“Where are you going today?”

The woman’s question trembled as much as her quivering eyelids.

“Alphonse.”

Discarding a nice and beautiful new travel destination, all plans are revised.

The woman’s face trembled, turning pale.

Of course. A woman with much to hide even concealed her escape from Alphonse from me.

I recall the mundane nature of those letters, not a single line of which contained what should have been there.

That face, beautifully packaged like those letters, has no substance whatsoever.

As always, expressions will only be made while sitting behind.

Will that woman’s bare face be fully revealed if we go to Alphonse?

Cassian’s eyes curved gently as he looked at Yuriel.

Alphonse, he says.

From the moment she heard those words, Yuriel’s limbs began to tremble uncontrollably.

The memories she had so stubbornly fled from were summoned like a nightmare, pulsing in her head.

‘How did I manage to escape from there….’

Until the very end, the lord had demanded nighttime services from her mother.

If he hadn’t been conscious of the eyes around him, who knows what would have happened right there.

That bastard treated his servants like objects.

Until the lord discarded them himself, no one could easily escape from him, as those belonging to the lord’s mansion were treated like slaves in his hands.

Most of them were slaves or those who owed debts to the lord.

In reality, in that already difficult-to-live-in domain, he extorted taxes to the point of bleeding them dry, so most of the domain’s people were no different from being dependent on him.

That bastard would invariably find and punish those who fled from his domain.

Saying that escaped livestock must be punished, she had often heard through Aunt Mary that the punishment was also cruel.

If she hadn’t fled during a moment of carelessness after making thorough plans… she shuddered at the thought of what might have happened.

Considering the bastard’s nature, it was clear that he would have continued searching for her and her mother afterward.

Of course, she didn’t owe any debt to the lord, but his thoughts were different.

Until the end, the lord told her mother to repay the debt owed to him.

The bastard, who had measured and weighed an unthought-of debt for the sole reason of staying in that house, would probably have kept tracking them even after she and her mother disappeared.

Because of that, since leaving Alphonse, she had never once contacted anyone from that place.

She hadn’t revealed her whereabouts to anyone, and by great fortune, after settling in the capital, she forgot everything about Alphonse.

After a year passed and her mother recovered, she had planned to leave for the farthest place from Alphonse.

To a place far from both the capital and Alphonse, to some island in the distant south where no one could find them.

But now, Alphonse, he says.

Although she might be able to get past it now with this man right beside her, when the time comes for her to flee again, she might be caught once more.

The mere thought made her want to die on the spot, and her hands became drenched in sweat.

“Couldn’t we go somewhere else?”

The words she finally mustered the courage to say were laid over the steady noise of the carriage.

However, even in that voice, a deep trembling was thoroughly evident.

“Why? Don’t you like Alphonse?”

“No. It’s not that…”

Her words became tangled and wouldn’t come out properly.

It was because her breath was caught in front of the man’s red gaze that seemed to pierce through her.

“It’s not that…?”

The man who gently asked again was, unlike his voice, sitting with his legs crossed haughtily.

That appearance once again reminded her of the realization from the past days.

This man never gives up on what he wants.

To this person who has lived a life of grasping and shaking everything as he wishes, her resistance would just be a matter of interest.

Thinking about what happened every time she resisted like that, the conclusion that it’s better not to do anything came easily.

“It’s nothing. I was just saying.”

For some reason, the man’s face twisted slightly.

Despite heading to Alphonse as he wished.

Fortunately, he didn’t say anything, but it strangely seemed that way.

Is this also my delusion?

As her mind became complicated, the carriage reached the Lampton River.

The large zelkova tree stretching long over the river held the traces of Alphonse from long ago.

Due to the considerable time spent traveling, a deep darkness had already fallen over the carriage window.

Only then did it occur to her that to visit Alphonse, they would need to spend at least one night there.

The thought that she might have to spend a night in that hellish place with this man…

She could only laugh hollowly.

As the dawn’s light began to fall, the rapidly moving carriage came to a stop.

During that time, the man hadn’t said much.

Despite saying they were going on a trip, he simply looked out the window, occasionally glanced at her, then looked out the window again.

For some unknown reason, he seemed somewhat angry with her.

She had worn the chain and not applied perfume as he wanted, so what could be the problem?

Naturally, she became wary, wondering if she had offended his mood.

As complex thoughts colored her mind, he, who had gotten out of the carriage first, extended his hand towards her.

