Don’T Get Caught By Your Husband! [EN]: Chapter 55

Don’t Get Caught by Your Husband! 55. The Search Begins (55/130)

#55. The Search Begins

2024.04.24.

When I first heard the story, I thought Belladonna couldn’t bear the last month and had left the castle on her own.

Since her intentions were exposed, she must have wanted to return to Astagna as soon as possible.

However, the ominous premonition that kept ringing in my head made Escalión waver.

“Since when?”

“I clearly confirmed that she went to bed last night, but she hasn’t been seen since this morning. Nowhere in the castle.”

“The missing carriages?”

“There aren’t any. No missing horses either.”

Volff answered, sobbing.

Escalión tightened his jaw.

“Could she have been suddenly kidnapped or had an accident…?”

“Don’t jump to conclusions. Is there a reason why you think so?”

“Oh, there’s no sign that she packed any clothes, food, or even shoes. Rather, the blankets are disheveled as if she had just gotten out of bed.”

Escalión immediately turned around.

It was terribly cold.

If she disappeared without even putting on proper clothes, her fragile body would not last long.

Why would she do such a foolish thing…

The reason for her sudden disappearance was unknown, and even the purpose was not guessed.

He thought he knew his wife well, but in reality, he knew nothing about her.

“Which places have you searched so far?”

Volff, who had been sitting on the floor, hurriedly got up and chased after him.

“We’ve searched the entire castle. Even places the madam has never set foot in.”

“Outside the castle?”

“The Knights are preparing to search. But they can’t move without the Lord’s permission…”

“Tell them to start searching the surrounding villages and forests immediately.”

“Yes, sir! Hey, you! Report to Graham right now!”

Volff turned his head and shouted, and the surrounding servants nodded and ran in different directions.

They seemed to be running to the knights scattered around the castle searching.

“Bring my wife’s maid.”

Soon after, Cindy, also tearful, appeared before him.

“L, Lord…”

“When was the last time you saw my wife?”

“In the evening… I washed her last night and saw her lying in bed before I left.”

“Were there any particular signs?”

“Her expression was a little dark that day, but I vaguely thought it was because you weren’t there, Lord. I should have taken better care of her… I, I’m sorry…”

Cindy bowed deeply and sobbed.

Escalión, looking down at her, swept the hair that fell over his forehead and sighed.

Seriously… Did she run away because she was in a bad mood? I didn’t think she was the type to do such a foolish thing.

“L, Lord! Amy is missing!”

At that moment, someone was heard shouting in the distance.

The servant who shouted in a loud voice hurried to Escalión and took a moment to catch his breath.

“Who is that?”

“She’s a maid who has worked at Griblatta Castle for a long time. It was strange that she hadn’t shown her face since this morning, even though it wasn’t her day off… I just checked, and all her belongings are gone…!”

“What does it matter now that one maid is missing?”

Escalión spat out irritably.

Cindy, who had been standing still and listening to their conversation, quickly opened her mouth.

“J, Jewelry…! I didn’t think it was very important in this situation, so I didn’t mention it, but this morning I discovered that some of the madam’s jewelry was missing.”

“What?”

“Many of the jewels that the madam brought separately are gone.”

Escalión’s expression grew increasingly stern as he listened to Cindy’s story.

The servant standing next to him spoke with a confused face.

“What? Did Amy steal it? Wait, could she have been k, kidnapped…?”

The servant and Cindy exchanged uneasy glances.

Escalión approached the horse he had been riding a moment ago with quick steps and spat out.

“Track down the missing maid’s trail.”

* * *

“Madam…!”

“Madaaam…! Where are you!”

The search for Belladonna continued all night.

Escalión, who had sent the servants exhausted from the cold back first and started climbing the forest with only the Griblatta elite knights, nervously cut down the branches blocking his view.

Judging from footprints and other evidence, there was one more accomplice.

There were also traces of something heavy being dragged on the ground, and I could only hope that it wasn’t her unconscious.

“The snow makes it difficult to find traces!”

“It’s also difficult to secure visibility…!”

The knights’ voices were heard shouting from here and there.

It was clear that they had entered this forest, but it was difficult to find the fugitives’ traces.

If I had known this would happen, I should have stayed at the castle instead of going to a distant hill to clear my head, I regretted.

At that time, Graham and Hazel, who had come closer, suggested.

“Escalión, it’s too dark now. How about starting the search again at dawn?”

“That’s right, Lord. At this point, we can’t do anything and only waste the knights’ stamina. If we make a mistake, we may suffer casualties on our side.”

Escalión silently stared at the dark forest.

A biting cold wind blew.

If she was wearing that velvet pajamas she usually enjoyed last night…

Soon, he slowly opened his mouth.

“Take the knights down.”

“What about you, Lord…?”

“I’ll look for her a little more.”

