The New Year's party finally over, Rei returned to his room and let out a long sigh of relief.
He had already changed out of the clothes he wore to the party, and they now hung draped over a chair in the room.
As far as Rei was concerned, he had at least been careful not to simply toss them on the floor and leave them wrinkled... but if he truly cared about the clothes, the best thing would have been to store them in his Misty Ring without even bothering to take them off first.
After all, these were garments that a skilled craftsman had poured tremendous effort into making, even if only for a short time. They were not something to be treated carelessly.
"Ahh... no, I'm really exhausted. Just exhausted, plain and simple. Exhausted no matter how you look at it."
Muttering as he lay sprawled on the bed, Rei looked, to any onlooker, as though he were thoroughly and completely worn out.
In truth, as someone who rarely interacted with nobles in his daily life, Rei found a party full of noble attendees anything but entertaining.
That he had managed to endure it to some extent was likely because Elena, Bluitt, and a few others were there—people he could interact with at ease.
If he had been told to attend today's party alone, Rei probably... no, definitely would have either not attended at all or slipped out partway through.
That said, it was an undeniable fact that he had stepped away from the party once during the whole Remuria affair.
As he lay there on the bed, the sudden sound of a knock rang at the door.
"Excuse me, Rei-san. May I have a moment?"
It was a voice Rei knew well.
With a somewhat weary expression, Rei spoke the person's name.
"Miranda?"
"Yes. The party has ended, so I came to check on you, Rei-san... may I come in?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
Miranda was assigned as Rei's attendant, so it was not strange for her to come check on him at this hour.
It wasn't strange, but... it really drove home to Rei just how tough being a maid was.
The date had already changed, and for the usual Rei, this would be a time when he was fast asleep.
Naturally, the same applied to maids... no, maids had to wake earlier than the people living in the household, which meant they absolutely should have been asleep by this hour.
Of course, there were situations where problems arose and they had to be summoned at night, and there were also those assigned to night shifts.
"Excuse me... oh, as I expected."
Looking at the clothes carelessly draped over the chair, Miranda murmured softly.
If Rei had been the type to be strict about etiquette, he might have reprimanded her for such an attitude.
But Rei himself did not care about such things at all.
Well, naturally, if someone behaved in a clearly discourteous manner, it would not have been strange for him to do more than just laugh and offer a warning—but Miranda understood that boundary well enough not to go that far.
Naturally, she only behaved within the range that Rei would tolerate.
"I can't really do clothes care and all that, you know. In that sense, I'm glad you came."
"Lady Elena told me as much."
Saying so, Miranda picked up the clothes from the chair and glanced at the drowsy-looking Rei.
"I will take my leave then. I'll come to wake you late tomorrow, so please sleep soundly."
"Yeah, got it."
At Rei's brief response, Miranda cast an endearing glance his way before leaving the room.
To Miranda, Rei was first and foremost the beloved of Elena—the daughter of Duke Kerebel's House, whom she served.
That was why, seeing Rei looking so sleepy, she thought to herself that Elena had made a good decision.
Not that she would ever say such a thing out loud, of course.
After seeing Miranda off, Rei finished preparing for bed... and promptly fell into a deep, sound sleep.
Around the time Rei was drifting off... there were those who had no such luxury.
One such person was Zaskal Seisole, the Head of Marquis Seisole's House.
The party itself had ended without any particular issues.
He had indeed been able to see this person named Rei—someone his son had gotten into trouble with—in person, and he had treated him with a friendly... or at least, what Zaskal considered to be a friendly attitude, and the other party had shown no hostility toward him either.
With this, perhaps the matter with his son could somehow be resolved... no, he would make sure it was resolved. With that thought and in good spirits, he had returned to the estate... only to find that Gaiska, who was supposed to be confined under house arrest, had vanished.
An even greater problem amid all this was the information that Gaiska had not escaped alone, but with someone else.
The fact that several soldiers entrusted with guarding the estate had been killed was also significant.
As far as Zaskal knew, Gaiska did not possess the strength to kill soldiers.
Which meant the likelihood was high that someone else—the person who had been with Gaiska—had done this.
That was precisely why Zaskal's irritation was mounting.
There was anger at having his subordinates killed, but beyond that... there was also a profound frustration directed at Gaiska himself.
Why did he do something so foolish?
Zaskal was aware that he had been irritated with Gaiska over the whole affair regarding his handling of Rei.
But even so... yes, even so, Gaiska was undeniably his own flesh and blood.
He had always thought the boy was a fool, but to think he would do something like this... it was only natural that Zaskal had not wanted to believe it.
No matter what one did, blood relations carried great significance for a noble.
That was precisely why the current situation brought Zaskal nothing but additional irritation.
"Find him! Find him no matter what! The one who dared do this to me must never be forgiven! Whatever it takes, you must find them!"
At Zaskal's shout, those standing in attendance around him instinctively flinched, their bodies trembling.
Zaskal was, if anything, a magnanimous man by nature.
He was the sort who would not even take an overly harsh attitude toward Rei, who had acted hostilely toward Marquis Seisole's House.
But when such a man as Zaskal was truly enraged, whoever had provoked that wrath was certain to face a grim fate.
