IPBYWT 17

Chapter 17

Damia greeted him with a rather reluctant expression. It was unlike the reaction of a girl who claimed to be madly in love with him.

‘She must be embarrassed… maybe she doesn’t want to show how thrilled she is.’

Cassian’s field of vision was already clouded by preconceptions he had firmly formed.

“What’s the matter, Viscount?”

The girl seemed in a hurry to change her clothes. Her silver hair was messier than usual, and she was breathing heavily.

“What were you doing?”

“I was just reading a book. I was at a particularly exciting part, but I came out when I saw you had arrived, Viscount.”

“Are you trying to give me a hint?”

“No, of course not.”

Damia seemed to be holding back from revealing what she had been doing behind the estate.

It was a futile effort. He had already seen everything.

Cassian, being a gentleman, didn’t point out the dirt on Damia’s hand.

Instead, he recalled the scene from just a moment ago in his mind.

He hadn’t intended to spy.

He had simply stopped the carriage on his way to visit Damia at the viscount’s house because the weather was too nice.

Despite the coachman’s and the escort’s protests, Cassian walked straight toward the estate.

‘How far can I trust Damia?’

Summer was nearing its end, and a cool breeze brushed against his cheek.

‘Is she hurt anywhere?’

The reason he began walking was simply that the weather was nice. It definitely wasn’t because he was conflicted about his fiancée.

“Ah, geez.”

After walking for quite some time with everyone else left behind, he arrived at the viscount’s house. Somehow he had ended up at the back gate instead of the main entrance.

In the distance, he saw Damia.

“Milady!”

Damia was with Romy, wearing plain clothes with no adornments. They didn’t look much different from a maid’s uniform.

‘Looks like I need to get her a new dress.’

Only then did he notice the small trowel in Damia’s hand. She hadn’t dressed lightly out of necessity, but rather chose something comfortable for work.

‘Should I prepare a few extra dresses that she doesn’t have to worry about getting dirty while working?’

That seemed like the right thing to do.

“…No, I meant… let’s do it together…”

“…Milady too…?”

He wanted to make himself known, but there was no way to explain why he had come via the servants’ back path.

Luckily, the distance was long enough that their conversation wasn’t clearly audible.

Eavesdropping on a maid’s conversation was unbecoming, even if Damia had something suspicious about her.

‘So she really takes care of the garden herself?’

It was actually more of a modest flowerbed and vegetable patch than a proper garden. But it was clear that Damia had put a lot of effort into it.

She had said she wanted to study herbalism, and it seemed she was more serious than he had expected.

“Milady! I’ll handle that!”

Damia didn’t hesitate to touch the soil, and her hands were skillful.

Her silver hair gleamed in the sunlight, and her violet eyes drew attention even from afar.

There was nothing suspicious about her. She was just unusually spirited and diligent.

‘When she focuses, she frowns a bit on the bridge of her nose.’

At that moment, he saw his reflection in a puddle and was startled to realize he was smiling.

This made it seem as if he secretly found the girl cute!

‘Focus.’

He had simply noticed one of Damia’s habits. There was no reason to be pleased about it.

It was true that the girl was irreplaceable to his curse, but he could not let his guard down.

‘Does she have deep knowledge of herbalism?’

As a viscount who valued etiquette, he always insisted on visiting the estate through the main entrance.

So this was the first time he learned that Damia was growing plants behind the estate.

Cassian observed Damia’s garden carefully.

Could the remedy also be made from herbs she grew herself?

The medicine was purple. Not a very common color, so it might narrow down the possible ingredients quickly.

Violets, lavender, sage, iris…

But Damia’s garden had an unusually large number of purple plants. Even to Cassian, who knew little about horticulture, all of them were common species.

‘Right, just because the medicine is purple doesn’t mean the ingredients must be.’

While he watched from a distance, Damia smiled brightly and grasped the maid’s hand firmly.

They seemed to have grown close quickly.

Even though it didn’t make sense, Damia appeared closer to Romy than to Cassian.

Just as he was about to look away out of irritation,

“Viscount! You were here?”

Despite his instructions not to follow her, the guard had found him.

“Let’s return to the carriage.”

Swallowing an unidentifiable disappointment, Cassian immediately turned back.

His heart still slowed and raced with each moment. He didn’t have the luxury to just stare.

He needed to find even one clue about the connection between his curse and that girl.

Whether he became close to her to make her reveal her thoughts or obtained an indisputable clue—anything would do.

To do that, he needed to know her well, it was advantageous to win her favor, and above all, her safety had to be ensured.

That was all.

Lately, Cassian had been visiting her almost daily. He always had an expression as if he wanted to say something, yet stubbornly insisted he did not.

‘If you have something to say, just say it!’

Today was no different, and she intended to serve him tea and send him off quickly.

So she used the excuse of going out. She even took a shabby hired carriage…

“What’s so displeasing?”

Why had Cassian insisted on following her?

Damia looked steadily at him as they sat across from each other. Since Romy had quickly fled to the coachman’s seat, only the two of them remained in the carriage.

“You’ve been visiting too often lately, haven’t you?”

“You should be a little happier since you can see me so often.”

“Of course I’m happy, but…”

“You look annoyed.”

Damia flinched. She suspected the Viscount’s observations were detachable at will.

“Of course not. I’m naturally pleased. I’m just worried you might be busy.”

“When you go out, I told you to accompany me. It could be dangerous.”

“Eh? That ridiculous… ugh!”

The carriage shook violently. Damia almost toppled forward, but Cassian quickly caught her.

“Be careful. That’s why I suggested riding my carriage.”

“Should we announce to the village that Viscount Sarkis is visiting?”

“…….”

“I just wanted to quietly walk around the village. I have things to buy too.”

Cassian pursed his lips. He seemed aware that he had interfered with Damia’s outing.

“You refused my offer of guards.”

“There’s nothing dangerous. I just came out for the first time in a while.”

Cassian frowned in disapproval.

“It’s dangerous for a child like you to wander alone.”

“If I’m a child, then aren’t you one too?”

“I’m different. What gives you the right to call me a child?”

Her reaction to being called a child was proof, but Damia didn’t point it out—mainly because it was bothersome.

Despite his mature reputation, Cassian was actually childish and stubborn.

“You look like you have something to say.”

“No, I don’t.”

“It shows. Be honest.”

“Could you at least respect a lady’s privacy?”

“Lady? Who are you talking about?”

“Me. Why have you been following me so much lately?”

Cassian flinched but quickly took on a resolute expression.

“We are engaged. I have a duty to ensure your safety.”

“Liar. That’s not all of it, is it?”

“Fine, just acknowledge it. Wait, what did you just say?”

“Do you have another reason to monitor me?”

“Monitor? What do you mean?”

Cassian’s crimson eyes trembled violently. Damia seized the opportunity.

“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”

She already knew Cassian’s behavior had subtly changed, probably since the boating day.

At first, she thought he was just overprotective because she nearly got hurt. She almost applauded his sense of duty.

‘But that always felt suspicious.’

Damia was quick-witted. Her past-life Count Pavron had made her that way.

The Viscount was hiding something. Though he struggled with it, he had no intention of sharing his secret with Damia.

‘I can’t just pretend not to notice.’

Damia wanted the engagement with Cassian to continue for a long time.

She needed to address anything that could shake their trust in advance.