Chapter 24

The doctor gently held my wrist and stayed still. Then he stepped back and spoke to Cedric.

“The madam is under a lot of pressure right now. Her mental state isn’t very good, either.”

I looked at the doctor with some confusion. I didn’t think I was in such a bad state. In fact, I felt better than before. As I kept a stiff face, Cedric came closer and gently took my hand.

“Revril, there’s no need to worry. A little medicine will help.”

“Do I really need to take medicine?”

When I asked in surprise, the doctor nodded.

“In your current condition, it’s better to take some. It’ll make you feel much better.”

I didn’t know exactly what condition he meant, so I just listened quietly. A moment later, the doctor left, and Cedric sat down near the bed. Even after coming all the way here, my body was still like this, so there was nothing much to say.

Besides, Cedric had always done his best for me. I lowered my head deeply. Cedric gently cupped one side of my cheek. When I naturally looked up, he met my eyes and spoke calmly.

“Don’t think about anything else. Just focus on getting healthy. That’s the most important thing right now.”

I nodded. Cedric looked at me and added, as if reminding me.

“And please try not to meet my mother. I’ll tell her that you’re not feeling well.”

“No, you don’t have to tell her that. She’s also unwell. If I avoid her, she might say even worse things.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

I nodded. Either way, in this situation, Cedric’s mother probably wanted to see Herder more than me. Maybe she wouldn’t even call for me at all.

But Cedric seemed worried that his mother might call me and trouble me. It felt like he was thinking too extremely, so I tried to sound okay and said,

“If your mother calls for me, I’d actually be happy. She’s never liked me before, so if she’s calling now, that’s something.”

Cedric’s expression stiffened strangely. He looked at me and said firmly,

“Still, don’t go if she calls. She’s not the kind of person you think she is.”

That one sentence was very cold. I couldn’t answer.

‘But still, she’s Cedric’s mother.’

I wasn’t in a position to refuse. If I did, she might complain even more.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“Sir, an urgent document has arrived from the Zerpine gold mine.”

Even after hearing that, Cedric didn’t seem like he would leave. I got worried and spoke to him.

“Cedric, you should go.”

“I’ll leave after I see you eat breakfast.”

“No, you don’t need to do that. Lately, I’ve been eating well since my appetite came back.”

“Will you be okay without me?”

“Yes, so don’t worry about me anymore.”

I didn’t want to keep him for such a small matter when he was so busy. Cedric looked at me for a moment, then kissed my cheek and stood up.

“Let’s definitely eat dinner together.”

I nodded brightly. But as soon as Cedric left the room, my shoulders dropped.

I sighed and lay back down. A while later, a maid came in and placed food on the table. Since I had told Cedric I’d eat well, I ate the food alone. It tasted better than before, at least.

After I finished eating, the maid gave me the medicine. Since it was something Cedric had prepared, I took it without complaint.

After eating and taking the medicine, I didn’t have anything to do. Maybe Cedric had told them in advance, but neither Herder, Batis, nor even Cedric’s mother came to see me.

I looked out the window and thought of Cedric. Even while busy, he took care of me and tried to match my needs, yet I hadn’t really done anything for him.

As I thought about it, I suddenly remembered the scented pouch. I had made one when I was at the Bestine house on the outskirts of the capital. I recalled Cedric smiling brightly when I gave it to him as a gift.

Wanting to help Cedric somehow, I called a servant. The servant knocked within minutes.

“Did you call for me?”

“Can you prepare dried lavender, rosemary, and jasmine oil?”

The servant nodded and left the room. I was glad Cedric liked the pouch I had made. If not, I would’ve felt useless and even sadder.

The servant soon returned with the needed materials. I quickly got to work on making the pouch. Since I was at it, I made one for Cedric’s mother as well. I thought I’d give it to her later, when she was in a better mood.

After making a few, I called the servant again.

“Ma’am, did you call?”

“Do you know where Cedric’s office is?”

“I’ll guide you there.”

Since this was my first time in this mansion, everything felt unfamiliar. It was bigger than the house I lived in, and I felt like I could easily get lost.

The servant skillfully climbed the stairs and walked quickly through the hallway. Following behind, I soon arrived in front of a door.

“This is the office where the master works.”

The door was bigger than the one in the house I lived in. Maybe because this was where the head of the family worked, the surrounding atmosphere was elegant and classy.

I thanked the servant and gently opened the door.

The door opened easily. Inside, it wasn’t much different from Cedric’s old office. The only difference was that this office was bigger. There were also a lot of books, so the smell of paper was strong.

I walked over to the shiny desk. Just like in the Bestine house, papers were scattered all over.

‘Can he really work with it this messy?’

Even back then, the servants didn’t clean up properly, and the documents were piled up. Cleaning the desk wasn’t a big deal, so I put the pouch aside and began organizing the papers.

I already wanted to help Cedric. Even if it was a small thing, I hoped it would be useful to him.

I carefully stacked all the documents, not knowing if they were important or not. Then I saw some blank sheets of paper. They had nothing written on them.

Without hesitation, I crumpled the blank sheets and threw them in the trash. After organizing for a while, the desk looked much neater. Feeling satisfied, I left Cedric’s office.

As evening came, the old butler knocked on the door. The sudden sound in the quiet room startled me, and I looked up. The butler soon opened the door and greeted me.

“Ma’am, the master has arrived, but something came up, and he’ll be a bit late for dinner.”

“Cedric is already here?”

The butler nodded.

“What happened that he’s going to be late?”

“An important document has gone missing.”

“An important document?”

The butler nodded again.

“Where is Cedric now?”

“He’s in his office.”

I had a bad feeling. I quickly closed the book I was reading and got up. Since I had memorized the way earlier, I was able to go straight there without getting lost.

Just as the butler said, several servants were standing outside Cedric’s office, heads bowed, looking gloomy. The air felt heavy, like something serious had happened. Feeling nervous, I entered the office.

“I always told you not to clean the desk.”

His voice was unusually low. It was cold and sharp like ice. The servant in front of Cedric looked like he was about to cry, head hung low.

“I’m sorry. I just…”

I walked over to Cedric. The servant flinched and stepped back. Cedric turned to look at me. His tense eyebrows slowly relaxed.

“Revril.”

His voice was much softer than earlier. His face felt warmer, different from before.

I hesitated and asked,

“Cedric, what happened?”

“A document I needed to handle went missing. It’s nothing for you to worry about, so please just wait a little.”

Cedric gave a small smile. But I felt even more uneasy.

“Is that important document… just a blank sheet of paper?”

I couldn’t help but ask. When I cleaned his desk, the only papers I threw away were blank. Cedric’s eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“How do you know that?”

My heart started pounding. The servants glanced at me.