Chapter 224: Arrangements
If the “old house” Armand was thinking of was the right one, then getting there would at least require him to take two days of official leave.
The place he needed to go was located outside the city. Even if he rushed from the center of the capital, it would still take a full day just to get there.
Thinking about the timeline, after Viscount Scassia’s incident, he had disappeared. If the timing was right, then he probably just returned to that place too.
That night, Armand didn’t go back to his own estate.
The first thing he did was go to Carle’s home. After a servant passed along the message, he was able to meet Carle, who clearly hadn't slept well either.
Maybe Carle didn’t feel like tidying himself up, or maybe he didn’t care to do so around Armand. His long white hair was left down casually, and he walked out wearing only his sleepwear. There was no need for formality between them.
“How’s your daughter?”
“Not great.”
That’s just how Armand and Carle spoke, direct and to the point, skipping all the usual polite small talk.
“Sorry…”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. It’s not like you were the one who had her kidnapped.”
Sometimes, their conversations sounded a bit harsh, but there was no anger behind it. They were simply being honest with each other, just two best friends speaking openly.
“You didn’t come just to check in, did you? What’s going on?”
Carle could tell that Armand wouldn’t show up in the middle of the night unless it was something serious, so he got right to the point.
“—Yeah.”
Armand gave a small laugh, as if saying, “Of course you’d see right through me.”
“I might need to leave for two days. I’m really sorry, but I’ll need your help watching over the Knights in the meantime. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Originally, because of what happened to Carle’s daughter, Armand had wanted to give his deputy a break, let him stay home and care for Salana, who had clearly been traumatized.
But someone had to watch over the Knight Order, and if Armand had to leave, only Carle could do the job.
Even if there were other candidates, Armand simply couldn’t trust anyone else but Carle.
“Alright.”
“—Huh?”
Surprisingly, Carle agreed without any hesitation.
Even though Armand and Carle had been on the battlefield together for many years and were close friends, they were both pretty independent people.
Except for that one time Armand needed help buying a horse, he had never asked Carle for anything. Carle also never asked Armand for favors, he often just took care of things without saying a word.
So this time, when Armand came asking for help, he had mentally prepared a whole speech.
He even felt a little guilty. Carle was a well-known doting father, when something happened to Salana, he probably wanted to glue his eyes onto her and watch her 24/7, just to make sure she was okay.
But even knowing that, Armand still planned to push through, shamelessly ask for help, and try to persuade Carle with both logic and emotion, ‘Please just take care of the Knight Order while I’m gone. Once I’m back, you can go be with your daughter.’
What he didn’t expect was how easily Carle said yes.
“What? Was my answer strange?”
“Huh? Oh—no.”
Armand paused for a moment, then smiled awkwardly.
“I just didn’t expect you to agree so quickly.”
“Well, Salana is already home safe. But your kid and your girlfr—your maid still haven’t been found.”
Carle’s pause in that sentence was very telling. It seemed he had already started to assume that Evelia wasn’t just Armand’s maid, but his girlfriend.
Before this, in order to better understand the situation, Carle had even taken time to visit his cousin Anna’s clothing shop. He didn’t get any useful information about Evelia’s or Armand’s whereabouts, but he did hear something surprising. Evelia had already started preparing a wedding dress.
At that time, Carle thought about how Armand always acted so stubborn and clueless, and he couldn’t help but feel like the whole world already knew Armand and Evelia had a special relationship, except for Armand himself.
Luckily, Armand wasn’t the playboy type. If he were, he might have ended up with a knife in his back someday.
“Uwaaah~”
Carle’s words made Armand feel really touched. He tried to act like he was about to cry, frowning dramatically. But he was too tired to actually squeeze out any tears.
“Alright, cut it out. When are you leaving?”
“I’m heading out now. So I’ll leave the Knight Order to you for the next two days. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Doesn’t matter how fast you come back. I managed the Order by myself plenty of times when you were out fighting in wars. Just make sure you bring your family home safely. Don’t worry about the Knight Order.”
“...”
“Ha...”
Carle’s response made Armand laugh softly, unsure what to say.
At that moment, he could only think one thing. ‘Having a friend like Carle really is a blessing.’
“...You make it sound like you're an old man living alone.”
But as soon as he opened his mouth, the mood shifted. Armand always spoke bluntly with strangers, but when it came to his family or friends, he’d cover his real feelings with silly jokes, like he needed an excuse not to speak from the heart.
People often say, “If you’re feeling down, go talk to your best friend and let it out.”
But when he actually did go to his best friend, he found that he couldn’t say what was really on his mind. His mouth always insisted on acting tough.
“Alright, you brat. Don’t push your luck. If you’re going to save someone, every second counts, get moving already.”
“Got it, I’ll—”
Ding.
Just as Armand stood up to leave, and Carle got up too, ready to walk him out, Carle’s communication crystal suddenly lit up and made a sound.
Even though Carle was wearing pajamas, he always kept his communication crystal close. As the Knight Order’s second-in-command, he needed to be ready in case anything urgent came up.
It wasn’t that strange to get a message in the middle of the night. But since both Carle and Armand were right here, and Armand’s crystal didn’t go off, it was odd that only Carle’s did.
Carle motioned for Armand to stay quiet. Armand nodded, he understood something was up.
【Vice Captain—!】
On the other end of the crystal was Lorin, Carle’s assistant, her voice full of panic.
She only ever contacted Carle for serious cases that needed either him or Armand to step in. So whenever she showed up, her tone was always this frantic.
“Speak. What happened?”
【Um, Vice Captain… I’m so sorry for messaging you in the middle of the night, but I… I didn’t dare contact Captain Armand directly.】
Armand, quietly listening to the call, suddenly felt a chill in his heart.
He looked at Carle with growing urgency, motioning for him to ask quickly.
Carle got the signal and continued.
“What is it?”
【Vice Captain… we just found the body of a woman in East Street, Alley 5. The corpse is incomplete… and the clothes on the body… they match exactly what Captain Armand described Evelia wearing…】