Find the One Who Abandoned Me - Chapter 75

Calliope deliberately provoked him to keep his attention on her. Otis was still carrying Dolly, which made it hard for him to defend himself. As expected, the deputy let out a furious shout and charged at Calliope, only to suddenly change direction and swing the axe at Otis instead.

“Die!”

“No!”

Calliope lunged toward them, but the distance was too far—she didn’t think she would make it in time.

And then—

Wham!

A loud, heavy sound rang out as the deputy was struck and collapsed forward. Unfortunately, he toppled directly onto Otis, pinning both him and Dolly underneath his weight. Otis was now stuck and unable to move.

Calliope, catching her breath, looked up in surprise at the unexpected arrival.

“…Jack?”

“You’ve got some stamina, My Lady. Where’ve you been running around to this time?”

“H-How did you get here?”

“I managed to follow you into the forest, but lost your trail halfway. Took me a while to find you.”

“No, I mean seriously—how did you find this place?”

“Gut feeling.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Jack… you’re not secretly seeing the future or receiving divine visions, are you?”

“Well, now that you mention it… there are things like that. I do get revelations in my dreams from time to time.”

“…I’m just going to stop talking now.”

Calliope gave him a once-over. He looked like he’d been crawling through the woods for hours—his clothes were scratched up and covered in leaves. In one hand, he was holding an axe.

“…Why are you holding that axe upside down?”

“Well, I couldn’t exactly split someone’s head open, could I?”

“He’s someone who deserves to have his head split open.”

“Maybe. But from what I saw, he looked like a dead man walking already. No need to dirty my hands with it.”

“Hah. You really are smart, Jack.”

“Just now realizing that, are you?”

“Shut up.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Shut up, and…”

At the end of their banter, a groaning voice cut in. Otis, clearly annoyed, gritted his teeth and said:

“Would one of you mind getting me out from under here?”

“Oh—right!”

“My apologies. I was so worried about My Lady’s safety, I must’ve forgotten.”

“I was the one in danger! Me!”

Jack yanked Otis out from under the fallen man. Meanwhile, Calliope checked on Dolly carefully, then took some rope and tied the deputy’s hands and feet securely behind his back.

With a deep sigh, she wiped the sweat from her brow and dusted off her hands.

“There. Now we just wait for the search party to arrive.”

“Oh—speak of the devil, they’re coming now.”

“Wow, so much for the Duke’s knights. Jack beat them here.”

Otis muttered through clenched teeth, “I understand why you’d say that, but please… don’t say it so loudly.”

“She’s right, My Lady,” Jack chimed in. “I’m just that good. Doesn’t mean they’re bad.”

“Please stop torching for my sake,” Otis said through gritted teeth.

Calliope burst out laughing.

Thanks to Jack, everything had ended well. She glanced down at the hand still clutching the dagger. Her palm was torn—split open without even realizing it.

‘I’ve still got a long way to go…’

Just as she was reflecting on her shortcomings, several knights spotted them and came galloping up to the cabin.

“Lord Glayderth!”
“Are you alright, my lord?”

Otis awkwardly cleared his throat, clearly embarrassed by the situation, then gave a small nod. Aside from some rope burns, he didn’t appear injured.

If anything, Calliope looked worse off.

Finally composing himself, Otis spoke to the knights to bring the situation to a close:

“The acting deputy, Adams Dolchen, conspired with the coachman to kidnap me. He also attempted to kill Dolly, and even targeted Lady Anastas, who came to rescue us.”

“Lady Anastas?”

The knights turned to Calliope, who simply smiled and gave them a wave—her palm visibly bleeding. Otis noticed the wound just then and frowned deeply.

“Lady Calliope Anastas and her aide, Sir Jack Beckham, apprehended the criminal and tied him up inside. Escort him back to the estate so he can be properly punished. I’ll return on horseback. If there’s a carriage, please offer it to Lady Anastas.”

“Understood, my lord.”

The lady who saved the heir was well aware of the weight that title carried. The knights, judging that a lady with a torn hand wouldn’t be capable of handling a horse on her own, dared not object. Calliope simply stood by, content with the promise of an easy return. Meanwhile, Jack watched from beside her with sparkling, alert eyes.

In a low murmur, Jack asked,
“Surely you didn’t need to involve yourself this far. What made you decide on this course?”

“Consider it a way to settle old debts. Now, let’s think about what we can extract from them,” she replied with a wry smile.

“Truly, you’re far wiser than I.”

“That hardly sounds like a compliment,” she teased.

Soon after, Calliope and Jack climbed into the carriage that had been prepared for Otis. As Otis, riding the Duke’s own horse that Calliope had arranged, climbed into the carriage with a conflicted look on his face, he said,
“I am sincerely grateful for your help today. I promise I will repay this debt in full.”

