A painful return (part 1)

It took a considerable amount of time on foot, especially since she found herself lost on the familiar roads she once knew like the back of her hand. Nevertheless, she persevered and ran all the way from the forest to her father's estate. 

"Thank the heavens... Adela." Arkin greeted her at the gate to the garden, his expression initially filled with relief but quickly transformed into one of horror as she unveiled her disheveled hair. 

"Emily is tied near the houses of the eastern entrance, please retrieve her," she urgently requested. 

Arkin continued to stare at her face, his anger glaring. "What happened in that house, Adela?" he demanded.

In an instant, Adela concluded that Arkin must have been involved in the initial scheme Bastian had mentioned, the one that Egon had altered, fully aware that she overheard their conversation.