“Th-throw away? Who’s throwing away whom?”
Though my conscience stung a bit, I boldly pretended not to know.
“And I don’t know who your master is, but I’m just an apothecary. A very, very ordinary apothecary.”
“An ordinary apothecary……”
He pondered my words for a while, then looked at me straight and asked.
“Is that what you want?”
“Pardon…?”
As I blinked at the incomprehensible question.
“Then let’s do that.”
He suddenly smiled, his eyes curving gently.
‘Gasp!’
My face suddenly flushed hot.
‘Wh-what? Why is he smiling like that?’
Was Cail Aleret originally a man who smiled so seductively?
Cail Aleret had always been the epitome of a knight in front of me. No matter what was said, he always responded with ‘Yes’ or ‘As my lord wishes’.
Seeing him smile like that strangely tickled my heart.
Especially his reddened eyes, perhaps from crying earlier, kept giving me a peculiar feeling…
‘Oh, what am I thinking now? Shoo, shoo!’
I shook my head to drive away the ticklish and strange feelings.
“I’ll escort you back.”
“That’s not necessary. I’m just an ordinary apothecary, why would you need to escort me?”
“Because the night streets are dangerous.”
You’re the most dangerous one to me, you know?
Swallowing the words I couldn’t bring myself to say out loud, I was contemplating how to escape.
“Sister! I’ve confirmed the Count’s daughter’s safe return…”
“Felitz! Come here quickly!”
At just the right moment, the oblivious Felitz appeared.
In an instant, I broke free from Cail’s embrace and clung tightly to Felitz’s arm, exclaiming,
“I’ll go with him, so you don’t need to take me!”
“Wh-why, Sister?”
The bewildered Felitz blinked his eyes.
“Shut up, just stay still.”
This clueless guy.
I jabbed Felitz’s side with my elbow. He yelped in pain.
Cail, who had been silently watching, asked in a puzzled voice.
“…Who is this man?”
“He’s someone who lives with me.”
“No, since when have I been living with you, Sister……”
“Didn’t you recently move your stuff into the room next to mine? Your room is only five steps away from mine, that’s basically living together.”
“No, that’s……”
“And didn’t you once say not to leave your side? Not to abandon you? You said you’d follow only me for life, and now you’re changing your words?”
“Well, that’s true, but……”
Felitz kept starting with “No, that’s…” but couldn’t properly refute my words and trailed off.
And as our conversation continued, Cail’s expression grew increasingly rigid.
“Anyway, you don’t need to take me. I’ll be going now. Goodbye, be happy!”
I quickly finished speaking and hurried away with Felitz.
***
Left alone, Cail blankly stared at the spot where Jella had departed.
“She… had a man……”
The afterimage of her leaving arm in arm with that man kept flickering before his eyes.
And how about that man’s familiar way of calling her ‘Sister’? To him, she had always been the unreachable ‘Your Majesty’.
[Oh my, what to do. Jella had a man!]
The black dragon snickered teasingly beside him.
So, the one he should have been wary of wasn’t Niel Alpenhayer, nor Yupheon Arne…
But that rough-looking man who just now claimed to have a lifelong promise from her.
‘Right, if she’s happy……’
The her he had just seen looked much more carefree and healthier than when he last saw her.
The reason for his existence was for her happiness, so he should rightfully accept her man…
‘But.’
Cail clenched his fist and bit his lip hard.
“She abandoned me like that, yet promised not to abandon that man?”
Suddenly, his expression flickered dangerously, and an eerie energy swirled in his blue eyes.
“How could that be.”
[Hey, hey, hey, you’re acting a bit strange now. You look like you’re about to kill someone.]
“How hard I tried to receive your affection……”
[Eek, I-I-I should go watch the festival!]
With a chilling gaze that even made the teasing black dragon flee, he glared at the same spot for a long time.
“I… I can do well too… Receiving your affection……”
Cail Aleret muttered gloomily.
***
The next day, the underworld was in a slightly excited mood after successfully completing their first request.
“Let’s put an ad in the newspaper for promotion.”
“Don’t forget to ask the client for a review.”
“To think the day would come when we earn money doing good deeds?”
However, amidst the bustling atmosphere, I alone felt uneasy.
