In A World Full of Silence, My Heart Will Find Its Way To You - Chapter 85

Eric’s eyes narrowed into slits. He folded his arms and lifted his head, as if shaking off a moment of deep thought.

“What happened with the matter I asked you to look into last time?”

“W-Well…”

The butler took out a letter he had hidden in his coat and handed it to Eric. As Eric read the letter in his hand, his brow slowly furrowed.

“What is this?”

“We’ve found the missing maid’s whereabouts. As you suspected, someone inside had been secretly communicating. I received this letter this morning. The address of where the maid is staying is written here.”

“An inn, huh…”

Eric, who had been sitting on the edge of the table, immediately stood up. A witness related to his father’s death—this was like a ray of hope for him.

The butler swallowed hard before continuing.

“I’m not sure if I should say this, but… according to the runaway maid, she was originally staying at a house arranged by the lady. But she fled again to the inn, feeling her life was in danger.”

“That makes sense. A clever maid would only be a thorn in her side now.”

“What should we do?”

As Eric gave a crooked smirk, the butler’s eyes filled with unease and glanced at him cautiously.

Eric’s sharp gaze softened, then turned cold again as he stared at the butler with icy eyes.

“We need to move before the lady finds her. She’s the only witness who can reveal the truth behind my father’s death.”

“Then… should we leave the Count alone? Perhaps you should go and stop him…”

“No. Leave him. This comes first.”

Hearing Eric’s firm tone, the butler simply nodded without saying another word.

A small inn located in the busiest part of town, known for its bar on the first floor and rooms on the second.

Unlike the noisy first floor, the room at the far end of the second floor was filled with silence.

Suddenly, the loud sound of several footsteps echoed, as if people were searching for someone.

A woman, who had just barely fallen asleep curled up in bed, was startled awake by the noise.

Her violet eyes, half hidden beneath her orange hair, began to tremble slightly.

She placed a hand on her chest to calm her racing heart and got up from the bed. Holding a flickering candle, she walked toward the door.

From outside, she could faintly hear people talking.

“She couldn’t have gone far. If the knights at the castle gate didn’t see her, she must be hiding somewhere nearby.”

As someone spoke with anger in their voice, the woman’s lower lip began to shake. Just then, footsteps running down the hallway echoed closer.

“Captain!”

“Shh! How many times have I told you to lower your voice?”

“S-Sorry. The innkeeper says a woman with orange hair has been staying here for the past few days.”

“Heh, just as I thought… Find her and drag her out. We need to repay the shame from last time.”

Hearing this from outside, the woman stared blankly at the wall, her mind going white.

She was sure it was the sound of the people who had been chasing her. The Countess had finally decided to have her killed.

“To throw me away like trash…”

Biting her lip hard, the woman hurried to pack her things beside the bed. As she hastily put on her bag, her eyes turned toward the window lit by moonlight.

To escape their eyes, jumping from the window was the only way out.

Still staring at the window, she reached out to grab her candle again. But in doing so, she accidentally knocked over a teacup on the desk.

The teacup shattered loudly onto the old carpet.

The suspicious noise made the people outside stop moving.

“She’s in there!”

Someone shouted. A chill ran down the woman’s body. Without a second thought, she opened the window wide.

The height was too dangerous for a small woman to jump, but fear was pressing down on her more than the danger.

She took a deep breath and shut her eyes tightly.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With a loud crash, the door burst open—and at the same time, her body fell down to the first floor, rolling helplessly. Sharp sticks and stones scratched and cut her skin.

“Ugh!”

She held a hand over her mouth to stop a scream. Groaning from the pain, she barely stood up and began limping away.

But her weak body was no match for the fast pursuers.

Just as their footsteps closed in, someone suddenly grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks.

When she turned her head, a face covered in shadow appeared under the moonlight.

A black frock coat, a sword at his waist. Cold blue eyes stared down at her.

In those burning eyes, she saw clear anger aimed at her.

“E-Eric? What are you doing here…?”

“You already guessed why I came, didn’t you?”

“M-My lord, I…”

Her voice trembled under Eric’s sharp gaze.

She realized now why he had come. That dangerous look made it clear—he suspected the death of Count Dennis.

She had thought the secret was perfectly hidden. But it seemed she couldn’t escape this man’s eyes.

Before she could come up with an excuse, a group of masked assassins ran toward her. Even at a glance, there were more than ten of them.

The assassins drew their swords.

“Who are you?”

“And who are you?”

“We don’t want to spill unnecessary blood. All we want is the girl. Give her to us and we’ll leave peacefully. Just walk away.”

“I want the girl too. For the same reason you do.”

“What…?”

As Eric smirked, the assassins frowned. One, who seemed to be their leader, ground his teeth.

“You’re asking to die. Fine, we’ll kill you right here. Don’t let her live!”

“Yes, sir!”

Eric pulled the maid behind him and looked down at the sword on his waist. Then he aimed his sharp gaze at the assassins.

“Who sent you? Was it the Countess?”

The leader just smirked. Then, without a word, he lunged at Eric.

Eric leaned back to dodge the strike, then swept the attacker’s legs from underneath him.

The leader lost his balance and fell to the ground. Eric quickly drew his sword and held it to the man’s neck.

The assassins rushed forward, but Eric stepped on the leader and calmly looked around.

“Drop your swords. Unless you want this man’s head to roll.”

“C-Captain!”

“D-Do what he says! No one move!”

Pale with fear, the leader shouted at his men. They glanced at each other, then slowly dropped their weapons.

The captain’s eyes, glancing up at Eric, were filled with fear—perhaps for the first time in his life.

“Who are you?”

“Answer my question. Was it the Countess who sent you?”

“T-That… Ugh!”

As the blade pressed against his neck, blood trickled from the wound. The fear of death froze the man in place.

“I-I don’t know if she was a Countess, but an older woman gave me money and told me to kill that girl…”

“An older woman, huh?”

“She looked like a maid, judging by her clothes.”

Only one person came to Eric’s mind.

In that moment of distraction, the leader rolled away and quickly got back up. The assassins picked up their swords and faced Eric again.

“Captain!”

“Fall back! He’s not someone we can beat. Hey, you! Consider yourself lucky!”

The captain looked at Eric for a moment with regret, then turned and ran. The assassins followed him.

Eric didn’t take his cold eyes off them for a long time—until the maid beside him tried to run away again.

As he watched her limp away, his brow furrowed. She didn’t get far before being caught.

When she turned her head, she saw eyes so cold, they looked ready to kill.

Terrified, she stumbled back and spoke.

“M-My lord, please have mercy. I’ve done nothing wrong. I was only on a short vacation!”

Eric’s lip curled into a crooked smile.

“You still say that, even after seeing those men?”

“T-That’s…”

“They left today, but they’ll come again. They’re not done until they take your head.”

“What will you choose? Will you stay the Countess’s loyal dog and die young? Or will you show your final loyalty to the master who once trusted you?”

“Master… who trusted me…?”

Her pupils trembled.

The one who had taken her in and given her work when she was young—that was Count Dennis, the man she had helped kill.

As she remembered him, guilt crushed her again.

She had already made her choice—but in the end, she had been used and abandoned. She had nothing left.

Trembling with fear, she finally whispered:

“I-I don’t know anything. I don’t even understand why they’re chasing me. Please… remember me as a loyal servant of House Bailey. If you do that… Ugh!”

But before she could finish, a blade was suddenly at her throat.

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