Do Flowers Bloom in the Fallen Land?

What does it have to do with pride? He didn’t care about his face. What weighed heavier when he was at the verge of losing the love of his life in front of his eyes? Baron had no choice but to put in much more effort than Franto.

‘They said she didn’t come out after returning home yesterday.’

His preparation for their date was impeccable. For the first time in his life, he received skin care, and he trimmed his entire body to look good, including his shaggy hair. He even wore the most fashionable clothes and accessories there were available.

Finally, he prepared a bouquet of flowers and presents for her.

‘I’m not sure if she’d like the flowers, but I’m pretty sure she’ll love the gifts,’ he beamed thinking about Seira’s reaction upon seeing what he prepared for her.

Looking at the rectangular box on the opposite seat, Baron imagined how she’d react when Seira finally opened it. He was sure her whole world would brighten. Maybe she’d embrace him, or perhaps a kiss like yesterday.

‘I can’t wait to give it to you…’

He swiped a finger at his twitching lips.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Baron glanced out his window to a sound of a knock on the carriage door and opened it right away.

“Your Excellency? What are you doing here?”

“…Aven.”

Aven Helford, with a plain black uniform and his gray hair tied up into a ponytail, seemed to be standing alone in a colorless world. His beautiful appearance combined with his unique collected atmosphere caught his attention.

Baron hadn’t recognized him as a competitor before because of his insensitive expression and his thoroughly humbled attitude in front of Seira.

In fact, Baron was still suspicious. Even if Seira lay down with all the Askan knights, Aven would still quietly wait by her side.

‘Well… I’m not too sure either,’ he thought.

Anyway, it was clear that Aven was someone precious to Seira. Not only him, but she treated all of Askan’s knights like her family.

“I’m meeting Seira today.”

“Then you can come and wait inside.”

“Can I?”

Aven, after giving Baron a strange look, turned around and said, “I’ll go ahead and open the door for you.”

Seeing him on a horse heading toward the mansion, Baron also instructed the carriage to move forward.

‘Is he going home just now?’

He must’ve been very busy. Was he busy with the goods and other spoils they earned from participating in the subjugation? In the meantime, he must’ve moved constantly to take revenge on those who tried to harm his Duchess.

‘You had to clean up the mess yourself. It seems like you didn’t tell Seira too,’ Baron said in his head.

The family was searching for his grandmother who had gone missing, but Baron didn’t expect anything. Even if she returned safely by luck, she wouldn’t be able to escape death because she had violated the Askan head several times. It might have been better for his grandmother’s honor to be treated as missing forever.

Following Aven through the open door, the carriage stopped in front of the Askan mansion’s main building.

Baron, who concealed everything about the Tellons, smoothed out the wrinkles in his pants and straightened his cravat.

‘Would she be angry because I didn’t wait calmly and come again?’ he worried.

He imagined Seira would be embarrassed to see him come even before dawn. Still, he hoped she’d smile at him like she was happy to see him. Baron stood up, trying to calm down his racing heart.

But soon after getting out of the carriage, his jovial expression slowly disappeared.

“…”

There was something unusual about the atmosphere. At the time of dawn, the expected silence was nowhere, and only the uproar of Askan’s knights filled the mansion.

Knights who saw Aven come in on his horse rushed toward him.

“Captain, why have you come back just now?”

“We couldn’t contact you at all…”

They seemed to worry of something so urgent that they couldn’t care less about Baron’s presence.

“Don’t panic,” Aven spoke which silenced the knights, and then turned towards one as she said, “Hul, explain what’s happening here.”

“The Duchess… Her Excellency… Her Excellency suddenly disappeared,” Hul said with a soft but rushed whisper. “We couldn’t find where she was after she headed to the main building’s basement to get liquor.”

The knight was cautious with his tone and words, but even so, his words sounded like thunder to Baron’s ears.

“What do you mean?”

It was Askan’s business, and Baron knew it was rude for the head of another family to demand answers like this. But he just couldn’t stand it. Seira was gone?

Baron wasn’t the only one who was paralyzed by reason.

‘No way. There must be some kind of mistake…’ Aven thought at the back of his mind.

He had frozen in place and didn’t even notice Baron’s question, but then he suddenly rushed into the main building like a mad man. Hul and Baron followed immediately.

There was no one that could stop Baron, the head of Jeff. In the worst case, he might be of some help.