As if to prove her words true, Ruby lightly climbed onto Florencia’s lap and sat down. In the brief silence that followed, only the cat’s contented purring could be heard. Now that he looked, the cat food and small water bowl scattered around her finally caught his eye.

“Were you scared, Ruby? You hid because you were startled, but it’s okay now.”

……So it really wasn’t about me.

In recent years, he had often embarrassed others, but this was the first time he himself had been in such an embarrassing situation. Cassian remained standing under the large tree, bewilderedly watching as Ruby demonstratively ate a sausage with relish.

* * *

Cassian von Esteban was a cold and arrogant boy. He couldn’t easily open up about his true feelings even to close friends. So no one knew what his real inner self was like or what thoughts ran through the mind of this 19-year-old boy who seemed to have everything yet appeared somehow deeply twisted, but that was the general opinion of him.

He preferred to be alone whenever possible and coldly pushed away people who tried to cross the boundaries he had drawn, never letting them get close. People who wondered why such a handsome boy from a noble, prestigious marquis family behaved that way would all adopt understanding expressions after learning about his upbringing.

Marchioness Esteban died within days of Cassian’s difficult birth, so he had no memory of his mother at all. Though it had been a political marriage, the marquis had deeply loved his wife and blamed her death on the child. He never showed affection for his young son. He had never even held him once and often looked at him with cold eyes whenever they happened to meet. Perhaps he even hated him terribly.

Though he was the marquis’s only legitimate heir and the spitting image of his father’s exceptional looks, to his father he was worse than an enemy. From childhood, he had lived in a separate building in the garden, raised by servants. This was because the marquis didn’t want to see his son, who reminded him of his deceased wife.

The marquis, still young, took a mistress while longing for his departed wife. She was a maid his late wife had brought from her family home. Though her lowly status prevented her from remarrying the marquis, the mistress gave birth to adorable twin siblings. They were Cassian’s half-siblings, with quite an age difference. Unlike his coldness toward Cassian, the father loved those children immensely.

Regardless of his father’s love, Cassian was the rightful heir to the marquis family and needed a proper education. As a child who desperately yearned for just one word of praise or a warm look from his father, he studied through the night and practiced swordsmanship until his body was covered in bruises. But nothing changed.

One day, returning from training, he happened to encounter his father. The swordsmanship instructor beside him couldn’t stop praising Cassian’s exceptional skill for his age and how hard he was working. Cassian said nothing, but his face flushed slightly with hopeful expectation. However, his father merely shot him a cold look with the same expressionless face as always and walked past. It was a moment when even that thread of hope disappeared.

“Since he’s a cursed seed who killed his mother from the womb, I suppose he’s naturally vicious.”

The words the marquis threw out as he walked past stabbed like a sharp dagger into Cassian’s heart.

“Dad!”

Just then, the young twins, spotting the marquis from afar, came running and threw themselves into his arms. For Cassian, it was a scene he couldn’t have imagined even in his dreams.

“Oh, my cute Ronel, Roa! Have you been playing well while Father was away?”

His father was a completely different person from when he dealt with Cassian. Far from scolding the ill-mannered twins, he lovingly picked them up and headed home. The young boy’s face, deeply bowed in unbearable humiliation, turned as red as his eyes and hair.

Soon after, Cassian’s 15th birthday arrived. It was also a few days before the anniversary of his mother’s death. Perhaps finding it painful to remember his deceased wife each year, his father left on a trip around that time annually. As always, there was no birthday party or congratulations. He planned to spend a quiet, ordinary day alone as usual.

He heard his father had left for a nearby resort with his mistress and the twins. Still, he felt nothing. He didn’t even feel disappointed.

The unexpected accident happened on their way back from the trip. A faulty wheel suddenly came off, causing the carriage to roll down a hill, and none of the passengers survived.

Cassian listened to the news of the accident delivered by his father’s proxy with an impassive face. Even though it was his biological father and half-siblings who shared his blood, strangely, not a single tear fell. Perhaps, as his father had said, he was a cursed being who had harmed his mother from birth, devoid of blood or tears.

The fifteen-year-old boy who succeeded his father to become Marquis Esteban never cried once during the funeral, but in truth, his heart was deeply saddened.

* * *

“Ruby, let’s eat. I brought fish today.”

Cassian, lying under the tree with his eyes closed, slightly turned his head to look toward the sound. The kitten, which had been nowhere to be seen when Cassian was alone, came running out meowing as soon as she arrived and was now getting fed. Florencia acted as if Cassian didn’t exist, but when their eyes met, she reluctantly gave a barely perceptible nod.

‘I should apologize for the misunderstanding……’

He tried to catch her eye several more times, pretending it was coincidental, but she didn’t look back.

‘If our eyes meet again, she might misunderstand like last time and get angry.’

Nearly two weeks after their first encounter in the abandoned garden, they were sharing the space in an awkward state, each harboring different thoughts. Since they never exchanged a single word despite being together, Cassian still hadn’t apologized for their first meeting.

‘She always stops by during the break after morning classes, and even on the two days a week when there are no afternoon classes, she just feeds the cat and leaves in a hurry. Does she have something urgent to attend to?’

Ugh, this makes it seem like I’m paying too much attention!

I should have acknowledged the misunderstanding like a man and apologized, but I missed the chance and now it feels uncomfortable.

This was how Cassian subjectively interpreted his increasing preoccupation with Florencia.

He naturally had a twisted personality that made him extremely averse to being alone with someone in the same space. But perhaps because there was no pressure to make awkward conversation or maintain formalities despite sharing the space? Cassian gradually grew accustomed to her presence.

During this time, an unspoken boundary naturally formed between them. Usually when Cassian arrived first, he would climb up the large tree in the garden, while Florencia gathered soft fallen leaves under the tree and sat on them. Conversely, when Florencia was there first, Cassian would go around to the opposite side of the tree and lie down.

Occasionally, when a cool breeze would blow over the wall into the abandoned garden, he felt as if the girl’s flowery scent mixed with the smell of grass was carried to him.

Florencia was by no means an overwhelmingly gorgeous beauty, but she had a wildflower-like charm that made him keep looking back. Whenever he stole glances at her silver hair tied with a pretty ribbon swaying lovingly with her movements, Cassian thought that if she were reborn as a flower, she would be a very small, cute violet.

Finally, after three weeks had passed, Cassian still hadn’t apologized, and he couldn’t deny that he was developing a curiosity about her.

* * *

Cassian lifted the book covering his face and stared intently at the small hole under the half-collapsed wall. It was already the sixth time. He had waited all morning, but the bushes covering the wall showed not even the slightest movement.

‘Why isn’t she coming today?’

Argh! Feeling annoyed for no reason, Cassian tossed aside the book and sat up abruptly. He had brought any random book and had been reading for quite a while, but somehow the pages hadn’t turned much, and he couldn’t remember anything about the content.

‘Did she go home because it’s a holiday?’

But even on holidays, Academy students often remained in the dormitories. Besides, just because it was a day off didn’t mean the cat wouldn’t eat, so she should definitely come at least once today, which seemed strange.

Grumble, suddenly a sound came from his stomach, and Cassian blushed even though he was alone.

‘This is unbecoming of the head of a marquis family.’

He slightly regretted not listening to the butler who had followed him early in the morning, urging him to eat before leaving the mansion.

‘I was worried she might come and go while I was late.’

Just then, a small rustling sound came from somewhere. Cassian perked up his ears sensitively and quickly covered his face with the book again, pretending to be asleep. However, even after a long while, there was no sound of someone struggling to crawl through the hole in the wall or a heavy exhale from the effort.

‘Was it just the wind?’