However, Zaskal's anger was directed solely at the one who had provoked it.
Unlike Gaiska, he would not lash out irritably at unrelated parties.
Because of that, his subordinates could feel at ease. They could, but... the sheer presence and intensity radiating from the man himself was, without question, on an entirely different level from Gaiska's.
Having served Zaskal long enough to understand this, they found their bodies trembling without meaning to.
That the trembling lasted only a brief moment was likely because they realized that if they did not act here, Zaskal's attention might turn toward them.
"Yes, sir!"
One person responded, and the rest followed the first man who had spoken, rushing out of the room.
That said, this was Anesis, within Duke Kerebel's Territory—not the domain of Marquis Seisole's House.
Even if they were searching for Gaiska, it was certain they would not find him so easily.
In particular, Anesis currently housed not only Noble Faction Nobles... but also a small number of nobles from the King's Faction and the Neutral Faction.
Making a large-scale move in such a place would undoubtedly draw the attention of a great many people.
For Zaskal, the fact that Gaiska had disappeared with someone else... and worse, that this someone had infiltrated the estate, killing and incapacitating multiple people... was nothing but a disgrace.
To keep this from becoming known to others as much as possible, they needed to act swiftly... yet discreetly.
Still, as these were men who had served as Zaskal's subordinates for a long time, he did not expect them to fail at such a task.
That was precisely why Zaskal had dispatched them without particular worry.
"Still... who on earth would do such a thing? No, the most likely candidates would be those Gaiska had been in contact with. Come to think of it... where did Deotres go?"
Muttering to himself, Zaskal suddenly noticed Deotres's absence.
Given that Deotres had been acting alongside Gaiska, it would not have been strange for him to have some kind of lead.
That was what Zaskal had been thinking... but for some reason, Deotres had vanished from Zaskal's vicinity.
"In other words, this whole affair was something he orchestrated? No, but even so, this would be far too obvious, wouldn't it?"
Deotres's sudden disappearance was conspicuous in its blatancy, which was precisely what felt off.
Even so, given that he had not shown his face, it would be unreasonable not to find him suspicious.
"Someone."
"Yes."
At Zaskal's brief words, one of those still remaining in the room responded promptly.
Many who had been present had already left to search for Gaiska and whoever had taken him, but some had remained behind for exactly this kind of situation—when Zaskal suddenly issued orders.
One such man responded to Zaskal's words, but Zaskal himself merely glanced at his subordinate before issuing a short directive.
"Find out where Deotres disappeared to. Also, investigate those he came into contact with while in Anesis. It's painful that I didn't hear the full details from him sooner."
"Understood. I'll move immediately."
With that, the man departed from Zaskal's presence.
Watching the man's retreating back, Zaskal drew in a deep breath to suppress the mounting irritation he felt at having to issue orders like this at an hour when sleep should have been overtaking him.
What filled his lungs was not the cold air of winter... but warm air.
This was because the interior of the estate was heated by a Magic Item. While it might not rival the Duke Kerebel Mansion, the ability to warm this entire estate—which was quite spacious in its own right—right down to the corridors, was purely a testament to the wealth of Marquis Seisole's House.
Walking through such a corridor, Zaskal eventually arrived at a single room.
"Wait here."
"Yes."
Leaving that brief instruction for the man still accompanying him, Zaskal entered the room.
However, it was not the man told to wait, but a Knight who entered the same room as Zaskal.
Ordinarily, Zaskal would show no mercy to anyone who disregarded his orders, but this particular Knight was an exception.
Entering the room—the study—Zaskal sat down on the sofa and turned his gaze toward the Knight.
"What do you think?"
A single, short question.
But that one phrase alone was enough for the man to immediately understand what Zaskal meant.
"Let me see. I believe it is highly likely that Lord Gaiska fell for some kind of trap... a honeyed trap."
"Likely. ...That fool. What on earth was he thinking, pulling a stunt like this? If this matter becomes public, I won't be able to protect Gaiska any longer."
"Unfortunately, no."
This Knight, who had served as his bodyguard for many years, was an easy man to talk to—not so much for his combat ability, but because he understood Zaskal's thoughts well.
"What do you think will happen?"
"To be perfectly honest... him returning with all five limbs intact... may be somewhat optimistic."
At the Knight's words, Zaskal let out a deep, melancholic sigh and rang the small bell on the table.
Immediately, a knock came at the door, and a maid appeared.
"Excuse me, Lord Zaskal. Did you summon me?"
"Yes. Bring me some alcohol. Something strong. As things are, I don't think I'll be getting much sleep."
"Right away."
The maid bowed at Zaskal's words and left the room.
Zaskal's bodyguard Knight watched him with a gaze that was somewhat reproachful.
Zaskal understood that such a look was being directed at him, but he had no intention of stopping his drinking.
It was true that he had drunk a fair amount at the party.
But he had returned to the estate in good spirits after the party, only to find this uproar waiting for him.
This was exactly the kind of situation where he felt he couldn't get through it without a drink, and above all, alcohol was important for venting the anger burning inside him.
After all their long years together, they could at least understand that much—or so Zaskal thought.