After finishing speaking, he moved his steps again.

Graham and Hazel looked at each other with troubled faces, then moved their bodies again.

“Search for a few more hours!”

“Hang in there a little longer!”

Leaving behind the knights shouting, Escalión ran up the dark forest path alone.

It was unbelievably light and fast, considering that he hadn’t slept properly for a day and had been wandering around.

In any case, the fugitives would also have a hard time enduring the cold, so there would surely be places to hide around, such as caves or large tree nests.

“There’s a cave up ahead!”

After a while, a cave was discovered not far from the search area.

Graham, who was standing on a large rock and looking around, raised his voice and shouted towards it.

“Go in quickly!”

“Yes!”

Escalión turned around and quickly chased after the knights running quickly and hurriedly entered the cave.

“Ugh…!”

“What’s that smell…”

As soon as they entered, a pungent stench filled the air.

Escalión raised one arm to cover his face and moved his steps inside without hesitation.

When the Knights shone their torches, they found traces of someone making a fire until a few hours ago.

“It looks like someone came here!”

“Oh, th… that…”

The knights who found something stopped walking, slurring their words.

Right next to the traces of the fire, drops of what appeared to be fresh blood were dripping.

They lost their words at the ominous traces, swallowed dry saliva for a moment, and then looked around again.

“There are also traces of a b… bear here. It looks like it was carrying something in its mouth…”

“What? Bears should be hibernating now.”

“That’s right. I don’t know what happened…!”

“Did someone wake up the bear? I’m going crazy…!”

Escalión, who had been standing still and watching everything, roughly pushed the knights surrounding the place and moved his steps.

“…”

Red blood was dripping next to the pile of firewood that had gone cold.

Pieces of cloth that had been torn off haphazardly as if someone had forcibly cut them were also noticeable.

And the footprints of the beast engraved on the cave floor, the traces of it moving while carrying something, and the traces of blood that moved along the footprints and eventually disappeared…

Escalión clenched his trembling fist tightly.

“Escalión…”

Graham, who had come close before he knew it, placed his hand on his shoulder.

Objectively speaking, the probability that the person they were looking for was still alive was not high.

In addition to the tremendous cold and the fugitives who had kidnapped her with a determined mind, this forest was full of wild animals aiming for her.

So she was probably…

Escalión’s breathing gradually became rough as he stood still looking down at the traces.

Graham, who was standing next to him and quietly watching him, soon turned his head and said to the knights.

“Let’s look around this area a little more and withdraw for today! We will resume the rest as soon as it dawns tomorrow morning!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yes, I understand!”

It meant that if they could find it, they would recover even the corpse.

At that time, Escalión, who was standing still as if frozen in place and only breathing roughly, turned his bloodshot eyes and ran out of the cave.

He drew the long sword he was wearing on his waist and began to cut down the surroundings like crazy.

“Escalión! Calm down!”

“C, Captain!!”

Graham and Hazel shouted as they stopped him.

“Let go.”

Escalión spat out lowly, his arms grabbed by the two.

He tightened his jaw as if suppressing the rising anger.

“Escalión! Come to your senses and look at this situation straight! There’s almost no chance your wife is alive!! You know that better than anyone!”

“Captain! Please calm down…! You’ll get hurt if you keep doing this! You have to think rationally, especially in times like this!”

“I told you to let go!!”

Escalión, who spat out roughly, swung his arm.

The two huge men who were holding him fell helplessly and rolled on the floor.

“If it’s going to be like this…”

Escalión mumbled, grinding his teeth.

Belladonna’s low laughter rang in his ears.

“Damn it, if it’s going to end up like this, why did you even come to Griblatta!!”

He shouted in a cracked voice and swung his long sword around.

The branches that were blocking his view were cut off and fell onto the snow.

It was unbelievable.

It was impossible to believe that he would never see the small frame that had been in his arms on the bed until just a few days ago.

The fact that he had lost her again without being able to do anything, just like his parents when he was young, also felt unreal.

Escalión, who was breathing roughly, nervously looked around and moved his steps.

Traces of blood and faint footprints were connected to this place.

Rustle.

At that time, the sound of something moving was heard in the distance.

Escalión, who reacted sensitively to even the smallest sound, ran towards it faster than anyone else.

He hurriedly cut down the branches blocking his eyes, and he saw the bear’s round rear disappearing down the slope.

“…!”

Escalión’s steps stopped at once as he desperately tried to chase after it.

It was because something was caught in the lower part of his vision.

He took a breath and slowly lowered his head downwards.

He was very afraid of the sight he was about to see, but he couldn’t stop.

“…”

Soon, Escalión’s golden eyes stopped somewhere on the floor.

A small frame was lying on the white snowfield.

Belladonna was lying on the snow, curled up sideways as if dead.