Chapter 39. A Generous Name for That Demon

2023.11.08.

Yuan clenched her teeth without realizing it.

“Scoundrel” and “tyrant” were overly generous names for that demon.

“After that mad emperor left, Marquis Rev, who arrived late, traveled across the entire continent searching for physicians, shamans, magicians, and even black mages, bringing them all here. Yet the best they could manage was the current state.”

Hena sighed, exhausted at first but then with a slightly softened tone.

Tears had gathered in her large eyes—she quickly wiped them away before they could fall.

“Since then, the master has distanced himself from the servants who had served him for years. The elderly ones remaining here are those who served him since the late emperor’s reign. Most who were in the mansion that day died, and the survivors were away, busy with funeral arrangements. They barely survived… Even though they get hurt every time the master refuses to show his face and treats them coldly, they still can’t let go of him. After all, he used to treat them so kindly when they were young.”

Seeing Yuan silently suppressing her emotions, Hena felt she could continue and gazed out the empty window.

“Oliver is the same way too.”

“Oliver?”

“The master hasn’t held Oliver even once since then. He used to carry him everywhere at the slightest whimper. Whenever there was something delicious, he’d always save it especially for Oliver.”

“I can’t even imagine that.”

“Right? After that incident, whenever the imperial court sent anyone, the master became extremely sensitive, isolating himself completely, and never even mentioned Oliver’s name again.”

Hena spoke bitterly.

“Everyone just thinks sorrowfully that the crown prince must have been so deeply betrayed by his family that he can’t trust even us anymore.”

“……”

“I followed my grandmother to the palace sometimes and played with Princess Apollini. I was very young then, so my memories are fragmented. I always think that if only the princess hadn’t passed away, the master would have suffered far less.”

“Definitely. She was the only family left after his parents died.”

“The master always carried Princess Apollini, who had difficulty walking, on his back. Even as he grew older, he did the same. If she whined and said, ‘Come on, let’s go together,’ he’d tease her with ‘Catch me if you can,’ run off, but immediately turn back and offer his back. As a child, I couldn’t tell you how envious I was, hehe. I never had an older brother.”

Seeing Yuan silently brooding over the tragic event, Hena carefully opened her mouth after observing her for a while.

“Perhaps… the master sees Princess Apollini in you, my lady.”

“In me?”

“You’re the same age, and the aura you give off is quite similar.”

Yuan tried to imagine Princess Apollini, whom she had never met.

A beautiful princess with shimmering golden hair and amethyst-like eyes.

The complete opposite of Yuan, who had always been called ‘crow.’

There was no way Clade could possibly see such a radiant, noble princess in her.

“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is! The master wasn’t always like this.”

Seeing Yuan’s conflicted expression, Hena hurriedly added.

“Ten years can change everything.”

“……”

“He’s just… changed a little, that’s all.”

Hena stared at Yuan’s hand, which was holding her own.

“I truly hope my lady stays here for a long time.”

That day’s scene must have been the worst memory of Hena’s life.

She said she still often had nightmares about it.

Failing to protect Princess Apollini, the faces of her parents ripping up wooden floorboards to hide their daughter.

And the screams of her parents dying in battle against Emperor Igor, who tried to kill her grandmother, Nurse Margaret.

Then, her grandmother’s severed head, crying out until the very end as she tried to protect Clade.

Despite risking the return of those nightmares, Hena was pleading with Yuan to stay, no matter how painful it was.

Even though Yuan had no intention of leaving at all.

“I want to live well too.”

Hearing Yuan’s subdued voice, Hena’s previously gloomy face brightened noticeably.

“But sometimes I feel like the prince genuinely dislikes me.”

Her brightening expression instantly filled with confusion.

“What do you mean, my lady?”

She abruptly straightened her slumped body.

“The steward said so. The prince, who couldn’t even bear sunlight filtering through the curtains, now routinely leaves the curtains wide open during the day to look out at the garden. That’s not all—he sometimes even opens the windows.”

“He must have felt suffocated.”

“He’s changing. If he truly disliked you, he would have kept the doors tightly locked and done everything to drive you away!”

He only keeps me close to avoid his own pain.

Yuan thought bitterly, smiling to herself.

Yet, cutting through her cowardly silence and Hena’s frustrated voice, Lancelot’s words wormed their way into her mind, circling endlessly.

“If he didn’t like you, he wouldn’t keep you around.”

