However, no one contacted him at all.
Verdic locked Isella’s room with bloodshot eyes. It had been a month with no communication, indicating that there was no room left for negotiation. Verdic released more manpower.
And because he couldn’t wait any longer, he started to take action himself. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find Isella anywhere.
If it’s not money they want, it must be revenge.
At some point, Verdic began to wait for news of Isella’s corpse. If someone held a grudge, they would want that. They would want to see him suffering. Most people with a thirst for revenge were like that.
But news did not come from anywhere, really—not from anywhere at all. No, there was plenty of news, but they were all mere lies from those who were after his money. There was no news from the real culprit. There was absolutely no concrete evidence left behind either.
As Verdic started wasting manpower, money, and time to find Isella, his business began to waste away.
The businesses that Verdic didn’t personally oversee started showing signs of weakness and began to crumble, and strangely, accidents happened more frequently. Mining explosions increased, and competitors in the same industry multiplied. Verdic had to cut many businesses to minimize his losses.
And after searching for his daughter for three months, he was now considering giving up.
He had done what he could. It was time to give up.
Verdic looked at his daughter’s closed door and thought so.
He had opened his eyes to what kind of man he truly was: he was more of a businessman than a father.
His sense of self was more fitting for a money-chasing dog, he thought. He had done everything for Isella. What couldn’t be done was simply impossible.
“…This came in for you.”
But his wife extended an item. Verdic looked at the package for a long while without saying a word. He had to open it. He had to confirm it. But he couldn’t bring himself to open it.
The package had the name ‘Isella Evans’ written on it.
Why now.
* * *
Short or long, it was a period that felt like an eternity. For five months, Verdic went through what felt like madness. It took him that long to grieve, get angry, and finally accept the situation.
But it was precisely at this moment, as Verdic tried to come to terms with reality, that the package arrived, as if it had been waiting.
What did they want? What could it be?
Verdic trembled as he opened the package.
“……”
Inside, there were strands of hair.
Hair that was exactly the same as Isella’s, slightly disheveled, with a lemony hue.
And besides that, there was nothing.
Verdic traced the origins of the package, and eventually, it led to documents.
The culprit had sent the package through multiple means, but trails were bound to be left behind. The culprit sent the package through multiple means and messengers, but even so, money had a way of tracing things.
All of the packages and letters were collected in the central region before being resent, which meant Verdic would have to visit the nobles in that area to dig deeper.
Annoyingly, Raymond Saytes, Isella’s former fiancé, and his brother owned territory in that region.
“…This is strange.”
Verdic scratched his chin and looked at the map. Was all of this just a coincidence? Lord Saytes had a somewhat strained relationship with him.
And further, the baron’s younger brother had once been engaged to Verdic’s daughter, which made matters even more complicated.
Of course, there was no direct evidence. The package had just passed through that area. But Verdic felt an uneasy hunch.
It was the same intuition that had helped him more aptly than logic throughout all these years.
And now, as Verdic saw this redhead, that uneasy feeling grew stronger.
“You there. Are you Carynne Hare?”
* * *
It was fortunate that Carynne had her back turned. If Verdic had seen her face at that moment, he would have read a lot from it.
“You… seem to have mistaken me for someone else.”
“No, I seem to be right. A few months ago, you came as a representative of Lord Hare to terminate the contract with me, didn’t you? Seeing your face, I know I’m right.”
Verdic was adamant. What would be better? Carynne didn’t know that he would remember their brief encounter, even in a rush.
Her face was unforgettable, and the path of honesty might be the best to take in front of Verdic’s sharp senses.
Carynne’s thoughts went a mile a minute. What should she do?
She contemplated. Should she answer like this? ‘Yes, I am Carynne Hare. Hello, Mister Verdic. Have you found your daughter during this time? Oh, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve yet to find her.’
But there was no need for her to lie. The more she would, the more she was likely to reveal her flaws.
And when Carynne saw Verdic’s face, she could easily recall the scene of her disembodied head rolling on the ground.
‘Raymond might have done something to Isella, seems like.’
That was the problem.
Carynne thought about the fingernail she had discovered.
Isella and Verdic were enemies of Carynne and Raymond. When Carynne imagined Raymond killing or torturing someone, the first people she thought of were Verdic and Isella.
It was a natural assumption that the owner of that fingernail might be Isella. If Verdic found out about this, Raymond’s fiancée, Carynne, would likely meet the same fate as before.
This iteration’s Carynne had no connection to Verdic.
For now, that is.
And that was the problem.
Just because there was no connection between Carynne and Verdic now didn’t guarantee it would stay that way in the future.
No, Carynne remembered how his expression would be as he’d strike her neck several times with his blunt-bladed axe.
He had killed her multiple times in the past. No matter how she thought about it, she and him were connected by dark fate. Even if they moved on from this, Carynne couldn’t be sure when the story would revert to its original state.
