Childhood Friend of the Zenith

I just stood there, completely blank.

…What? Who did you say disappeared?

“Missing?”
“Yes.”
“…Who?”
“Lady Gu Seon.”
“…”

That didn’t make any sense. Not the first time I heard it, not the second, not even now.

“You’re saying Lady Gu is… missing?”
“Yup. Oh—was my voice too quiet?”
“No. I just don’t get it, no matter how many times I hear it.”

Missing—what the hell does that mean?

It was after dinner. I came back from Hyeon alone and went straight into training. Jin Yeollyeong had asked me to join for dinner, said she’d prefer it if we ate together, but just for today… I needed to be alone.

I trained hard for a while. Then I stepped out.

‘No wonder the Gu estate felt tense.’

The atmosphere was louder than usual. I’d sensed something was off.

That’s when I ran into Hyeon Soyeon.

‘Gu Seon is missing?’

My eyes narrowed at how out of the blue it sounded.

“When exactly did Lady Gu go missing?”
“I’m not sure. But when I looked around, that’s the impression I got.”
“…You’ve got to be kidding.”

This was absurd.

‘It hasn’t even been a day.’

Barely half a day—maybe not even that much—had passed since we split up. Not long ago, I was literally with her.

And now she’s “missing”?

What kind of nonsense is this?

It didn’t add ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) up.

Something was off.

‘…Something’s wrong.’

The way they judged her as missing. The atmosphere right now.

All of it felt wrong.