My Insolent Shadow - Chapter 62

He, boasting a tall stature, had an unbelievably different aura about him.

The face that one had to look up to meet was still pale as before, but now had a hint of vitality.

The smoothly connected jawline and bridge of the nose were even more distinct, showing off elegant lines.

His body, hidden beneath a neat yet visibly elegant suit, exuded a firm impression even at a glance.

The problem was… how, no, why he was in front of her.

Yuriel felt a shiver run through her entire body at the sight of his fresh smile.

It was because of his smile that seemed to remind her that no matter how she tried to escape, she was still in the palm of his hand.

It felt like the nightmare from three years ago had become reality.

The feeling that everything except him was moving slowly made it even more surreal.

Reason returned when his gaze shifted towards her mother seated beside her.

Only then did the fact that she was holding her mother’s hand in one of hers awaken Yuriel’s senses.

Belatedly, she tried to hide her trembling, but there was a limit to controlling instinct with reason.

“El?”

Yuriel’s head slowly turned towards her mother, who had called her nickname.

“Who is that per……”

Though she whispered, it was loud enough for Cassian to hear.

Yuriel hurriedly gestured to her mother, cutting off her words.

Jane stood dazed, not knowing what to do, while Yuriel fidgeted nervously.

Cassian’s eyes curved mischievously as he looked at the two of them.

His red eyes penetrated sharply, yet leisurely, like a predator that had found interesting prey.

Yuriel swallowed hard as she looked into those red eyes filled with his presence.

Most of the memories from just three years ago had already been removed from her mother’s mind.

Her mother had erased Alphonse, who had fled after hearing such words from the lord, first from her memories.

So if the young master were to ask something here, her mother would not be able to answer anything.

If that happened…… it would mean revealing yet another secret to him.

She didn’t want him to find out anything more about her.

If he were to find out about the diagnosis her mother received today…….

How would he react? She couldn’t even begin to imagine.

No, in fact, it wasn’t that she had no idea at all.

She knew what his mercy of giving just one pill a month meant.

It meant that she was an interesting toy to him.

A toy should be interesting enough for him.

But…… if he noticed that she might soon not have to beg him every month, his interest might cool.

What would happen then?

Yuriel, standing while trying to steady her trembling legs, smiled at her mother and whispered softly.

“Go in first. He’s an acquaintance.”

At the small whisper, her mother looked around cautiously before nodding and hurriedly moved, lest she be in the way.

Then Jane stopped briefly in front of the nameless man who had appeared before her daughter.

She bowed her head politely.

When she raised her head a moment later, the man came into view.

His appearance in a visibly high-quality velvet suit with a slightly disheveled bowtie made him look like the son of some high noble family.

Why would someone like that to her daughter…….

Since Yuriel had come to the capital, Jane had also been here all along, and she too knew of the malicious glances that occasionally passed by, looking at Yuriel.

They were mostly the sons of high-ranking families who claimed to be of high status.

Fortunately, no one had been able to do anything to her daughter, who held a public office position, but it was still unsettling.

Was this man also one of those types?

As Jane’s eyes began to fill with unease, Cassian bowed neatly.

Even with just a formal greeting that didn’t deviate at all from a noble’s attitude, he gave Jane a sense of trust.

The well-mannered greeting was filled with properly cultivated courtesy.

The natural movement, not feigned, made it even more certain that he was a properly educated man.

Of course, all of Jane’s thoughts continued because she didn’t know that the other party was the heir to the Blanchet family.

Jane left comfortably and walked away towards the lodgings inside the imperial palace.

Only after confirming that her afterimage had disappeared did Yuriel’s mouth twitch.

Cassian observed her with amusement.

The gentlemanly smile that had been overlaid quickly changed to a grinning face.

“You don’t seem happy to see me?”

Cassian’s voice, lowered as he bent down, seeped into Yuriel’s ears.

“It’s been a whole three years.”

Cassian’s red gaze rippled as he watched Yuriel’s body tremble slightly.

Yes. It’s been exactly three years.

It’s already been three years since he occasionally recalled this child’s kiss in his dreams.

