Chapter 13
Cassian suddenly found his own reflection in the mirror unbearable.
The fact that he had been smiling over something so insignificant was pathetic.
Frustration sharpened his voice.
“From your perspective, I guess it’s better if I stay alive. That way, you can keep scraping up every last drop from the Blanchet name.”
Yurisiel’s eyes twitched, as if she had just heard something deeply offensive.
She couldn’t hide her disbelief. Her expression was still caught between confusion and insult.
She looked stunned, her face flushed with quiet humiliation.
It amused him, just like it always did.
But this time, there was also a strange sense of anticipation.
As if he were waiting for something more, expecting a different answer.
If she wanted to keep collecting from the Blanchets until the day he died, then she should have said something better. Even if it was a lie.
He stared at her, watching her closely.
The confusion on her face faded, and the fury in her eyes slowly vanished.
In its place was a calm, unwavering stare.
“You’re right. There’s no better job out there for me,” she said.
Cassian stayed silent.
“That’s why I saved you.”
She could be startlingly bold sometimes.
With confidence that didn’t suit someone in her position.
And every time she did this, she caught him off guard.
Was she really saying that she smiled at the silver-haired boy because she liked him, and that saving Cassian was just about keeping her job?
Was she implying that he was replaceable?
No, not quite. What she was really saying was that he couldn’t be replaced.
At least not here, not in this place.
The money he offered was more than generous. In this remote village, it was unmatched.
She wouldn’t be walking away from that. Not until he was gone.
Then why didn’t she give the answer he wanted?
Cassian’s lips curled into a bitter smile.
“So if it weren’t for the money, it wouldn’t have mattered if I died?”
Yurisiel met his eyes without flinching.
Her gaze burned with resentment, frustration, and defiance.
Her chest tightened with the weight of his accusation, but she refused to look away.
“Whether I want you to live or die, does that matter to you? I’m just an employee.”
“Whether it matters or not is for me to decide. Just answer the question.”
Her hands curled into fists.
Humiliation and fear crept up her spine, wrapping around her.
She knew what he wanted to hear. She knew what the safe answer was.
She should tell him it wasn’t about the money.
She should say she couldn’t bear to watch someone suffer like that.
She should offer a sweet lie.
But she couldn’t bring herself to say it.
Cassian’s face was unreadable as he waited.
The veins in his clenched hands were visible.
His gaze rested on her lips, intense and expectant.
There was a tension in his expression, like something was about to break.
But Yurisiel quickly shook the thought away.
There was no way someone like him would care that much about what she said.
He was probably just toying with her, enjoying her discomfort.
As her emotions cooled, her reason returned.
Her thoughts began to clear.
“I didn’t save you,” she said.
Cassian’s red eyes flickered with something sharp and unsettled.
“Then what did you save? A stray animal?”
“I saved a sick person who was sweating and in pain.”
He said nothing.
“It wouldn’t have mattered who it was. I would have done the same.”
The tapping of his fingers quickened against the armrest.
His expression was twisted by a mixture of anger, confusion, and something she couldn’t name.
Yurisiel was puzzled by his reaction.
Why was he so angry?
She hadn’t completely rejected him, but she hadn’t told him what he wanted to hear either.
What she said, in its own way, was that even without the money, she wouldn’t have let him die.
Wasn’t that enough?
She could have given a more flattering answer, one that sounded noble or kind. But that would have been a lie.
And after he had insulted her sincerity by reducing it to a paycheck, she couldn’t bring herself to give him that satisfaction.
She wanted to protect the little pride she had left.
But when she said she would have saved anyone, his eyes locked onto hers as if he could see straight through her.
The silence that followed was long and heavy.
It felt like standing before a pyre, waiting to be judged.
“You would have saved anyone,” he repeated slowly.
She said nothing.
“You must be full of compassion for humanity. I thought you were just desperate for money.”
Yurisiel didn’t respond.
“Looks like something else keeps getting in your way.”
His voice sounded both irritated and intrigued.
