My Insolent Shadow (22 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 14
At the words “Can’t you just quit?”, Yuriciel smiled as if soothing a child.
“Why? I thought you said that young master was a good person.”
“That’s just what people chatter about.”
“Did that young master do anything weird to you?”
Seeing Yuriciel vent her anger as if it were her own affair, Hael quietly sighed in relief inside.
“It’s just that I hate seeing you struggle.”
Hael omitted the rest of what he wanted to say: “Because every time you go there, you end up crying.”
He was afraid of pricking Yuriciel’s firm pride.
He knew full well that if he did, Yuriciel would refuse to see him again.
Yet he couldn’t help but ask once more.
“Is there a reason you absolutely have to go there?”
Yuriciel replied with a slightly wounded expression.
“I need to get medicine for Mother.”
Only then did Hael recall Aunt Jane—thin as a twig, fragile like a branch, and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Yuriciel.
Her demeanor was so princess-like, it was hard to believe she belonged to this village.
Even now, she still maintained that dignified grace.
But medicine? Had she been suffering so terribly inside?
“What kind of medicine?”
Yuriciel ultimately refused to reveal the name of the medicine.
Several days passed after that.
During that time, Hael managed to find out Aunt Jane’s diagnosis and the physician who had made it.
The medicine Yuriciel sought was a copper-hued pill, glossy like a bird’s egg.
It could only be obtained through foreign trading caravans, making it quite expensive—
at least from Yuriciel’s perspective.
Of course, for Hael, it wouldn’t have been particularly difficult—
under normal circumstances.
Yet for some reason, the purchases kept falling through amid unexpected turmoil.
Even after paying double the price, the caravan still couldn’t hand over the medicine to Hael.
It was as if some divine force were deliberately sabotaging the effort.
It was strange.
People who had confidently promised they could obtain it would change their minds within a day.
On this particular day, as Hael headed toward the clinic as usual, he spotted a formally dressed butler coming and going from Lord’s mansion.
It was unexpected to see him emerging from the clinic—a place frequented by commoners, which he normally avoided like the plague.
Was it his imagination, or did the butler’s eyes tremble slightly upon seeing him?
It must have been his imagination. After all, that man had no reason to be entangled in anything unpleasant with him.
Dismissing the incident as unimportant, Hael luckily managed to obtain the medicine that day.
Though the butler’s retreating figure flickered once more in his mind, Hael shook his head to dispel the uneasy feeling.
What a fine day this was—why let such dark thoughts taint his good fortune?
He’d felt so helpless every time he’d seen Yuriciel’s gloomy face over the past days.
Now, thinking he wouldn’t have to see that look again, Hael’s steps grew light.
Normally, she might refuse a gift like this—but since it concerned her mother, perhaps Yuriciel would accept it this time.
Thus, Hael held the medicine out before Yuriciel.
“Here.”
“What is this?”
Yuriciel’s hand pushed open the case.
Since it was the medicine she’d long yearned for, she recognized it instantly.
Her hand clutching the wooden box trembled uncontrollably.
‘I never even told her what kind of medicine it was…’
Hael was always one step ahead of him.
As Yuriciel stared at the box containing the medicine, her face flickered with many conflicting emotions.
She’d thought herself nothing but a materialistic fool who believed money could buy anything—but apparently, she still clung to some shred of pride. She found herself absurd.
If this medicine had been meant for herself, Yuriciel would never have accepted it.
But its true recipient was none other than her own mother.
Just as Hael had anticipated, Jane—Yuriciel’s most treasured person and thus her greatest vulnerability.
Trying not to show her complicated feelings, Yuriciel’s tightly pressed lips quivered for a long while before finally parting.
“Thank you.”
A painted-on smile spread across Hael’s face.
But the next words that followed were precisely what Hael never wanted to hear.
“I’ll definitely repay you for the medicine.”
Just as he was about to say, “Don’t talk like that between us,” Yuriciel seemed to read his thoughts and pulled away.
Erecting an impenetrable fence between them.
Though her steps were heavy, she vanished like a fluttering butterfly fleeing in escape.
Watching her go, Hael grumbled inwardly.
After all this time of knowing each other—
was it really necessary to run away like that?
An inevitable pang of disappointment swirled on Hael’s tongue.
El always insisted on repaying whatever she received from him.
As if their bond were something she could sever at a moment’s notice, should she so choose.
The letters that never received replies.
Yuriciel, her eyes brimming with tears yet stubbornly holding them back, refusing to explain why…
All of it kindled a faint unease in Hael’s heart.
But then again, this feeling had always been meaningless.
El behaved this way with everyone—it was nothing personal.
Perhaps someday El would understand his feelings—or rather, he didn’t even expect her to understand.
Just being by her side was enough; he wanted nothing more.
Still, if someday someone were to hold a place in El’s heart, it would surely be him—
the one who’d watched over her for so very long.
With that thought, Hael washed away the bitterness lingering on his tongue.
And so, Hael let the butterfly flutter away.
He knew well that even if he reached out, she’d only flee again.
Hael’s deep sigh filled the empty space.
[This is the timeline separator]“Last night, two people met at the intersection of Merchant Street and the market stalls, conversed for about ten minutes, and parted. Yuriciel, that girl…”
“Lady Yuriciel.”
Cassian corrected her title without the slightest disturbance in his posture as he turned the page of his book slowly.
The butler inwardly sighed at the unwelcome honorific “Lady.”
But what could he do?
