Find the One Who Abandoned Me - Chapter 73

When Calliope arrived at the Glayderth ducal estate, she felt it right away. On the surface, everything appeared calm but beneath that, there was a strange sense of unrest.

As an unannounced visitor, she was being politely declined by the butler.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe the young master is available to meet at the moment.”

Calliope responded without hesitation, her tone unwavering.

“But I have an appointment with Otis Glayderth.”

“Pardon?”

The butler was visibly flustered.

“I haven’t received any such message.”

“Well, we definitely agreed to meet. Would you mind asking him?”

“I’m afraid the young master is currently out.”

Calliope carefully studied the man’s expression. It seemed Otis truly was out. But even so, it didn’t sit right with her that the butler had dismissed her outright without even attempting to contact him—not when she was a marquess’ daughter.

Which meant… something was wrong.

She began to seriously consider whether she should trust the strange vision she’d seen. And after only a moment of hesitation, she made up her mind.

“Sir Butler.”

He looked more troubled now, taking her seriousness as sheer insistence. But her next words caught him off guard.

“I saw Otis Glayderth earlier today. In the city.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I saw him about an hour ago. Though ‘saw’ might be too strong a word. I passed by his carriage—he was asleep against the window.”

The butler gave a short, uneasy sound. Then, without further question, he escorted her to the drawing room and asked her to wait. He didn’t even ask why she had said what she did.

Calliope sat down and took a sip of the tea set out for her. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been until that moment.

If I think back to the hall collapsing… then maybe this vision is connected somehow. But still…

There was one question that mattered most.

Why am I seeing these visions at all?

She had formed a personal theory the day she first came to stay at Count Esteban’s house, four years ago, after the hall had collapsed.

The past I experienced is already changing little by little because of me. So… maybe I’m seeing visions of what’s being altered? Or maybe they’re events I can still influence?

Of course, it was all speculation. Even if she had come back from the future, that alone didn’t explain why she was seeing these hallucinations.

Before she could sink deeper into thought, the door opened with a quiet click. No knock. No formal greeting. But Calliope rose to her feet at once.

It was none other than the Duke of Glayderth—Glenn Glayderth.

Calliope stood and held her dress, curtsying deeply.

“It is an honor to meet the head of House Glayderth.”

“That’s quite enough. Sit down.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

As she returned to her seat, something felt… odd.

That voice. She’d heard it somewhere before. Where had it been? Or was her memory just playing tricks, blurring past and present?

“You said you saw my son about an hour ago?”

“Yes. I was out shopping in the city, and I happened to catch a glimpse of him asleep in his carriage.”

“I found out my son was missing about an hour ago as well. Do you happen to know where the carriage was heading?”

“…Missing?”

“I’ll be frank. About an hour ago, we received word from a business site where Otis was supposed to be—but he never arrived.”

“Can you really call that a disappearance?”

“For Otis—and for House Glayderth—time is everything. He never changes plans without reason, and he certainly wouldn’t go completely silent. Unless something went wrong on the way.”

“Couldn’t it just be a minor carriage accident? Maybe that’s why you lost contact.”

“If that were the case, he—or his attendants—would have sent a message. Even if they couldn’t, someone would’ve noticed by now.”

So they’ve already sent people to investigate.

Knowing the strength of House Glayderth’s information network, it wouldn’t take long to check how many carriage incidents had occurred in the capital that morning.

“Do you happen to know which direction the carriage went?”

Calliope hesitated.

In her vision, the carriage had stopped deep in the woods. There were only two such forests near the capital—the Blü Forest to the north and the Astor Forest to the east.

“Let me think…”

She began to assess the situation logically.

If this was a kidnapping, and the culprit intended to harm Otis or demand a ransom from the duke, they would’ve chosen a place where discovery would be difficult.

The deeper and more remote the forest, the better.

The Astor Forest was bright and open, with scattered park areas. It wasn’t the kind of place suitable for a kidnapping.

But Blü Forest was different. The temperature there was colder, the trees were darker and far from scenic. Outside of the occasional lumber crews cutting down tall trees, few people ever wandered deep inside.

Could my guess be right?

