ONE NIGHT STAND WITH HOT DUKE-Chapter 205: I will definitely find you

The old man quickly nodded.

"Yes."

Demian didn’t move.

Only one word left his lips.

"When."

"Around... a few months ago, my lord," the guard answered quickly. "A small caravan. Not many people."

Demian tilted his head slightly.

"How many."

"Six... or seven."

The man tried to remember.

"Several women. Two men. They carried things like wandering mages... potions, books, strange objects."

From the corner of the room, Vedseel let out a quiet snort.

He leaned against the wooden wall with his arms folded.

"I told you," he said casually. "I know where she is."

Demian didn’t even look at him.

His gaze remained fixed on the guard.

"Was there a young woman among them?"

The guard hesitated for a moment.

"Yes... my lord."

Demian finally blinked.

"Describe her."

The old man scratched his head nervously.

"I didn’t pay too much attention... but she seemed different from the others."

"Different how."

"She... didn’t speak much."

The guard tried to recall.

"And they were very protective of her. The mages always walked around her."

Behind him, Vedseel gave a faint smile.

Demian finally turned his head slightly toward him.

Vedseel shrugged.

"Just like I said."

He stepped closer.

"I already found her trail through magic. You don’t need to interrogate every border guard like this."

Demian looked at him.

"Yes."

The answer was short.

Then he turned back to the guard.

"Where did they go after passing this place?"

The man pointed north.

"Into the forest."

"Did they ever return?"

The guard immediately shook his head.

"Never."

The room fell silent.

Wind whistled through the cracks in the wooden walls.

Demian finally stepped away from the table.

Vedseel looked at him with mild irritation.

"Are you satisfied now?"

Demian put his gloves back on.

"Yes."

Vedseel clicked his tongue softly.

"I told you from the beginning that they were hiding in the northern territories. My ritual even showed a clearer location."

He narrowed his eyes at Demian.

"Yet you still insisted on checking every human trail that passed through here."

Demian walked toward the door.

Before stepping outside, he stopped for a moment.

Without turning around, he said,

"I wanted to be certain."

Vedseel raised an eyebrow.

"Certain of what?"

Demian opened the door.

The cold wind immediately rushed in.

At last, he spoke in a low voice,

"That I’m chasing the right person."

Outside, the Morvex soldiers were already waiting on their horses.

The northern sky looked gray.

And far beyond the snow-covered forest Valerie lived without knowing that the distance between them... was growing shorter.

The cold wind was still swirling through the courtyard of the border outpost when Demian stepped out of the wooden building.

The northern sky looked gray. Heavy clouds hung low above the forest stretching into the distance like a dark sea.

The Morvex soldiers waited beside their horses without speaking. Even those who were accustomed to military campaigns felt that the air around their duke was slightly too tense that night.

Demian stood a few steps away from the door, looking toward the northern forest.

Her trail was there.

He could feel it now.

And yet, he still made sure of every step.

Behind him, the wooden door opened again.

Vedseel stepped out, pulling his cloak tighter around himself. He watched Demian’s back for a moment before letting out a long sigh.

"You know," he said casually, though his tone clearly carried exhaustion, "sometimes you could try trusting other people."

Demian did not turn.

Vedseel continued as he walked closer.

"You even have to believe that other people work hard too."

He stopped beside Demian.

The wind blew through his slightly messy black hair.

"I spent three nights performing rituals to track Valerie’s trail," he continued. "And you still felt the need to interrogate every border guard in this region."

Demian finally spoke.

His voice was low.

"I just don’t want to lose her trail again."

The sentence was spoken without emotion.

But Vedseel looked at him longer than usual.

He knew what those words meant.

Months of failed searching.

Rituals that found nothing.

And a woman who had vanished from the world as if she had never existed.

Vedseel leaned his shoulder against the wooden fence of the outpost.

"The problem is," he said quietly, "if you keep acting like this..."

He gestured back toward the building where Demian had just interrogated the guard.

"...we might actually lose her."

Demian finally turned his head.

His gaze was sharp.

"What do you mean?"

Vedseel shrugged.

"You arrive with the Morvex crest. Soldiers. Questions about a woman traveling with a caravan of mages."

He let out a small laugh.

"You think people won’t get suspicious?"

Demian fell silent.

Vedseel looked straight at him.

"It’s possible the person you questioned actually knows her."

He tilted his head slightly.

"And after seeing who’s looking for her..."

Vedseel lifted his shoulders lightly.

"...they might decide to hide her."

The cold wind blew again.

Demian didn’t answer immediately.

His gaze returned to the northern forest.

Several seconds passed in silence.

Then he finally said quietly,

"If they try to hide her..."

He paused for a moment.

"...I’ll find her anyway."

Vedseel studied Demian’s face.

That look.

That tone.

There wasn’t the slightest trace of doubt in it.

Vedseel let out a long breath.

"Yes," he murmured.

"I know you would say that."

He then pushed himself off the fence and walked toward his horse.

"Alright then, stubborn Duke."

Vedseel mounted the saddle with an easy motion.

"My ritual still points the same direction."

He pointed toward the forest covered in snowy mist.

"There."

Demian mounted his horse as well.

The soldiers immediately prepared themselves.

Vedseel looked toward the old trees standing densely in the north.

His voice grew quieter as he said,

"If I’m right..."

He glanced briefly at Demian.

"...Valerie isn’t far from there."

Demian didn’t reply.

But his horse had already begun to move.

The first step toward the silent northern forest.

Toward the woman who, for months, had existed only as a shadow in his mind.

That was when Noel, who had been standing slightly behind them, finally stepped forward.

"Trust him, Your Grace."

His voice was careful, but sincere.

"Lord Vedseel wouldn’t be wrong about something like this."

Demian didn’t answer immediately.

He stood still for a few seconds.

Then,

"Silence."

His voice was as cold as steel freshly drawn from its sheath.

Noel immediately stiffened.

Demian turned his head slightly, fixing him with a sharp stare.

"You’re only making me more irritated."

A heavier silence settled over the group.

Demian continued in a low voice.

"Because you couldn’t even protect her."