The Beast Who Has Returned Obsesses Over Me - Chapter 10

The Count’s mansion had been bustling since the afternoon. They began cleaning the interior of the mansion and the garden, which had become eerie with dead trees tangled together.

A while ago, she cautiously asked Leon, who was having lunch in bed. At least he was less intimidating when he was eating. She felt less tense as he was focused on the food, not her. Now was the chance to bring it up.

“Can I give the new employees other tasks?”

It wasn’t even a difficult question, but Leon looked at her as if he didn’t understand. She immediately cowered.

“As you know, the inside and outside of the mansion is a mess, so we need to clean up first……”

“Why are you asking me that?”

His voice sounded somewhat cold as he asked again. He seemed indifferent, or rather, annoyed.

“Well……they’re employees you paid for, so I was wondering if it was okay to give them other tasks……”

“Yvonne.”

Leon cut off her rambling explanation and called her in a stern voice.

“Who was the one who ran this mansion?”

“Well……me.”

“Then do whatever you want. Why are you even asking me about such things?”

His voice was laced with annoyance. Indeed, he had always turned his back on such matters, finding them bothersome.

“Make sure I’m comfortable as a top priority. Just make sure of that, and take care of the rest.”

Right. As long as he was comfortable, he wouldn’t say a word about anything else. He was telling her to take care of it because even this conversation was annoying.

Then it was even better. Yvonne’s steps as she turned around became lighter.

Just watching the Count’s mansion gradually shedding its disarray and becoming neat and tidy filled her with a sense of accomplishment. The most beautiful time for this place was when her mother was alive. After that, her father squandered all their wealth, reducing them to nobles worse off than commoners who made their living from trade.

In the distance, the servants were chopping down the trees they had pulled out from the garden and stacking them neatly against the kitchen wall to use as firewood. Seeing the mansion bustling with employees reminded her of its heyday. Naturally, thoughts of her mother came to her mind, bringing a lump to her throat.

Yes. She would overcome it all.

She had to make sure to feed the hardworking employees plenty of bread during their break. They would be busy baking in the kitchen right now.

A while later, one of the servants rushed into Leon’s room. It seemed he had pulled the cord to summon him. She had told them that they could use it to call for someone from now on.

However, the servant who came back out approached Yvonne, who was supervising everything.

“The Young Master says he’s tired of the stew and wants something else.”

What? There was still plenty left in the iron pot. He had eaten it all up deliciously at lunchtime, so what kind of whim was he having now?

Yvonne was already swamped with things to do, and she resented Leon for making her go back in.

Leon was sitting in a chair, looking out the window. Outside, he could see the servants moving about busily. To Yvonne, the sight of them sweating and working diligently would have been heartwarming. But to Leon, it would not have been a pleasant sight. He had nothing to see, so she wondered what he was looking at.

“Throw it away.”

She asked if it didn’t taste good since there was so much left, but Leon simply said those words firmly and lowered his gaze to the book he was holding. She wondered how bored he was to be reading a book. Of course, there were many books in his study. She wasn’t even curious about what book he was reading. It was more likely that he was just holding it open.

If this kept up, they would have to spend more on groceries. It couldn’t be helped. She would have to make less next time. Nora did tend to have a heavy hand.

Yvonne ran to the kitchen and relayed the message to Nora. But Nora’s eyes sparkled.

“That’s great, Miss. If we make this thinner and share it amongst ourselves, it’ll be just right.”

Really? Then it worked out well. They could have a filling meat stew instead of just bread.

During their break, the employees gathered around the table, wiping away their sweat, and cheered at the sight of the stew. They were all so happy to have some grease in their stomachs after a long time. The people living in the Count’s territory were always poor. It was mostly their fault for not managing things well.

Yvonne felt a pang of sympathy and quickly left the kitchen, telling them to eat comfortably.

Leon might not know it, but this time, his whim had been very useful. Emil was right. Today turned out to be a better day.

***

The Count’s mansion was bustling until late in the afternoon. Just then, a carriage passed through the main gate and approached the mansion. It was still the middle of a busy time.

Curious, Yvonne went out to see what was happening and found that it was the Duke’s carriage. As soon as the carriage stopped, the servants who got off began unloading several flower baskets. Yvonne knew immediately what this meant. It was proof that flower baskets from women were still arriving at the Duke’s mansion. As she approached, she saw only women’s names written on the notes attached to the flower baskets.

The names were… Amelia, Natalia, Olivia.

The names were…… What a unique taste. Was he meeting women based on a selection of his preferred names? The fact that they had sent these flower baskets so quickly meant that they were waiting to see him again. She was curious to see what he, who had changed, would do. She wondered if he would act like the Leon who had come back and spoken differently to her, the one who would argue that she was the problem, not him.

Just then, for some reason, a servant was pushing Leon’s chair and coming outside. Maybe he was going for a walk because he was so bored. But as soon as he saw the carriage and the flower baskets, Leon’s face contorted into a fearsome scowl.

“Take it all away. Get out of here right now.”

His voice was so loud that all the servants working in the garden turned their heads in unison. The servants from the Duke’s mansion froze at his roar, their movements halting.

“Are you not going to get lost?”

At the sound of his vicious roar, the Duke’s servants hurriedly reloaded the flower baskets, sweating profusely. Then, they drove the carriage away as if fleeing.

“Tell the gatekeeper. From now on, no one from the Duke’s mansion is allowed to enter without the permission of the master of the countdom, no matter who it is. If they ever catch my eye again, I will punish them severely.”

Uh… why my permission?

Yvonne blinked rapidly as he suddenly mentioned her.

One of the servants, following his orders, began running towards the main gate.

Even if they called it the main gate, it was nothing but shabby, with some parts broken and dilapidated. It was still the main gate, but they couldn’t even afford to fix it.

Leon had made it impossible for the servants to even bring in such flower baskets. It was because the senders were women. The flowers were innocent……

“Yvonne.”

He pushed his chair and approached her. But… the look in his eyes was strange. It was a look she had never seen before. Could it be… why was he looking at her with an apologetic gaze? She must have been mistaken.

“I apologize for upsetting you.”

Huh……? She wasn’t mistaken. He was… apologizing to her? With such an apologetic look? She was simply dumbfounded.

He was the cold-hearted man who had never apologized, not even a hint of remorse in his eyes, even when he had hit her countless times. But… she didn’t know what to make of this.

“This won’t happen again, so I hope you can forgive me.”

It wasn’t even a matter of forgiving him. She was just baffled by his continued behavior.

She simply nodded, her eyes still adjusting to the unexpected situation. She couldn’t quite trust Leon, who was calling for a servant as if nothing had happened.

Yvonne watched blankly as the servant pulled the chair and headed for the garden, still unable to collect herself. It was that much of a shock.

Why… did he apologize for something like this?

She really wanted to see what was going on inside his head.

Still dazed, she began to look around the mansion again. She snuck a peek through the window at Leon, resting in an empty spot in the garden.

He apologized. She still couldn’t believe it, even after some time had passed.

In the past, she had been severely punished for asking about other women, and recently, he had even gotten angry at her for asking if she was aware of her position as his fiancée, and now he was apologizing. So he was capable of apologizing.

Still, she could have used those flower baskets to decorate the clean Count’s mansion, which was a shame.

But for some reason, she felt… good. Not bad.

A faint smile began to form on her lips.

***