Obsession Beyond the Wall of Courtesy - Chapter 94

“You sent people to Kellabird at dawn to take care of it. You worked a lot.”
“I already said thank you.”

I couldn’t bring myself to look at Cedric. His deep gaze stayed on me for a moment, then his low voice spoke.
“Aren’t you going to look me in the eyes?”

Cedric cupped my cheek with one hand. Half of my face was covered by his warm hand. Without thinking, I lifted my eyes, and Cedric looked at me with a smile. It was strange to see him happy just because I said thank you. When I looked away, his voice whispered near my ear.
“The words ‘thank you.’”
“……”
“Can you say it one more time?”

Feeling his persistent gaze, I had no choice but to speak.
“Thank you.”

Cedric smiled unlike usual and kissed my cheek. Surprised, I raised my head, and he quickly pressed his lips to mine as if to swallow me whole. I felt breathless and turned my head slightly, but Cedric grabbed the back of my head and deepened the kiss with his tongue.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and voices came from outside.
“Master, an official document arrived from the Uplin mine. Also, there is a nobles’ meeting at the palace today.”

Cedric frowned slightly and parted his lips. His warm breath still brushed my skin, making my heart beat fast. He chuckled softly, kissed my cheek again, and stood up.
“See you tonight.”

His tone was gentle. For a moment, I followed his back as he left. Cedric looked neat without a single hair out of place. The door closed, but his strong scent lingered in the air.

At lunchtime, an unexpected guest arrived.
“Herder came?”

I couldn’t believe it and asked, but the maid nodded as if confirming I hadn’t heard wrong. I laughed bitterly in disbelief.

Until now, there had been no news of Herder. I didn’t even know about Batis. Cedric hadn’t mentioned it, and I wasn’t curious either. Besides, Herder and the maid had given me some of my worst memories. I still clearly remembered the humiliations with the maid.

“Why did she come?”

Why would she come all the way here? Even if we saw each other, it wouldn’t be a pleasant meeting. No good words would be exchanged. The maid tilted her head, hesitated, then said,
“She said she has something important to say to you. And it seems she brought a child with her.”

If it was a child, it must be the one she was pregnant with back then. I didn’t want to see them, so I was about to refuse. Then the maid handed me a small box and said,
“And this is something Herder wanted to give you.”

It was a small black box. I hesitated to touch it because I had almost seen my younger brother’s severed finger before. The maid seemed to notice and quickly added,
“I checked it. It’s a brooch shaped like a yellow daffodil.”

Feeling a little calmer, I opened the box. As the maid said, it was a yellow daffodil, but the gem work was very fancy and clearly expensive. I looked at the brooch for a moment, then handed it back to the maid.
“Tell her I don’t want to accept this. And show her to the parlor. I’ll meet her.”

The maid bowed politely and went ahead. The yellow daffodil was a flower given in this empire as a sign of apology. I wondered if she really wanted to apologize or had another reason.

I left the room and slowly entered the parlor. Herder was already sitting in a chair. She looked simpler than before, and I thought maybe that was the fashion of the great noble family she talked about.

Herder looked up and saw me. She smiled awkwardly and stood up.

I couldn’t just keep staring, so I approached her. Unlike before, she watched me carefully and said,
“Revril, have you been well?”

I had no words to answer, so I just nodded. At that moment, a little girl next to Herder looked at me with shining eyes. When our eyes met, Herder quickly grabbed the girl’s shoulder and introduced her.
“This is Yurjen. She’s five years old now.”

I stared quietly. Herder held Yurjen’s shoulder and said,
“Yurjen, say hello. She is the Duchess of Jedburgh.”

I was surprised by the title “Duchess of Jedburgh” and looked at Herder. She secretly wanted Batis to be the head of the Jedburgh family. That’s why she hadn’t mentioned such a title to me before.

Yurjen bowed shyly and greeted me. I relaxed and accepted her greeting, and Yurjen smiled brightly, leaning on Herder’s side.

I remembered what Cedric’s mother said. Families like Herder’s were very good at teaching manners. But looking at Yurjen’s greeting, I didn’t think she was especially well taught. She just seemed like a shy child saying hello.

Then Herder spoke carefully.
“Revril, I’m sorry for coming so suddenly.”

Her voice was soft, unlike her usual proud tone as a great noble’s daughter. I looked at her curiously, and she quickly added,
“I hope you’ll accept the brooch. It’s the only thing I have left.”

Herder watched me too much. It was unlike her, so I asked,
“Is something wrong?”

Herder bit her lip as if about to cry, then slowly looked at me.
“Revril, please help me.”

Help? I frowned at the unexpected words, and Herder hurriedly continued,
“Batis is in prison. If the Duke of Jedburgh intervened, it might be okay… but…”
“Batis is Cedric’s older brother.”
“Batis is involved in a case with the Crown Prince. Since the Crown Prince is involved, the Duke of Jedburgh won’t help at all, and Batis is in prison now, so there’s no way. Also, all the property of our family will be seized soon, so I don’t know how to live…”

Herder’s family was a famous noble house. It was strange that her family’s property was about to be seized overnight. And Batis was Cedric’s real older brother. No matter how bad their relationship was, I couldn’t understand why it went this far.

“What kind of case is it?”

Herder hesitated a moment, then said,
“Batis used the Crown Prince’s dark magic for a long time. He got addicted and almost put the Duke of Jedburgh in danger…”

Herder took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes. Seeing her situation made me feel bad, but I was also a little annoyed she hadn’t contacted me before and now came asking for help.

Then Herder neatly folded the handkerchief and placed it on the table.
“The Duke of Jedburgh knew everything but covered it up. Anyway, Batis stopped seeing the Crown Prince and stayed quiet.”

“Then why suddenly now…?”

Before I could finish, Herder said,
“Batis went to prison right after you returned.”

I didn’t understand. When I looked at her strangely, Herder sighed quietly.
“It’s all my fault.”

“What do you mean?”

Herder looked away, her face serious.
“The Duke of Jedburgh searched for everyone who worked at your mother’s house. Some of them told him everything you and my mother did to you.”
“……”
“And a week ago, the Duke of Jedburgh came to see me. He asked me about how my mother and I treated you badly.”

I had no words. I didn’t know because Cedric never said.

When I stayed silent, Herder said,
“The Duke of Jedburgh seems to know everything already. He even seems to know almost everything about what happened with Selena.”

I remembered the time Cedric suddenly treated me well. Maybe he was using Vincent to stop me from leaving.

Then a sniffle came quietly.
“Sorry, Revril.”

Herder looked at me with tears.
“I’m sorry for ignoring you all this time. Honestly, I was jealous. When I married Batis, I thought I would become the Duchess. But since you, who had bad rumors in the social circle, became the Duchess, I think I lost my mind.”

Yurjen held Herder’s arm with a serious face. It looked like Yurjen didn’t like the scene, so I called the maid.
“Could you take care of Yurjen for a while?”

The maid tried to take Yurjen’s hand, but Yurjen pulled away and held onto Herder’s arm. Herder wiped her tears and hurriedly said,
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to show you this side of me.”

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