Missing Cinderella
Chapter 43

Chapter 43

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Eschert pushed himself out of the bed with a grimace, running a hand through his throbbing head. Lately, he had been plagued with terrible headaches. They never seemed to get better no matter how many medications he took. As a result, his usually low mood had plummeted to the bottom and was hitting bottom rock these days. 

Eschert waved off the servants when they approached him to help him change his clothes, before throwing on a nightgown over his pajamas and went to his office. 

“My Lord, your breakfast….” 

“Later.” 

At Eschert’s cold reply, Musset, who had been working as a butler for three years, left his office in tears. 

Left alone, Eschert slowly looked around the quiet interior before lowering his head and fixing his gaze on the papers in front of him. As usual, he started working. Unknowingly, a long time had passed before there was a knock on the door and Eschert opened his mouth. 

“Come in.” 

The door soon opened and someone entered the office, Eschert looking up to see who was the visitor. 

“William.” 

It was William, the person who was in charge of tracking Siella’s whereabouts. Normally, no matter who came to visit, Eschert would keep his eyes on the documents, but as soon as he saw William, he immediately put down the document on his and stood up. 

William bowed his head deeply. Stepping forward from his desk, Eschert stopped in front of him. 

“Did you find her?” 

“…” 

William didn’t have an answer for Eschert’s question, and from the look on his face, Eschert could guess that he returned empty-handed yet again. 

“So you couldn’t find her.” 

“I apologize, Your Excellency.” William added apologetically, a hint of frustration crossing his face, “Given the circumstances, she must have gone back to the capital.” 

“I’m not sure,” Eschert let out a small laugh, “I’m not sure why the lot of you were so sure that she went back to the capital in the first place.” 

“That… if you look again at the gate access records on the report I gave you before….” 

“You know better than anyone else that records like that can be manipulated.” 

“…” 

Speechless, William closed his mouth. 

Eschert sighed, tilting his head to look up at the ceiling and letting out another long sigh. 

He had already confirmed that Leonard had nothing to do with this. Where else could Siella go alone? No matter how much he thinks of it, he can’t think of a single place. 

It had already been a month since she left the mansion and vanished into thin air. With each passing day, the chances of finding her became less and less likely. That’s what makes Eschert anxious. 

“Start again from the beginning.” Eschert eventually lowered his head, looked straight at William and gave an order. “I’m sure you’ve missed something. I want you to go back and carefully dig into all the nooks and crannies you previously ignored.” 

“Understood.” 

William replied dutifully, though he couldn’t understand Eschert’s belated obsession of finding the whereabouts of someone who had already left. 

“William.” 

“Yes.” 

“Get something meaningful out of this somehow and bring it to me.” 

“Yes, Your Excellency.” 

It was William’s job to keep his mouth shut and do what he was told, even if it was an order that he couldn’t understand. 

(T/N: You only know someone’s worth/value when they are finally gone.)

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“Hmm, I see. Uhm… if you’re really anxious, perhaps you could increase the number of escorts a bit more than you have now.” 

Listening to Siella’s words with a serious face, he cautiously suggested to her. 

“There happens to be a guild in Jenard I am familiar with. If you don’t mind, we could go down the main street together sometime soon and….” 

“My Lady!” 

Just then, they heard Hellen screaming behind them. Concentrating on his rather low voice, Siella turned around in surprise and looked behind her. 

Hurrying over, Hellen scooped up Siella from the grass she was sitting on and said, “There you are. Goodness, I went all the way down there without even realizing it.” 

Siella wondered, ‘How much time had passed while I was here?’ and smiled apologetically to Hellen. 

“Have you been looking for me?” 

“Of course. You have no idea how worried I was when you didn’t come back, especially since Nina and Lena….” 

Before Hellen could answer, she glanced at the man on the other side of the fence. 

“It must be you, the person who lives near the lake.” 

“Nice meeting you. My name’s Oad.” 

“Well, nice meeting you too. I’m Hellen.” 

As he held out his hand with a charming smile, Hellen cleared her throat loudly and shook his hand. 

“So, my Lady, you were sitting here and talking to this man the whole time?” 

“Oh, uhh….” 

She seemed to be captivated by his eloquence, skillfully leading the conversation in a gentle tone. Siella couldn’t help but be surprised when she noticed that the sun in the sky was beginning to set. 

“I’m sorry, I lost track of time….” 

“Nothing happened, so that’s alright. I’m happy that you’re having such a good time you didn’t know the time was passing.” 

Hellen continued to steal glances over the fence even while she was talking with Siella. As if sensing her gaze, the man turned to her and smiled quietly before speaking. 

“Well, it’s already about time.” 

“…”

“I also lost track of time because I was enjoying the time I was having with a friend I had never had in a long time.” After saying that, he turned his gaze to Siella and briefly added, “It was my mistake.” 

But it was Hellen, not Siella, who reacted to his words. 

“A… friend?” 

Hah, aha. Wow, a friend? A friend~? Hellen muttered loudly, as if she wanted someone to hear her, and then snorted in disbelief. 

“Now if you’ll excuse us, it’s almost time for dinner, Lady.” 

“Alright.” 

Hellen quickly linked her arms with Siella and walked away. Siella smiled sheepishly and turned to follow Hellen, but then stopped. 

“Oh, wait.” 

Gently removing Hellen’s hand, Siella bent down and picked up the handkerchief spread out on the floor. 

“Thank you, I will wash the handkerchief and return it to you.” 

Siella smiled at him, who smiled back silently, before quietly turning around. Hellen put her arm around her again. Siella chuckled, thinking how cute Hellen was with her unusual quick pace. 

Then Hellen turned to look at her with a puzzled expression on her face, leaned in close and whispered to her, “What was that? Why are you suddenly laughing? No way, dear. Could it be that you like that man…?” 

“I was laughing because you’re cute.” 

“Ah, then that’s a relief….” 

Hellen glanced over her shoulder to check behind them. As expected, she saw the man who hadn’t returned yet, was still standing over the fence and looking in their direction. 

“Alas, I already know that you are a pretty Lady….” 

“It’s not like that.” 

“Then what?” 

“It’s just that we’re the only neighbors who are living near each other. He said it would be good if we could become friends.” 

“Ah… our innocent Lady is yet again innocently tricked….” 

“I told you, it’s not like that.” 

Hellen laughed, saying in a playful voice, ‘Yes, yes~’. 

Siella recalled how she ended up spending hours talking to that man without realizing the passing of time. 

[“Why do you keep asking me if I don’t want to talk about it? I already told you that it has nothing to do with you, whether I have any concerns or whatsoever.” 

“To be honest, it’s because I want to be friends with you.” 

“… What?” 

“Aren’t we the only neighbors? If something were to happen, wouldn’t it be nice to have someone whom you could turn to immediately? But you don’t seem to think so.” 

“…” 

“For example, like… when an evil spirit suddenly comes out in the middle of the night, you could be more assured in the future knowing that there is a place you could run to right away.” 

“But you said the rumors of being cursed when you go near the lake are not true.” 

“Well… I’m just giving you an example.”] 

Even looking back at it now, she still found his embarrassed voice and face a little funny. 

(T/N: When Siella is finally starting to feel happy but Eschert was having headaches looking for her – hah, deserve much, Eschert [bleh].)