Even though she knew it wasn’t meant for her, she kept repeating those words in her mind like a secretly hoarded snack she took out and savored in private.

***

Where had the hurt from being told “don’t overstep” vanished to?

Yuan prepared Clade’s lunch beside the welcoming head chef, Ralph.

Ralph deliberately praised Yuan’s skills, glaring at the steward who had said not to let the lady do any work.

He even scoffed, as if to say, “Don’t interfere with the young lady’s hobby.”

Awkwardly chuckling, Yuan brushed off her lingering resentment toward Clade.

-Knock knock.

As always, there was no answer when she knocked on Clade’s bedroom door.

Though he was always like this, it still hurt her heart.

If she hadn’t heard the story, she might not have known. But now that she did, her heart ached, and she wanted to care for him in any way she could.

Inside the bedroom, Clade paid even less attention to Yuan than usual.

Honestly, no matter how much Lancelot or Hena insisted that he wouldn’t keep her around if he didn’t like her, the fact remained that Clade, the one who mattered, remained silent. And she, in her position, couldn’t possibly ask him directly whether he liked her or not.

If he said yes, she wouldn’t believe him. If he said no, she’d be hurt even more.

“I’ll come back again when the sun sets.”

After a long pause, Clade gave a barely perceptible nod.

Yuan exhaled in relief and smiled faintly.

The past cannot be undone.

Just as there was no way to reclaim the birthday gift stolen by her cousins in childhood.

All she could do now was make Clade, who looked like a wounded, scarred wolf in his solitude, a little happier.

Clean the west wing faster. Prepare hearty meals every time. Open the curtains so he could grow accustomed to bright light again.

“Now I plan to go out more often with the people who fetch water and feel the breeze.”

Yuan asked Clade’s permission, looking at him as he stared blankly at the meal set before him.

He silently drank his soup. Yuan patiently waited.

“You may do as you please.”

Relieved by the dry reply, which was typical of him, Yuan wiped her chest with her hand.

This kind of answer was far better than being told “don’t overstep.”

Now that she had somewhat adapted to his whims, even his curt permission sounded to her ears like, “Say whatever you want—you may do as you please.”

“It’d be nice if Your Highness came along too.”

Her bolder suggestion didn’t receive a good reaction.

He narrowed his brows as if dismissing the idea as worthless, then returned to his rocking chair and lay down.

***

There were hardly any horses in this desolate mansion.

Since Yuan had to ride on the supply cart with the servants to go out with the water-fetching procession, even the steward disapproved.

But this was the only chance Yuan had to visit Louise’s grave.

She scattered nearby fallen flower petals on Louise’s tomb and prayed for her safe passage to heaven.

And on her way back to the mansion with the supply cart, it suddenly occurred to her.

Maybe Clade also wanted to step outside his bedroom.

He had barely gone out in ten years.

He must have felt suffocated.

After all, the Clade she’d heard about from Hena’s stories of his childhood was quite active.

She had used the excuse of wanting fresh air when asking the steward for permission to go out, but honestly, she wasn’t going outside because she felt stifled.

If it weren’t for tending to Louise’s grave, she wouldn’t have minded staying in the Black Mansion indefinitely.

In the Pelliese Mansion, Yuan had struggled even to step into the garden.

She couldn’t even dream of going anywhere beyond the laundry room or near the incinerator.

Her uncle hid her from public view except when assigning her work, and her cousins mocked her as dirty and bullied her for not being properly cleaned, so Yuan was always too busy hiding in her room.

Now, she could freely walk around most of the Black Mansion, and just watching the garden being tended made the day pass quickly.

Not to mention she had been busy cleaning the west wing lately.

‘It’s clear now—the reason the prince refuses to take a walk in the garden must be because of his face.’

Yuan decided it was time to gradually make Clade’s face clean and presentable even during the day.

When the west wing was completely spotless, Clade’s face would be just as clean.

She resolved to work hard, day and night.

She wanted to erase every trace of that damned scoundrel emperor from Clade’s face.

***

Lancelot, visiting the Black Mansion to check on Clade’s health, stroked his chin upon seeing the steward’s brightened expression and Clade carelessly scribbling something on documents in front of him.

“Has the sun risen from the west?”

“Steward. When someone comes to my house, report it properly.”

“Since you didn’t inherit the title of Roxenhardt Count, strictly speaking, this place is legally owned by my father, and later will belong to Eddie.”

“You’re acting petty for a man.”

“And you were just acting petty a moment ago.”