Chapter 9
Despite his sharp gaze, she replied calmly.
“I was just trying to wake him up.”
“Really?”
“Did you think I brought that to play in the water with the boss or something?”
“……”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because it seems like something you’d actually do.”
Titia!
Why can’t you even deny that properly!
“Anyway, I didn’t.”
After she denied it twice, he suddenly offered an unexpected thanks.
“Thank you.”
She blinked, caught off guard, when Joshua peeked out from behind him.
“See? I told you! You can trust Ttwetwe!”
She looked back and forth between Joshua and Mr. Veilt.
Adjusting his glasses, Veilt lifted his chin — not just casually, but with a touch of arrogance.
“Confidentiality is important, after all. And besides, as the boss’s closest friend and right hand, how could I not know something like that? It’s obvious. Did you really think I didn’t?”
I pressed my lips together and avoided answering.
Both Veilt and Joshua stared at me so intently that I could practically feel the weight of their gaze.
Unable to withstand the pressure, I finally confessed.
“Yes, I really didn’t know.”
Honestly, I’d just thought, ‘Wow, Joshua must be amazing at keeping secrets — even Mr. Veilt didn’t catch on!’
I hadn’t had the time or energy to think deeper, especially while the boss was sick.
Well, yeah… considering Mr. Veilt manages the whole mansion, it would’ve been weird if he didn’t know the boss was ill.
I mumbled a string of excuses, insisting I’d only been focusing on my assigned duties.
“A tight-lipped person. You pass. I’d appreciate it if you kept quiet about the boss’s condition from now on, too.”
“Yes, sir.”
Joshua tugged at the hem of my skirt, peering up at my face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Aren’t you upset? I mean, they did trick you.”
“I get happy just thinking about the down payment before I even have time to get upset.”
Everyone nodded, perfectly understanding that particular kind of happiness.
The day of the Saint’s visit to the Duke’s mansion drew closer.
Everyone stood in line before the entrance, ready to greet her.
I joined in at the very end of the row.
Soon, a white carriage arrived, escorted by holy knights.
When the door opened, a woman stepped down with the knights’ assistance.
Her hair was a deep pink, her eyes gold like sunlight, her lips a soft rose color — her whole face radiated cheerfulness and warmth.
She’s cute.
Maybe it was my imagination, but it even felt like a faint light shimmered around her — very fitting for a Saint.
So this is what the heroine’s buff looks like. She’s dazzling.
Mr. Veilt greeted her with stiff formality.
“Did you enjoy your engagement trip?”
Lady Yveline’s face brightened into a brilliant smile, clearly pleased to see an old friend.
“I did, thanks to you. But don’t you think your tone’s too stiff? You can talk to me like before. We’re not strangers, are we?”
She sparkled just like the lively heroine from a novel — informal, friendly, infectiously cheerful.
But Veilt only raised his glasses again, his face hardening even further.
“We are strangers. Will you return right after meeting the boss?”
It was obvious he disliked the Saint.
“Maybe I’ll stay the night.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince would be jealous.”
“Please. He’d have to care to be jealous.”
Unlike her light laughter, a flicker of irritation passed over Veilt’s face.
“You know the boss’s condition well. It would be best if you saw him and returned promptly.”
“You’re pushing me to go so much, it’s actually making me not want to.”
Playfully retorting, Yveline Mortet glided gracefully into the mansion.
Only then did everyone straighten their backs from their bows.
“I hate her.”
The voice from below made me jump.
“Jeez, Joshua— you scared me.”
If he said things like that so suddenly, people might think it was me talking.
His soft voice didn’t help either — anyone who didn’t know us might assume I’d said it.
“I f***ing hate that Saint. She’s so annoying.”
He didn’t need to repeat it like he was branding it into the air.
“Well, angels and demons are opposites by nature.”
He pouted and glared up at me.
Click, clack.
Yveline’s light heels echoed down the long corridor.
She moved with an almost skipping gait, glancing around with delighted eyes.
It was obvious she was happy — probably nostalgic to be back after so long.
“It’s changed quite a bit. Looks even more splendid.”
“It’s been a year since your last visit, Saint.”
“Already? That long?”
Yveline smiled sheepishly, cupping her cheeks and sighing.
“Sorry. You know how busy temple work gets. And with the engagement on top of that, I barely had any time.”
Her engagement — to the Crown Prince himself — had been an enormous affair.
The preparations alone must have consumed all her attention.
