IFAHWIPUTML Chapter 31

"Mmm..."

Verasielle's eyelids lifted as she murmured. She'd apparently dozed off without realizing it.

"Raphel, I'm sorry. Did you have fun playing?"

Verasielle clasped her hands together apologetically, feeling terrible for leaving Raphel to play alone.

But only her voice echoed through the room—no answer came.

"Raphel?"

Her drowsy mind snapped awake.

She looked around the room. Raphel was nowhere to be seen.

The teddy bear jelly and snow globe he'd been fiddling with lay scattered on the floor.

"Raphel."

Verasielle rose from her seat.

Now that she looked, the door was open. It had definitely been closed earlier...

She hurried out into the corridor.

"Lady Verasielle."

Tia, who'd been walking down the hallway, approached when she spotted Verasielle.

She'd come to inform her that dinner was ready.

"Tia, have you seen Raphel?"

Verasielle asked urgently, registering that no one else was in the corridor besides Tia.

"What? No. I haven't seen Master Raphaleon..."

"Could you help me look for him?"

"Of course. I'll ask the others too."

The two split up. Tia went left, Verasielle went right.

"Raphel. Where are you?"

She called out loudly, but no answer came from Raphel.

Verasielle walked around with a smile at first, thinking maybe he'd started a game of hide-and-seek by himself. But her face gradually turned ashen.

She'd been searching for Raphel for tens of minutes now, but couldn't find him. Verasielle began asking every passing servant if they'd seen Raphel.

But the answers that came back were all the same.

"I'm sorry. I haven't seen him."

"No. I haven't seen Master Raphaleon."

No one had seen Raphel.

In that instant, she grew anxious. He liked hide-and-seek, yes, but he was a child who always stuck right by her side, never leaving.

For that child to disappear without a word...

Nothing like this had ever happened while living with Raphel, so Verasielle was utterly flustered.

She had no idea where to even begin searching this vast estate.

"Where could he have gone..."

What if he'd hurt himself running around alone and was crying somewhere? What if he'd fallen into some deep pit and was screaming her name?

All sorts of negative thoughts swirled through her mind.

Anxiety and fear twisted Verasielle's face into the verge of tears. To think the child had disappeared while she'd dozed off for just a moment.

It was all her fault. To fall asleep with a young child right beside her...

She berated herself as she searched for Raphel with the intensity of someone prepared to open every single door in the estate.

"Raphel, where are you! Raphel!"

She'd already opened dozens of doors and searched rooms thoroughly, but Raphel was nowhere to be found.

Just in case, she went down to the garden.

She checked the spot where she and Raphel often had teatime, but Raphel wasn't there either.

She wanted to search the entire garden, but the estate was simply too large.

Both the building and the grounds. It wasn't a size one person could cover in a short time.

"Raphel!"

"My lady. Is something wrong?"

Rohan approached, having spotted Verasielle stomping her feet anxiously as she came back up to the estate.

"Butler. Have you seen Raphel?"

"I haven't seen Master Raphaleon. My lady. Are you all right?"

Rohan offered her a handkerchief. Sweat beaded on Verasielle's forehead from how much she'd been running around, her breathing labored.

"Raphel's missing. While I was briefly asleep..."

As time passed, her anxiety intensified. Her heart pounded with worry, and she felt the world going white before her eyes.

Perhaps because of that, she didn't even register that Rohan was holding out a handkerchief beside her—she just chewed on her lip anxiously.

"I'll help you search. Please don't worry too much. If he's somewhere in the estate, we'll find him quickly."

Rohan reassured the restless Verasielle as he gathered all the nearby servants.

"Master Raphaleon seems to be missing, so search the estate thoroughly."

Everyone moved in perfect coordination at Rohan's command.

"My lady. Please sit and rest a moment."

Rohan pulled over a chair for Verasielle, who was trembling pitifully.

Her face was pale. The color had completely drained from her face, leaving it paper-white, and her lips were parched dry.

Nearly an hour had passed since Verasielle had started searching for Raphel, and there was still no news whatsoever.

"No. I don't have time for that. I need to find him quickly."

Verasielle declined Rohan's kindness and resumed her halted steps.

She had to find Raphel quickly. She had to confirm with her own eyes that he was safe.

