Faye mentioned the woman’s name as well as mentioned about her mistress in hopes that the woman would be able to recognize her although her appearance was unseemly at the moment.

Viscountess Vanessa’s eyes widened as she said, “You’re… That girl’s maid, aren’t you?”

Faye heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing that the viscountess recognized her.

“Chirp!” Birdie let out a voice of disbelief.

 

“Madame, you recognize this child?” The coachman asked.

“Yes… Help her come in,” Viscountess Vanessa said, and the coachman quickly complied by helping Faye come inside the carriage with an unbelievable expression.

Only Viscountess Vanessa and Viscount Jonas were sitting inside the carriage.

“Oh dear,” Viscount Jonas gasped upon seeing Faye’s condition. He quickly removed his outer coat to wrap Faye in it.

“Sorry—” Faye wanted to apologize for being a burden and for dirtying the carriage when she suddenly felt like the world was spinning.

Perhaps she had been holding out for too long that the moment she felt a hint of safety, fatigue took over her.

“Chirp!”

“Oh my?!”

What she heard before she lost consciousness was the others’ surprised gasps surrounding her…

 

When Faye’s consciousness returned, she felt a warm and comfortable feeling… her brain slowly registered that she was sleeping on a fluffy bed, covered in a fluffy blanket. The first thing that came to her mind was a feeling of relief… but when she thought about, ‘relief for what?’ she suddenly remembered everything that had happened and quickly tried to get up from the bed.

As she moved her body, she felt it aching and that her movement wasn’t as fluid as before.

Now that the adrenaline was completely gone, the pain finally registered to her mind.

“Ah…,” Faye reflexively let out a gasp of pain.

“Chirp!”

Birdie was resting right next to her, and the moment Faye moved around and let out a sound, she was alerted and let out a chirp before approaching Faye.

 

“I’m fine, more importantly…,” Faye scanned the surrounding and found herself in an unfamiliar room. Nobody was inside other than her and Birdie.

She noticed a door and slowly walked over to the door, opening it, and found a maid right outside the room she was at.

“Uhm…,” Faye was unsure of her situation, so she didn’t know what to say.

The maid noticed the door being opened and saw the wobbling girl. She quickly assisted Faye who seemed about to fall at any time as she said in a fluster, “Go back to the bed, I’ll call the Viscount and Viscountess for you.”

“No, uhm—”

“I was instructed to call them once you’re awake,” The maid explained before helping Faye sit on the bed again. After that, she bolted with the speed of a lightning to call on the Viscount and Viscountess.

 

Although it was late at night, Viscount Jonas and Viscountess Vanessa were still up and busy after finding Faye. So, in no time they entered the guestroom that Faye was in. There were some chairs and a table in the guestroom, so the three of them sat there.

The maid brought in some tea for Vanessa and Jonas, while she took out a hot chocolate for Faye.

Holding the warm cup of the chocolate, Faye felt her hands were warming up.

“Uhm, so…,” Faye started to speak.

“Drink your chocolate first,” Viscountess Vanessa said.

“This… can wait. Please, save my mistress,” Faye quickly said as she realized that time was such an important matter if they wanted to track where Ann was going together with her kidnappers.

“I’ve already instructed our people to search around the area where you were found for your mistress,” Viscount Jonas said. That was exactly the reason they were still busy and awake at this hour.

“Thank you so much! Ah, I have some information. The kidnappers seem to be sent by my mistress’ biological father…? I don’t know where they’re headed as they kept us drugged and bound… but please let me know if I can help too! I want to rescue her as quickly as possible!” Faye said, feeling glad that help was already on the way for Ann and hopeful, yet at the same time fearful.

 

“Is that all you want to say?” Viscountess Vanessa asked with an unreadable expression.

Faye thought long and hard about her question.

Did she expect a more useful information from me? But I don’t know what else can I say with certainty… I wish I was more useful.

Or did I miss anything?

Think, Faye… Think, there’s gotta be something… Ah!

Faye had an ‘aha’ moment as she added, “Ah… Please inform Allen-sama about this!”

