# 33
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“Baa.”
"Good."
Elinor held the baby in her arms after packing her belongings.
Place a pacifier in the baby's mouth to prevent him from crying.
I looked around the room.
She didn't stay here long, but the stuff piled up quite a lot.
Dresses, lifestyle items, and various healthy foods.
They are all gifts from Matthias to her.
“It's true that he saved my life...”
But I can't trust someone to hold me.
I take responsibility not only for myf, but for the baby as well.
“Baby, it's time to go meet your mother.”
Elinor turned.
There was a flash of regret in her departing steps.
* * *
Grand Duke Hilliard's fiefdom is not just a palace, the entire fiefdom is like a fortress.
Throughout her detention in the ward, Elinor tried to explore escape routes in advance.
By requesting books from Tidian or enticing him to talk.
When she reached the training ground connected to the end of the corridor, Elinor remembered her conversation with Tidian.
‘Do you always train alone in the evening, young master?’
‘Yes!’
'You could have trained with the knights. Do they all work outside the palace?'
'No, it's not. They all live in residences next to the training ground. The training ground you saw is only for our family. The other knights use the second training ground next to it.’
'Oh, I see.'
Today, Tidian said he will go out with his sister Cornelia.
He was supposed to have dinner and come back late at night, so he wouldn't be able to visit the baby.
As if to prove his words true, the training ground was empty.
Elinor entered a small office connected to the training ground.
In a corner, there were cleaning supplies along with an apron left by a maid.
She quickly grabbed the apron and put it on, then looked for an empty basket.
She put a soft blanket in the basket she found, and placed the child inside it.
“Kya-”
The child thought she was playing hide-and-seek or something similar, so he laughed happily.
Elinor put her finger to her lips.
"Hush. We'll be quiet for a moment."
I covered the basket with a light cloth that did not completely block the air.
To complete the camouflage, I grabbed a large mop.
She looked like a maid who came to clean the training ground.
"Let's go."
Elinor took a deep breath and opened the door.
But as soon as she left the training ground, she bumped into a knight running quickly somewhere.
Elinor quickly lowered her head.
Her heart was beating hard.
She had very bad luck. How could she run into a member of the palace once she got out?
She waited for the knight to pass by.
But, contrary to her expectations, the knight approached her.
“Oh you.”
Elinor felt as if her heart stopped for a moment.
She answered in a low voice.
"Yes."
“Did you come from the training ground?”
"Yes."
She showed the mop she was holding.
“I was cleaning.”
“Did you see...”
“Aww.”
Suddenly, the baby made a faint crying sound from inside the cloth-covered basket.
Elinor felt like her hair stood up.
The knight raised his eyebrows.
“What is that sound?”
“Is there something you want me to do?”
Elinor said quickly to distract him.
"If you need cleaning, let me know. I'll clean up perfectly."
She shook the basket containing the baby gently to avoid attracting attention.
Fortunately, the baby did not make any other sounds.
The knight frowned and said:
“No need to clean up. Did you see Young Master Tidian at the training ground?”
“Young master?”
Didn't Tidian say he was going out with his sister today?
"No, I haven't seen him. Didn't he come out today?"
“That was canceled due to Lady Cornelia’s circumstances. Instead, the Duke said he would go with Mr. Tidian for the ride… but now, no matter how much we search, we can’t find him.”
Elinor's eyes widened.
The knight scratched his head in confusion.
“Where on earth did he go? The young master has disappeared, and we are all in an emergency looking for him.”
"Isn't he somewhere in the building? Maybe in the garden?"
“We looked everywhere. But he is not there. This is dangerous. The Duke is waiting for him.”
“If I see young master, I will tell you immediately.”
“Thank you. I hope so.”
The knight left after he finished speaking.
Elinor murmured quietly, alone.
“Lucky, Gilbert.”
That this happened on the day she threatened to run away.
Elinor clicked her tongue.
She was upset about Gilbert's luck, but her road was long, so she didn't care anymore and kept walking.
But she didn't get far before she suddenly stopped.
“The day you made him run away, Tidian also disappeared?”
Could this be just a coincidence?
She already knew that Gilbert did not like Tidian.
Even the assignments he gave were full of malicious intent, as if he hoped Tidian wouldn't solve them.
'No, it wasn't just malice, it was evil.'
Tidian tried to hide it, but sometimes he walked with hesitant steps.
As if there were wounds on his legs that hurt him.
'What do I do now, Elinor?'
This is the stronghold of Grand Duke Hilliard's family, and it is of no use to the child's safety.
She has already proven this by being imprisoned by Matthias.
So, you should run now while you have the chance.
But, for some reason, she couldn't move her feet easily.
Instead, she remembered the teenage boy who visited the child daily.
The tall boy who was very happy with just the child's smile.
“This is really crazy.”
Elinor bit her lips hard, then finally moved.
But the direction was not the one she intended to go in, it was towards the largest and most magnificent building in the Duke's Castle.
* * *
They said the youngest son had disappeared and everyone was in a state of emergency.
“Young Master! Where are you?”
“Master Tidian!”
The main building of the palace, which I first entered, was in disarray from being searched for.
Elinor, disguised as a maid, was walking down the hall, but no one noticed her.
Even when I asked someone where Gilbert's office was located, they didn't care.
“It looks like he's here.”
Gilbert, working under the alias Wirt, was using an office on the third floor of the mansion's main building.
How many big lies was he promoting?
From the location of the office, it seemed that the Duke's family had allocated a good room for him.
While she was being held in an abandoned ward that no one was using, the impostor was living in such a comfortable environment.
She was already upset that her escape was delayed, so this made her even more upset.
Elinor grabbed the door handle.
Click, click.
The door was locked from the inside, so it did not open.
'There doesn't seem to be any sounds from inside, so why close the door?'
After thinking, she took out a hairpin from her head.
She extended it, inserted it into the keyhole, and turned it around.
Moments later, the lock clicked and opened.
I opened the door carefully.
“Young Master!”
Tidian was lying unconscious on the ground.
Elinor ran towards him.
She placed the basket containing the child on the floor and began to check Tidian's breathing.
Fortunately, Tidian was breathing.
Elinor tried to wake him.
“Young master! Wake up!”