Chapter 14
When she heard, “Can’t you just quit?” Yurisiel smiled softly, as if comforting a child.
“Why? Didn’t you say that young master was a good person?”
“That’s just what people say.”
“Did he do anything strange to you?”
Seeing Yurisiel express anger on her behalf like it was her own problem, Hael felt a small sense of relief inside.
“You’re saying this because you’re having a hard time.”
Hael held back from adding, “You always cry when you come back from there.”
She was afraid it might hurt Yurisiel’s pride.
She knew if that happened, Yurisiel would stop meeting her.
Still, she couldn’t stop herself from asking again.
“Is there really a reason you have to go there?”
Yurisiel answered with a slightly hurt expression.
“I need to get medicine for my mother.”
Only then did Hael think of Lady Jane, Yurisiel’s mother, who was as fragile and thin as a dried branch and looked so much like her daughter.
She had the graceful presence of a princess—hard to believe she was someone from this village.
And even now, she still carried herself like that.
But medicine? Was she that sick inside all this time?
“What kind of medicine?”
Yurisiel never told her the name.
Days passed after that.
During that time, Hael was able to find out the name of Lady Jane’s illness and the doctor who diagnosed it.
The medicine Yurisiel was searching for was a small, bronze-colored pill that gleamed like a polished egg.
It could only be obtained through a foreign trading company, and it came at a high price.
At least, for someone like Yurisiel.
For Hael, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal.
At least, under normal circumstances.
But for some reason, things kept going wrong. Several times, her attempts to get the medicine fell through.
Even the trading company that accepted double the price failed to deliver the pills to her.
It felt as if fate—or something bigger—was deliberately getting in the way.
It was strange.
People who confidently said they could get it would change their tune within a day.
One day, as Hael was heading to the clinic like usual, she spotted someone unexpected—a butler from the lord’s mansion, dressed in a formal suit.
He was someone who hated going to places filled with commoners, yet he had just come out of a commoners’ clinic.
Had his eyes trembled slightly when they met hers?
Maybe she imagined it. What business would someone like him have with her, after all?
Hael brushed it off as nothing. And that day, she finally managed to get the medicine.
The butler’s figure briefly crossed her mind again, but she shook her head, trying to let go of the uneasy feeling.
There was no room for doubt on a day like this. She didn’t want anything to ruin her rare stroke of luck.
It had been painful watching Yurisiel’s face look so worn down these past days.
Now, hopefully, she wouldn’t have to see that anymore. The thought made Hael’s steps light with joy.
Normally, Yurisiel wouldn’t accept such a gift. But this time, since it was about her mother, she might make an exception.
With that hope, Hael handed the medicine to Yurisiel.
“Here.”
“What is this?”
Yurisiel opened the case.
The moment she saw it, she recognized the medicine she had so desperately searched for.
Her hand, holding the wooden box, trembled uncontrollably.
I never even told her what kind of medicine it was…
Hael was always one step ahead of her.
Yurisiel looked at the box, her face flickering with many emotions.
She had thought Hael was someone who relied on money to solve everything. Yet she still had pride left in her. That realization made her feel almost pathetic.
If this medicine had been for her, she wouldn’t have accepted it.
But it wasn’t for her. It was for her mother.
Just as Hael had guessed—her mother, Jane, was Yurisiel’s most precious person. And also her biggest weakness.
Trying to hide her complicated feelings, Yurisiel kept her lips tightly pressed together. Then, after a long moment, she finally spoke.
“Thank you.”
A smile spread across Hael’s face, gentle and full of warmth.
But the words that followed were the last thing Hael wanted to hear.
“I’ll repay you for the medicine.”
Just as Hael was about to say, “Don’t talk like that between us,” Yurisiel turned away, as if she had read her mind.
As if she had put a wall between them.
Her steps were heavy, but the way she disappeared looked almost like a fluttering butterfly trying to escape.
Watching her go, Hael grumbled to herself inside.
After everything we’ve been through, after how long we’ve known each other…
Did she really have to walk away like that?
The disappointment rose to her throat and lingered bitterly.
Yurisiel always tried to repay everything she received.
As if their connection could be broken at any time if she just decided it.
Unanswered letters.
Tears welling in her eyes that she always held back.
She never explained why.
All of it lit a faint spark of anxiety in Hael’s heart.
But really, feelings like this had always been useless.
Yurisiel was like that with everyone. Hael was no exception.
Maybe, one day, Yurisiel would come to understand how she felt.
No—that wasn’t even necessary.
As long as Yurisiel stayed by her side, that was enough.
Still, if there ever came a day when someone held a place in Yurisiel’s heart, Hael believed it would be her.
The one who had stayed beside her for so long. Watching over her, always.
With that, Hael washed away the bitterness from the tip of her tongue.
She let the butterfly drift away, fluttering gently out of reach.
She already knew—no matter how tightly she held on, it would only fly away.
A deep sigh filled the quiet space around her.
“Last night, the two met at the intersection between the market street and the vendor stalls. They talked for about ten minutes before parting. Yurisiel, that girl…”
“Young Lady Yurisiel,” Cassian corrected, slowly turning a page of his book with perfect composure.
