“How’s the search going?!”

Allen went down from the horse he was riding on and asked with a rough breath.

Meanwhile, the horse looked like it was so exhausted that it wanted to collapse any time soon.

 

“Allen…! Don’t tell me you immediately embarked here on a horse, non-stop?!” Viscount Jonas exclaimed in concern.

“Time is essential,” Allen only said those words, but everyone knew that the longer they couldn’t find Ann, the harder it’d be.

“Even so, you’re so reckless!” Viscount Jonas said.

It would normally take longer for someone to travel here all the way from the capital. The viscount and viscountess were expecting to see Allen soon, but not this soon. Never in their wildest mind they’d thought of Allen traveling here nonstop the moment he heard of their discovery of Faye.

It seemed that they had misjudged the depth of Allen’s feelings for Ann.

 

“I’m not alone. My subordinates are behind me,” Allen said.

“You’re missing the point,” Viscount Jonas shook his head.

“Would you be able to not rush if the viscountess is taken away?” Allen asked back.

“Of course not,” Viscount Jonas said without even batting an eye, causing Viscountess Vanessa to give him a look of disapproval. Viscount Jonas realized that he had fallen into Allen’s trap, so he couldn’t say anything else to Allen.

 

“Allen-sama!” Faye peeked from behind Viscountess Vanessa and when she realized it was Allen, she quickly approached him. She was feeling much better by this time and she was more than happy to see that Allen had come to the rescue.

“Faye,” Allen greeted her back.

“Please rescue Ann-sama quickly!” Faye said.

“That’s the plan,” Allen agreed and turned to look at the viscount and viscountess and repeated, “How’s the search going?”

“We thought we found some clues, but they’re not yet found,” Viscountess Vanessa shook her head.

“Let me see the location,” Allen said.

“I can tell you where they tossed me out and I can help too,” Faye was eager to help.

“Chirp!” Birdie chirped.

 

Allen took a look at Faye, who had traces of injuries remaining.

He then said, “No. I’m here to personally try to find her and return. It might be dangerous if I were to take you with me. I’ve arranged it so that you’d be escorted back to the residence safely.”

Allen had heard about how Faye told the viscount and viscountess that she was used as a hostage to make Ann obey, and he didn’t want to risk having Faye there as Ann clearly cared so much for Faye. He didn’t hate this side of Ann, he liked it, even. Many nobles tend to view the commoners and servants’ lives as if they were ants, so Ann’s behavior of wanting to sacrifice herself for Faye was seen as odd, but for Allen, it was oddly endearing.

 

“Ah… I see,” Faye hung her head down.

She had expected that her offer would be shut down as she was a defenseless child that couldn’t contribute at all in this kind of situation, but when she heard that she’d be escorted back at the residence, she felt a bit down.

After all, that would mean she needed to wait longer to hear about how the rescue mission was going on. And she’d like to see Ann as quickly as possible.

 

“I don’t think having her embark on a long journey right now is good,” Viscount Jonas said as he tapped on Faye’s shoulder, which caused Faye to look up at him.

“She’s way better than when we first encountered her, but she’s still recuperating and just a child. We can wait until she’s fully healed to return,” Viscount Jonas added.

“But that means we’d trouble you,” Allen was surprised.

“Waiting here means she gets to meet your wife sooner. She’s so worried over her, so I think it’d be best to have her stay here in the meantime,” Viscount Jonas added.

Faye was so grateful when she heard Viscount Jonas’ words that described her feelings best. So, she nodded when Allen turned to look at her.

Allen then turned to look at the matriarch of the family for help, as he knew that if the viscountess disagreed, then the viscount would not push any further.

“It’s fine, we can make sure she’s safe here,” Viscountess Vanessa responded to Allen’s inquiring look.

 

Her answer was unexpected that Allen was a bit taken aback.

“I feel bad for troubling you,” Allen then turned to look at Faye who also felt the same.

“I will try not to be too much of a burden…,” Faye tried to press her feelings of guilt as she wanted to remain here to be able to meet Ann sooner.

“It’s alright, we don’t feel troubled at all,” Viscount Jonas quickly said.

Viscountess Vanessa also nodded.

 

“Then, I’ll be leaving her in your care. I’ll be going,” Allen said.

“No, you’ve been going on a nonstop journey for days. You should at least come inside to take a bit of a rest and to clean up,” Viscountess Vanessa quickly said.

“No, I—”

“Think of your subordinates,” Viscountess Vanessa pointed at Allen’s subordinates who were clearly exhausted.

Allen turned to look at his subordinates and felt guilty, so he agreed to take a bit of a rest before going to personally search for Ann.

 

“Is it alright for you to leave your post?” Viscount Jonas asked Allen.

“Yeah, I entrusted things to Kurtis,” Allen said.

 

…

 

After taking a bath and lunch, Allen was ready to go.

“Are you sure you won’t take a bit of a sleep first?” Viscount Jonas was concerned.

“Yeah, I won’t be able to sleep well anyway,” Allen said before adding, “I can rest well after she’s back.”

“Alright,” Viscount Jonas didn’t say anything more as he was also getting ready to leave together with Allen to look for Ann again.

 

“Allen-sama, be careful… Please find Ann-sama…!” Faye said.

She had given some more information to Allen personally when he stopped by.

“Dear, be careful. And make sure to keep Allen checked, lest he does something reckless,” Viscountess Vanessa said to her husband.

“I will,” Viscount Jonas nodded.

 

Just as they turned around, Birdie suddenly flew past Faye and blocked Allen’s path.

“Birdie, what is it? Go and stay with Faye,” Allen was taken aback at the little pink bird that was insistent on blocking his path.

“Chirp!” Birdie didn’t obey.

“Ah… Maybe she can help,” Faye realized that perhaps Birdie wanted Allen to take Birdie with him.

“Chirp!” Birdie gave out a happy chirp. She was glad that Faye caught on her intent.

 

“Is that so?” Allen was skeptical.

“Chirp!” Birdie wouldn’t take a no for an answer, so she quickly perched on Allen’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, she’s helped me, she will be fine,” Faye was feeling a bit jealous that Birdie could actually be more of a help than her at this moment, but for Ann’s sake, she’d vouch for Birdie.

“Alright then,” Allen didn’t mind Birdie and hopped on his horse.

 

Then, the moment he was about to embark with the others, Birdie suddenly flew in front all of them.

“Chirp!” Birdie chirped as she turned to look at Allen and pointed at the path forward.

“Are you telling us to follow you?” Allen took a wild guess.

“Chirp!” Birdie nodded and flew forward, then stopped to look at the crowd that didn’t take a step forward too, as if she was waiting for them as well.

“…Let’s just believe in her and follow her,” Allen was a logical man, but for some reason, his gut feeling was telling him to follow Birdie.

When he thought of it again, there was no harm in trying to follow Birdie. After all, the search team hadn’t found anything worthwhile and if Birdie looked this confident, perhaps she could lead them to some sort of a clue.

Though there were some questions behind this action.

For example, if Birdie really knew something, why wait until now to tell them? Why didn’t she insist on going with the search team and help them discover some clues faster?

But for now, he was willing to try anything out in order to find Ann faster.

 

“…,” Faye was having the same doubts in her mind.

Part of her wanted to scold Birdie for not acting quickly and waited until now to take the initiative. She didn’t get why Birdie would do that.

But she could only pray that Ann would be found safely soon.