bright atmosphere, a paradise of greens and gold. A place she yearned for five years without stopping.

“Are you happy?”

When asked if she was happy to live at the cold empire, Daphne only stared at Damian, her face went devoid of warmth and color.

“... It’s cold.”

He couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh at her evasive response. He had made the wrong choice. It was better to be surrounded by those who wagged their tongues in the front and barked like sharp knives in the back than being with Daphne. Regretting his decision, Damian turned to leave the balcony.

“Your coming-of-age ceremony is just around the corner.”

A slightly desperate voice reached his ears, trying to hold back.

“Yes, that’s right.”

No longer willing to listen to Daphne anymore, he firmly gripped the doorknob.

“Is there any gift you wish to receive?”

Damian’s movements suddenly stopped. As he turned his stiff body, he watched Daphne continue talking without noticing his actions.

“No, no, I supposed you’ve received all kinds of gifts.”

Daphne muttered softly, her expression one of embarrassment. Deep in thought, she soon found a solution and raised her head.

“What about a wish?”

“A wish…”

Her bright green eyes, glowing in the darkness, blinked at him, disappearing and reappearing with each blink.

“I’ll grant you anything I can. It’s your coming-of-age, after all, so that’s the least I can do for you.”

Suddenly, it felt as though something heavy had dropped inside him. His heart raced. He felt his blood drain from his fingertips, his body turning cold.

“My wish?”

Though they were not standing particularly close, Damian was in front of Daphne in an instant. Time had passed, and he realized that the woman he always had to look up to was now at eye level with him. The realization was strangely new.

His thought process made him believe that he could only watch her from afar, afraid that if he reached out, his hand would be pushed away.

“It’s for you to disappear.”

It was easier to say the words he kept hidden in his heart than he had imagined, his thoughts swirling around like an apple getting poisoned.

“… I see.”

But it wasn't as satisfying as he had thought. The wind blew through again, a wind that had seemed light just moments ago, but now it felt chilling to Damian, biting to the bone.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Y-you called for me, Young Master?”

Anna trembled as she looked at the displeased expression on Damian’s face.

Unimaginable things had been happening these past few days. She, who had only caught a glimpse of him from afar once, dared to block His Excellency directly and raised her voice? Was that why she was summoned by the captain of the Black Knights, whom she had never even seen before, and now by the Young Lord?

Anna wiped her sweaty, damp hands against her shabby maid uniform.

“I heard you were a close maid to my mother.”

As she expected, it was related to the Madam. Anna knew she had to stay sharp since it was related to her.

“I, I’m a mere lowly maid; I cannot serve as a close attendant.”

Demian’s brows furrowed when it was something different he heard from his subordinate.

“Then who is my mother’s close handmaid?”

“That… Madam doesn’t have a close handmaid.”

“What?”

Anna flinched at his sharp question.

Damian doubted his ears. For Daphne, who he had been with since he was very young, he couldn’t understand why she hadn’t had a single close servant.

Could he really not have known it? Anna hesitated before speaking when she saw Damian flustered.

“Madam said she didn’t need one, but more importantly… no one volunteered.”

She could vividly recall how, as if on cue, not a single one raised their hand and giggled among themselves. Even the Chambermaid joined in.

“There’s nothing we can do. We can’t force anyone.”

And so, five years passed without her having a single close handmaid.

“What about the handmaid Mother brought with her?”

Damian suddenly recalled someone who used to be by Daphne’s side.

“Ah, Marinda…”

Marinda was the handmaid brought over from Marquis Bled when Daphne got married. Unlike her mistress, Marinda had a lively and carefree nature, which helped her quickly adapt to the North. For some reason, however, she had never served as the Madam’s close handmaid and instead worked as a regular maid in the castle.

“Two weeks before Madam disappeared, that is… when His Excellency and Young Master left for the expedition, Marinda went on a trip.”

“Trip?”

“Yes. Thanking her for her hard work, Madam sent Marinda on a trip.”

