My Insolent Shadow - Chapter 63

“Everyone has been waiting for you. Let’s go in quickly.”

Throughout the corridor leading to the grand hall filled with food, Lady Elise’s voice continued uninterrupted.

For a son who had returned after a full 3 years, she couldn’t help but feel particularly emotional.

In the first year, she heard from the doctor who went to Iphros Island that he might die.

In the second year, half-resigned reports continued to come in.

Throughout hearing such news, Elise nearly went mad.

The desperate news that even treatments weren’t working gradually turned her ashen.

As the period lengthened, the suppressed public opinion of the vassals occasionally boiled over.

And now, finally, the young master who would trample all of that had returned.

Beside him, as always, sat the head of the Blanchet family, Deviron di Blanchet, looking at his son with a benevolent smile.

The long-awaited family meal exuded a fairly harmonious atmosphere.

At least on the surface.

As always, Lady Elise mainly led the conversation.

From stories of how surprised she was after hearing from the doctor, to how heartbroken she was after he went to Iphros Island, the conversation flowed on for quite a while without pause.

Quietly listening to those stories, Cassian dryly cut his steak and picked up the meat.

Lady Elise, barely eating, was preoccupied with watching her son’s appearance.

Though he had been extraordinary before, compared to then, her son now exuded an even more intense aura that no one could easily approach.

Lady Elise was certain that he was truly worthy to be the most perfect head of the Blanchet family.

In fact, it had been a predetermined course ever since his grandfather, the former head of the Blanchet family, Duke Nocturne, had left the vast Blanchet fortune to his grandson rather than his own son.

Duke Nocturne, who liked everything to be certain, greatly disapproved of his indecisive son during his lifetime.

In that sense, it was only natural that he particularly favored his grandson, Cassian, who had shown remarkable fortitude since childhood.

Elise was secretly overjoyed when he left that fortune to her son rather than her husband.

It was only natural, as she was always a woman who lived looking at her son rather than her husband.

Like most noble ladies.

It was largely thanks to that that her son’s position was still preserved despite the many rumors that followed him after he left for treatment.

She once again offered thanks to the late former family head and focused on the meal.

As the prepared dessert was about to be served, Lady Elise raised her head again.

“Oh, the Periot family said they’d like to have a meal together next week or so.”

Deviron chimed in for the first time from beside her.

“It’s already been 3 years since we last spoke, so it’s long past time to arrange a meeting.”

Cassian’s knife, which had never stopped moving, paused for the first time.

The Periot family. His fiancée’s family, wasn’t it?

Lady Elise glanced at her son’s unmoving expression and continued speaking.

“The Margrave’s influence has been quite good lately, as you know, so it shouldn’t be a bad marriage. What do you think, son?”

“……”

“If you don’t like the Margrave’s side, we could look at other proposals as well. There are other young ladies I’ve selected.”

Though it’s a transparent alliance, it was naturally an expected process.

An engagement with a suitable match will ultimately benefit the Blanchet family.

Of course, the intentions of those who sent wedding invitations to a young master they only know by name wouldn’t be much different.

Whether it’s one of the other selected young ladies, or that young lady whose name he can’t even remember, the meaning would be similar.

There was no reason to avoid the engagement any longer.

“No. Do as you wish, Mother.”

At Cassian’s agreement, the corners of Lady Elise’s mouth turned up neatly.

After that, formal conversations passed over the table, about the future to be continued as the head of the Blanchet family.

Like some day 3 years ago.

The seemingly intimate family’s dignified meal ended not long after.

Cassian returned to his room through the corridor with an expressionless face.

Quite different from when he first entered the mansion, his changed appearance naturally entered Tiobe’s view as he stood behind.

The young lord’s appearance, which had seemed to change on the way to the capital, had returned to how it was before as if it had never been different.

“Did something unpleasant happen during the meal?”

Something unpleasant…

A sardonic smile spread across Cassian’s face at Tiobe’s worried question.

It was amusing that his appearance was being perceived that way.

“Of course not.”

“Then why has your face returned to how it was before?”

“It had to return. I’ve come back to the Blanchet family now.”

Tiobe stopped walking at those rather symbolic words, but Cassian continued moving.

Because of that, at the end of the widened distance, a door opened and closed again with a click.

Entering the room, Cassian lay down languidly and turned his gaze to the window.