At the end of his sentence, Cassian plucked an innocent flower petal from a nearby vase and crushed it between his fingers.
“But what am I supposed to do? I hired someone to stay by my side, not someone overflowing with human compassion.”
Still, Yurisiel said nothing.
“A lady that kind-hearted should probably step aside. There are plenty of others who are far more desperate than you.”
And just like that, reality hit her.
With a single word, this young master could erase her mother’s medication—wipe away any chance of treatment.
The vow she had made to only do what she could, nothing more, suddenly felt hollow. She was desperate. More desperate than she had wanted to admit.
The new medicine that might save her mother’s life was now so close. All she had to do was endure.
What she had thought of as something extra, something small she could take with her, was no longer a bonus.
She was more desperate than anyone.
She should have just gone along with it. Said whatever he wanted to hear.
Regret rose up inside her, bitter and heavy.
She should have left him to suffer. Should have never gotten involved.
And now here she was, humiliated, accused of chasing scraps from the Blanchet name.
It wasn’t just shame she felt—it was anger. Frustration with everything.
But her pride had already been crushed. Completely overwhelmed by the weight of reality.
By the truth of her mother’s illness.
“I made a mistake,” she said.
“What mistake?”
Cassian’s hand twirled the flower branch like a toy. It felt like he was playing with her.
Yurisiel shut her eyes tightly, as if to block it out.
“I don’t want you to die.”
“You should say something that touching while looking me in the eye.”
She opened her eyes and met his.
“I don’t want you to die,” she said again.
“Not like the others?”
“I want you to live more than anything else. More than anyone else I’ve ever known.”
Her words were clear and firm, spoken without hesitation.
For a moment, the anger vanished from Cassian’s face.
But it wasn’t because he believed her.
It was because the lie was so bold that he almost found it amusing.
The urge to crush her rose again.
“You don’t sound sincere at all.”
His sarcastic voice made Yurisiel’s face freeze.
Cassian stared at her without expression.
He had started this to tear her down, but the more she resisted, the more she fought back, the more he knew—if he left her alone now, she would rise again with another lie.
And that would be just as irritating.
Better to end it here.
“At least you’re earning what I paid.”
His low voice brushed past her ear.
Yurisiel’s hands clenched tightly, trembling from the humiliation. But she held herself together.
“You can leave now.”
Cassian watched her walk away without saying goodbye.
His gaze followed her as she crossed the room, passed through the door, out toward the fountain, and finally through the front gate.
He kept watching until her fragile but determined figure disappeared from sight.
Today, she wouldn’t run into that silver-haired boy.
Not for a while.
That boy would now be in charge of managing all the lord’s horses as a reward for Cassian’s personal praise.
There were even talks of preparing for a racing event.
Hael was busier than ever.
Contrary to his expectations of a quieter life after returning from the capital, his days in Alphonse were filled with hard work and long hours.
Still, managing the lord’s horses directly and participating in a major estate event was considered a great honor.
Especially after being praised personally by the young master himself.
Cassian, the blond heir everyone spoke so well of, seemed to be a noble who cared for even the work of his subordinates.
But for some reason, Hael couldn’t shake a growing discomfort.
Something told him the young master wasn’t the person he appeared to be.
Because he had been so busy, he hadn’t seen Yurisiel around as often as he’d hoped. So he found other ways to check in on her.
He continued writing letters and sometimes went to her workplace late at night.
Even then, his visits often ended early when his mother sent a servant to retrieve him.
Yurisiel, once bright and full of light, had started to lose her smile.
Whenever someone mentioned Cassian, her expression darkened immediately.
Of course, Hael noticed.
He had asked her more than once if something was wrong, but for a whole month, she hadn’t given him an answer.
He knew something had happened between her and the young master.
Every time he saw traces of tears on her delicate face, it burned in his chest.
And finally, today, he couldn’t hold it in anymore.
He spoke the words that had been itching at his throat for days.
“Can’t you stop working there?”