"I'll search with you."

Rohan followed after Verasielle as well.

The two earnestly called for Raphel as they wandered through the estate.

"Raphel!"

When her desperate voice, melted with anxious worry, had called Raphel's name over fifty times—

"Veras!"

From far away, very faint but clear, came an answering voice.

"It seems to be that way."

Rohan quickly pointed his finger toward a distant direction. The two ran together toward it.

"Raphel!"

"Hehehe, Veras!"

When Verasielle entered the room with the open door, she saw Raphel's face beaming with innocent joy in Chayston's arms.

Right before her eyes, Raphel was smiling, completely unharmed without a single scratch.

"Haa..."

When Verasielle's strength-drained legs wobbled and she nearly collapsed to the floor, Chayston swiftly grabbed her arm to support her.

Rohan, who'd been standing beside her, also reached out toward Verasielle in surprise, but Chayston had been faster.

"Are you all right?"

"Ah, yes..."

She sat on the sofa with Chayston's assistance, her legs still trembling.

Now that she realized it had been nothing serious, she finally felt at ease.

The anxiety she'd felt until now receded like the tide.

During that past hour when Raphel had been missing, she'd felt like she'd been to hell and back.

It had been an experience that chilled her blood and made cold sweat run down her spine. Something she never wanted to go through again.

"What happened?"

Chayston asked Rohan, having noticed that Verasielle's condition was worse than usual.

"Ah, she thought Master Raphaleon was missing and searched everywhere for him."

"Veras?"

Raphel tilted his head as he looked at Verasielle, who seemed less energetic than usual.

"I'm just glad you're safe."

Verasielle composed herself and took Raphel from Chayston into her arms.

It didn't matter how much she'd struggled to find this tiny little child.

She was just so grateful to be able to hold this warm bundle again.

"Look! Uncle gave it to me!"

Raphel showed off the star plushie he was holding to Verasielle. He clutched the star plushie he'd received from Chayston close to his chest, clearly treasuring it.

"It's a star?"

Only then could Verasielle properly take in the scenery of the room she'd entered.

The room, filled entirely with stars, was decorated in a charming way. Anyone could see it was a child's room.

"What is all this?"

"Stars."

Chayston answered Verasielle's question matter-of-factly while observing her complexion.

The color was gradually returning to her face, which had been deathly pale when she'd entered the room.

Just how much had she run around searching for Raphel? Small beads of sweat dotted her pale forehead.

He had no choice but to fully acknowledge it now. Her sincerity toward Raphel.

He couldn't dismiss her earnest and genuine attitude and expression as lies.

Everything had been his misunderstanding, his hasty judgment, his prejudice—he had no choice but to admit it.

He'd been thinking all along that it might be his misunderstanding, but now not even a trace of doubt remained.

"No, I didn't mean—whose room is this?"

"Duke Chayston Halos mentioned that Young Master Raphaleon is quite fond of stars."

Rohan spoke up in place of the master who wasn't explaining.

"Ah..."

Verasielle let out an exclamation as she stared at Chayston with surprise.

Interpreting Rohan's words, this room was Raphaleon's room.

Raphaleon's room, which Chayston had decorated as a star paradise after hearing that he liked stars.

"Ah, so that's why you wanted the snow globe back then..."

She'd wondered why someone with his build would covet such charming little objects—it had been to place them in Raphaleon's room.

Verasielle was a bit surprised by his attentiveness.

She'd known through the original story that he cherished his nephew, but to think he'd already prepared all this.

Her gaze alternated between Chayston and Raphaleon.

Chayston and Raphaleon, with their black hair and red eyes.

Seeing them together like this, the two really were identical.

Without a single shred of doubt, they were Halos blood. He and Raphel were family.

"I hope the day comes soon when you recognize Raphel as your nephew, Duke."

Verasielle smiled gently as she spoke quietly.

She hoped the day would come when he could treat Raphel completely as his nephew, without any more doubt.

Because it was too sad not to recognize your real family even when they were right in front of you.

"You should say thank you for the plushie."

"Thank you!"

Raphel followed Verasielle's words and thanked Chayston.

Chayston looked at Verasielle with an indescribable feeling, and kept looking.