Lighting a cigar with a crackling sound above the bitten end, Cassian inhaled the smoke deeply.

Above the burning smoke, that child’s afterimage rose up.

That small body trembling as it looked at him, those eyes filled with fear, gradually became vivid.

Finally, that name congealed inside, transforming into a bitter poison.

The smoke leaked out long, as if spitting out that bitter name brushing the tip of his tongue.

However, that name did not leave the tip of his tongue for a long time.

As the thick smoke dissipated, a long sunset was revealed in the distance.

It was the time when dusk was falling over the land.

[This is the timeline separator]

The lights in the administrative office didn’t go out even late into the night.

As always, the one guarding the administrative office latest was Yuriel.

At first, everyone saw Yuriel as a thorn in their side.

They were afraid she would surpass them and rise up.

Of course, many things have changed since then.

From the moment the glass ceiling they could never climb no matter how much they struggled became clear, they pitied her rather than seeing her as an object of jealousy or wariness.

Vincent frowned as he looked at the light still leaking from the administrative office.

Surely she wasn’t still working without even going home because of the tracking device assistance work he had ordered?

Until now, Vincent hadn’t thought much about Yuriel working hard.

It was partly because he usually had a policy of not taking interest in others’ affairs, and carelessly meddling didn’t suit his personality at all.

Moreover, since she was moving that way of her own volition, even if it was foolish, what good would it do to say anything?

Originally, one could only give up on such things themselves.

Even assigning this project to Yuriel, who was still a third-year rookie, didn’t have much meaning.

Although there were many noisy gossipers around, it was something she could handle at her level, and the results she produced were always excellent.

Even for that project which everyone said was impossible and threw up their hands at, she might be able to do it properly.

However, after actually giving the order, Vincent felt heavy-hearted.

Especially when he saw the room with the lights on every day without rest.

The next day too, and the day after that.

The lights in the administrative office where Yuriel was never went out.

As always, he waited until those lights went out, then followed the footsteps moving when the night grew deep, watching her enter the dormitory building.

It didn’t have any particular meaning.

It was just that if she ran into trouble late at night while doing the work he had ordered, he felt he would never be able to sleep with his legs stretched out again.

Ah, of course, he had never once slept with his legs stretched out.

Not since she disappeared.

At the end of the days that continued like that, Vincent looked at the documents that came up before him.

“This is data on the benefits the tracking device will bring to the empire in the future, and this is statistics drawn from the supporting evidence.”

With a crisp flipping sound, the results Yuriel had built up over time appeared.

Looking through them, Vincent couldn’t close his mouth.

Unlike her dry tone of speaking, the charts and data Yuriel had written one by one all took the most efficient form.

Not only that.

She was the first to properly use the administrative headquarters’ format, which was said to be conservative and uniform, without deviating even an inch.

Well, how much must she have agonized every night to do this?

Vincent suddenly became curious about all sorts of things.

“You, are you getting any sleep?”

A hint of a smile briefly flashed across the face he had always thought was dry.

“Yes.”

The smiling face quickly returned to its dry expression as if it had never happened.

As always, faint worry was etched in it.

“Is there a problem with the documents?”

To be trembling with anxiety even after submitting documents like these.

Vincent clicked his tongue at the somehow unsettling feeling.

Is she like this because of the number of predecessors he had driven out so far?

Thinking that, he felt it might be his fault for making her face look like that, so he stopped thinking about it.

At any rate, compared to the arrogant faces of those who used to thrust shoddy reports at him and couldn’t swallow their anger when he rejected them, this child deserved high marks not just for ability but for character as well.

“I’ll finish up the review of this, so you go home today.”

“…Pardon?”

Seeing Yuriel’s bewildered expression as she asked again, Vincent let out a sigh.

He really couldn’t shake the feeling of having become an evil boss.

“I can’t stand seeing you work on reports with such dark circles under your eyes.”

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

Sorry my foot.

Meanwhile, a smile bloomed all over her face as if she was so pleased.

As if the dry face had never been hers to begin with.

Everyone enjoys going home from work, but she probably won’t be able to enjoy it at all.

Didn’t she have her birth mother in the dormitory?

Seeing them living together for so long in that cramped space, their circumstances were clearly not very good.

Whatever the reason, the habit of working to death probably developed because of that.

To avoid being driven out from anywhere.

“Take that with you when you go.”

Yuriel’s face slowly turned to where Vincent was pointing.