The halls of Marix’s estate were empty and quiet, save for the few maids that were cleaning without making much of a sound. Marix’s mood had been extremely low with no word from Tryde and no news about Eilownia.

He’d been suffering from loss of appetite, mood swings and exhaustion. Jinya was positive it was love sickness but Marix told her not to indulge in such fantasies.

Today, however, she was sure she had the cure right in her very hands.

She rushed into his bedroom where he lay reading Love Beyond Magic’s Spell.

"I forgot how much this Lord Harris guy sucks...." Marix mumbled under his breath as he turned the page.

Jinya knocked on the door to get his attention. When he looked up, she gave him a curtsy and smiled.

"You have a letter from Tryde."

She no sooner held it out for him than it disappeared from her hand.

Marix tore the letter open and unfolded it, his eyes quickly scanned its contents.

"Dearest Mother Marlene,

I apologize for my lack of correspondence. It was my mistake, I thought I should only write to you if a problem occurred. I will do better with communication in the future, Mother. As for how I am doing, I have arrived safely and I am well. So far, I have not run into any problems at the Evans Estate. From what I can see, the environment has no problems at all. None that are brought here or taken out. But I will let you know if anything changes and we can discuss if I need to return home.

Your son, Tryde."

Jinya stared at Marix with a hopeful look as he read the letter. However, the smile on her face faded as soon as she saw Marix crumple the letter up and throw it to the side.

He let out a series of curses under his breath as he shook his head and pressed his forehead against his palm.

Jinya rushed over to grab the crumpled letter off the ground and began to read it.

"What in this has you so upset? Doesn’t this mean things are good?" She questioned.

Marix shook his head again as he looked up.

Jinya gasped at the sight of him. There was a deep pain in his eyes that she’d never seen before.

"There’s no problem. That means he has yet to locate Eilownia and hasn’t seen her come or go anywhere."

Her eyes fell as he explained, "I’m so sorry....I know how much she means to you. But you can’t give up! She has to be there somewhere!"

Marix looked like he was about to be sick, "Hah. Yeah. In the ground somewhere on that property. I was probably too late.

He let out another series of curses.

"N-No. Don’t think that way! Maybe she managed to escape again. She did it once right? She’s survived this long, I don’t think that would be the case. She’s a fighter. You know that better than anyone."

Tears pricked Jinya’s eyes despite the smile that she forced onto her face.

"What else is there for me to do?" He let out a sharp huff, "Tryde is my last option. I can’t risk my position and send men out there to question civilians. I can’t raid the place either again, especially if she isn’t even on the property."

Jinya walked up to him and patted his back, "We’ll find her."

"That damn Arlon!" He didn’t look up at Jinya or acknowledge her attempts at comfort.

"Arlon is just doing what he thinks is best." Jinya said quietly as she continued to pat his back.

"I don’t believe he is anymore. It’s because of him that I’m in this position. That something is wrong! Something is wrong for her to not be there. Don’t you understand? Her father would do anything to keep her hidden. So if she’s not there, then where is she?"

She shrugged, "I don’t have any idea, but I’m sure this is just an unfortunate result of the circumstances. I’m sure Arlon isn’t intentionally trying to harm you or Eilownia."

"Whose side are you on? If Arlon had just gone along with it.....if he’d just kept quiet, then father would’ve stayed on my side and agreed. I could’ve used the dumping ground as an excuse to investigate the Evans Estate!"

Jinya bowed, "I’m on your side, always."

"Then act like it. I could’ve been there in person searching myself! I could’ve found her! She’s probably scared. Tired. Hungry. Sick even. God who knows." He covered his mouth with his hand as he looked off to the side.

"I understand. We will find her. I’m sure Tryde will be able to update you soon. Just give him some more time."

Marix sighed, "Time is something we don’t have the luxury of. The amount of danger her life is in, increases by the second."

Over the past few days, Tryde had been building a friendship with Aleiza. She’d started to open up more and had become a bit more talkative.

They passed quiet whispers in the hallways and sat next to each other during meals. Jealousy was rising amongst the other maids who were not at all pleased by the sudden closeness of the two.

At first Aleiza was intimidated by the obvious glares and cold shoulders by her colleagues, but Tryde had made sure to reassure her and tell her not to pay them any mind.

Once she started to come up to him on her own to gossip, he knew this was it.

All of his work had paid off, this was the girl that could tell him anything about Lord Evans if there was anything to tell.

He waited until the night, after their dinner, to approach her.

"Aleiza. Meet me in the garden. I want to have a proper chat with you." He whispered in her ear as she cleaned up the dishes.

A light pink blush appeared over her face as she nodded. "I’ll be there when I’m done."

He nodded back to her and headed for the gardens.

As he waited on the garden bench, he couldn’t help but stare at the dilapidated garden shed that was completely boarded up.

Finally, Aleiza arrived and sat next to him, waving her hand in the air, "Hey~!"

"Hey. I’m glad you came out to meet with me." He said with a smile as he leaned back on his hands.

"It’s no problem~ What did you want to chat about?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

"Nothing in particular. I just wanted some alone time with you and to chat about whatever. Like, what do you like about this job? I think you could be onto much better things."

She let out a soft laugh, "Like? I don’t like anything about this job. My grandmother got really sick last winter. I’ve heard pay here is great and I was so lucky to get a position here with like.....no experience. I need the money to pay for her medical bills."

"Your grandmother’s medical bills?"

His smile faded as he suddenly felt guilty. Here he was using her for information when she was probably struggling on her own.

Aleiza nodded in confirmation with a small smile, "It’s okay, there’s no need to be sad about it. I’ve got a good paying job, I can handle the bills. My grandmother will be okay, I’m sure of it!"

He realized that the corners of his mouth had flattened so he made an effort to push them up again, ’You’re not here to sympathize with her. You’re here to get information. Stick with the mission.’

"I think it’s admirable of you. I’m also here to try and earn some money for my family."

Her eyes lit up, "Really? I thought you were here because Solan girls were prettier."

Tryde glanced around and then leaned in, holding his finger up to his lips, "Don’t tell anyone, but the reality is, our family farm isn’t doing very well. My younger siblings are working it with my parents, but I came here to try and send some money back to them as well to help keep it afloat."

Aleiza placed a hand over her heart, "You’re such a good son. I’m sure it makes a big difference."

"And you’re a good granddaughter. Actually, speaking of. It’s kind of weird that Lord Evans doesn’t have any children. Judging by his portraits he must’ve been attractive in his young age and with his fortune it’s surprising that he never married or had any heirs. You’d think he’d be able to find a wife quickly and have a bunch of children to carry on his line."

Tryde shook his head in thought.

Aleiza leaned in and whispered, "Actually. He DOES have an illegitimate daughter, but she disappeared one day and was locked in the garden shed there," She nodded towards the shed, "But the girl started throwing up. Throwing up for weeks! So she was sold to Elaide. What a filthy girl to get pregnant out of wedlock!"