Of course, saying that he hoped for his return was just empty words.

He wouldn’t come back anyway.

Whether he recovered or not, the result would be the same.

No matter what the conclusion was, there was no reason for him to return as the young master Alphonse of this past, which would be nothing but a disgrace to him.

Yuriel found herself ridiculous for uttering such honeyed words while knowing this.

But there was some sincerity in those words.

Hoping for the young master to return alive.

Though he was a strange person who brought fear with every touch, she wanted to see him healthy at least once.

Of course, it would be unlikely to actually see that, but if she could see it in a newspaper, that would be enough.

In fact, it was abominable that she was having such thoughts when writing this letter was for her mother’s medicine.

Would the young master think the same when he sees this letter?

Everything went wrong and twisted from writing this false letter, no, even before that, from uttering those nonsensical words of liking him.

She would bear all the punishment for those sins, so please don’t take her mother away from her side.

Yuriel prayed and prayed as she pressed down the last sentence.

Half sincere, half false.

Containing tangled feelings where one couldn’t tell where the truth began and the lies ended.

The problem was where to send this letter.

It was truly foolish to come all the way to the post office without deciding that.

The address printed on the back of the newspaper was clear… but what if someone other than the young master from the Blanchet family saw this?

Fleetingly, the elegant lady who had visited the mansion last time crossed her mind.

If that person, who was of a different class from her, saw this, wouldn’t she find it strange?

In reality, looking back, it wasn’t such a big deal, but somehow feeling as if she was committing a crime, Yuriel bit her innocent lips hard.

However, there was no other way than this.

Sighing, Yuriel copied the address as it was and pressed the seal.

“A letter has arrived for the young lord.”

In the hands of Beyman, the head butler of Blanchet, was a letter.

The letter trembled slightly in his large hands.

It was because the young master’s appearance, seen after a long time, bore an even more terrifying form than before.

The period Cassian had been away wasn’t very long, but the changes made the past year seem like several years.

His still pale face remained unchanged, but it was truly the atmosphere that had changed.

Long ago, after serving the lady’s night alone on a lonely night and being caught leaving the room, Beyman felt chills down his spine every time he saw the young master.

On a night before the head butler test, warming the lady’s bed opened his way forward.

But at the same time that night, he was caught by the throat by the young master.

Even if the actual master of this Blanchet, Duke Deviron, knew about his wife’s night life, he would pretend not to see, but it was impossible to know what the young master was thinking.

The young master didn’t say a single word, but since that day, Beyman became extremely cautious of the young master.

This incident was also part of that.

“The medicine?”

Cassian’s fingers tapping on the table were nonchalant.

Beyman couldn’t understand the young master’s behavior at all. Why would someone who usually showed no interest in others’ affairs suddenly give such a thoughtful order?

Moreover, the content of the order was even stranger.

To give out only one pill of medicine per month.

He shook his head inwardly at the behavior that made it unclear whether it was a form of torment or a passionate affection for the other person.

However, he couldn’t dare to show it.

The master, who had always had a knack for subduing others with just a glance, now made the space heavy just by breathing.

“I stopped it after confirming that the letter was coming to the young master. I will proceed immediately upon your instruction.”

“Give it to me. As planned.”

Beyman bowed his head and was about to leave when Cassian’s sharp gaze stopped him.

“And butler.”

“Yes.”

“Do as you’re told.”

Cassian said these incomprehensible words as he took off his glasses with one hand and twirled them.

“…Pardon?”

“There must have been a set time to give the medicine.”

It had been just one day since the point when the medicine was to be given out. However, such things wouldn’t be an excuse.

It was clear that at least in front of this young master, who was sitting there with eyes like a predator’s, raw and unfiltered.

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

“Abandon your own thoughts. That’s how you’ll be able to keep that hard-earned position of head butler for a long time, isn’t it, Head Butler Beyman?”

Beyman stopped breathing like someone who had forgotten how to breathe, remembering that day.

