The Arranged Suitor Was the Kidnapper

‘I promised to tell the truth while returning the fox orb.’

Her firm resolution wavered back and forth like a ship caught in a storm.

Before she knew it, Laria had come out of the curtains and hesitated, standing in front of the door.

If she leaped high and grabbed the doorknob, the door would open. Then she would come face to face with Zenox.

Laria was curious about what Zenox would say. Last time, she was too shocked to have a proper conversation with him.

It was different from talking to Zenox as Laria. There were memories between Whitie and Zenox that Laria Rohan didn’t know about.

The door lightly rang out, as if someone had leaned their body against it.

Laria hesitated and then leaned her head against the door.

It sounded much lighter than if someone had knocked with their hand.

Although they had confirmed each other’s presence through the sound, no one spoke.

‘What should I do?’

If she left without even showing her face, wouldn’t he be disappointed?

What if he thought she ran away because she didn’t like him?

Laria disliked the thought of Zenox blaming himself more than receiving his hatred.

During the tug-of-war between impulse and reason, she felt a familiar sensation. While her forehead was against the door, Laria quickly took a step back.

“!”

In an instant, Laria returned to her human form but lost her balance and tumbled onto the bed. Almost simultaneously, the door latch turned.

Laria grabbed the blanket on the bed and immediately began casting a spell.

In an instant, the bedroom changed.

She was back in the Rohan mansion, not the Grand Duke’s residence.

Laria, who had been staring at the door for a moment, buried her face in the bed.

‘How surprised he must have been.’

She suddenly disappeared after making noise inside.

After groaning in pain for a while, Laria lifted her head.

Clearly, the bedroom was dark, but light was pouring in from outside. When she looked out the window, the garden was brightly lit even though it was the middle of the night.

Wondering what had happened, Laria took out some comfortable pajamas and put them on before leaving the bedroom.

As she did, she heard noisy footsteps from all directions. 

“Miss!”

Armored knights spotted Laria and yelled. When the voices echoed loudly, family members rushed in afterward.

“Laria!”

Facing the bewildered family members, Laria froze. She had completely forgotten her family in her preoccupation with Zenox.

“Where were you hurt?”

Herdin quickly examined Laria, while Semela looked around stiffly. Theodore just cried without saying a word.

“Where on earth have you been?”

“We thought you had disappeared again…”

It was the family who brought Laria, who was well at home, to the Grand Duke’s residence.

Although it was unfair, but she couldn’t reveal the truth, so Laria pulled out the excuse she had prepared in advance.

“I went out for a moment while practicing my magic, but I got so absorbed that I didn’t realize how late it had become… I’m sorry.”

Theodore was relieved by her words, and Herdin didn’t say anything, just frowned slightly. 

Finally, Semela’s cold voice came out.

“It’s better for you to stay home for a while.”

* * *

Laria left first, and Zenox was left alone in the mine.

While he was wrapping up the aftermath as requested by Laria, a carrier pigeon came flying with a message.

[We’ve found Whitie.]

With just one line written on the note, his mind went blank.

After that, his memory was completely cut off.

He didn’t know how he had managed to get to the capital, but he found himself at the Grand Duke’s mansion. Walking down the dark corridor, Zenox felt like his heart was pounding so loudly that his ears were stuffed.

‘How on earth did they find her?’

It was clear that Laria is Whitie, so why had she ended up in the Krassium mansion? 

He had thought she would go home.

When Laria had to leave in a hurry, he thought she was hiding something. Maybe she had become a fox for some unavoidable reason, like in the illegal auction house.

His steps were instinctively heading towards Whitie.

He walked unhesitatingly down the corridor and suddenly stopped in front of a door.

‘Whitie is in here.’

Zenox imagined Whitie beyond the door.

Perhaps he should open the door and wake her up.

If she was awake, she would have heard Zenox’s footsteps. She used to come out to meet him even before he arrived sometimes.

Gradually, he felt a presence inside. It seemed she hadn’t fallen asleep.

However, Zenox couldn’t open the door hastily.

“…”

He had already told Laria about the fox orb.

Zenox was waiting for Laria to reveal the truth first, so it was strange that she suddenly appeared in her fox form.

Even if it wasn’t an unwanted situation.

‘If she runs away like last time…’

He still remembered how she had run away when they met at the auction house, and that image was still vivid in his mind.

It was so frightening that he couldn’t bring himself to open the door.

Zenox silently stared at the firmly closed door. The wooden door felt like the thickest and strongest in the world.

But even so, the thought that Whitie was on the other side gave him a sense of security.

Standing in the dark corridor, memories of the past with Whitie flooded back.

The day when Whitie’s condition suddenly became strange, he had suddenly been unable to sleep. It was as if he had a restless premonition that Whitie would suddenly leave.

On a dark night like today, Zenox came out into the dark corridor.

And he had found Whitie running down the corridor in a panic.

How panicked she had been was clear from the way she froze when she saw him.

Seeing Whitie’s frozen figure, Zenox realized that his intuition had been correct.

Zenox wondered how he could make Whitie stay by his side. Should he beg her to stay, or should he plead with her?

But the words that came out when his lips finally parted were different from his thoughts.

-You want to leave, don’t you?

This wasn’t what he wanted to say.

-It’s too late now. It’s cold and dark, so in the morning…

Even if he held onto her, it wouldn’t be enough.

-Go in the morning.

He said it, but deep down, he prayed that she wouldn’t actually go.

Despite giving her so much of his heart, he still felt resentment at her leaving.

On the other hand, he couldn’t bear to hold on to her because of the thought that she didn’t want to be around him to the point where she had to run away in the middle of the night. Maybe she didn’t want to be with him that much.

His desperate plea must have reached her, as Whitie didn’t leave his side.

Just like back then…

‘Come to me.’

He wouldn’t ask her anything, please.

Zenox stood still, waiting for Whitie to open the door, and eventually, he leaned his forehead against it.

He wanted to get a little closer to her. He was convinced that Whitie, too, had leaned her forehead against the door, just like him.

Although she couldn’t reveal the truth yet, Whitie responded in kind.

Just that was enough to make Zenox’s heart swell.

‘She’s not running away from me because she hates me.’

Being alone together in the same place brought back memories of the past. A time when they only knew each other and were happy together.

If asked if he was unhappy now, he wasn’t.

Laria had filled the void in Zenox’s heart and brought him back to life. It was something only Whitie, or rather Laria, and no one else could do.

While he was just breathing quietly, a loud sound came from inside.

Zenox immediately grabbed the door latch and pulled it open.

The door, which had seemed like it would never open, swung wide open, revealing an empty bedroom.

Zenox looked out the window, but there was nothing to see. It was the third floor, so jumping out wasn’t an option.

Looking around, he realized that the jewels that had been on the decorations were gone.

‘Has she returned to her human form again?’

If Laria could take just one spell, it would undoubtedly be the spatial teleportation spell. She would be gone in less than a second.

‘That means not yet.’

In the end, Laria avoided the reunion.

This was already the second time.

Zenox walked to the empty bed and sat down. The blanket was warm, as if to prove that someone had been there just a moment ago.

Zenox’s golden eyes calmly sank as he quietly swept away the blanket.

Twice was enough to wait.

Now Zenox also felt the limits of his patience.

“This is the last time.”

Two situations where White was let go was enough.

“There won’t be a third time.”

If they met again, he wouldn’t let her go.