The butler quietly sighed at the title, “Young Lady,” which he found difficult to accept.
But he had no choice.
Ever since the day it was revealed that the girl wasn’t truly the young lady of House Bilrod, he had been no better than a dog leashed by this pale, young master.
After Cassian witnessed Yurisiel meeting with Hael, the butler had been assigned to this unpleasant investigation.
Wanting to finish quickly and be done with it, the butler continued reading the report.
“…Later that afternoon, Hael gave the young lady the medicine.”
Cassian, who had been listening in silence, twitched an eyebrow slightly.
The butler, who no longer had a proper name, looked at Cassian with quiet unease. Once again, the young master was exuding a strange intensity from an unexpected moment in the report.
Then again, nothing about this situation had ever been normal.
At first, he was ordered to follow the girl. But once it was discovered she had contact with Hael, the orders changed—follow him instead.
After receiving word that Hael was trying to obtain medicine for Yurisiel’s mother, the young master’s obsession shifted to the medicine.
Cassian even went so far as to give the order: stop the medicine from ever reaching Hael.
No one knew the reason, but it was clearly a twisted demand.
Was he planning to take someone with him to the grave?
The butler had felt a trace of guilt while carrying out the order, but that didn’t stop him.
He was not the kind of man who would throw away his future over misguided kindness.
And then, after many days had passed, Cassian summoned the family doctor and confirmed something crucial.
The medicine would not work on Yurisiel’s birth mother.
Only then did Cassian give a new order—wearing a strange smile the butler had never seen before.
“Let the medicine through.”
“Pardon? Then Hael will be able to give it to her.”
“Yes. That’s the point. Let him.”
Cassian’s pale fingertips tapped lightly against the page, sharp and steady like a ticking clock.
The sound echoed in the still room, and with it, Cassian’s thoughts seemed to grow even darker.
Yurisiel.
Even thinking of her name brought a strange irritation. That bright, clueless girl was probably still clinging to every word that quack doctor said.
Cassian could clearly picture her, face tanned by the sun, running around endlessly.
Every report said the same thing over and over. It was almost boring how consistently she worked.
Not a single day off. All just to get that useless medicine.
He remembered the faces that had trembled before him.
The defiant glare in her eyes when he pushed too far, like a dry tree branch finally snapping under pressure.
And yet, she never said she would give up. All because of that fake medicine.
Because of that, he had been able to keep a very amusing toy for much longer than expected.
Maybe I should thank that filthy scam artist.
A faint, eerie smile spread across Cassian’s otherwise expressionless face.
The butler felt a chill crawl down his spine.
Yurisiel, holding that medicine now, would soon fall from the heights of hope. And the crash would be painful and cold.
Yet the very man who orchestrated this cruelty was sitting there, smiling like it meant nothing.
Of course, after so many years serving nobles, the butler had seen plenty of their whims and madness.
But this was the first time he had seen such pure malice so clearly.
Cassian’s crimson eyes glinted darkly, casting blood-colored shadows across his face.
His gaze—sharp and dull all at once—looked down as if staring at a toy that had fallen over.
Did that girl make some serious mistake in front of him?
If she had…
No. Cassian wouldn’t have kept her nearby. With his personality, he would’ve discarded her without hesitation.
It must be punishment—for deceiving him, pretending to be a noble from House Bilrod.
Still, the fact that he knew about her mother’s condition and yet wore that expression…
The butler shook his head slowly.
Well, for nobles, stepping on those beneath them was nothing unusual—like squashing a bug underfoot.
Especially for someone who had dared to lie to them.
He doubted Cassian felt a shred of sympathy for someone facing the same terminal fate as himself.
Not that the butler had any right to judge what the young master thought or planned.
That girl’s fate was uncertain—and it was undeniably cruel.
At first, she’d seemed pathetic. But over time, she’d proven to be sincere and capable.
After she came, Cassian’s violent outbursts became less frequent. Even the intervals between his pain episodes grew longer.
The butler had honestly believed Cassian had forgiven her for pretending to be a noble.
But then Hael started seeing her. And from that point on, Cassian’s attention to her activities intensified to an alarming degree.
He remembered it clearly. Cassian never missed a single report about her movements.
That was when the butler had started to suspect—Cassian had feelings for the girl.
He was so sure. He even thought the order to follow her was proof of interest.
Was this old man’s judgment that far off?
Could someone really go this far just to torment another human being?
No. That didn’t seem right.
It had to be a twisted desire—something warped and obsessive.
After all, nobles were raised in a world where everything they wanted was within reach.
And once something caught their eye, it had no chance of escape.
Come to think of it, that girl was unusually beautiful. She had an exotic look, like a foreign princess, resembling her birth mother.
A beauty born of low status.
Was she destined to live a tragic life, just like her mother?
The butler clicked his tongue silently, but his face remained composed—as always.
Meanwhile, the sharp tapping of Cassian’s fingers had finally stopped.
And on that pale face, the twisted smile deepened just a little more.
“Did you find the real medicine?”
