The Ring of Bondage - Chapter 1.16

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“Have there been any reports from the other regions?”

“It seems everyone’s situation is similar.”

Luke nodded without answering. As befitting a tourist destination, Bellix had an excessive amount of floating population. In a city where unfamiliar faces were encountered as commonly as eating meals, finding Yuria by her appearance was nearly impossible.

As soon as Luke arrived in the city, he searched every large and small inn in Bellix. The result was a failure. There were several accounts of a woman with an appearance similar to Yuria’s staying briefly a day or two ago, but due to Bellix’s nature as a place with many tourists, he failed to track all of them. Even the people he barely managed to find were only tourists who had come to enjoy the hot springs.

The next places Luke chose to search were the estates of local influential families and the schools. Since she wasn’t well-off, she surely would have tried to find work, and if so, there was a high chance she would be teaching children in some way. At least, Luke was certain of that.

But as his guesses repeatedly missed the mark, Luke’s certainty gradually grew faint as well. He began to wonder if, in truth, he knew Yuria far less than he had thought.

When he boarded the train to Bellix, Luke hadn’t imagined that finding Yuria would take this long. It wasn’t because he had been confident that he could find her easily, but because he couldn’t even picture a situation where he wouldn’t see Yuria for months.

For a while, Luke alternated between imagining himself bringing Yuria back to the mansion as though abducting her, and imagining himself kneeling at her feet, begging her to look at him.

Now, not anymore. A full month had passed since Yuria left, and Luke’s wish changed a little. Every night in his dreams, Luke heard reports of Yuria being sighted, went to find someone who looked exactly like her, and then was disappointed.

It seemed Yuria had now run away even from his dreams. Luke no longer agonized over what would happen after he found Yuria. That was a luxurious thought.

“Should I seal off the city…”

Luke muttered as if to himself. He felt as though he could throw away anything if only he could face her. If only he could meet her eyes and feel her scent at the tip of his nose, if only he could say even a single word to Yuria, Luke could offer not only his family’s reputation, but even his soul.

“If Miss Rigbye is still staying in the city, it would be effective, but…”

The attendant, who had been offering his opinion even to Luke’s mutter, closed his mouth when Luke actually asked him a question.

“Do you think Teacher isn’t here?”

The attendant watched Luke’s expression with an uneasy look. Since that expression was already as good as an answer, Luke didn’t bother to press him. Instead, Luke lowered his head. It felt as though god were telling Luke himself, ‘You are not worthy of having her.’

“Expand the search range. Even if not the whole kingdom, we need to search all the areas around the cities we’re currently focusing on.”

“Understood. Do you intend to return as you are, Young Master?”

Luke looked at him, unable to immediately understand the other man’s question. How could he go home when he hadn’t found Yuria? To him, the Cunningham ducal residence only held meaning if Yuria was there.

“Do you want to leave Bellix?”

“Ah, no, Young Master. That’s not what I meant…”

“There are only two ways you can return to the capital. Either find Teacher, or bring me word that Teacher has been found.”

“Understood.”

The attendant watched his expression, then withdrew. It was difficult to find in the current Luke the kind and diligent figure Yuria had known. Even when he had first arrived in Bellix, he sometimes smiled. When he found someone whose back resembled Yuria’s, or when he said the scent of the hot spring water was nice, Luke would certainly smile faintly. It was only that a deep sigh and disappointment followed after the smile.

Watching Luke, the attendant realized that much time wasn’t needed to change a person completely. The eyes that had once shone with intelligence had long since cooled coldly, and if he said even one wrong word, Luke immediately responded irritably. Each day was like walking on thin ice.

Of course, Luke was also aware that he was in a sensitive state. He knew it, but what was he supposed to do about that? The person he had wanted to look mature in front of had left his side. There was no longer any reason to pretend to be a good person.