Calliope thought briefly about what she’d have to answer for if her vision—or her instincts—turned out to be wrong. But then she shook her head lightly.

Otis Glayderth’s hatred of women grew after he was betrayed by the maid he trusted most. He started to feel anxious around women who showed affection toward him.

Maybe… just maybe, if she got involved now, she could prevent that from getting worse.

Calliope stood and slowly walked toward the window. Several carriages were lined up outside. It looked like the search party was already preparing to leave.

Rather than answer the duke’s earlier question right away, she asked one of her own.

“Has the carriage he was riding in been found yet?”

“The coachman and the aide have both returned.”

“And what did the coachman say?”

“He claimed that Otis asked to be dropped off near the destination. Said he didn’t want to fully wake up and would walk the rest of the way.”

“You actually believe that?”

“It’s hard to say. We’ve placed him under house arrest for now. But it’s not entirely implausible. Both Otis and I are often sleep-deprived and take walks to shake it off. And the coachman’s been working here for over thirty years—he’s due to retire soon. He’s seen it happen before.”

“And what about the aide? Why did he come back?”

“His original aide went on leave, so he was assigned a new one. Apparently, Otis hasn’t been happy with the replacement. Recently, he’s been treating his maid, Dolly, more like his aide, and the actual aide more like a servant. I assume he tried to follow Otis late and returned after failing to catch up.”

The duke clicked his tongue. If the aide had been at Otis’s side, this wouldn’t have happened. But Otis hated anything that interfered with his work. He rarely took even a personal guard with him unless it was an official event.

“Hmph. Have you identified any suspects?”

“That’s not something I’m obligated to share.”

“…”

“That was a bit forward of me, wasn’t it, Your Grace?”

Glenn thought she was speechless because of his sharp tone—until he noticed her gaze had shifted toward the window.

She was staring intently at something outside.

Before he could ask what it was, Calliope turned back to him.

“Is there someone you suspect?”

She asked the same question again. Her red eyes narrowed slightly, casting a shadow as the sun poured in from behind her.

Glenn looked at her carefully for a moment, then gave in and spoke.

“There’s no group in the capital bold enough to kidnap the heir to House Glayderth.”

“Which means… we need to look at the people closest to him first.”

“Exactly. Dolly. She’s been his maid since he was a child. I don’t want to believe it’s her, but… even the aide wasn’t with him today.”

“So this is how it’s playing out.”

Calliope recalled the vision again—the carriage, parked deep in the woods… Otis and Dolly asleep inside… and then someone stepping into the carriage. A tall man. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Nothing remarkable, but clear in her mind.

“…The aide was released already?”

She’d just seen him outside.

Glenn raised a brow. “How did you know that?”

“I figured you’d need him to confirm where Otis got off, so you assigned him to join the search team.”

“You’re right. He just left with the knights.”

Calliope thought quickly.

Then they still had time.

“The carriage went toward Blü Forest.”

“Are you sure?”

“Wouldn’t it be wiser to head there now instead of wasting time doubting me?”

Glenn rose from his seat at once. Without so much as a thank-you, he strode toward the drawing room door.

That’s when Calliope called out.

“Duke!”

“What is it?”

“Could you lend me a fast horse? I have something urgent, and I wasted time getting here.”

“Of course. Use my name and take whichever you want.”

Even someone as composed as Glenn Glayderth couldn’t hide his anxiety after learning his son was missing. He left the room with heavy urgency.

As soon as he was gone, Calliope slipped out of the drawing room. She waited until she saw him exit the manor, then immediately headed to the stables. She chose the fastest horse available and mounted quickly.

She had only her dagger—but that would be enough to cut through ropes if she had to.

I need to get to him before that aide finds a reason to break away from the search team and slip into the forest alone.

Even with many searchers, the forest was vast. It would take time to find anything. That aide would use the delay as cover to disappear.

In the past—before Calliope had ever intervened—he’d likely had more time.

She thought of the white-barked trees she had seen in her vision. She couldn’t explain to others what she’d seen. She would have to find them herself.

Well, even if I get scolded for this later… at least I’ll owe one less debt.

She regretted not bringing a sword—people would’ve found it suspicious if she had. But as long as she got there fast enough, her dagger would have to do.

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