“Why are you here?”
It was because of her history with Raymond.
Carynne couldn’t bring herself to speak. Confessing her relationship with Raymond was one thing, but what came after was another problem.
Raymond was the man Verdic had given to Isella. Since Raymond’s relationship with Isella had ended, it could be easily predicted that sparks would fly with Raymond’s fiancée, Carynne, afterwards.
Would she die in the same manner again this time?
Carynne felt a headache coming on. There were things that couldn’t be avoided no matter how hard you tried.
But this time, too many things had changed, and something like a miracle had occurred, so Carynne thought that this would change as well. In fact, it was changing little by little.
Still, Carynne couldn’t help but think that perhaps the same life would repeat itself again this time.
“…I.”
Carynne licked her lips slightly.
“I… I work at this mansion.”
“You don’t seem like someone of that class.”
No, she had done it a lot before. Carynne recalled the various tasks Verdic had assigned her while she had been a maid. But it wasn’t ordinary work. Carynne had made up her mind.
“I… I don’t… know what you’re talking about, sir. My job is…”
“Are you not Carynne Hare?”
“I… I don’t know who you are, sir. My name is…”
“No, am I asking for your name?”
“Hiic…”
Carynne started sobbing.
Verdic’s face showed annoyance as he watched Carynne act like a coward. But this had to be done, even if it seemed absurd.
“I… hiic… huff…”
“…Haa.”
Even the muttered curse of ‘crazy’ could be faintly heard. It might sound strange, but this was the best approach. Verdic didn’t have any concrete evidence right now.
Furthermore, Carynne wasn’t an immediately important figure to Verdic. He needed to talk to Raymond first.
Carynne sobbed for a while before speaking.
“Right now, Mister Raymond is at the mansion… Would you like to meet him?”
“…Fine. Let’s do that.”
Verdic nodded with a somewhat impatient expression. Carynne led Verdic towards the mansion, water dripping from her as her body grew cold. She needed to get inside quickly, hand Verdic over to Raymond, and change her clothes.
“…Is this really the place?”
“Yes, sir.”
Verdic impatiently followed Carynne with a scowl. As he observed the poorly maintained garden and the stone steps with weeds, he muttered,
“…Looks like there aren’t many people around.”
Verdic spoke from behind Carynne.
“Yes… Mister Raymond is busy, so he reduced the number of servants as much as possible.”
However, no one contacted him at all.
Verdic locked Isella’s room with bloodshot eyes. It had been a month with no communication, indicating that there was no room left for negotiation. Verdic released more manpower.
And because he couldn’t wait any longer, he started to take action himself. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find Isella anywhere.
If it’s not money they want, it must be revenge.
At some point, Verdic began to wait for news of Isella’s corpse. If someone held a grudge, they would want that. They would want to see him suffering. Most people with a thirst for revenge were like that.
But news did not come from anywhere, really—not from anywhere at all. No, there was plenty of news, but they were all mere lies from those who were after his money. There was no news from the real culprit. There was absolutely no concrete evidence left behind either.
As Verdic started wasting manpower, money, and time to find Isella, his business began to waste away.
The businesses that Verdic didn’t personally oversee started showing signs of weakness and began to crumble, and strangely, accidents happened more frequently. Mining explosions increased, and competitors in the same industry multiplied. Verdic had to cut many businesses to minimize his losses.
And after searching for his daughter for three months, he was now considering giving up.
He had done what he could. It was time to give up.
Verdic looked at his daughter’s closed door and thought so.
He had opened his eyes to what kind of man he truly was: he was more of a businessman than a father.
His sense of self was more fitting for a money-chasing dog, he thought. He had done everything for Isella. What couldn’t be done was simply impossible.
“…This came in for you.”
But his wife extended an item. Verdic looked at the package for a long while without saying a word. He had to open it. He had to confirm it. But he couldn’t bring himself to open it.
The package had the name ‘Isella Evans’ written on it.
Why now.
* * *
Short or long, it was a period that felt like an eternity. For five months, Verdic went through what felt like madness. It took him that long to grieve, get angry, and finally accept the situation.
But it was precisely at this moment, as Verdic tried to come to terms with reality, that the package arrived, as if it had been waiting.
What did they want? What could it be?
Verdic trembled as he opened the package.
“……”
Inside, there were strands of hair.
Hair that was exactly the same as Isella’s, slightly disheveled, with a lemony hue.
And besides that, there was nothing.
Verdic traced the origins of the package, and eventually, it led to documents.
The culprit had sent the package through multiple means, but trails were bound to be left behind. The culprit sent the package through multiple means and messengers, but even so, money had a way of tracing things.
All of the packages and letters were collected in the central region before being resent, which meant Verdic would have to visit the nobles in that area to dig deeper.
