Chapter 39
Chapter 39
Receive blessings?
Me?
"The reason you shouldn't be unhappy and should be happy is because you're an impressive person."
"What do you mean?"
"If you get angry and wear yourself down, even a single sharp glance from you could become lightning to someone, or even hell."
"Ah."
Elysia could vaguely understand a little of what Cassian was talking about.
"On the other hand, if you become happy, even a simple compliment can make someone truly happy."
Someone came to mind.
Recently, the maid who had been accompanying her in the carriage had been blooming with smiles the entire time.
She was grateful, and the maid was incredibly lovely, but since she was coming to work, what on earth could make her so happy?
He told Elysia the reason.
Right. Perhaps it was only natural.
She had forgotten that obvious truth.
"I hope you'll properly understand the extent of your influence and your precious position, and start thinking from now on about how to manage stress wisely."
"I must have looked really stressed."
"Hmm. May I speak honestly?"
"Please do."
He opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Cassian opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally choosing his words.
"At this rate, I really feel like I might actually grab the Crown Prince by the hair. I didn't know the other party was His Highness the Crown Prince."
"Pfft."
"And that's not all. Lately in Intro to Herbal Studies, seeing someone who even has a fiancé still hanging around with a savage like me in front of everyone makes me wonder if this lady's sense of judgment is starting to break down a little."
"Ahaha."
It was too funny.
She wasn't trying to deny his words.
Maybe every one of those blunt remarks was true, but the feeling that welled up the moment she heard them wasn't annoyance—it was relief.
"So, make sure you manage your stress. Don't go hurting the wrong people for no reason. Me, for instance. Me, for instance. Me, for instance."
He was pretending to be selfish again.
That's right.
This man had figured everything out again today.
Just like at the banquet hall last time.
But how?
That day, he had blatantly shown the exact moment they argued.
But today, he shouldn't have given her any clue at all.
Clack, clack.
From far away, a carriage bearing the duke's crest was approaching.
Cassian turned his head.
"Is that the young lady's carriage?"
"......Yes."
"Then I'll be taking my leave. Please get home safely."
He didn't even look back as he tried to disappear into the darkness with his usual swaggering gait.
Elysia was about to get into the carriage amid the maid's commotion over how worried she'd been about her, but then she hesitated.
And then she realized.
"......So he wasn't going to escort me."
He had stayed there until the carriage arrived and she was safely under the coachman's protection.
Only then had he turned away.
Even while doing all sorts of things like ignoring noble etiquette for nothing more than inconvenience and belittling Farne's decorum.
A man who silently kept his place when it truly mattered.
"Truly......"
Elysia hugged the shopping bag tightly to her chest.
Cassian's retreating figure.
That broad back looked even broader and warmer than usual today.
"What a man, doing his best to pretend he doesn't care."
The smile lingering at her lips would not fade.
Today had turned that empty day into just what she'd wished for.
By being with Cassian del Farne, she hoped today would be remembered as a time spent with him.
It seemed that wish had come true.
* * *
Inside the carriage.
Elysia took a small lip balm out of the shopping bag and held it in her hand.
The smooth feel of it.
"Decency and boundaries, huh."
She muttered softly.
The line he had drawn was irritating, and yet the paradoxical relief it gave her was that it made her feel safe.
Elysia looked at her reflection in the carriage window and snickered.
Her makeup had smeared compared to when she left home, and her hair was tousled by the night wind, but.
Her eyes were shining with more life than ever.
Something.
I want to repay him.
'......A laboratory?'
Ah, right.
I had said he got a private laboratory, hadn't I?
An idea flashed through Elysia's mind.
"I did say I'd sweeten the reward, didn't I?"
Conveniently, she had an excuse too.
"What would be good as a gift?"
"Pardon? A gift?"
"Something like that."
At the cryptic words, the maid merely tilted her head.
Yet she could smile along with the calm smile of the one she served.
The carriage raced through the darkness toward the Rosenberg manor.
But before long, Elysia's heart had already turned and was racing toward a certain old laboratory at the academy.
* * *
That night, in the kitchen of the Farne manor.
A faint smoky aroma filled the air.
I hummed while deftly twirling the tongs in front of the grill.
"That's right, that's right. Life's all about meat."
Sizzle.
As the smoke chips burned down, they were infusing the jerky with a deep flavor.
Art? What's the big deal?
I'm literally crafting my investment and bribe for a comfortable retirement with my own hands—if this isn't art, what is?
Then it happened.
"Young Master."
A voice came from behind me.
Normally this would have been the moment when I'd get a back smack for "You're making a mess in the kitchen again!", but today the voice was dripping with honey.
I grinned and turned around.
"Oh, Aunt Marie. You're here?"
"My, Young Master, really. The fragrance is reaching all the way here."
Marie came over with a shy smile.
Her face was glowing, so that brown-bottle essence seemed to suit her.
"Wow, expensive stuff really is the best. Money is the best—it's thrilling."
I gave a thumbs-up.