Ever since the day it was revealed that the girl wasn’t truly a lady of House Vilord, he’d been effectively leashed to this green young master.
Ever since that young master caught sight of Yuriciel and Hael meeting, he’d been stuck with this uncomfortable task of shadowing them.
Eager to wrap this up quickly and disappear, the butler swiftly read through his report.
“…In the afternoon, Hael delivered the medicine to the young lady.”
Cassian, who had been listening quietly, twitched an eyebrow.
The butler—whose name had long been forgotten—stared curiously again at Cassian, who today, as always, radiated an ominous aura from some inexplicable point.
Then again, if one were to call things strange, even the original order to tail that girl had been odd enough.
To be precise, he’d first been ordered to follow the girl, but once it was discovered she met with Hael, the command shifted to trailing him instead.
After receiving the report that Hael was seeking medicine for Yuriciel’s mother, that obsessive interest had transferred to the medicine itself.
Eventually, the young master had even issued explicit orders to ensure the medicine never reached Hael’s hands.
Though the intent behind it remained unclear, the command was undeniably bizarre.
‘Is he planning to take a companion with him to the underworld?’
While carrying out the task, the butler had felt a faint twinge of guilt—but never enough to stop.
He was not the type to ruin his future out of clumsy goodwill.
Thus, after many days had passed,
the young master separately summoned the personal physician and confirmed that the medicine would be ineffective for Yuriciel’s birth mother.
Only then did he issue his new command—
with an unfamiliar smile playing on his lips.
[Let the medicine go.] [But sir, won’t Hael end up taking it then?] [Exactly. Let it happen.]Tap, tap—the young master’s pale fingertips struck the book’s pages with the precise rhythm of a clock’s second hand, sharp and deliberate.
His thoughts deepened in tandem with that staccato sound.
Yuriciel.
Just recalling her name sent a tickle through him. That naive girl was surely believing that quack’s words with absolute faith, as foolishly as ever.
He could vividly picture her running around tirelessly with that slightly soot-streaked face.
According to the reports—so repetitive he’d heard them countless times—she hadn’t taken a single day’s rest.
Not one single day. All for the sake of obtaining that fake medicine.
He remembered the faces that trembled before him.
The dry, unresponsive gazes like withered trees, and the looks filled with humiliation whenever he tried to provoke a reaction.
Yet not once had she said she’d quit. All because of that false medicine.
Thanks to it, he’d been granted a rather entertaining toy to play with for quite some time.
Should he even thank that damned con artist?
A fleeting trace of something resembling a smile briefly crossed Cassian’s otherwise dry expression.
The butler felt a chill at the sight.
Yuriciel, holding that medicine, would soon plummet from dizzying heights of hope—painfully, bitterly.
Yet the very person who ordered such cruelty stood there, smiling as if nothing were amiss.
Of course, having served nobles for so long, the butler had witnessed his share of their whims and madness.
But this was the first time he’d seen such pure, unadulterated malice with his own eyes.
His distinctive crimson eyes, shadowed just enough to appear blood-red, made the sensation all the more vivid.
His gaze, smudged with ash-gray indifference, resembled that of someone watching a toy topple over.
‘Did that girl commit some grave mistake in front of the young master?’
If that were the case…
No. Given the young master’s temperament, had such a thing occurred, he would’ve cast her out immediately rather than kept her close.
This must simply be punishment for deceiving him by posing as a noble lady.
Even so, to wear such an expression after clearly hearing how dire the girl’s mother’s condition was…
The butler shook his head slowly.
After all, for the highborn, crushing those beneath them like insects whenever they became an eyesore was hardly unusual.
Moreover, the young master had no reason to show mercy to someone who’d deceived him.
It was obvious he’d feel no pity or sympathy, even though both he and the girl’s mother shared the same terminal condition.
Well, whatever the young master’s thoughts were, it wasn’t the butler’s place to question them.
Though he did feel somewhat sorry for the girl, whose fate remained uncertain.
At first, her appearance had been utterly unappealing—but she’d proven diligent and quite useful.
Ever since she arrived, the young master had ceased his violent outbursts, and even the intervals between his bouts of pain had grown longer.
He’d assumed the young master had forgiven her deception as a noble.
Yet Hael was now burdened with cruelly excessive work simply for meeting Yuriciel.
And the young master never missed a single report on Yuriciel’s activities.
Recalling all this, it was clear the young master held deep interest in Yuriciel.
When the order came to tail her, he’d even been certain that interest had blossomed into affection.
But was his old eyesight failing him?
Could someone truly pursue another person so viciously just to torment them?
No, that couldn’t be. It must simply be some twisted desire.
After all, high-ranking nobles naturally harbored distorted possessiveness.
They were a breed that lived in a world where whatever they wanted, they took—and had to take.
Thus, once caught in their snare, there was no escape.
That girl, upon reflection, was excessively beautiful—resembling her mother, she carried an almost foreign, princess-like aura.
A beauty of low birth.
Was she destined to suffer as tragically as her mother?
The butler clicked his tongue inwardly but showed nothing outwardly—as always.
Meanwhile, Cassian’s sharp, rhythmic tapping gradually stilled.
Soon, his clear face returned—but now bore an even more twisted smile.
“Have you found out about the real medicine yet?”
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
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Damnnnnn why is this so interesting am I a masochist for liking this haha
I feel like the young master is probably going to get her back one way
I feel bad for Hael, he likes her so much but I feel like it’s hard for the FL to return that type of love