Chapter 117: Chapter 59.1

“that… i just somehow made a lot of mess…”

the man still wore a blank face, but somehow seira felt intimidated. she picked up one sprawled shirt and folded it as she stood up, and the man strode forward.

“oh!”

he took the shirt from her hand, threw it back into the closet, and then pointed to the chair in front of the desk.

“are you telling me to sit still?”

not wanting to offend him, seira sat quickly at the chair and he handed her something.

‘a doll?’

it was of a cute teddy bear with soft fluffy brown fur, black beady eyes, and a shiny nose.

‘why is he giving this to me?’

as she lifted it up to study it, her captor brought her blanket and wrapped it around her and the teddy bear.

“no… even if you do this, i have no intention of messing up again…”

whether she whined or not, he wrapped her into a cocoon and started tidying up the room.

she wondered why he threw the folded clothes back, but it seemed that he wasn’t satisfied with seira’s work and had to fold them neatly again to relieve his anger. somehow, the act was quite familiar to her.

as she watched him unfold and organize the sheets that were scattered on the floor, seira naturally thought of someone.

‘i originally thought his face was quite similar, but he is good at tidying up too like aven,’ she came to realize.

the room quickly returned to its original neatness. after he finished his work, the man looked back at her.

“ah…” seira gasped when he suddenly approached and bent over without a sound. “sorry for the mess…?”

she couldn’t stand his persistent gaze and was forced to apologize. he patted her on the head, and his hand felt warm. it didn’t fit his image which had no emotion at all.

after stroking her for a while, he took a tangerine from his pocket, cut it in half, and fed her a piece at a time. he stared at her chewing face, feeding her more than he fed himself.

seira felt really strange. his behavior since yesterday was like he treated her like his child. it was something her father, nathan, had done himself when she was very young.

‘as expected, this person…’

seira stared at the face of her captor, who looked just like someone she cared deeply for.

‘this is making me crazy.’

it was an easy and clear conclusion.

* * *

louis raised an incredulous brow as she stared at baron who was pacing around the drawing room without even sitting.

“this is huge,” he gushed, “the head of jeff suddenly seeks franto without even informing first he was coming.”

“this is not the time to pick a fight,” baron grumbled.

jeff and franto had never been on good terms since hesrad’s founding, which explained very little to rare occasions of visits between members of either family. in particular, today was the first time baron jeff visited louis at his mansion.

“didn’t you meet seira today?”

at his question, baron straightened his back and asked, “how did you know that?”

“she told me,” louis said, and then added as baron squinted at his short reply, “i thought we’d have to meet a day later because of her previous engagement with you. we decided to spend time together here until the conference.”

“in franto… she agreed to stay here?”

“yes,” louis confirmed, “after all, askan’s mansion has poor defenses.”

baron’s expression twisted with louis’ words. if it weren’t for him, seira wouldn’t have returned to askan and stayed in franto all this time.

if seira hadn’t gone missing, he would’ve been secretly pleased that she put him first in her priorities. but then he came to realize he had put her in danger in the first place.

franto’s mansion was a concentration of magic engineering and technology. there was no place as safe from outside threats than where they were now. baron had to admit it even if he hated franto.

“are you going to cancel your appointment with seira?” louis continued, “if that’s the case, please tell me immediately. we still have to prepare to receive guests.”

after glancing over louis’ smooth smile plastered on his face, which baron always thought was unlucky, he sat opposite him and said, “you don’t seem to know anything either from the way you are speaking now.”

louis tilted his head and asked, “what do you mean?”

“seira is missing.”

louis was silent for a long time after hearing baron’s words. only the faint movement of his brows proved he understood baron.

after waiting for a few minutes, baron spoke again and asked, “do you have any guesses who might have taken her?”

“if they had kept an eye on her since yesterday, then they’d known it was a golden opportunity,” louis said with a click of his tongue,

“why is that?”

“seira had exhausted all her powers yesterday,” louis answered.

baron’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.