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“What do you mean, Young Lady? He’s…”
“Tell me right now.”
“He’s in the study on the top floor.”
Was there something like that in this house…?
Come to think of it, because I had no interest in this picturesque mansion built on a deserted island, I did not even think to look around other than the bedrooms and dining room that I used.
“Guide me.”
“Uh, I don’t know what’s going on but wouldn’t it be better to find Arfie more? Something could have happened…”
I glared at Kitty.
“You know what? Lord Karthus said I could send you back whenever I want. If you want to go back like that, I won’t stop you.”
The threat worked immediately.
“…I-I’m sorry. I’ll guide you right away.”
At that, I followed Kitty’s guidance to the top floor.
Even though it did not look like a very big mansion from the outside, the study was located on the fourth floor. Seeing this, I had a rough idea of how much money Cassius Brudenell wasted to keep me in imprisonment.
Finally, we arrived at the library.
It was a beautiful study with the sea spread out like a painting under the large glass window, but none of it caught my eye. Cassius, too, was reading a book with his back to the window as if he was not interested in the beautiful scenery, but as soon as we entered, he closed the book in surprise.
“Evelyn?”
I quickly walked towards him.
“Lord, what did you do with my dog? Have you already killed it?”
I wanted to speak calmly, though my voice trembled with anger.
“Evelyn, what do you mean?”
Cassius reached out to calm me down, although he was stopped by a threat from my half-sane eyes as I continued my words.
“That’s all right. I know everything. Just, just tell me where it is. After all, I didn’t expect anything from the Lord from the beginning…”
The end of my words was blurred.
This was not true.
I got the answer from him that, at least, he would not touch the things I cherished and I was expecting him to keep his promise. I was a fool who thought that I could believe in Cassius and believed in only what I wanted.
“You’re too worked up, Evelyn. Sit here for a while…”
“I don’t have time to sit down!”
I shouted as I pushed Cassius away.
“Tell me right now. By any chance, if it’s alive… Then, I’ll do whatever the Lord really wants me to do. So…”
“Evelyn, I haven’t laid a finger on your dog.”
“Then, did you have someone else take care of Arfie?”
“That didn’t happen either. As far as I know, the dog was staying safe with you. This was the first time I heard that the dog was gone.”
“…Do you think I’ll believe that?”
“Believe it or not, what I said is true.”
“….”
I stared at Cassius.
There were many times when I feared him, and there were many times I hated him. However, I had never been so resentful.
I decided to change my tactics.
“What has already happened can’t be helped. I wouldn’t blame the Lord for that, so just tell me where Arfie is.”
Cassius’ voice grew sharp.
“Evelyn, how would I know that?”
I suppressed the urge to rush at him. If, at any rate, Arfie was still alive… Cassius Brudenell was my only chance to see Arfie again. It would be better to please him than to be angry like now.
“That… I know.”
As I said something I did not mean, it felt bitter as if I was biting a bitter pill, but I continued.
“I’m sorry, Lord. I’ve been suspicious all along. I’m just… It’s my favorite dog. I’ll be very sad if I can’t find it again.”
“How sad do you think you’ll be?”
“Huh…”
I was taken back. It was because a number of cases came to mind.
If I say I would be very sad, Cassius might not give it back because he would think Arfie is precious to me. Though if I said that I was not that sad, he might think it was not a big deal and hide it from me.
‘…Even if I come here and tell him I am not sad, he will not believe it.’
I slowly opened my mouth.
My tongue could not move easily when I thought that the fate of Arfie depended on my words.
“It’s Arfie that helped me adjust to this island. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to live properly on this island. Whether I’d be sad or not… I want you to know that this is not the case.”
“All right.”
Cassius rose from his seat.
I stared at him. My heart was beating with hope.
“It’s such a precious animal to you, so we’ll find it together.”
“Look for it… together?”
At that, I doubted my ears for a moment. He was going to look for it? Was he not going to tell me where it is…?
“Yes.”
Cassius replied with a blunt tone.
“You told me you’ve lost it, so wouldn’t it be better for the three of us to find it than the two of you? If you wish, we’ll inform other employees so that they can stop what they’re doing and find Arfie.”
