Chapter 13: Before the Wedding ⑫ ~Aria Sets Out~

Aria received the report in her office.
It was an ordinary morning.
Edel was away, but Chronos was cheerfully talking about how he would be learning swordsmanship today.
As the heir to the margravate, he would first learn orthodox sword techniques, and then move on to practical combat skills focused on winning at all costs, and he spoke of it with excitement.
She was certain that for the practical combat training, the Second Army commander, Shawn, would become his instructor.
With that man, it was less about technique and more about real combat, and he would almost certainly throw the boy straight into a dungeon without explanation, but as long as Chronos did not die instantly, he would probably be fine.

After breakfast, Aria parted ways with Chronos as usual and was reviewing documents in her office when David, the driver and guard assigned to Edel, burst into the room.

“Lady Aria, I am terribly sorry.
Lord Edel has gone missing.”

The room froze at David’s opening words.
Several people were present, and all of them stopped what they were doing, looked at David, and then turned their eyes to Aria.

“…Edel is missing.
What do you mean.
What happened to Theodore.”

Aria asked in a calm tone without raising her voice, but the pen in her hand snapped in two.

“Theodore is currently remaining there and searching for Lord Edel.”

“What happened.”

Richard, the head of the Treasury Bureau, who had entered the room without anyone noticing, asked David.
Shawn, commander of the Second Army, was also now in the office.

“Y-Yes.
Lord Edel became acquainted with the student who had become the owner of the violin that caused this incident, and three nights ago, he went to visit that student at the Earclut Viscount’s residence and never returned.
Theodore confirmed Lord Edel entering the room, but when he did not come out and the room became strangely quiet, he checked inside and found no one there.
Those currently missing are Lord Edel, the student named Jessie, and the Viscount of Earclut himself.”

“The Viscount of Earclut is missing as well.”

“Yes.
When Lord Edel and Jessie disappeared, those present searched the residence, and it was discovered that those three individuals were gone.”

The Viscount of Earclut managed the dungeon where the violin had been discovered, and Jessie was the student who became its owner.
If only those two had vanished, it would make sense to suspect something related to that matter, but with Edel involved, it became incomprehensible.

“Hm.
It seems Lord Edel has no connection to this.”

“Did he see something he shouldn’t have.
Or was he the real target.”

“Shawn, Lord Edel is not widely known, but he is not hidden either.
If so, was the target Lord Edel himself, or our margravate.”

“If it were us, we should have seen some kind of contact by now.
I doubt they failed to notice that David returned here.
David, did you sense anyone tailing you on the way back.”

At Shawn’s words, David immediately shook his head.

“I was in a hurry, but I remained vigilant.
I sensed no one following me.”

“Then it’s not related to us.
The Viscount of Earclut is a mild-mannered man.
I can’t imagine him earning the resentment of others.
In that case, the violin seems the most likely cause, but…”

The fact that Edel was also missing made it impossible to piece together.

“We should assume he was dragged into it.
Lady Aria, what will you do.”

Richard asked Aria, who had remained silent, deep in thought.

“The answer is obvious.
He is my husband.
I do not know who took him, but I am going to bring him back.”

At Aria’s words, Shawn grinned.

“What a troublesome husband.
While his wife always returns straight home, Edel stays lost until you go fetch him.”

“Haha, it can’t be helped.
Your husband is quite the charmer.
He gets caught by cute troublemakers wherever he goes, even if he has no such intentions himself.”

He had blended into this castle in no time, and before anyone realized it, he was appearing everywhere, forming mysterious connections.
He even had a friend capable of obtaining an invitation to a presentation hosted by the noble Earclut family.
He had also gone personally to meet the student named Jessie who became the violin’s owner.

At this point, doubts arose about who Edel truly was.
The investigation conducted at the time of his marriage to Aria matched his own account, a thoroughly ordinary life spent wandering as a minstrel.
There were no particularly suspicious points, except that he had been periodically summoned to various noble houses.
However, since those nobles belonged to different countries and factions, it had been dismissed as coincidence, though perhaps some hidden secret lay there after all.

Still, Aria and Edel were already married.
It was also possible that just as Aria had taken a liking to him, other nobles had as well.
Either way, once he returned, she would have him explain his connections in detail.

“My husband is quite popular.”

“Having a popular husband must be difficult.”

“Indeed.
Shawn, you’re coming with me.”

“Understood.
I’ll take a small, elite group of lively troops.”

Leaving the rest to Richard, Aria stood to go retrieve Edel.
Despite everyone being busy with wedding preparations, it was unacceptable for the groom himself to remain missing.

Even to an amateur like Aria, Edel was a gentle and delicate performer, capable of producing powerful, heroic tones when playing epics.
He was skilled at imbuing sound with scenery, so much so that simply listening brought vivid images to mind.
And at the same time, one could not help but want that sound, want the performer who created it.
Aria herself had first heard Edel play only after their marriage, so even if such desires had arisen, there was no issue.
The sound Edel produced solely for her was simply comforting.

It would not surprise her if others had felt the same impulse.
Even if the culprit this time were such a person, Aria could understand it.

“Fufu, being run around by my husband like this is not so bad.”

But that was only acceptable if her husband was safe.

As Aria returned to her room to prepare, Chronos was waiting with an anxious expression.
He must have heard about Edel.

“Mother, Father is…”

“He will be fine.
I will absolutely bring him back.
Once he returns, we will scold him a little.
If he keeps getting lost, I will forbid him from going out unless he is with me or you.”

“Yes, Mother.
Please scold Father thoroughly.”

“Mm.
Leave it to me.”

For the sake of her promise to her son, Aria would bring Edel back no matter what.