“I apologize.”

“From now on, give out that medicine every time that child writes a letter. One pill each time a letter arrives for me.”

“Understood.”

Beyman bowed deeply and only disappeared outside after Cassian nodded.

Stepping into the corridor, Beyman hesitated for a moment, unable to decide his direction.

He didn’t know whether to inform the lady about this situation or keep it confidential.

It was always the servants who exploded in the tug-of-war between the two masters.

So the virtue of a servant was to properly play the tug-of-war. The young master, who was always thought to be terminally ill, would now regain his life as he had received the treatment.

If that happens…

However, if the lady were to learn about the young master’s changes through someone other than himself, that would clearly be a problem in itself.

Beyman closed the door, trying to separate himself from the suffocating space, not knowing what to do with his conflicted heart.

The sound of the door closing echoed in the space, and Cassian’s gaze naturally fell on the letter in his hand.

The ink marks were quite darkly smeared on the letters that were pressed down hard.

Yuriel’s shadow crossed Cassian’s mind once again.

That movement, as vivid as if he was seeing it now, was clearly drawn in his head.

That child, who habitually pressed her lips tightly when telling a lie, how many times did she do that while writing this letter?

It’s uncountable.

To be uncountable in such a short, simple letter of just a few lines.

What nonsense.

Every single line of these sentences was close to a scream.

A scream disguised as a confession.

Isn’t that too romantic? Making me unnecessarily excited.

His gaze suddenly stopped at a certain point.

She says the season of Alphonse without him is quite cold.

Did she know how to say such things, that child?

On top of that, the child’s scream of saying she liked him is layered once again.

A sneer unconsciously spread across Cassian’s lips.

That child even said such things. Would saying that the season of Alphonse is cold without him be anything special?

Then what will she write next?

This makes me look forward to it.

Even if she struggles to break free from the stranglehold, that child will eventually not be able to break it.

At least not until her birth mother dies.

And that birth mother will not die as long as she is alive.

What a perfect shackle this is.

For the first time in his life, he put such a base shackle on that child, unbecoming of a Blanchet.

I wonder if by the time the next letter arrives, the news of my engagement will have spread to Alphonse as well.

If so, what kind of answer will that child write?

Over the past month, Yuriel had found a new job.

Now that the young master was gone, there was no one to say anything even if she did other work.

At night she did transcription work, and during the day she worked at the highest-paying establishment, which was the best she could do for now.

However, the salary was now twice as high as before.

It was a strange thing.

That this easy bakery job would pay twice the hourly wage compared to the hard fish shop work.

Anyway, it was a good thing, so Yuriel didn’t question it much.

She just tried to do more than what she was paid for, as always.

As she kneaded the flour, thoughts naturally arose in her mind.

‘Did the letter arrive safely?’

‘The young master would have found the letter first, right?’

‘What if he didn’t…’

No, more important than that was something else.

‘Even if the young master reads that letter, what would change?’

As seconds condensed into minutes, the shapeless worry deepened like a puddle.

The gray puddle made of thoughts evaporated when a customer entered.

“Welco-”

The man wearing a brown coat was not a villager.

Yuriel, instinctively sensing something, looked at the unfamiliar stranger with tension.

The man took off his hat, bowed his head slightly, and showed proper courtesy.

Seeing the peculiar etiquette that seemed somewhat arrogant, Yuriel thought it resembled that of the capital.

The capital naturally reminded her of Blanchet, and of that man.

The capital might be vast, but the only person she knew there was that man, so perhaps it was natural.

The problem was that it wasn’t just a simple intuition.

“I am an attendant who came down under the orders of the head butler from Blanchet.”

At the name Blanchet, Yuriel came to her senses half a beat late.

Her body had stiffened without her realizing it and wouldn’t move as she wanted.

Even the words she managed to utter didn’t continue to the end.

“Ah, but why are you here…”

“The young master told me to deliver this.”

The man took something out from his breast and placed it in front of her.