Despite his attitude just moments ago, a gentle warmth was transmitted from his fingertips.

As she was getting out of the carriage with his escort, she felt a gaze following from behind.

It was that coachman who had opened the carriage door with a smiling face earlier.

Though he had quite a handsome appearance, the coachman, overshadowed by the man’s presence, quietly observed her and the man.

He seemed to regard her and this man as lovers of sorts.

It didn’t matter how they appeared.

After all, she just had to move as this man moved.

As she turned her head, a familiar scenery filled her vision.

The scent of the dock struck her nose, bringing with it memories of the distant past rushing into her lungs like a tide.

Within it, joy and sorrow were knotted together.

The problem was that in the total amount of these two emotions, sorrow boasted such an overwhelming quantity that it even covered up the joy.

Beyond the scenery she had wanted to forget, a vast high stone staircase and mansion stood.

The mansion, which had seemed so tall before, didn’t look that high now.

It was only after leaving Alphonse that she realized she had just been a frog in a well.

Most of the buildings in the capital were as tall and massive as this lord’s mansion, and the imperial palace where she worked was incomparably grander.

The Blanchet mansion visible from there at any time, and the Marriott Hotel she visited every weekend night were also…

On the way to the lord’s mansion, which was smaller than she remembered, her heart beat roughly.

It seemed no prior message had been sent, as a servant came out to the main gate in hurried steps, not even having time to arrange her shawl.

The woman who appeared where the shadows had disappeared was Aunt Mary.

It had been years since she had seen her, having cut off all contact after fleeing without a word, just in case.

She hadn’t sent even a single letter since then, so from the aunt’s perspective, she must be upset with her.

Perhaps she had even been severely scolded by the lord.

In any case, it was true that guilt was welling up, as it was Aunt Mary who had brought her into this mansion at the time.

Her gaze, which immediately recognized her, trembled aimlessly.

As if she had many things she wanted to ask, her face remained fixed on her for a while.

However, she didn’t ask her a single question. Or rather, she couldn’t.

Because this man was standing firmly beside her.

Aunt Mary, noticing his presence, immediately gave some instructions to a subordinate and then bowed her head politely.

“I greet you, Young Master Blanchet.”

“……”

“The lord is currently out on domain inspection matters. I’ve just sent a child, so he will return shortly.”

At the mention of the lord, her heart sank once again.

Meanwhile, Aunt Mary’s gaze briefly fixed on her before returning to its original position.

She seemed inwardly curious about the relationship between her and this man.

But she couldn’t ask directly in front of the man.

She gave instructions to a servant who had hurriedly followed to prepare a room, then bent her knees and showed respect to him once again.

“I will guide you to a room to rest. Please follow me.”

As Cassian nodded slightly, Aunt Mary immediately turned and moved forward.

As she was about to follow behind her, he extended one arm.

Right. If she had to meet that bastard lord, it would be better to appear as perfect lovers with this man.

Even as her mind was turning pale white, calculations were running quickly.

Even if not, she would have taken his arm, but she stood closer, adhering more tightly.

The man looked at her with an indecipherable gaze for a moment before moving his steps.

As she naturally matched her pace with him and entered the mansion, the interior decor caught her eye.

The floor, which was mainly made of marble, is now covered with soft red carpet, and the dark mahogany doors have all been covered in different colors.

Numerous accessories, including silver candlesticks and silver ornaments, have all been changed to noticeable gold, and the curtains hanging on the windows have been replaced from their original red to soft pastel tones.

The portrait of the lord and lady that used to fill an entire wall seems to have been removed, as it was no longer in its place.

The space, markedly different from before, made her doubt if this was indeed the house she knew.

It’s strange.

Although time has passed since she left Alphonse, it was unusual to renovate the interior to this extent.

Moreover, for tastes to change so drastically…

Questions arose in her mind throughout the walk.

Aunt Mary’s steps finally stopped at the largest and most luxurious guest room inside.

For a moment, a procession of servants who had belatedly heard the news approached from the opposite direction.

At its center was an unfamiliar face.

The white-haired man bowed his head politely.

Behind the bent old man’s body, a familiar face was visible.

‘Butler Renode?’

He flinched noticeably when his eyes met Cassian’s, then kept his head bowed, avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

Seeing that he was still wearing his badge, it seems he hasn’t been expelled from his butler position…

‘Could it be… the master has… changed?’