The butler Gustav, who immediately followed, quickly opened the front door, vowing to strictly impart the very basic and important lesson that it is not polite to stare at one’s master.

He had no choice, as even the doorkeeper servant was stiffly staring at Clard’s face.

After a silence where one could hear a pin drop, the maids who were sweeping and mopping the first floor gasped like people who had fallen into water and been rescued.

“Did you see that?”

“What did I just witness?”

“I saw it! I saw it clearly!”

The faces of the young maids, pale and trembling with fear just moments ago, suddenly turned as red as ripe apples.

The silence was brief. The hall Clard had left was soon filled with the voices of the servants.

“The master’s face…”

“It’s much cleaner than I expected!”

“I’ve never seen such a beautiful person in my life−.”

It was the result of Yuan’s constant efforts to alleviate his pain over the years.

As if a frozen lake had steadily received spring sunshine and cracked from within.

The frozen atmosphere inside the mansion shattered with his single appearance.

Naturally, not only the young maids but also the servants who had resumed guarding the door after being scolded by butler Gustav, all crowded around the windows.

The golden-haired man, sparkling blindingly under the sunlight, was heading towards the western annex of the mansion.

“My lady. Even though it’s winter, the sunlight is too strong. Why don’t you take a break?”

“I’m almost done. Once I finish this part, this section will be complete.”

Yuan wiped the sweat from her forehead onto her shoulder as she responded to Hena’s concern.

Hena, who had been following Yuan closely with a bucket of diluted cleaning solution, quickly pulled out a handkerchief from her bosom and wiped Yuan’s sweat.

Yuan smiled shyly at the attentive care.

“Thank you, Hena.”

“I told you to use my hands, really. Since you’re doing everything yourself, this is all I can do for you.”

Yuan, who had been smiling brightly, put strength back into her eyes and started scrubbing vigorously. For the past few days, Yuan had been obsessed with cleaning as if her feet were on fire.

Clard, who seemed unlikely to ever leave his bedroom, had finally come out on his own.

Moreover, he had comforted Yuan, who had lost Louise, as if they were truly family, and Yuan had clearly received great solace from him.

Although there was no conversation after his cold words telling her not to worry, Yuan couldn’t forget the atmosphere in the carriage that day.

When he told her not to worry, it really felt like she didn’t have to worry about anything.

And she wanted to see a clear light of joy reflected in his crystal-like eyes as he stared indifferently at the scenery outside the carriage.

As Yuan concentrated and pursed her lips, scrubbing combatively, her loosely tied black hair threatened to fall.

Hena chuckled, thinking, ‘She’s puckering her lips cutely again,’ and quickly set down the bucket she was holding.

She rummaged through her apron’s front pocket, found a suitable string, and stealthily approached Yuan, who had already moved a few steps away.

Thanks to her diligent care, the lady’s once dull black hair was gaining luster day by day.

Just as Hena was proudly smiling and untying the ribbon at the end of Yuan’s hair, Yuan’s scrubbing suddenly stopped.

Sensing the subtly changed atmosphere, Yuan awkwardly stood up and turned around.

“Your Highness?”

Yuan discovered Clard standing at the entrance of the western annex’s fence.

The red inner flesh of this small annex, which she had been clinging to all this time, was fully visible in his eyes.

There were still three days left!

It wasn’t finished yet!

It was natural for Yuan to be shocked.

“Why so early…”

Yuan could only stammer, unable to do anything with the brush she was holding.

Clard, without even wearing a mask, looked absolutely perfect at this distance.

He seemed like a painting coated in golden paint, blending with the pouring sunlight.

He sparkled as if even the cold air struggling at the end of winter would turn into warm spring just by brushing past him.

His slightly disheveled bangs, as if he had walked quickly. His strawberry-blonde forehead, shining white from lack of sunlight.

Passing over his neat eyebrows and delicate brow, to his deeply set eye sockets that could almost appear decadent.

His eyelids, usually drooping languidly, seemed a little less so today.

Under his long eyelashes fluttering in the wind, his eyes like finely crafted amethysts were repeatedly emitting and absorbing that clear light Yuan had so longed to see.

Just as she was slightly dazed by his appearance like a masterpiece by a renowned painter, Yuan snapped back to her senses and muttered as if scolding him.

“It hasn’t been a week yet−.”