“That almost sounds like you’re planning revenge,” Calliope remarked, “but I look forward to seeing how you manage to repay every single coin.”

With that, the carriage door closed and it departed. Leaning back comfortably against the cushioned seat, Calliope finally allowed herself a relaxed smile.

“Well, today we certainly kept busy.”

“You should be resting, shouldn’t you?”

“What do you mean? I’ve still got a pile of overdue paperwork to review.”

Calliope’s eyes went wide at that remark, leaving Jack momentarily speechless.

“Since I’m behind on work today, that means you are too. Looks like you, Jack, are set for an all-nighter.”

“…Ha.”

“Don’t tell me you just sighed in my presence?”

“Ha, ha, ha! It’s delightful. The thought of spending hours poring over papers again almost makes my heart race.”

“Isn’t that so? But today, we only have two hundred pages to tackle. Let’s get to it.”

“Aye….”

What began as a teasing exchange proved to be nothing more than the honest truth. When they returned, both Calliope and Jack truly immersed themselves in their work—so much so that Jack even joked he might “drop dead” from the sheer volume. Knowing that Jack was accustomed to reviewing up to five hundred pages a day under Illan’s supervision, Calliope merely wagged a playful finger at him, chiding him not to fuss.

Exactly two days later, an invitation arrived from House Glayderth.

Calliope now sat with impeccable grace in the reception room of House Glayderth. This was not the very room where she had been shown around earlier—it was clearly designated for the Duke’s distinguished guests. While the first reception room had been impressive, this one, with all its refined elegance, left the previous one looking rather pedestrian by comparison.

Calliope hummed softly to herself, and behind her Jack and Susan exchanged knowing glances.

“Looks like the Lady is in good spirits today,” Susan remarked.

“Of course—there’s plenty for her to collect,” Jack replied knowingly.

Susan had since heard all the accounts of what Calliope had done. Even the Marquis’s household was abuzz, especially after Duke Glenn Glayderth formally sent a letter of thanks. Calliope briefly recalled the reactions back home:

“Is your sister out of her mind?”

Carolie had gasped,
“Out of her mind? That’s downright crazy!”

Kaphir had voiced a similar shock,
“She did well, but it was extremely reckless.”

Kirke had offered measured praise along with a note of caution,
“Well done, though perhaps you should have taken fewer risks with your swordsmanship lessons.”

And then there was Illan’s lukewarm response, which seemed to downplay everything. Yet when the Duke’s letter arrived, everyone had scurried to her room to exclaim their astonishment—it was quite a stir, if not an upheaval, by some accounts.

Calliope raised a teacup—not to drink, but merely to savor its fragrance—then spoke softly,
“I wonder when His Grace will arrive?”

“Surely he’s been counting the minutes for me,” came the playful retort.

At that very moment, the door opened and Duke Glenn Glayderth himself appeared. When Calliope rose to greet him, the Duke motioned for her to sit, then took the seat directly opposite her.

I’ve heard that name before; naturally, Glenn sounds familiar, she thought, a sense of déjà vu washing over her. But there was no time to dwell on it.

“First, allow me to express my gratitude,” Duke Glenn began. “Had you arrived just a bit later, my son might have been harmed—or worse, Dolly might have lost her life.”

“Yes, indeed. That deputy arrived ahead of your knights,” Calliope replied.

“Now, that so-called new deputy—no, rather, a criminal—had been treated like a lowly servant. He even took on tasks that should have been Dolly’s, like preparing tea. It seems he had dosed the tea with something—a sedative, not poison; it induced headaches and drowsiness. According to his confession, he never intended to kill my son.”

“Well, regardless of his intention, he did try to kill him. It’s best to take his words with a grain of salt.”

The Duke chuckled lightly before his expression turned grave.
“Indeed. How dare he lay a hand on my son?”

“Truly frightening,” Calliope agreed.

Perhaps realizing that he was showing too much anger before a young noble, he waved his hand dismissively.
“It appears that when Otis set off with Dolly, that deputy trailed behind under the pretext of work—merely to ensure they remained unconscious. As planned, the coachman, in collusion with him, stopped the carriage at the appointed spot, and then the deputy rode back.”

“And he later returned to create an alibi by claiming, ‘I was here all along,’ so that no one would suspect a kidnapping could happen within such a brief interval.”

“Exactly. And tell me—why did the coachman join in? He was supposedly nearing retirement, wasn’t he?”

“In our household, there is no such retirement. Typically, the son carries on the work. But after his wife’s passing, the man desired to bring a bride from abroad, which required a hefty sum for settling both the household and his personal expenses.”

“Ah, so the deputy likely demanded a ransom from him?”

“Probably. I didn’t press him for details—I’m not particularly interested in that, especially since it cost him his life anyway. After all, nobles hardly concern themselves with the passing of common folk.”

“You speak the truth.”

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