Chapter 7
When I ran my hand over the window frame, there wasn’t a speck of dust.
She’s more skilled than any maid I’ve seen.
To the point where I wonder if being a maid is actually her true calling.
I suddenly remember seeing her hands once. They were cracked and raw.
Hands that reflect a life lived at the bottom.
They also serve as a reminder of the difference between us.
And the only thing connecting someone like her to me is the name of a noble family I had never even heard of before—the Bilrod family.
It’s ridiculous. But at the same time, it’s strangely satisfying.
The moment that name was mentioned, the girl who always seemed so confident turned pale.
I knew exactly what that expression meant.
She wants to stay by my side. No, to be exact, by Blanchet’s side. Because she’s after that noble wealth.
She’s hoping to catch even a single drop.
Of course, she pretends it’s for her sick mother. That pure excuse looks noble enough, but I’ll ignore that for now.
It’s more fun if she’s just a bold little liar trying to deceive me.
Yurisiel’s lips trembled slightly before she finally opened her mouth.
“I have a bit of a cleanliness obsession.”
For someone telling a lie, her eyes were unbelievably steady. Not even a flicker of hesitation.
To anyone else, she’d easily pass for a refined noble lady who had never lifted a finger in her life.
Did she learn to lie like that in the gutter?
As I watched her, I noticed the frilly fabric of her sleeve trembling faintly. Underneath, those long, battered fingers were probably hidden. The same ones I had seen before.
The fact that I know a secret about her no one else does makes me feel strangely pleased.
I don’t know why.
She has no idea this just makes me want to tease her more.
“Really? That’s interesting. A noble lady who cleans for fun.”
In the mirror she had just polished, I saw my own reflection. The smile on my face was sharp and cruel.
I wonder if I look that way to her too. Of course I do.
No one has ever stood in front of me without fear. Especially not when I look like this. Most people bow their heads as if death itself were staring at them.
But she’s doing her best to hide her fear. Watching her try is almost funny.
I raise my hand slightly, and her face turns pale again.
I silently stare, as if asking whether she can keep herself together even now.
In response, she bites her lip hard.
“I told you. It’s not a hobby. It’s an obsession.”
“Most noble girls call for a maid to do work like this. They don’t jump up to do it themselves.”
“That’s because…”
Her shoulders trembled just slightly. I found it annoying but also interesting.
She was clearly lying, and her effort to cover it up was oddly entertaining.
I gave that lie to the butler on purpose. She should at least put it to good use.
She was brought here with no real purpose, a fake servant with a fake title. The least she can do is keep me amused.
Especially someone as bold as this commoner girl.
As I watched, she opened her mouth again, as if she had made up her mind.
“I just didn’t want you to be uncomfortable, my lord. That’s why I stepped in.”
“Oh? I was starting to wonder. Is the Bilrod family struggling so much they can’t afford help?”
She bit her lip again, and this time it looked like it might bleed. I liked that look on her.
Maybe I really am twisted.
“If your father knew his only daughter was scrubbing floors in someone else’s house, imagine how sad he’d be.”
There was no emotion in my voice as I said it. Just a quiet, mocking tone.
To Yurisiel, it felt like he was squeezing her throat, cutting off her breath.
From the moment she walked into this room, she had known that this young lord didn’t call her here without a reason.
She thought she was prepared. But maybe she wasn’t prepared enough.
His sharp words, so different from his sickly appearance, stabbed her like cold needles.
She was the one lying, so she had no right to complain.
But somehow, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he already knew everything.
And he didn’t seem like the kind of person who would pretend not to know if he really did.
If the truth ever came out—that she wasn’t really a daughter of the Bilrod family—and if this lord found out…
What would happen?
Just imagining it made her feel like the ground beneath her feet was disappearing.
It was the butler who set this up. And Lord Alphonse gave his approval. But lies like this always fall on someone’s shoulders.
If it came to that, she and her mother would be cast out of the village, labeled as frauds.
