The man, standing by the gates of the estate, was not taller than Eleanor, being at about the same height, and making him shorter than the average man of the empire. He was already balding, so half of his head was covered by short, dark brown hair, and the other carried the typical hairline of a male losing his hair.
While not being a fat man, there was a growing belly, and his face reflected that by the chubby cheeks, and round chin. His face was quite soft too, similar to Eleanor’s, only that he had a small, rounded nose, and tiny, green eyes that were hard to see.
Usually, the man would be dressed in clothes not too different from those of the common folk of his territory, as he—like Eleanor—would also set foot on the same fields and work with his people to keep the land going; even if such acts were unbecoming of a noble.
But now, he had stuffed himself into a tight, elegant, dark blue suit, composed of a jacket and pants made of the same material, and a white shirt under it that had a simple light blue piece of cloth around the neck that held it all together. The jacket and shirt were so tightly packed, however, that one couldn’t help but wonder if it was going to explode or be ripped to shreds and any moment, even more so from the wild movements the man was doing.
“I demand to see Duke Withers!” he shouted with a nasally voice. “And I’m not leaving until I get some answers!”
One of the guards standing by the gate looked down at the short man with annoyance. “How many times do we have to tell you that the Duke is not currently seeing anyone without an appointment.”
“An appointment!? I can’t wait weeks for this! This is my daughter we’re talking about!” Eleanor’s father continued shouting, not caring at all about the people giving him strange looks from the streets.
“Listen, my lord, we cannot do anything about that. You must talk to the town’s guards so they can—”
“And the town’s guards belong to Duke Withers!” interrupted the man, pointing a chubby finger at the guard. “No! I sent my perfectly healthy daughter here—to this very estate—a week ago, only for her to never return! You owe me an explanation!”
“The Duke owes nobody an explanation,” harshly replied the guard, looking down with a glare at the short man, who was taken aback slightly. “Perhaps it would be best for you to look after your daughter better. One wonders if she might have just fled.”
“Wha—How dare you?!” shouted the man, taking a firm step forward, only to be stopped by one of these guards pointing a spear at him.
“We have been patient enough with you already!” barked one of them, pushing the spear forward as the people close to the estate whispered and moved away from the commotion. “If you keep pestering His Lordship’s territory, then we will take action. Now, leave before we—”
“What is going on here?” asked a man from beyond the estate's gates, and both the guards and Eleanor’s father turned to look.
“My lord!” exclaimed one of the guards, before turning to glare at Eleanor’s father. “This poor Baron has been coming the past few days, making wild accusations about your house, sir. He claims that we did something to his daughter.”
Duke Withers, sitting inside a carriage and looking from the window, raised his eyebrows and glanced at the short man having spears pointed at him. “Is that so…?”
“Yes! That’s right! I sent her here in my late wife’s dress to the celebration party from a few days ago, and she hasn’t appeared since then!” the man fearlessly continued, even pushing aside one of the spears as he moved over to be able to look at the Duke, not caring about the possibility of being stabbed. “And I’m sure she was last seen in this very place!”
“You insolent—”
“How are you so sure?” asked Duke Withers, stopping the guards from doing something.
Noticing that their lord didn’t appear to be annoyed by the short, chubby man demanding answers, the guards put away their spears to the side, and allowed the man to approach the gates. He stood tall—despite the height difference—and looked straight at the Duke with an unwavering gaze.
“I’ve heard rumors from the party. They claim that a girl with a simple dress and a silver flower on her golden hair had spent the party with His Imperial Highness, and that nobody knew who she was or where she came from, only that she was from some small, poor noble house…” he said with certainty, “That was my Elly—Eleanor!”
“Dancing with His Highness…?” The Duke pondered, furrowing his eyebrows as if he was trying to recall such an event. “His Imperial Highness is such a coveted man, that many women throw themselves at him without a thought… To say that your daughter was such an important woman that he would turn his attention to her like that…”
“But it is true!” the man pressed, grabbing on to the bars of the gate. “W-we could even ask His Highness about it! I’m sure that he could confirm it! He should still be close to the capital, if you can expend just one horse to go find him, then I’m sure that—”
“Nonsense,” Duke Withers interrupted, waving his hand in the air in a dismissive manner. “His Highness has more important things to do than to be bothered by random rumors and a missing girl.” He then turned a sharp gaze at Eleanor’s father, who appeared to be stunned by the sudden claim. “I’m sorry for your loss, but such a thing isn’t a concern for him—Besides, my daughter was already on his eyes, so to claim that another woman could possibly be an interest for His Highness is just insulting to the Imperial Family.”
“Ghk!” Eleanor’s father replied, nearly choking on his own saliva, before shaking his head in response. “T-then, I’ll go look for His Highness myself! He’ll give me the answers that I need.”
The man then turned away from the gate, and with angry steps, started leaving. However, noticing the determination on the chubby man’s steps, the Duke suddenly opened the door and walked out of the carriage. “Hold it right there.”
Eleanor’s father didn’t seem to care about what the Duke wanted to say, and he continued to walk, but he couldn’t take more than a handful of steps before one of the guards moved around him and stopped him with a spear pointed at his head. “His lordship is still talking to you!”
The man looked with widened eyes at the shiny tip of the spear for a moment, but then turned to look at the Duke. “You’ve already said that you won’t help me! So, I’ll do it myself!”
The Duke shook his head in response and sighed. “His Highness shouldn’t be bothered by such a thing.”
“I don’t care! I’ll go to the Goddess herself if I need to! If it’s about my little flower, then nothing will—”
“I’ll give you my word that I’ll look for her,” the Duke finally relented with an annoyed look on his face. “I’ll send word to the house to look for her—in fact,” he raised a hand, and one of the servants that was working in the gardens of the estate hurried over to the Duke. “Send word to the house to ask about a missing girl from the night of the gala. Her name was…”
“Eleanor! Eleanor of Andras!” the father quickly said, “I-if you find anything, please tell her that her father is looking for her!”
“Yes, sir. Right away,” the servant replied, and with a short bow of his head, he turned to go into the manor.
The Duke returned a serious look at the chubby man. “That’s as much as I’m willing to spend. If there’s nothing in my house, then I recommend you work with the territory’s knights instead of pestering around my home. Is that clear?”
“Y-yes! Thank you, your lordship, I shall never forget this, and please—” He looked up with the same pleading eyes from before “—please make sure to find her.”
“Hmph,” the Duke replied, turning to the carriage and getting back on it. “You’ve caused a great deal of trouble for me already. It will not be easy to answer for it.”
“I’ll pay whatever it takes to get my daughter back!” Eleanor’s father said with a serious look. “My lands, my properties, and my title are worthless compared to her.”
The Duke looked back at the serious look in the man’s face for a moment, after which he nodded and accommodated himself. “It wouldn’t do good to insult the Empire’s titles like that, but… As a father of a daughter myself, I can understand the feeling.”
Without waiting for Eleanor’s father to respond, the door of the carriage was closed and the gates to the estate were opened. The short, chubby man stood at the side with a hopeful smile as the carriage passed by with an escort of knights and went on the road, quickly leaving him behind.
However, inside the carriage, and once they turned around a corner, the Duke opened a window and looked to one of the knights escorting him, who quickly moved to be closer to him. “Send word to the house not to bother searching for that girl.”
“Right away, sir.” the Knight replied, and turned to go into the Estate from a different entrance, while the Duke appeared not bothered at all about giving that order as he relaxed inside the carriage, and…
Eleanor’s father returned with a hopeful step back to his territory, unaware of that final order.