Why were so many things happening in just a few days?
Yesterday, my mind went blank the moment I saw Cail, but I also needed to investigate that suspicious cult.
‘Anyway, I need to check. Whether it’s really related to Yuria. If it is, how exactly it’s related.’
After lunch, I headed to the square with a flower basket in hand.
It was to find Young Lord Amets.
While following him yesterday, I obtained information that he would pass by this area today.
Just then, Young Lord Amets passing by in the distance caught my eye.
I approached him, taking out a flower.
“Would you like to buy a flower?”
“Ah……”
As I suddenly held out a flower and asked, Young Lord Amets, meeting my eyes, wore a blank expression for a moment.
‘Heh, good. I’ll pretend to sell flowers and lure him to the back alley, then give him a good beating.’
Hiding my malicious intentions, I imitated a fragile voice.
“It’s just 20 shillings for one, but if you buy the whole basket, it’s 2 gold.”
“Ahem, ahem. I’ll take the whole basket then.”
Young Lord Amets, his face slightly flushed, cleared his throat and held out 5 gold.
“Thank y… Oh my, what should I do! I need to give you a change! I must have left it at home!”
“The change is not necessary……”
“That won’t do!”
I grabbed Young Lord Amets’ arm and pulled him in the opposite direction.
“My house is in that alley. I’ll give you your change right away, so would you come with me?”
“Ah, to your home, together……”
Young Lord Amets hesitated for a moment, then grasped my shoulder and smiled.
“Let’s do that.”
It felt strangely sticky, and I was thinking I should quickly take him to the alley and give him a good thrashing, when.
“You’ve changed men already.”
A cold voice stopped me.
“Yesterday…… Yesterday you had another man by your side who you said you’d be with for life.”
Cail, who had appeared out of nowhere, glared coldly at me, at Young Lord Amets, and then at his hand on my shoulder.
“Who……”
Young Lord Amets asked in confusion, but Cail ignored him and muttered.
“You said you’d be with that man for life, and today you’re with a new man……”
It seems he had seen everything as I approached Young Lord Amets.
No, but what’s this about changing men? What kind of expression is that?
I was just trying to lead a customer to the back alley as an innocent flower seller.
“If you change men so easily.”
Cail asked me with a face like a drenched puppy.
“Why not me?”
Wh-what on earth is he saying?
Suddenly panicked, I quickly waved both hands and made excuses.
“Change? That’s unfair! I’m not such a promiscuous person!”
However, Young Lord Amets was already looking at me as if I were a strange person.
“I can do well too.”
“Wh-what can you do well?”
“Receiving your affection.”
Not stopping there, Cail continued boldly, his words cutting in like a wedge.
“Um…… I’m sorry. It seems you two have things to discuss, so I’ll take my leave……”
At this moment, Young Lord Amets, who had been watching the situation carefully, slowly distanced himself from me and then quickly ran away.
“No……”
In the end, because of Cail’s interference, I lost Young Lord Amets!
“I almost had him……”
I looked at Young Lord Amets’ retreating figure with a dejected face.
Turning to the side in anger, I saw Cail smiling with satisfaction and enjoying himself.
However, the moment our eyes met, he immediately put on a gloomy expression.
“I’m sorry. I’ve already been abandoned by you. I was so envious of those you’ve chosen. Before I knew it……”
Seeing him so downcast, I somehow couldn’t say anything more.
“Sigh…… It’s alright.”
I let out a deep sigh.
“And what do you mean abandoned? We just met yesterday, you know.”
“……Yes, that’s right.”
It seemed like approaching Young Lord Amets was already ruined.
‘I need to confirm if it’s really related to Yuria.’
But there was still a chance left.
‘Young Lord Amets is supposed to have a date with Emily tomorrow. I’ll have to aim for that time.’
As I was turning this over in my mind.
“Since it’s come to this, I’ll take responsibility for today.”
“Take responsibility? For what?”
“Weren’t you planning to spend the day with that man just now?”
No, I wasn’t? I was just going to take him to the back alley and give him a good beating.
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midori
thanks! this is one of the novels i look forward to getting updated the most! cail interfering is so funny! i’m 88.4% sure he’s the male lead, rofl