His purple eyes, emitting a clear light, lingered for a long time on her flustered face before sliding here and there.

From her softly flowing, fluttering black hair, to the sunlight falling on her round forehead, tracing her small features and pooling in her hollowed collarbone.

His wavering gaze returned to her plump lips spilling flustered words, lingering there for a moment before moving to her round forehead with watercolor-like green marks.

The dirty brush she was holding and waving aimlessly in the air.

He slowly swept his gaze over her slender wrists exposed below her rolled-up sleeves and her apron, which looked like a sackcloth of indiscernible original color.

Under his lingering, slow gaze, Yuan recalled how Clard had been so stingy about her appearance that he told the butler to get her new clothes to wear.

Yuan took a deep breath, realizing that Clard’s gaze had already returned to the outer wall of the annex.

“I wanted to show you when it was perfectly clean.”

“…”

“Are you angry that I touched it without permission?”

Yuan carefully approached Clard, who was staring at the annex without moving.

“Your Highness.”

“I just came out for a walk.”

Clard said, still not taking his eyes off the annex.

His deeply submerged voice resonated strongly in Yuan’s chest.

“I can come out and see it in three days too.”

After that surprise walk.

The master of the black mansion, who hadn’t taken a walk for over 10 years, began spending daytime with his wife who was cleaning the western annex.

Every morning, as the servants watched their master descend the central staircase, they created new rumors among themselves.

The rumor was that the face he had hidden behind a mask all this time was concealed not because it was hideous, but because it was too beautiful.

Peliesse Mansion.

“Any reply?”

“As you know, that mansion’s security is too strict from the entrance. It’s hard to even find passing servants, so delivering a letter is not easy.”

“How much money have I spent? Any news? Any corpses being carried out or screams or anything?”

“Such things wouldn’t be heard outside the fence, and no corpses have ever come out.”

“What the hell are you doing with my money!!”

Count Gerret Peliesse’s thick fist slammed down on the study desk.

The dirty-looking man standing in front didn’t even flinch at his bustling movement.

“If not me, who else would take on such a job? It’s as remote as a place of exile, far from the village, and the imperial dogs are watching with bloodshot eyes for anyone coming or going.”

The man replied in a grumbling tone.

Indeed, it was so.

Count Gerret Peliesse had sent people several times to try to meet and persuade Yuan personally.

But half of them were dragged away somewhere, and half fled, overwhelmed by the atmosphere.

As Count Gerret Peliesse’s momentum seemed to subside slightly, the man raised his voice.

“It’s not just anywhere, but the Black Mansion, rumored throughout Yufris to house a monster. Even for me, who kills people as easily as swatting flies if paid enough, it’s like an impregnable fortress. The people surrounding and watching it are not just one or two.”

The dirty man, the secret mercenary Giyotel, whispered with eyes brimming with subtle killing intent and mischief.

Although he had taken on all sorts of commissions throughout his life, from petty assassinations to investigations, he had never seen a place exuding such a strange aura as that black mansion in the northwest.

From the animals flying and crawling around with ominous eyes, to the men circling the iron fence as guards – all of them very similar to Giyotel’s own kind – in short, there were many well-built ruffians of questionable origins.

A target with many enemies is difficult to eliminate or investigate.

Giyotel eyed the golden pouch on the fat nobleman’s knee, weighing whether this job was worth risking his life.

Under the thickly fleshed hand, just enough gold to fatten his belly was asserting its clear presence in the velvet pouch. As he was licking his lips, a sharp gaze fell directly on him.

Count Gerret Peliesse hid the golden pouch from Giyotel’s wolf-like gaze and asked with a wary face.

“First, deliver the letter secretly into the hands of the servants, no matter what! If there’s any chance to meet that girl, tell her that her uncle really wants to see her. Say that her uncle knows the way to save her life.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to send the letter officially−”

“Just do as you’re told!”

The count shouted, pressing his temples.

Until now, in his urgency, he had sent a string of letters pretending to be from Yuan’s family, but no reply came.

However, if he carelessly sent letters every day and got his tail caught by that snake-like Viscount Kompani, it would be the end.

If by any chance, even a single line about Peliesse’s power was written in his letter or in Yuan’s potential reply, and if Viscount Kompani or someone else saw it?

Count Peliesse closed his oily eyes tightly and then opened them, feeling dizzy at the mere thought.