Chapter 20
The next morning, Yurisiel woke up and, at her mother’s urging, set out to thank Hael.
She had a bundle of fish in her hands.
At Hael’s house, it might be considered just ordinary fish, but at Yurisiel’s home, it was quite a rare treat.
Her mother remembered how Hael used to clean his plate whenever he came over, so she had insisted on giving him something, even if it was just this.
To be honest, Hael’s family might laugh at such a gift.
That woman might even throw it straight into the trash.
Still, Yurisiel knew what the gesture meant to her mother, so she didn’t try to stop her.
As usual, she passed through the rundown alleyways and made her way past the docks.
That was when Mr. Brown called out to her.
“Where are you headed so early?”
Mr. Brown was one of the few adults in the village who sometimes gave her a little extra money.
More precisely, he had always looked out for Yurisiel, long before anyone else ever did.
Even though he wore the same clothes every day and was known as a miser, the generous wages he handed her always carried a quiet warmth.
Part of it came from the connection he felt with her.
Maybe it was because the sight of a small girl running around on her own reminded him of his own daughter.
If she had lived, she might have looked just like Yurisiel.
After his daughter was diagnosed with a terminal illness, everyone else had distanced themselves from him, but Yurisiel had been the only one to continue working at his shop.
Yurisiel was always grateful for his kindness.
She never said so out loud, but she felt it deeply.
So, when Mr. Brown asked her, instead of brushing it off like she might with anyone else, she answered more honestly.
“Just… going to see Hael.”
“Hael, that boy? He passed by just a moment ago, with someone wearing gold-rimmed glasses.”
“Gold-rimmed glasses?”
“Yeah. Oh, but don’t worry, it wasn’t a woman.”
“Mr. Brown!”
Teasing her with a laugh, Mr. Brown waved it off like his job was done and disappeared, saying she could come in a little later today if she wanted.
Shaking her head in embarrassment, Yurisiel quickly made her way toward the street he had mentioned.
Gold-rimmed glasses.
The face of the pale doctor she had seen yesterday flashed through her mind.
There was probably no one else in this village who would wear glasses like that.
She wondered why he would be meeting Hael this early in the morning, but it wasn’t too strange.
It made sense. Hael was simply being a proper host to someone he had invited.
Without thinking much of it, Yurisiel kept walking, her steps slowing only once she reached the row of modern cafés.
Eventually, she stopped in front of the tallest one, Hardin Café.
As expected, the man with Hael was indeed the doctor.
Just seeing him again made yesterday’s events rush back, and her heart sank.
No matter how many times she heard it, she could never get used to those words.
A terminal diagnosis always felt like hearing it for the first time.
She figured her mother must have felt the same way.
That thought only made her more miserable.
She knew she couldn’t face Hael looking like this, so she quickly fixed her expression and moved closer.
But Hael’s face looked unusually serious.
What were they talking about so seriously?
The atmosphere around them felt so heavy, Yurisiel didn’t dare approach and instead found a quiet spot in the back.
The café was noisy, filled with tourists enjoying brunch, and neither of them noticed her.
Still, she could clearly hear the conversation between Hael and the doctor.
“So, you’re saying, if we can get that medicine, it might work?”
That medicine?
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything yesterday? Please, help me. I’m begging you.”
Yesterday, they were talking about her mother’s medicine.
Yurisiel’s heart dropped.
“The thing is…”
“What is it?”
“It has to be made using Leaf, which only grows far away in the Hart Empire. It’s extremely rare, and for people like us, it’s almost impossible to obtain.”
“But it’s still possible, right?”
“Not long ago, the Imperial Pharmacy received a sample for research. It was said to cost around 10 Pantheon in imperial currency.”
After that, Yurisiel couldn’t hear anything else.
Ten Pantheon.
Even for the wealthiest family in a village like theirs, that would be a hard sum to bear.
Of course, if someone like Hael were sick, or if someone in his family were suffering from such an illness, they could probably afford it.
She looked at Hael’s back, frozen in silence, unable to respond, and quietly stood up.
As she stepped outside, her reflection in the café’s grand glass window looked pale and lifeless.
Returning to Mr. Brown’s shop, she followed her usual routine, kneading dough and flipping bread.
Mr. Brown, noticing the blank look on her face, offered her a few worried words.
She forced a smile and said she was fine.
He didn’t push her further and simply handed her some food, saying she needed to eat to stay strong.
He told her to take a break too.
But Yurisiel refused and buried herself in work instead.
It was the only way to keep her mind off that medicine.
She knew she should tell Hael not to worry, that it was okay.
But could she really say something like that so easily?
A deep sigh slipped from her lips.
Just like always, Yurisiel moved from one task to the next, working like a machine.