She’d barely even enjoyed the engagement trip, returning home exhausted — though Terrence had done his best to comfort her.
A faint blush colored her cheeks. Lost in sweet daydreams, she stole a glance at Veilt, then cleared her throat awkwardly.
“I bet Jer missed me terribly.”
“He hasn’t mentioned you once.”
“Oh, come on. You don’t need to hide it — I know everything.”
“I’ve no reason to hide anything.”
Veilt drew a cold line between them, but Yveline didn’t seem bothered in the least.
“Liar. Jer must’ve been heartbroken. You just don’t want to admit it because you never liked the two of us together.”
Veilt pressed the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his temper.
How many times did she plan to repeat the same things?
From the very beginning, he had disliked this woman.
She had stirred up pointless feelings in Zervant, made him hope for something real, then left him behind to get engaged to another man.
Zervant had been abandoned by Yveline.
People said he’d simply lost to the Crown Prince, but his closest aides knew the truth.
Yveline had thrown him away.
And now she had the nerve to—
Veilt’s stomach turned.
I should’ve refused her request to visit.
He’d accepted it for Zervant’s sake, but now that he was talking to her, he regretted it bitterly.
She was older now, yet still immature — and insufferable.
“Yes, you’re right about that, but I don’t make things up. As I said, the boss has never once brought you up.”
“Fool. That’s just because Jer’s sick.”
Veilt’s face turned cold.
“The boss is not ill.”
The chill in his voice made Yveline flinch and mumble an apology.
“Sorry. I was only teasing…”
“You find such things appropriate for jokes?”
“……”
As the air grew tense, Yveline tapped her chin, studying him before sighing.
Still as prickly as ever.
Trying to change the subject, she recalled the woman she’d seen earlier — the one who had stood quietly at the very end of the reception line.
A striking beauty.
Black hair like silk, long lashes, a tall nose, softly flushed cheeks.
Lips like rose petals, with a tiny beauty mark just below them.
Her face was so lovely it seemed to exude fragrance itself — exactly Yveline’s type.
“Did you hire someone new? You people never bring in new servants. Especially not inside the main mansion.”
Veilt replied evenly.
“We did this time.”
“Why?”
“It concerns the Eclipse Guild. No matter how trivial, I can’t disclose details to outsiders.”
As he continued drawing those firm lines, Yveline smiled wryly.
Ever since Zervant had shut himself away, Veilt had become even more curt toward her.
She understood — they were close friends, after all — but his coldness toward her always felt harsher than toward anyone else.
“I only turned Jer down because I love Terrence. That’s all. Do you… still resent me for that?”
“There’s nothing to resent. I know. I have no intention of interfering.
So please, Saint, draw that same clear line with the boss.”
Yveline avoided answering.
“That maid I mentioned earlier — do you really need her?”
Of course.
Veilt gave a curt nod.
“Yes.”
“Can’t you give her to me instead?”
“…What did you just say?”
Even his exasperation didn’t seem to reach her.
“She’s just so beautiful. My type exactly. If I can’t have Ella, then give me her instead.”
“People are not possessions, Saint.”
Yveline only shrugged at his rebuke.
“Funny, coming from someone who used to treat them like objects.”
“You mean me?”
“I mean people in general. Ah, it’s still so dark in here.”
Effortlessly shifting the topic, Yveline stopped in front of a door — Zervant’s room.
She gestured lightly toward Veilt.
“Wait here. I’ll come out when we’re done.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Veilt’s tone was firm, but Yveline frowned, hands on her hips.
“Even if I order you as the Saint?”
“Yes. I serve the boss.”
“Seriously, Eclipse Guild people are hopeless. So rigid and uptight.”
“No more than the Temple, surely.”
“Fair point.”
Laughing suddenly, she called out brightly:
“Jer, I’m coming in!”
With that, Yveline pushed open the door and stepped inside.
There, in the dim light, was Zervant.
He suited the darkness far too well.
Once proud and commanding, his tall, powerful body now seemed frail and small.
The man who had once carried such arrogance — gone without a trace.
Yveline approached him slowly, neither hurrying nor hesitating, and smiled the same charming smile everyone adored.
Like honey dripping from her lips, she greeted him softly.
“It’s been a while, Jer.”
Their eyes met in the still air.
Yveline’s eyes curved gently.
His hand clenched into a trembling fist.
Seeing it, her smile only deepened.
“How have you been?”
Even though she already knew he hadn’t been well.
That simple question — How have you been? — only made Zervant look smaller.
