What?! What do you mean you havent seen Yuri since yesterday?

A loud voice rang out in the quiet Crawford mansion. The mansion which had been pretty quiet lately was noisy today due to Bastians anger.

Are you saying Yuri has gone missing? Then this isnt the time to be sitting around like this!

Today was the day Anne-Marie normally went to Crawfords mansion to do her job as Bastians caretaker. However, Anne-Marie forgot about her usual appointment with Bastian.

This was because after leaving the coffeehouse earlier, her mind was completely preoccupied with trying to find where Yuri might have gone to.

As it was the first time Anne-Marie was so late, Bastian naturally asked why. In the first place, Anne-Marie was not a good liar and she wasnt the type to make excuses for her mistakes. So she immediately explained to Bastian why she was late.

That was how they got to the situation right now.

However, Bastian took what Anne-Marie said in a somewhat distorted manner.[1]

Ah, no. She isnt missing.

Anne-Marie was taken aback by Bastians extreme word choice and expressed her opposition.

I just havent heard anything so Im worried but maybe she had something to do so she went away for a bit

So, what youre saying is, from yesterday up till right now, no one knows where that child is, right?

Yes, thats true but

Not only that, she missed work at the coffeehouse for the first time?

Yes

Then how is that not an issue!

Bastian slammed his hand on the table and sprang to his feet. Anne-Marie was startled and got up from her seat opposite him.

Things are already awful these days!

Bastian grabbed the cane next to his chair and began to hurry to the door.

Grandpa! Please calm down!

Anne-Marie hurriedly rushed up to catch Bastian.

Kalian, call Kalian! Right now!

Who knew where Bastians energy came from, but he went right out the door with Anne-Marie beside him and yelled so loudly that the entire hallway rang with his calls for Kalian.

The butler standing outside the door quickly ran over and told him where Kalian was.

Young master Kalian came home to rest a bit earlier and just went out again.

Call him back! I need him to do something for me urgently!

The butler and other servants were troubled, but Bastian was stubborn. When Kalian was heading out the front door earlier, his steps were in hurry and he looked like he had something quite urgent to do.

However, knowing that once Bastian began to act stubborn, there was no other answer, the butler asked a servant to chase after Kalian.

Grandpa, I know youre worried, but you should calm down first. It will be terrible if you collapse.

Im not so weak that Ill fall sick over something like this!

Anne-Marie was also worried about Yuri so its not like she didnt know how Bastian felt. But she was worried about his health, thats why she said that.

But it seemed like nothing was entering Bastians ears.

Why is it so noisy this early in the morning?

Right then, someones displeased voice came from the stairs.

Huh?

Anne-Maries eyes went wide when she saw the person who appeared in her sight.

Early in the morning, my foot; the sun is already going down!

Bastian also frowned when he saw the person coming down the stairs.

Besides, why do you look so comfortable? Someone might think this is actually your house! You suddenly barge into someones house without permission and settle down as you like, what is this nonsense?

Tatiana, the old lady Anne-Marie met at the exhibition, snorted at Bastians words.

I thought it would be pitiful to let a fussy, senile old man die sadly by himself so I came to see your face, but you cant even thank me. To think youre still acting so spry. Maybe this is why you dont have a friend at your age, Bastian.

At that, Bastians mouth twisted like he was speechless.

Are you talking about yourself now, Tatiana? Who do you think youre lecturing?

At that moment, lightning seemed to strike between the two elders causing Anne-Marie to blink her eyes.

Do you treat guests like this in the East? Well, the Crawford is said to represent the East but seeing as the former head is this kind of stinky old man, that answers itself.

Do the northern people know nothing about good manners? Or maybe youve gotten so old and senile that youve forgotten everything you learnt before.

Crackle!

Even more intense lightning flashed before her eyes.

The two elders have smiles on their faces but their gazes at each other were like a snake and an eagle.

Um

Anne-Marie bit her lips, not knowing what to do in the confrontation between these two. Seeing this, the butler approached her. His expression was calm and peaceful even in this volatile situation.

And once she heard what the butler said next to her, Anne-Marie didnt know how she should react.

Even though they look like this, the two of them are very close so there is no need to worry.

R-Really? They look like theyre fighting though

Because they are very close, they have no qualms in how they treat each other so it simply looks like that.

Ah, is that so?

It still made her tilt her head a little, but Anne-Marie was finally convinced. Besides, she knew nothing about their relationship so the butler would be more correct.

But who would have thought that the old lady and Bastian knew each other.

Right then, the servant who the butler sent out on Bastians orders cane running up the stairs.

Huff, huff, Kalian-nim has already left the gate in his carriage!

What? At such an important time!

Bastian lost his temper again.

Call the guard right now!

Why is this old man making such a fuss?

Tatiana couldnt understand what was going on and her face crumpled when she saw Bastian stirring up all kinds of noise. She had been at Crawford mansion as a guest since last night.

Tatiana was the head of a grand noble family in the north. Unlike Bastian who passed on his position to Dominic early on, Tatiana was still an active head.

Hence, it was normally the case for Dominic, the current head of the Crawford family, to welcome Tatiana. But after what happened in the East yesterday, Dominic was still busy with the continuous meetings in the central council.

In addition, Tatiana declared that her visit this time was based on her friendship with Bastian. After skipping all the troublesome procedures with that, Tatiana used the excuse of catching up with Bastian to tell him about all the strange things happening in the North lately.

Even though Bastians expression was serious at the time, he wasnt this agitated. And so, Tatiana felt puzzled.

And who is this child? I was wondering why your face looked familiar, you must be the child I saw in that racket yesterday.

Ah, you remember me. My sister and I were safe yesterday because of your help. Thank you.

Anne-Marie bowed her head to Tatiana and thanked her again. Tatianas green eyes calmly watched Anne-Marie.

Grandpa, lets go inside for now. Youve been standing for too long.

Anne-Marie walked up to Bastian and held his arm. Then she began to lead Bastian into the room.

Bastian had been continuously excited and perhaps he had exhausted his energy because he acted like he couldnt win against Anne-Marie and headed to the room.

When the guard comes, bring him to my room right away!

Yes, sir.

Of course, he didnt forget to nag the butler till the end.

While feeling like his insides were burning with worry over Yuris disappearance, Bastian went back into the room with Anne-Maries support.

* * *

As soon as the tracker activated, Kalian took action. He didnt know if the thing he attached was still on the targets body, but it was still better than getting no signal.

However, the trackers location was very far from where the signal disappeared.

So they moved this much in that time span.

Kalian figured the pursuit would be much longer than he initially anticipated so he stopped by the Crawford mansion for a bit before leaving again.

He climbed into the carriage and left the mansion right away.

Follow it.

Meanwhile, another carriage began to follow behind Kalians carriage. It was the carriage carrying Damon Salvatore.

Normally, there was no way Kalian wouldnt have noticed that he was being followed but right now, his mind was focused elsewhere. Hence, he didnt notice Damon was tailing him.

Where is he going? I dont think hes going to the scene of the incident.

Only

Damon watched the Crawford carriage through the window with suspicion in his eyes.

Im not sure but lets follow him for now.

Like that, they rode in their carriages under the sunset sky.

The two of them didnt know at the time, but the destination they were heading to was the very place where Yuri was imprisoned.

Translators Corner.

[1] A bit of a wording issue in this sentence. Just to be clear, its saying Bastian distorted Anne-Maries words in his mind.