Again and again, she repeated the routine.
In between, she made several small mistakes she normally wouldn’t have made.
Stupid, she thought.
A small cut dyed her finger red.
After repeatedly blaming herself and trying to finish her work, night had already fallen by the time she looked up.
When she stepped outside the shop, Hael was there, waiting for her just like always.
Yurisiel spotted him and quickly forced a calm expression onto her face, as if she hadn’t heard anything, as if nothing had happened.
But Hael’s face, when he turned to her, was completely ashen.
It had to be because of that.
Hael, who was never good at hiding things, looked like someone who had just come from a funeral.
“Did you stop by Hardin Café earlier?”
Hael held out the bundle of fish.
“Oh…”
She must have left it behind that morning.
He probably recognized it right away from the way it was tied.
“Yeah, my mother told me to bring it over to you.”
“Then why didn’t you come say hi?”
Should I just say I happened to overhear?
Yurisiel hesitated.
She wanted to tell him not to worry about what happened yesterday,
but with her mother’s life hanging in the balance, the words caught in her throat and refused to come out.
“Did you… happen to hear anything there?”
Hael’s eyes shook with anxiety, filled with uncertainty.
Looking at him, Yurisiel forced a small smile onto her lips.
“No. You looked busy, so I just left it there.”
Hael let out a long breath of relief and quickly changed the subject.
Yurisiel went along with him, matching his pace.
They walked back together in peaceful silence, just like always.
Days passed after that.
Nothing changed between Hael and Yurisiel, and that conversation never came up again.
Yurisiel had assumed Hael would bring up the medicine eventually.
It seemed unlike him not to.
But each passing day proved her wrong.
Maybe he had decided that telling her about a medicine they had no way of getting would only hurt more.
Hael must have known it was out of reach.
He probably understood just how impossible it would be to get.
Yurisiel didn’t blame him.
She couldn’t.
Still, she couldn’t help the bitter feeling that lingered inside.
Just then, a familiar servant from Hael’s house approached her.
Yurisiel immediately recognized him as someone sent by Hael’s mother.
She must have hated seeing the two of them together.
That cold face from long ago flashed through Yurisiel’s mind again.
“You should go on ahead.”
Yurisiel smiled and waved her hand lightly.
Hael left with an apologetic look, saying he was sorry he couldn’t walk her home.
Yurisiel followed the usual path back, returning through the same alley as always.
But something felt different.
Her mother, who was usually waiting for her at the end of the alley, was nowhere to be seen.
A heavy feeling dropped into her chest. Her heart thudded with panic.
Without thinking, she started running.
Up ahead, she saw a large crowd gathered.
They were people from Alphonse.
Among them, she recognized several familiar faces.
When the shopkeepers spotted her rushing over, they hurried toward her.
“Something’s happened, Yurisiel.”
“The lord gave the order to tear down your house.”
Crash.
The sound of hammers slamming down echoed violently through the air.
“D-demolish… our house?”
The home she had lived in for years was being destroyed right before her eyes.
Inside, her mother screamed like her heart was being torn apart.
She cried out over and over, begging them to stop, but no one listened.
Her weak, frail body was pushed aside and thrown to the ground without a second thought.
Yurisiel caught her mother in her arms, but her eyes, burning with rage, were fixed on the scene unfolding in front of her.
After making sure her mother was safe in someone else’s care, Yurisiel, barely thinking straight, rushed forward and climbed into the middle of the demolition site.
She stood in front of the hammer’s path, just in time to stop it from falling.
The workers froze.
The sound of destruction suddenly disappeared, and the silence that followed was heavy.
A man who looked like the crew leader stepped forward and shouted roughly.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Grabbing one of the workers, Yurisiel asked in a trembling voice,
“Why? Why are you doing this? There has to be a reason.”
No matter how heartless the lord was, he wouldn’t suddenly decide to demolish a small house at the edge of the village.
He never cared about how the villagers lived in the first place.
So why now?
“How would we know? They said the house was ruining the view.”
As someone shouted for her to be dragged away, the workers moved in and began to pull her back.
She struggled with everything she had, but her small frame was no match for several grown men.
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
The lord, who had never even set foot in this part of the village, was saying their house ruined the scenery?
It didn’t make sense. Something was clearly wrong.
She lifted her head, and for a brief moment, her eyes landed on a man standing at a distance.
He didn’t belong here.
His suit was sharp and clean, completely out of place on this dusty, broken road.
She recognized him instantly.
He was the butler from the lord’s mansion.
The same man who had once taken her from this very street
and delivered her to the young master of Blanchet.
That voice she had tried so hard to forget suddenly came back to her, sharp and clear.
If you think you can stop it, go ahead and try.