Annoyingly, Raymond Saytes, Isella’s former fiancé, and his brother owned territory in that region.
“…This is strange.”
Verdic scratched his chin and looked at the map. Was all of this just a coincidence? Lord Saytes had a somewhat strained relationship with him.
And further, the baron’s younger brother had once been engaged to Verdic’s daughter, which made matters even more complicated.
Of course, there was no direct evidence. The package had just passed through that area. But Verdic felt an uneasy hunch.
It was the same intuition that had helped him more aptly than logic throughout all these years.
And now, as Verdic saw this redhead, that uneasy feeling grew stronger.
“You there. Are you Carynne Hare?”
* * *
It was fortunate that Carynne had her back turned. If Verdic had seen her face at that moment, he would have read a lot from it.
“You… seem to have mistaken me for someone else.”
“No, I seem to be right. A few months ago, you came as a representative of Lord Hare to terminate the contract with me, didn’t you? Seeing your face, I know I’m right.”
Verdic was adamant. What would be better? Carynne didn’t know that he would remember their brief encounter, even in a rush.
Her face was unforgettable, and the path of honesty might be the best to take in front of Verdic’s sharp senses.
Carynne’s thoughts went a mile a minute. What should she do?
She contemplated. Should she answer like this? ‘Yes, I am Carynne Hare. Hello, Mister Verdic. Have you found your daughter during this time? Oh, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve yet to find her.’
But there was no need for her to lie. The more she would, the more she was likely to reveal her flaws.
And when Carynne saw Verdic’s face, she could easily recall the scene of her disembodied head rolling on the ground.
‘Raymond might have done something to Isella, seems like.’
That was the problem.
Carynne thought about the fingernail she had discovered.
Isella and Verdic were enemies of Carynne and Raymond. When Carynne imagined Raymond killing or torturing someone, the first people she thought of were Verdic and Isella.
It was a natural assumption that the owner of that fingernail might be Isella. If Verdic found out about this, Raymond’s fiancée, Carynne, would likely meet the same fate as before.
This iteration’s Carynne had no connection to Verdic.
For now, that is.
And that was the problem.
Just because there was no connection between Carynne and Verdic now didn’t guarantee it would stay that way in the future.
No, Carynne remembered how his expression would be as he’d strike her neck several times with his blunt-bladed axe.
He had killed her multiple times in the past. No matter how she thought about it, she and him were connected by dark fate. Even if they moved on from this, Carynne couldn’t be sure when the story would revert to its original state.
“Why are you here?”
It was because of her history with Raymond.
Carynne couldn’t bring herself to speak. Confessing her relationship with Raymond was one thing, but what came after was another problem.
Raymond was the man Verdic had given to Isella. Since Raymond’s relationship with Isella had ended, it could be easily predicted that sparks would fly with Raymond’s fiancée, Carynne, afterwards.
Would she die in the same manner again this time?
Carynne felt a headache coming on. There were things that couldn’t be avoided no matter how hard you tried.
But this time, too many things had changed, and something like a miracle had occurred, so Carynne thought that this would change as well. In fact, it was changing little by little.
Still, Carynne couldn’t help but think that perhaps the same life would repeat itself again this time.
“…I.”
Carynne licked her lips slightly.
“I… I work at this mansion.”
“You don’t seem like someone of that class.”
No, she had done it a lot before. Carynne recalled the various tasks Verdic had assigned her while she had been a maid. But it wasn’t ordinary work. Carynne had made up her mind.
“I… I don’t… know what you’re talking about, sir. My job is…”
“Are you not Carynne Hare?”
“I… I don’t know who you are, sir. My name is…”
“No, am I asking for your name?”
“Hiic…”
Carynne started sobbing.
Verdic’s face showed annoyance as he watched Carynne act like a coward. But this had to be done, even if it seemed absurd.
“I… hiic… huff…”
“…Haa.”
Even the muttered curse of ‘crazy’ could be faintly heard. It might sound strange, but this was the best approach. Verdic didn’t have any concrete evidence right now.
Furthermore, Carynne wasn’t an immediately important figure to Verdic. He needed to talk to Raymond first.
Carynne sobbed for a while before speaking.
“Right now, Mister Raymond is at the mansion… Would you like to meet him?”
“…Fine. Let’s do that.”
Verdic nodded with a somewhat impatient expression. Carynne led Verdic towards the mansion, water dripping from her as her body grew cold. She needed to get inside quickly, hand Verdic over to Raymond, and change her clothes.
“…Is this really the place?”
“Yes, sir.”
Verdic impatiently followed Carynne with a scowl. As he observed the poorly maintained garden and the stone steps with weeds, he muttered,
“…Looks like there aren’t many people around.”
Verdic spoke from behind Carynne.
“Yes… Mister Raymond is busy, so he reduced the number of servants as much as possible.”