…What the hell is this?
My head went blank for a moment. Do not tell me, the possibility that he did not really touch Arfie is…
‘…No.’
I shook my head.
Arfie never left my side, even for a moment. Even though he did follow Kitty a little, that was only when she was holding a snack.
“Where was the last time you saw Arfie?”
“It slept with me on the sofa. When I woke up, I couldn’t see it so I called, but it didn’t come…”
“So, you were suspicious of me.”
My face heated up at his tone of reproach.
‘He has already done something before!’
However, surprisingly, Cassius seemed to think the same as me as he opened his mouth, “If you doubted me in the first place, it’s my fault. It’s because I couldn’t make you trust me properly.”
“…Really, you really didn’t hide Arfie?”
“Yes.”
Cassius nodded his head.
“I swear on everything.”
“Betting everything on one dog… that’s not very respectable.”
“It’s not on the dog, it’s on Evelyn’s heart.”
He replied calmly.
“My everything is worth it.”
“….”
Having nothing to say, I silently took the lead.
Even though Cassius seemed to know the structure of the house better than I did, he followed me without saying a word. I hesitated for a moment before entering my bedroom with him. It was because I did not want to put him in a place I thought was my space.
But, come to think of it, this was also the place he had chosen with his own hands.
“I slept on this sofa. It may have been wandering around.”
Listening to me, Cassius carefully examined the entire room.
I frowned.
After calming down a bit, I thought that maybe Arfie had disappeared on its own. Still, my suspicions about Cassius did not completely disappear.
“Look at this.”
At the window I opened earlier because it was hot, he uttered while pointing under the window frame. When I got closer, I saw a few red feathers falling off.
“Looks like a bird came in through the window.”
“But, it would have been louder…”
“Evelyn, you don’t know who’d carry you once you sleep.”
There was a hint of a smile in Cassius’ voice.
“It looks like a bird came in before going out in surprise. Your dog must’ve jumped over the window and followed the bird. There are also footprints outside.”
“….”
I glanced out the window and acknowledged what he had said. On the wet soil of the flower bed, the footprints of Arfie were clearly engraved. With a sense of relief that it was fortunate that it was on the first floor, I thought that I had to go outside in a hurry.
“Shall we follow in their footsteps?”
I nodded with the thought of really apologizing to Cassius if we found Arfie.
Now that I know why and where it went, I thought it would be easy to find Arfie, though it didn’t show up easily. It would be easy to come back to the house as it was a small island with only white sandy beaches and forests, but none of the employees said that they had seen it.
“It must have gone inside the forest.”
“…Let’s go.”
I had never been inside the dense forest on this island. It was because there was an eerie corner somewhere in the forest, which occupied about half of the island’s area.
As I went into the forest, I kept calling out for Arfie.
“Arfie. Arfie!”
It was then.
Uung, arrng, uung…
I could hear the sound of whining in a hoarse voice without barking.
…It was really Arfie.
Immediately, I ran in a heartbeat and reached the place where it was.
‘…That’s why it could not come out.’
Perhaps, it was running frantically chasing birds so it was caught in a crevice of a fallen tree.
Arrf!
When I put my hand in between and pulled it out, Arfie barked happily and waved its tail like a propeller.
“Thank you.”
Holding it in my arms, I thanked Cassius.
“Because I was prematurely suspicious of the Lord… I think you must’ve been very upset and angry, but thank you for looking for Arfie with me in the meantime.”
“….”
As the answer I had been waiting for did not come, suddenly anxious, I glanced up at him.
‘….?’
I opened and closed my mouth. It was because Cassius’ face was more distorted than ever before. No matter how angry he was because of my doubts, this…
“…Evelyn.”
A low mumble came out of his mouth.
“Get off of this island today.”
“Th-then, where are we going?”
I hugged Arfie tightly. Now that I came to like this island quite a bit, he was trying to send me somewhere else instead? But even then, Cassius must have wanted me to like this island.
“I mean I’ll let you go, Evelyn.”
“…Yes?”
“Go… while I can let you go.”