But instead of getting a satisfactory reaction from Viscountess Vanessa and even Viscount Jonas, she was getting an awkward concerned expression from Viscount Jonas while Viscountess Vanessa stayed still with her eyes closed, her arms crossed as her fingers tapped on her arm.

“I’ve already written to Duke Allen about this,” Viscount Jonas said, in an attempt to comfort Faye.

“Thank—"

“Aren’t you going to say any word about yourself?” Viscountess Vanessa asked before Faye could finish her sentence.

 

Caught off guard with Viscountess Vanessa’s remark, Faye unconsciously blurted out, “Huh?”

With her look of disapproval, Viscountess Vanessa said, “You’re injured quite badly and you have a fever. You should rest first before talking about helping with finding her.”

“…,” Faye had no words to reply the viscountess. She indeed felt that she was burning up and that her body was aching here and there, despite her seeing that her wounds were already treated, probably the viscount and viscountess called on a doctor to treat her while she was unconscious.

 

Despite all that…

“I can rest after mistress is found,” Faye shook her head, insisting.

“You’re going to harm yourself in return. What will your mistress say if she finds you in this condition?” Viscount Jonas asked with a gentle voice.

“That’s…,” Faye stopped and thought to herself.

The kind Ann would definitely cry seeing her like this…

 

What brought Faye back from her thought was Viscountess Vanessa’s blunt question, “Or are you taught by her to sacrifice yourself for her sake?”

Obviously, Faye quickly refuted, “No! Ann-sama isn’t that kind of a person!”

Due to her surprise, she unconsciously let out her voice.

“…” None of them spoke another word after that.

 

“Sorry for yelling…,” Faye apologized after she had reflected on her bad conduct and realized the status difference between her and the two adults before her. With what she had done, they could easily punish her, but…

“…As long as you understand now that you have to focus on yourself first,” Viscountess Vanessa only said that.

“……I can’t rest well before knowing that she’s alright,” Faye said with a trembling voice.

Feeling that her emotions were welling up out of control, Faye tried to calm herself down by drinking the hot chocolate that she had been holding.

However, the warmth and sweetness of the hot chocolate caused her to be more emotional instead. She hung her head down as she looked at the cup of hot chocolate she held on her lap, between her hands.

Tears started falling from her eyes.

 

“The first time I learned how hot chocolate tasted was during the first night I was brought in by Ann-sama,” Faye started narrating in between her tears.

“Ann-sama didn’t even know me when I accidentally bumped on her in the streets, but she still helped me. She took me in, treated me kindly, and even taught me how to read and write. She never treated me like I am a nuisance or a lowly animal, unlike the people I’ve encountered when I was living in the slums…,” she paused for a while. 

“She is the first person to treat me with love after I lost my family. Even though she and I were strangers who didn’t even know each other before…,” Faye wiped the tears that had been running down her face before she continued.

“So… That’s why… I am upset I can’t help her at all in this condition. I became a burden to her instead. She asked them to let me go and in return she will quietly follow them. If… if something were to happen to her, I…,” Faye bawled her eyes out.

 

“Oh dear,” Viscount Jonas stood up and approached the crying girl, unsure of what to do.

“…,” Viscountess Vanessa was only silently watching.

When Faye started to calm down, Viscountess Vanessa finally opened her mouth.

“We haven’t found any clue yet about their whereabouts, but we will continue searching. We’ve informed Duke Allen and the crown prince, so more help is on the way. Your focus for the time being is to recover.”

Then, Faye was told that their location was far away from the town where they were living in. Viscountess Vanessa and Viscount Jonas were on a vacation in this villa, and their vacation trip was actually deliberately done during this time to help screen the location near the villa for Ann’s sign and they exactly met Faye during the journey.

 

Feeling that it was probably for the best that she followed the Viscount and Viscountess’ arrangement, Faye went to sleep.

The next day, however, Faye’s condition worsened as expected and she had no choice but to be focused on resting. Viscount Vanessa and Viscount Jonas were concerned for her and called the doctor to monitor her condition.  

Three days later, Faye’s condition thankfully had improved, but the search party still found no clue yet.

But to everyone’s surprise, a guest arrived in the villa where they were staying at.