Although why she was suddenly sent on a trip that time was odd, that wasn’t what was in the priority right now. Damian slowly exhaled, trying to control his ragged breathing.

“... Why did no one volunteer to become Mother’s close handmaid?”

Anna felt ashamed with his question.

For no one to volunteer to be the close handmaid was like everyday matters.

It was common for the maids to deliberately prepare her spoiled food, make excuses to not do her laundry, forcing the Madam to wear the same chemise for days, and even neglecting the heating in her room, claiming a lack of magic stones.

Whenever that happened, Madam would eat the moldy food without complaint, get frostbite in her hands while doing her laundry in the cold weather, and shiver in the cold room – waiting for the Duke and Young Master's return.

_‘These things only happened when the two of them were away.’ _

The intentions behind were painfully clear.

“That…”

Anna was at a loss on how to explain this. What saved Anna from that awkward situation was the sudden, unannounced entrance of a visitor.

Waiting for Anna’s answer, Damian noticed his subordinate and was about to scold him.

“Young Master!”

His subordinate was sweating profusely, evident of how he had come out of urgency.

“Vent, what is this…”

“They’ve found her!” Vent blurted out urgently, not even pausing to catch his breath, “Madam… they found her!”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Gulp. Alec swallowed. He didn’t know how much time had passed. The only thing he was certain of was that his Master was in a foul mood. He also knew that the reason had to do with what the search party found yesterday morning.

“... Say it again.”

How many times had it been now? He had lost count after the fifth one. Out of habit, Alec swallowed his saliva even with a completely dry mouth. The dry gulp painfully slid down his throat.

Forcing his heavy mouth open, Alec spoke, “We found this in the lair of a mutated monster.”

A mutated monster.

A creature altered by dark magic, much larger and stronger than a typical beast. That was why, a year ago, after an unusually long six-month expedition, all of the mutated monsters in the North had been eradicated, save for a few that managed to survive. Not cutting them down at the root back then had now come back to haunt them.

“And this… is presumed to be the Madam’s.”

What Alec had received from the search party was none other than a robe – tattered beyond recognition and soaked stiff with blood. The real issue was that it had been found in the lair of one of the mutated wolves, and it was the Madam’s robe. According to the servant who last saw her, this was indeed the robe she was wearing just before she disappeared.

The robe, crafted specially from the fur of a white leopard – a rare specialty of the North – had been a wedding gift from the head of a close family five years ago. In short, it was undoubtedly the Madam’s.

But Alec couldn’t bring himself to say this aloud, fearing what might happen if he did.

“Are you certain?”

He had asked countless times.

“We are certain.”

“What about her body?”

“... The search party reported that there were already human bones inside the wolf den, and the blood on the robe was indeed of a human’s. Furthermore, this robe was at least from a week ago…”

“Find it.”

Alec raised his head.

“Her body. Bring it to me.”

“Your Excellency...”

The room, dimly lit by a single flickering flame felt suffocating. Shadows obscured Edmund’s face, making it impossible to discern his expression.

“Scour every inch and bring me even a fragment of her body to me.”

In an instant, a silent lightning flash struck. Edmund’s face was briefly illuminated, then vanished back into darkness. But in that fleeting moment, Alec saw enough to lower his head hurriedly, his face pale. He stammered as he spoke.

“Y-yes, I understand. Your Excellency, please do not move.”

Around this time of year, when winter’s chill reached its peak, Edmund’s aura always became dangerously volatile.

Long ago, when higher-ranking monsters had appeared, Edmund had been forced to join the hunt, nearly losing control and causing a catastrophe. Though he was young then and lacked mastery over his aura. Even now Edmund didn’t trust himself, isolating himself every time this season came.

Alec’s plea for Edmund to remain still was purely instinctual. Had he hesitated even a moment, Edmund might have gone out to search for Daphne himself. It was an unlikely scenario, but Alec couldn’t shake that feeling.

It was at that moment.

“Father!”