The child who always trembled before him had grown into a woman with graceful and beautiful lines, her frail branch-like body having stretched out just as it was.

The red hair she had always hidden under a hood in front of him was now neatly twisted up in a net.

Without even his permission, how dare she.

As if she had forgotten everything that happened in Alphonse.

The snow-white nape revealed beneath her upswept hair looked fragile enough to snap.

Cassian’s lips twisted crookedly as that sight looked like prey begging to be bitten.

His outstretched hand undid the net and pulled it down.

The red hair that had twisted in his grasp three years ago fell softly downwards.

A smile spread across Cassian’s lips as he satisfactorily observed the snow-white nape now covered in red.

“Now you look decent.”

The long, straight, and delicate body now trembled mercilessly as if about to break.

Yuriel doubted if she had heard correctly.

After messing up her hair as he pleased, he says now she looks decent.

Cassian’s gaze, observing the frozen Yuriel, rippled deeply yet calmly.

However, soon his face, with slightly curved eyes, showed no wavering.

As always.

“Wear it like this from now on.”

“……”

“Because it’s pretty on you.”

With those words, Cassian disappeared from everyone’s sight, leaving Yuriel behind.

Only then did Yuriel feel the strength supporting her legs give way.

Yuriel, who had sunk down, let out a long breath she had been holding.

A whole three years.

She had expected that after that time, he would have forgotten her and become a gentlemanly person.

The him she met again had completely changed in appearance, but remained the same inside.

In a word…… he was selfish.

Consistently so, from that distant Alphonse three years ago, through Ephros Island, to this capital.

Recalling the young master with his grinning face, he seemed to find her trembling like this quite amusing.

Yes. In a way, it was rather fortunate.

It meant that he still had some interest left in her to look forward to.

Yuriel tried hard to move her unmoving legs and walked towards the dormitory building.

Towards the comfortable place where her mother would be waiting for her.

[This is the timeline separator]

The procession still waited for Cassian, who had gone off without a word.

Most wondered where he had gone, exchanging glances with each other.

But that was all.

No one dared to openly ask Cassian about it.

Only Tiobe was the one to speak up about this issue.

“Where on earth did you go?”

“I had a foal I’d left behind.”

What foal? He was someone who had never even kept a puppy since childhood.

There was even a time in the past when he was called cold-blooded for not getting attached to such things.

Of course, I know that’s not the case, but anyway, it wasn’t a foal. A foal he’d left behind, he says.

As Tiobe sighed and shook his head, Cassian pulled the reins and moved forward.

The knights, including Tiobe, quickly followed behind him.

A rare smile was etched on his face as he headed towards the mansion.

With each hoof beat shaking the earth, the breeze fluttered across his face.

Yuriel overlapped and seeped into it like the wind.

Her face, now exuding an elegant atmosphere at a glance, makes a mockery of scholars who argued about the correlation between wealth disparity and elegance.

Eyes as pure as if they alone had absorbed the dawn dew.

Recalling the deep waves and tremors that spread within them makes him feel quite good.

The thoughts continue long and flow in an irreverent direction.

The neckline that looks like it could snap if grasped.

As he recalls the gentle slopes flowing down below it, leading to the delicate waistline, Cassian feels his legs grow weak.

Damn it.

She was more beautiful than any image he had imagined over the past three years.

So much so that it would be blasphemous to compare any illusion to that woman.

As Cassian let out a hollow laugh, the white horse had already arrived at the grand mansion.

Cassian erased the sneer he had held at the corners of his mouth as if it had never been there, then dismounted.

The Blanchet mansion in the capital, which he had arrived at after a whole three years, boasted a refined appearance without a single flaw, just as before.

From the garden managed by hundreds of servants to the lake, everything was unchanged from three years ago.

In the grand hall, all the servants had gathered to prepare to welcome the young master.

As Cassian entered, everyone bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle.

The sight of dozens of people lined up in rows and columns demonstrated the dignity of the Blanchet family.

At the center was his birth mother, Lady Elise.

The corners of her mouth curled up pleasantly as she saw her son, who had grown imposing.