Worse, if he wanted to, this young lord could accuse her of deceiving the Blanchet family and have her executed.
But for now, the Alphonse family had given her the cover of nobility. That should be enough. It has to be.
Yurisiel clenched her bruised hands into fists inside her maid uniform. She didn’t even feel the pain.
It wasn’t hard to fake a smile.
“Of course. My father would never allow such a thing.”
“…”
“I suppose I pushed myself too much today.”
Her lips tasted bitter, but she had no choice but to lie with a calm face.
The brightness in Yurisiel’s face faded into dull gray, while Cassian’s expression seemed to shine brighter, as if he had stolen that light from her.
Exactly the amount he had taken.
A small, satisfied smile spread across Cassian’s pale face.
And in contrast, the girl standing before him stayed the same, her eyes still trembling deep inside.
She was barely holding herself steady, struggling to keep her balance.
Her emerald eyes flicked around the room, searching for something to do. It was obvious she had no idea how a noble lady was supposed to spend time with a young master.
I wonder if she realizes how she looks right now.
She probably doesn’t. That’s why she thinks she can fool me with her innocent act.
Even now, her little head is probably full of schemes to deceive me.
And all her thoughts are centered around me. That, at least, is satisfying.
Actually, that’s the exact reason I lent her the Bilrod family name—just as I pleased.
Now, it’s time to strip away her mask. That process will be fascinating.
Still blinking silently, Yurisiel looked up at me as I dropped a book in front of her.
“Try reading this.”
There’s no way she can read it.
The book is written in Luvrean, a language only nobles in the Risetium Pantheon Empire use. There’s no way someone like her would know it.
Giving her this book was nothing more than a way to pass the time—a fleeting bit of amusement at her expense.
Still, I didn’t intend to keep her crushed under my heel forever. In a twisted way, this was my version of kindness.
Just yesterday, I thought I would hold her down until her last breath. Even beyond that.
Letting her go now doesn’t mean anything.
It’s simply what someone from the noble Blanchet family is expected to do.
I haven’t shaken off that instinct yet. Not completely.
She’s lucky. Though I imagine she’ll cry quite a bit today.
Yurisiel opened the book, her hands trembling slightly as she settled in. A small sigh escaped her lips, and after a brief pause, her soft voice filled the room.
“Love drifts in before we even notice, drawing a heavy line between us…”
She’s… reading it?
For a moment, I felt a twist in my chest.
How could someone from a background like hers know how to read Luvrean?
It shouldn’t be possible. Not with the life she’s led.
Unless… someone else, another noble, had stepped into her life at some point?
The more I thought about it, the more tangled everything became.
“You.”
“Yes?”
“You can read Luvrean?”
A soft breath escaped her lips.
Her emerald eyes met mine and blinked slowly, like she only realized the weight of my question a moment too late.
“Of course.”
The answer came naturally. Just as it should, if she really were the daughter of the Bilrod family.
But she’s not. She’s a commoner. She shouldn’t know anything about this language.
Yet here she is, reading it like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Have you read this book before?”
The Last 365 Days of Lafiron. A forgettable old romance novel.
Someone like Yurisiel, whose days are filled from morning to night with work, wouldn’t have time for this kind of story.
If she knows anything about books, it would be from the bestseller list printed in the daily papers she handed out. She probably memorized them while organizing what she had to copy.
This book was never on that list.
She likely never even saw a book like this, buried in the back shelves of some old bookstore.
But she wouldn’t think that was strange.
“No. I’ve never read it.”
Cassian’s eyes moved from the book to her face, sharp and focused, like he was trying to confirm something.
His stare felt like needles against her skin.
In that moment, Yurisiel finally understood what he was trying to do.
He was testing her.
Trying to figure out whether she really was a noblewoman, or just pretending.
Realizing that made it hard to breathe again.
It felt like the frail boy on the bed had reached out and wrapped his fingers around her throat.
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