Imprinted with the Obsessive Male Lead - Chapter 71

The knights of the North guarded the forest to keep people from entering, and the wolves protected the land as well… but a fire in that forest, which was no different from a ticking time bomb filled with mana.

Could it have happened naturally? In this winter? With this much snow falling…?

Chase’s clothes, damp with moisture, came to mind. If it were the dry autumn, that would be one thing, but in a state where everything is wet from snow, it wouldn’t be easy for a fire to start naturally.

I shifted my gaze from the snow falling outside the window and checked the clock. Only about twenty minutes had passed.

He would have used teleportation magic after leaving the mansion, so he wouldn’t be late, but an inexplicable sense of unease crept over me.

Please don’t let it be a big fire. Just as I was hoping that, someone appeared, crossing the snow-covered garden.

“…Chase?”

Unable to believe it, my eyes widened. The man who had left on horseback with his subordinates was returning alone, wearing only a robe.

“Huh? Your Grace?”

“Your Grace? Oh my, is it really him?”

Millie and Kana, who had been tidying up nearby, also spotted Chase and spoke in surprise.

“Is he already back? It hasn’t been that long since he left…”

“Maybe the snow put the fire out quickly.”

“Is that so? But why did he come back alone?”

“That’s true. And… what is he doing over there?”

Just like Millie and Kana, I also looked at him in confusion.

Chase, who had been walking quickly across the garden, suddenly stopped in his tracks. As if observing something interesting, he lifted his head and began looking around the mansion.

At that unfamiliar and incomprehensible sight, I stepped closer to the window, and for a brief moment, our gazes met. Then, an inexplicable chill passed through his eyes.

I narrowed my eyes and focused on him, but even after waiting several minutes, Chase didn’t move at all and only continued staring at the mansion. In the meantime, the snowfall grew heavier.

“What on earth is he doing?”

When he still didn’t move after several minutes, Millie, unable to just watch any longer, opened the front door.

“Your Grace! What are you doing out there?”

At that moment, Chase began moving again. It wasn’t far, so in just a few steps, he reached the front entrance.

Pure white snow clung heavily to his robe and gloves.

“Chase?”

I stepped forward from behind Millie and approached him.

Chase said nothing.

Sensing something strange, I exchanged glances with Millie and Kana. They shook their heads as if they didn’t understand either.

“What about the fire? Is it taken care of? Where are Anthony and the others-”

Right then, Chase suddenly grabbed my hand as if snatching it.

“Chase?”

My arm was seized by his glove, cold as ice. With a strength I had never felt before, Chase abruptly pulled me toward him, then turned and started walking.

“Your Grace! Miss Mage!”

Millie and Kana shouted at the same time in shock, but Chase, as if being chased by something, began walking faster.

Though I’m wearing long sleeves, it’s still an indoor dress, and the sharp wind seeped through the fabric and touched my skin.

Startled by his unfamiliar behavior, I cried out as I was dragged along.

“W-wait! Chase! That hurts!”

When I instinctively tried to pull my hand away, his grip tightened even more. The intense pain, as if my wrist would break, made me shout with all my strength.

“Chase, Chase…”

No matter how many times I called him, there was no answer.

Chase kept walking forward as if he couldn’t hear me at all.

What is wrong with him all of a sudden?

It wasn’t just confusion. For a moment, fear crept in. Of course, the Chase I had known so far wasn’t exactly the gentle man I had imagined. It was true that at first he had hurt me by not controlling his strength, or had said cold, unfeeling things without consideration.

But he had never treated me this roughly before. Not like this. Not even once…

At that moment, chills ran down my entire body.

I traced back the face I had seen just moments ago. It was definitely Chase. Though his face was partially covered, his blue eyes, the slightly upturned corners of them, his black hair, his tall stature. Even his distinctly noticeable build.

Not just me, but Millie and Kana had also thought it was Chase. But a sudden, ominous premonition made my breath catch.

With a trembling voice, I asked,

“Who… are you…?”

At that moment, his steps came to an abrupt stop.

Before I knew it, we were standing in the middle of the garden. The vast and wide garden of the Grand Duke’s castle. Even though it’s still afternoon, the sky was filled with snow clouds, and not a single ray of sunlight came through.

The lights of the mansion had grown faint, and it felt as if I were trapped in the middle of a vast forest blanketed in snow. In the midst of that, a freezing wind wrapped around my body and passed through, but I couldn’t even feel the cold anymore.

“W-who are you…?”