REGRET

Lucien's POV:

“She's not back,” the servant before me said, his voice quivering as if he was cold.

I dropped my pen down, completely expressionless as I stared at him. He bowed his head lower, scared of meeting my eyes.

Only one person had that much audacity and thankfully, he was in his pack.

“What's that supposed to mean?” I asked him, my voice cold and stable but my heart wasn't.

Freya was smart to an extent, so she definitely knew better than to run away because she wouldn't survive a day out there.

Has she been kidnapped? She had her own way of standing out, so I wouldn't be surprised if she caught a trafficker’s attention.

“She hasn't returned, my Lord.”

I let out a deep breath as I tried to remain sane. This was all on me because if I hadn't given the free day, this wouldn't have happened.

“Laura has contacted the witch t-

I furrowed my brow as my worry slowly brewed into anger.

“Why does Laura know about this before me?”

The servant before me took a large gulp as he shrunk back, having no answer for me.

“Answer,” I muttered below my breath just before I stood up.

Laura was starting to act out and this wasn't the first time. The fact that she was starting to have more control over the slaves in my care didn't sit well with me, and I wasn't going to let it go.

I stood in front of the servant who seemed to have frozen with fear. That was the point.

“Simon ordered me to let her know first,” he replied with the same shaky voice.

I could hear his heart beating so fast that if he wasn't careful, he was going to have a panic attack, but I didn't care.

“And you did just that?”

I couldn't exactly blame him for listening to his superior, but I couldn't just let him get away with it.

Simon had a thing for Laura and was probably trying to win points with her.

“I'm sorry, my Lord,” the young servant said and fell on his knees.

“Please forgive me.”

I stared down at him, not uttering a word. He reminded me of someone as pathetic as this.

My mother.

A knock on my library's door distracted me from my line of thought.

“Come in,” I said, not bothering to ask who it was.

“My Lord,” Simon said, his eyes fixated on the servant on his knees.

Acting as if he had no idea about what it was, he walked towards me with a smile that wavered for just a second.

“I heard that one of the servants didn't return,” he started, shaking his head as if he had even a bit of empathy.

I nodded in response, my eyes studying every minute change in his facial features.

I had to say that Simon was good at pretending just like his father, who is my father's right-hand man.

Simon wasn't my favourite person and definitely not trustworthy, so even though his job was to also be right-hand man, I always hid things from him.

“So foolish of her,” he muttered before digging his hand into his trouser pocket.

I clenched my hands, trying to control the sudden surge of anger. No one could know that I cared for Freya even if it was just a bit.

“I heard you made him deliver the news to Laura first,” I said coolly, my eyes not wavering from him for even a bit.

“Who told you that lie?” he asked, a look of nervousness flickering through his face.

I take it back, he wasn't half as good as his father.

“How are your bastards these days?” I said, snatching the paper he had brought out from his pocket.

I didn't bother checking his expression as I glanced through the paper because I knew it was a sour one.

Simon had a thing for sleeping with random women, which explains why he has five children with different women and for the same exact reason, Laura wasn't sparing him a glance.

“What should I do about the missing servant?”

I looked up at him with a brow raised, which made him shift on his feet.

“What did I ask you to do about it?”

A look of confusion appeared on his face just before he glanced around as if the answer was visibly in the room.

“N-nothing…”

“Exactly,” I said, then walked back to my seat, placing the paper on the table.

I really wanted to read what was in the paper, maybe it would have some kind of answer to where Freya was.

“But we can't j-

“You can leave Simon,” I cut him off, and after a while, he walked out.

It was clear that he didn't agree with me and probably thought I was acting foolish. I agreed to the last part though.

This was how I acted with her, and now she was gone. I shut my eyes as I tried to get rid of the awful memory.

I couldn't give Freya that same attention except if I wanted her dead.

“My Lord,” a voice in the library made me snap my eyes open.

There was no one in the room, but yet I could feel a presence then I remembered.

“Why are you still here?” I asked with irritation.

The servant scrambled to his feet and ran away without even glancing back once. A sigh escaped my lips when he shut the door behind him.

I was now alone. The way I liked it.

My eyes went to the paper on the table and I picked it up without hesitation. It looked blank at first sight but there was something written in it.

I lit up the only available candle on my table and placed the blank paper over it. With time, the words started to appear and, just like I had suspected, something was wrong with her.

Rh-null

Anaemia and hallucinations.

Signs of abuse.

My jaw clenched hard as I stared at the words from the private investigator. I started to have my suspicions when she pointed into space the last time.

I didn't think much about it at that time because I thought she was just looking for an excuse to get away with it.

I wasn't sure about where she was, but one thing I knew was that she definitely didn't run away.

“Fuck,” I muttered, rubbing a hand on my chin.

I had to discreetly dispatch guards to look for her before it became too late.

I should have waited until the private investigator got back to me before I allowed her out of the estate.

I picked up the telephone on my table and started to dial the head of security's number but paused midway.

They weren't going to take it seriously even if the command came for me, so my best option was to look for her myself.

I hurriedly picked up my coat which sat on the couch as I thought of possible places that she might have visited.

I definitely had to meet with Nora first to check if she had any plans. Was she still with that imaginary friend?

I had barely gotten ready when the telephone started to ring. I froze as I stared at it, knowing fully well that the only person who called me through it was my mother.

I didn't have the energy it took to have a conversation with her, but I knew better than to ignore her.

What if my father had-

I pushed away the thought and picked up the call.

“Mother,” I said and tensed as I waited to hear her pathetic sobs, but they never came.

“What did you do to her?” Duncan's voice asked on the side.

I took the telephone from my ear trying to understand what he meant and if he had an informant in my estate.

“Are you spying on me, Duncan?” I asked him after a while.

“She wouldn't tell me what you did, but I know you did something to her,” he continued to ramble, ignoring my question.

It was clear that he was pissed about something, but it didn't seem to have anything to do with Freya.

“Who?” I asked him, on the verge of ending the call.

I couldn't waste time engaging in his childish antics when someone was probably in danger because of me.

“Who else would it be? My m-” he cut himself off with a cuss before he continued, “Your slave, Freya.”

My grip on the receiver tightened as I tried to remain calm.

“Is that so?” I said flatly.

“She was shaking when I found her and had to bring her back to my pack,” Dincan said, accusation filled in his tone but I couldn't care less about that.

I paused, trying to process it all. This was all my-

No.

“Stay where you are,” I said and ended the call before Duncan could respond.