Chapter 168: Chapter 85.2

after his wife died, she became worried about not knowing whether vicil was receiving guidance or not. in this way, vicil itself was worrisome. on the other hand, it was also because of cassian. cassian was also very surprised. as much as yernia was surprised to hear about vicil, cassian must have been more surprised than she was.

no matter how bad the father-and-son relationship was, cassian didn’t hate vicil. cassian could never handle losing vicil. holding his hands wouldn’t be a difficult task.

“you don’t have to fuss over me. i already have a guide.”

“i’m glad to hear that.”

“then you must not be afraid of me anymore.”

“what?”

“you’re not trying to run away from me, shaking like before.”

yernia smiled. vicil, who didn’t miss her trembling in his presence, smiled back. although yernia was having a hard time with him, she still checked his condition every time. vicil pretended ignorance to see her reaction.

“then i’ll be on my way.”

“sure.”

yernia, who got up from the chair opposite vicil, exhaled a sigh after leaving the office. she was always afraid of vicil’s penetrating gaze. yernia was a naive child when vicil, who had just returned from the battlefield, visited ciliard’s mansion to see cassian. who wouldn’t be surprised to see a huge man in a bloodthirsty suit? however, that fact alone didn’t scare yernia since she gradually forgot about it as time passed. as a young and simple child, she liked vicil enough to call him father. perhaps, the reason why her impression of vicil had changed was to that one ‘incident’.

“how dare you go after my son?”

while attending the academy, yernia visited duke lecardo to do some homework with cassian. that was when she saw another side of the duke. vicil, who was blunt but friendly to her, had stepped on somebody’s hand while staring down at him crawling on the floor. later, she figured out that cassian’s relative had tried to remove cassian. she couldn’t forget the pressure and the heavy atmosphere she felt then. his eyes looked emotionless but she knew he wasn’t bad.

the fear she felt at that time still followed yernia to this day. the problem was she got scared so easily even though she knew that duke lecardo remained the same. that was why they were able to face each other like this.

“you need to respond to a lot of letters, little lady.”

“so many?”

when she left vicil’s office, len brought a pile of letters. despite the accumulating pile, yernia was a little moved that len had given her enough reprieve to relax by traveling and visiting the duke.

“i’ll see you in the garden. get me some cookies and tea.”

“yes, leave it to me, my lady.”

the amount of correspondence made her sigh, but it was something that she had to do anyway. yernia went to the sunny garden to finish it today. seasons had already changed. the cool wind swept through her forehead. as she sat on a well-decorated garden table, yernia took out the letters len had left and read them one by one.

“as expected, the rumor has already spread.”

most of the letters were concerned about yernia’s physical condition. she was grateful and amazed to read what these senders were doing so she started writing the replies herself.

“marquis!”

suddenly, herena came out of the front door and ran towards the gate. yernia’s head turned in that direction.  at some point, herena stood in front of cassian, who just got off the carriage entering the gate. the sun shone over their heads as the breeze shook the trees’ branches. as cassian stared at her, herena smiled shyly and tucked a stray hair strand behind her ear. yernia dropped her pen. t

“i feel like…”

it was so strange that couldn’t just dismiss it. her heart beat faster against her will, her body stiff. the smile around her mouth had long disappeared.

“yernia.”

what were the two talking about, that herena had a shy smile on her face?  why was cassian looking at herena? the questions rising in her mind made her feel bad.

it was only when cassian finally looked her way and approached her that yernia asked. “what are you doing here?”

cassian wore a slight grin as his shadow cast in front of her. he was looking at yernia and not another woman.

“did you wait for me?” how nice~ “what’s wrong with your expression? did something happen while i was away?”

“what did you two talk about?”

“what?”

“you and herena were looking at each other a while ago. what did she say to you?”

every time cassian stared at yernia like that, her breath would quicken. somehow, she wanted to avoid that gaze. she held her pen again, pretending to be calm.

“she must have had nothing to do these days. maybe, she’s bored.”

pretending not to know about cassian and herena seemed useless. still, she was afraid that their story would go back to the original plot. she wanted to tell cassian about it to get rid of her anxiety but it didn’t work out as she wanted. cassian finally spoke.

“yernia.”

“…….”

“you have to be clear, you know?”

in the end, cassian gently grabbed yernia’s chin to stop her from lowering her head.

“tell me you’re jealous because of herena so that i would understand.”