As expected, it was right to lock her up. (2)

He wanted to say something light to improve his mood.

“What are you drawing? I didn’t know you had a hobby in painting.”

Leaving a backlog of work behind, Joshua held up a huge canvas. Black ink was added to Ariad’s nude painting.

“I’m dressing her up.” Joshua murmured weakly. “This painting is so pretty that I can’t just ruin it. Too bad, she looks cold.”

Macon saved his breath as he heard the sound of Joshua’s pen point moving in the silent room for a while. When a sloppy-looking black dress covering the flesh-colored landscape was almost complete, the captain of the Knights brought some news and it wasn’t pleasant.

“Duke Filtmore, who went to Ordin area as expected, seemed to have gone missing overnight.”

“It was the day  Ariad had disappeared.”

“I was informed that he hadn’t been seen since the afternoon of March 4th.”

From Ordin, one could get to Latvea if he rode a horse for two days straight. Déon Filtmore disappeared on March 4 while Ariad disappeared on March 6. He would be shooting himself in the foot if he kept ignoring the truth. Joshua threw his head back and laughed even as he blamed himself for his mistake. As expected, it was right to keep her locked up. Joshua put his pen down.

“Macon, report and keep me posted on Deon’s real estate properties if they had been sold.”

What was to be done was clear. He also vowed that if he found Ariad, he wouldn’t make the same mistake as before. He was that confident. He was sure that he would be able to bring her back to his side. Joshua had endured these past few weeks through sheer will and determination. Unfortunately, all the possibilities he was holding on to shattered exactly three weeks later.

* * *

Rainbow lights passing through colored glass fell on the top of the heads of people gathering in the cathedral. The atmosphere was quiet just before the memorial service began. Suddenly, Bianca, who was observing the previous emperors’ statues in the front seat, looked straight ahead and spoke. “Ariad must be sick. I don’t even dare to have a nosebleed on this important day.”

Despite the sarcasm, Joshua still answered dryly. “She’s pregnant so she must prioritize her health over this.”

“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. The future hostess of the royal family shouldn’t be that sick every day.”

As he listened to Bianca clicking her tongue, he thought about what she had said and suppressed a laugh. . What is Ariad doing at a time when she had to be careful? It was funny how he talked about her as much as he could without knowing her whereabouts. Joshua had been hiding the fact that Ariad had disappeared for quite a while. It became possible thanks to his authority as the crown prince after promising to punish everyone if the news got out of the royal palace. He had been hiding for three weeks with the confidence that he could bring her back. He would go back to their normal life once he found her anyway, so he didn’t have to make a fuss. Also, he assumed it wouldn’t take a few days for him to do so but it took longer than he thought. After securing Deon Filtmore’s real estate sales a few days ago, Joshua thought he was close to his goal. Deon bought three new mansions about half a year ago so Ariad must be in one of those three. It wouldn’t be long before the expected outcome revealed itself. That was why Joshua was still relaxed. She might have left to get away from him but she was still in the palm of his hand. At the end of the memorial service, Joshua lazily took a step back. He didn’t forget to greet the people in the cathedral with a friendly smile. As he walked out of the cathedral’s entrance, he saw the Knight Commander run hurriedly from under the steep stairs. The long-awaited information had arrived.

“I found her, Your Highness.”

The spring sun revealed Joshua’s soft curved mouth. After all, she was still in his hands. He was envious of his generosity for thinking that this degree of defiance was forgivable.

‘Ariad, you can’t escape me.’

Her thoughts and feelings didn’t matter to him anymore.

He was going to bring her back somehow. His slow steps finally gave him strength as he descended the stairs. Then, the speed increased and gradually accelerated. There, the nervousness he felt as he pretended to be calm got erased and replaced with hope. A blonde woman with a fine half-up ponytail blocked his path.

“Are you going to find Ariad?”

He stopped walking past the strange question from an unexpected person. Unlike her previous modest image, her face was caked with makeup. Kelly opened her red lips.

“Don’t go too far.”

“….”

“She’s not a woman worth spending that much time on.”

Joshua left something else instead of a response. He smirked and Kelly let out a slight snort. It was a little questionable how she knew Ariad had disappeared, but it wasn’t that important. He quickly passed by the person blocking him as usual.