Chapter 10 —
At the sharp remark, Yuel blankly looked at Seria. His face, always soft and gentle, froze at once, as if utterly taken aback.
“Are you going to pity me like everyone else and keep me from doing anything?”
“Why… why would you think that?”
Truly clueless, Yuel asked again, his voice strained.
Seria bit her lower lip hard before turning her head away and asking, her voice shrinking even more.
“Did you also… think I was weird?”
She’d spoken bravely, but she didn’t have the courage to listen to whatever might come after. Seria squeezed her eyes shut tight before opening them again.
Everyone she’d met, however briefly, had disliked her. Then what about Yuel, who had stayed by her side the longest?
Maybe he was only being kind and hiding the truth. Maybe he’d actually grown tired of her. Maybe she’d been a burden all along.
Of course, Seria knew he wasn’t like that.
She knew… and yet…
Right now, with her heart weakened, the doubts clawing inside her couldn’t be stopped.
“……”
Countless questions drifted through Seria’s mind—yet Yuel said nothing.
He seemed to be pondering what to say, carefully choosing his words. His small face showed how deep in thought he was.
Seeing that, Seria fell silent too. She also vaguely understood something.
Yuel—the boy who always yelled and tried to run away—was also serious and considerate. Just like he was now.
“That’s not it.”
And Seria liked that about him.
When he spoke in that earnest way, she could feel his sincerity.
And she didn’t have to torment herself with strange misunderstandings anymore.
“We’re friends.”
“!”
“Because we’re friends… I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Friends.
That simple word made Seria’s throat tighten violently.
It felt like she would burst into tears at any moment. Even when punched, even when insulted, she had never cried—yet now…
His matter-of-fact tone made her eyes sting. Made her heart ache.
But Seria didn’t want to show him her tears. She clamped her lower lip over her upper and tried her best to blink them away.
Her effort was futile. Tears welled up anyway. She scrubbed at her eyes roughly with the back of her hand and confessed.
“I like you, Yuel.”
She liked him—truly.
The more time she spent with him, the more she liked him. And when she couldn’t see him, she still liked him, because he felt precious.
Sometimes… it even scared her.
“I hate kids who smile in front of me and whisper behind my back. They’re not friends.”
Yuel didn’t add any comments, but he listened calmly, attentively.
It felt as if he were silently saying: You’re right, Seria.
“I don’t need the others.”
Through this incident, Seria understood it clearly.
“I just need you.”
Maybe things would change someday. But for now, the only person who stood beside her was Yuel, and that was enough. Truly enough.
“You always say you don’t like me, but…”
But you think about me more than anyone else.
Normally she would’ve said it without hesitation—but the words caught in her throat.
Suddenly a tingling, ticklish shock spread through her chest.
Her toes curled on their own, her heart thumped wildly, and she felt a strange sensation she’d never known before.
Seria’s eyes widened. If she’d had cat ears, they would’ve shot straight up.
The unfamiliar feeling made her swallow her words. Her throat was too tight to speak.
…Friends.
Only then did Seria understand what a friend truly was.
Not a toy? No—nothing like that. Playing together and wanting to be near each other might be similar, but a toy could never be a friend.
A friend…
A friend was—
Someone like Yuel Ricard.
Yes, someone like Yuel…
“Seria?”
When she hesitated too long, Yuel tilted his head and called her.
That soft call made Seria lower her head again. The more she liked him, the more she understood something else:
Yuel couldn’t stay by her side forever.
She couldn’t monopolize him just because she wanted to. She couldn’t see him whenever she wanted.
Because Yuel wasn’t a toy—he was a friend.
And so the more she liked him, the more afraid she sometimes became.
That this boy…
This brat…
Her friend…
Yuel…
Might one day leave her.
“Yuel, you’ll stay my friend… right?”
Seria lifted her head slightly and reached out, lightly grasping his sleeve.
Her trembling fingers, her fragile expression—it all looked so vulnerable and pleading that Yuel gently pulled his arm back, shaking off her hand.
Seria flinched as her grip slipped away—
But the very next moment, Yuel reached out and took her hand firmly.
Then, covering her hand with his other, as if swearing an oath, he answered with solemnity—yet with a tone that made it sound obvious.
“I’ll stay by your side as long as you want.”
It wasn’t vague. It wasn’t uncertain. It was solid reassurance.
Seria, who had been anxiously waiting for his answer, felt a shiver start from her chest and ripple all the way to her toes.
His certainty shook her far more than she had expected.
Something inside her cracked—trembled.
Otherwise… why would her heart be beating so wildly…?
“Do you not believe me?”
Seria, who had been fidgeting nervously, looked up at Yuel’s slumped shoulders. He stared back at her with anxious eyes.
He was so firm a moment ago…
And now he looked like he might cry.
“No.”
Seria stared at him for a moment—and suddenly burst into laughter.
What if Yuel hated her?
She’d been seriously worried about that just minutes ago.
Now it felt ridiculous.
“It’s just… you’re being you.”
There was nothing to worry about. Yuel was still Yuel—
The Yuel she liked.
* * *
“Always stay with you”—
Yuel kept that promise.
He no longer ran away and instead stuck to Seria like glue.
And he no longer said things like “I don’t like you” either.
In fact, he’d started acting kind—so kind that Seria, embarrassed, was the one who ended up running away.
A few days later, when Seria returned home, she was tormented by her family.
“O-our Riri…! Riri’s face…!”
“It breaks my heart just seeing a mark from a pillow—how could this happen?!”
“I won’t let them get away with this.”
Garri had already sent a letter home explaining that Seria had been hurt, but that didn’t prepare the family for seeing her in person.
The moment her brothers saw her face, they all clapped their hands over their mouths as if on cue, horrified.
Seria felt more embarrassed than anything.
“Don’t exaggerate, brothers.”
“How can we not?!”
Seria barely held back a sigh.
Her face was still a bit bruised, but the swelling had mostly gone down, and there would be no scar.
Yet they were making this much fuss—she couldn’t imagine how they would’ve reacted if they’d seen her right after she was hurt. They might have sworn to bring ruin to an entire family.
“Garri, what exactly happened?”
“You didn’t let those brats go unpunished, right?”
Her brothers all ground their teeth, ready to storm off for revenge.
“Don’t worry. It’s been handled.”
Garri replied calmly.
But the smile he added to that calm statement sent chills down everyone’s spine.
Whatever Garri Kester meant by “handled” was sure to be both peaceful… and not peaceful at all.
Seria didn’t know the details, but she could easily imagine the consequences the boys and their families would face.
“Mother and Father were especially heartbroken.”
And if even their parents were upset…
Well, the aftermath was obvious.
Seria offered a tiny moment of pity for the boys who had hit her and Yuel, but she did not forgive them. Nor did she feel sorry for them.
After escaping her overprotective brothers, Seria finally rested in her room.
Even while resting, she kept thinking about Yuel—how he had worried for her, fought for her. It made her smile… but remembering the state his face had been in made her heart ache again.
As she alternated between smiling and turning gloomy, the head maid knocked on the door.
“My lady, it is time for your medicine.”
“…It looks like more than usual?”
Because she was weak, Seria had taken various medicines since childhood—mostly nutritional supplements.
“You must take them and recover soon.”
Perhaps because she was injured this time, the amount was greater than usual.
“Ugh, it’s bitter.”
Seria grimaced but obediently swallowed the medicine. She did it for her family, who were worrying so much.
She swallowed every pill properly—