"No matter how I look at it, the noble air is coming from our aunt, not me. You're looking incredibly youthful today."
"My, Young Master, really! If the master hears that, it'll be a big problem."
Marie waved her hands, but the corners of her mouth had already soared past her cheekbones.
It was capitalism therapy at its finest.
"Our young master is working so hard, taking care of hungry friends at school like this. How could I just sit around? Should I pack you a lunch box?"
"No, no. Those kids go crazy for jerky. They're simple sorts."
Hungry friends.
It was technically true.
The problem was that the intention in my heart was twisted in a very shameless way.
'Friends'?
Customers.
If Lily eats well and grows well, my 30 billion won will be deposited safely.
If this enormous fortune ever got exposed, the household would be turned upside down for sure.
If Father found out?
Hmm.
It absolutely had to stay strictly secret.
"There, all done."
Just as I was about to calmly fish out the jerky and let it cool.
"Young Master......"
"Aaah! You scared me!"
A heavy, low voice came from the kitchen entrance.
It was old man Alfred, who'd come in without my noticing.
I hastily readjusted the tongs I had almost dropped.
"Why? What now?"
"You'll need to go to the duke's study."
"......Now? At this hour?"
"Yes."
Oh.
What a relief.
Old man Alfred's expression wasn't all that serious.
"The eldest young master is here as well."
"......Huh?"
My brother?
My brother, Harun del Farne.
That workaholic who'd been pulling all-nighters at Information Division headquarters for months and couldn't even come home had come back?
"What is it? Did he seem really urgent?"
I want to finish grilling this and go.
"Yes. Though I don't know whether it's a serious matter or not, it seems the eldest young master is asking you to come quickly because he has to go back soon."
Good grief.
That workaholic maniac.
So it was a visit, not a homecoming.
"Aunt, keep an eye on the jerky for me. I'll be back."
* * *
Ugh.
Gross.
Why is the air so heavy?
It feels like gravity's acting differently in here.
Behind the mountain of paperwork stacked high, Father was flipping through documents without even looking at me.
And in front of the office desk, on the guest sofa, sat my brother and the family's pride, Harun del Farne, sitting ramrod straight.
"I finished my report, so I had you brought over. Sit down."
My brother's voice was calm, but the area under his eyes was hollow.
The rumor that he'd been working overtime at Information Division headquarters for months and couldn't even come home seems to be true.
That man might have coffee flowing through his veins instead of blood.
I awkwardly perched on the edge of the sofa.
I felt like a troublemaking elementary schooler summoned to the teacher's office.
Tap.
Father set down his pen.
That little sound felt like thunder.
"There's nothing wrong with your conduct lately, is there?"
The question is way too broad.
This is a trap.
A highly advanced psychological battle tactic: "If there's anything that stings, spill it yourself."
But today's me is confident.
I really hadn't done anything major.
I got a private laboratory, and a saintess came into it.
That's me being the victim, right?
I met Viscountess Müller.
The contract didn't hurt anyone, and meeting a professor isn't a crime, is it?
As I ran through it like that, I realized.
Ah, no. Come to think of it, I did.
There really hadn't been anything major, so I hadn't even noticed.
I just went on a nighttime date with the Crown Prince's fiancée... no, a stroll?
Hiss.
Had the jerky smoke hit my brain too?
I had really been so innocent that I hadn't even thought of it at all, damn it.
As I broke into a cold sweat and darted my eyes around, my brother quietly backed me up.
"Father. Still, wouldn't it be better to praise what's good as good? There were some rather unsavory incidents right after he came to the capital, but after that he earned the professors' trust and took responsibility on his own, did he not? Cassian is an adult now."
Oh, my brother.
As expected of an educated man.
At my brother's defense, Father silently stroked his chin.
But sorry, brother.
The truth is, what I did makes that cover story meaningless.
Sigh.
I had to say it.
I never hide major wrongdoing from Father.
I took one deep breath and dropped the bomb.
"Other than that, I don't know...... lately I've gotten a little close with Lady Elysia."
"......If you're talking about the young lady, the one from Rosenberg?"
Father's eyebrows twitched.
"Yes. Well, it's a relationship where she looks at me like I'm watching a circus monkey on display."
"What kind of vulgar metaphor is 'circus monkey'?"
My brother frowned and pointed that out.
"And you're acquainted with the young lady? You?"
"It wasn't my choice; the professor put us together on his own. It was a farming class, so we were just partners."
My brother frowned slightly and warned me.
"On his own? Watch your words."
"Ah, okay. The professor himself assigned us. Anyway, we just got our hands dirty together."
That part could be true.
It was an academy class, after all. It was mandatory.
But Father was asking about what lay beyond that.
"Outside of class?"
Of course. I couldn't dodge that.
"I happened to run into her today, too."
"By chance?"
"On my way out after seeing Professor Müller, someone used concealment magic and was peeking at me, so I checked it out and it turned out to be Lady Elysia."
"......"
The temperature in the study dropped below freezing.