However, there were no logs burning in the fireplace at the mont, and the harp stood silently in the corner, unattended.
Like what they saw on the way, the several servants, moving quietly in pairs or threes among the columns, the air in the Baron Mansion was filled with a sense of oppression.
It was clear that the baron, who the butler said hadn’t slept all night, still hadn’t closed his eyes by then.
Xia Nan and the others didn’t wait long, just a few minutes, before they heard hurried and sowhat disordered footsteps coming from outside the door.
"Creak!"
The door to the reception room was suddenly pushed open.
Baron Farrow stood there.
As a noble and special approval officer, the dignity and propriety were utterly gone.
The always perfectly combed dium-length golden curls were now disheveled and hung over his forehead, and his pair of azure eyes were bloodshot, filled with shadows and anxiety, even his coat and shirt were crumpled.
"Hai Yin?" He walked in slowly, his tired gaze falling upon the druid in the reception room, "Was the mission smooth this ti? Don’t worry, there are no issues at the coral reef side, it’s still the sa as usual."
As he spoke, his gaze swept across the room, pausing slightly when passing Xia Nan, vaguely sensing familiarity, as if they had t sowhere before.
But he didn’t dwell on it, the burden brought upon his heart by his daughter’s disappearance left him without the ntal energy to delve into mories.
"Baron, I’ve heard about Miss Ai Li."
Not wanting to waste ti, Hai Yin cut straight to the point without much small talk.
Coming to the Baron Mansion at this special timing, Baron Farrow certainly knew their intention.
But when he heard the na "Ai Li" from Hai Yin’s mouth, his body couldn’t help but tremble slightly.
"Just yesterday afternoon."
He didn’t know how many tis he had repeated this to countless people, yet Baron Farrow still tirelessly explained the information he knew to everyone present, not daring to omit a single word.
"Every week, Ai Li would go to the outskirts of the city for her equestrian lessons, she has loved horse riding since childhood, and I even bought her a pony..."
Halfway through his words, Baron Farrow suddenly noticed the wine stain he left on the carpet earlier, frowning heavily, he shouted towards the door: "Graces! Clean up this ss here!"
His voice carried a hint of uncontrollable anger.
But as soon as he finished speaking, he seed to realize sothing, inhaling deeply: "Forget it, forget it, we’ll talk about it later."
The footsteps rushing from outside then paused.
Throwing himself onto the small sofa by the window, the baron waved towards the few people looking at him.
"Sorry, I... it’s hard to remain rational now."
"Let’s continue."
"The class usually ends three quarters before sunset, the family’s driver would pick her up on ti," Baron Farrow continued from where he left off.
"Logically, even if she was playful on the way, stopping a while to watch so street perforrs, or spending a mont in a flower shop... at the latest, she’d be back before it got completely dark."
"That’s for sure, she always listens."
"Moreover, last night the kitchen specially prepared her favorite blueberry jam cakes, sothing she had specifically asked Graces to instruct the chef to make before class, saying..."
Suddenly lowering his head, Baron Farrow hid his eyes in the shadows cast by his brow ridge, making it hard for others to see clearly; his voice, however, carried a slight tremble.
"Saying ’it’s been a long ti since I’ve had dinner with dad, today we must make sothing delicious.’"
He shook his head.
"So when she didn’t show up by dinner ti, I knew sothing was wrong."
"You sent people to search imdiately back then, right?" Hai Yin asked.
"Of course!" the baron imdiately replied, "Although it’s also possible that sothing minor happened to the carriage, like a stuck wheel."
"But back then, I still promptly sent Graces with a few servants to search along the way, and also sent people to inquire at the equestrian center."
Barely seated for a while, Baron Farrow stood up again, gazing out the window, though his eyes were unfocused.
"Lady Laver, the equestrian instructor, confird that Ai Li left at the normal ti, including several other students like the daughter of Viscount Bertand and the nephew of the tax officer who could prove that they saw Ai Li get on the carriage and wave goodbye to them."
"What about that carriage? Did anyone see where it went?" Hai Yin continued to ask.
The baron nodded, taking out a piece of parchnt with scribbled notes from his pocket.
"I had Graces ask every resident along the route, and the baker living at the corner of Jade Road said he saw a carriage with our family crest heading straight east."
East?
Xia Nan recalled the rough map of Suo Yu Bay morized in his mind, comparing the directions.
"That’s towards ’Rose Park,’" the baron continued.
"More crucially, old sailor Cole, who passed by after work, said he saw with his own eyes a ’tall, strong’ man driving the carriage into the park, which he found odd because noble carriages don’t usually enter the park at that hour."
"And Thomas, the driver we’ve employed for over a decade, who’s nicknad ’Shorty’ in the house, doesn’t remotely fit ’tall and strong’ at all."
Saying this, the baron couldn’t help but close his eyes, seemingly unable to bear the mory.
"Later we found Thomas’s body in the parked carriage at the park; soone had brutally killed him and wore his uniform."
"And my Ai Li, vanished along with it."
That’s the course of events.
Baron Farrow stopped speaking, turning silently to look at everyone in the reception hall.
Xia Nan knew, it was ti for them to state their purpose.
Thought Hai Yin would take up the conversation, but turning his head, he found the druid was also looking at him, signaling for him to speak up.
A kind gesture perhaps.
After all, the clue from "Blood-nosed Rat" Jerry was discovered by Xia Nan, thus Hai Yin ceded the initiative to him in front of Baron Farrow.
Slightly nodding, Xia Nan organized his thoughts a bit before speaking again.
"Baron, we’ve discovered so potentially useful clues."
After all, it was rely speculation, with a chance of being off-target, hence he spoke vaguely.
Even so, Baron Farrow’s weary and anxious eyes still visibly contracted at the words.
"Go on."
"While visiting a friend this morning, I ca across a gang; leading them was a thug nicknad ’Blood-nosed Rat’..."
Xia Nan’s reply was succinct, conveying their encounters and his speculation without omitting key information.
"Corner Shark Gang!?"
Baron Farrow roared, pacing rapidly in the room, his boots thudding on the carpet.
"Did you provoke them?"
"No, absolutely not!" the baron shook his head vigorously, "I’ve only heard of this small gang from the Saltwater District, having no intersection in either life or work."
That was very odd.
The question again returned to Xia Nan’s initial doubt.
If indeed as Baron Farrow in front claid, having no ties with the Corner Shark Gang, then why would such a small gang take such a risk to kidnap the daughter of a baron and special approval officer?
For money, there were countless better and lower-risk choices in Suo Yu Bay, with nurous lower-ranking wealthy rchants;
For fa, Farrow was rely a baron, not very famous even in Suo Yu Bay, let alone for a gang’s matter, fa wouldn’t matter if lives were lost.
Yet regardless, for the current Baron Farrow, this was probably one of the very few clues that could advance the search progress.
Suddenly pausing, his bloodshot azure eyes locked onto the crowd in the conference room.
"Whether it’s gold coins or anything else, anything goes!"
"As long as you can help find my daughter..."
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