Chapter 41

As she was pulled, Yuri instinctively turned her head . And as she did, she locked eyes with the man who was still holding her very close . A pair of silvery grey eyes, gleaming like broken fragments of the moon, came into her sight . Beneath them, was a high nose bridge, a neat mouth, and a chiseled jaw .

He was a handsome young man, with strict features and he gave off an elegant feeling . Like Yuri, his hair was pitch-black . The moment the man’s face came into her sight, Yuri unconsciously paused . It wasn’t hard to guess his identity once she saw him .

“I am fine . ”

She soon gave a short reply and pushed away from the man who was holding her as if to protect her .

‘I could have escaped on my own though . ’

Knowing she’d been helped when she didn’t need it at all made her feel somewhat disgruntled . On top of that, what the hell was this princess carry?

It was her first time experiencing this in her life and her heart pounded…bullshit, it gave her the creeps . She hadn’t known since she hadn’t experienced it before, but she didn’t like this kind of thing at all .

If the man had put on airs due to this, her first impression of him would have hit rock bottom completely . However, she didn’t know if she should call it fortunate or maybe it was just natural…

The man put her down without saying anything unnecessary .

Yuri lowered her head to the child who she was still holding even now .

“Hestia . ”

She could feel the child tremble intermittently in her arms, like a small bird in pouring rain .

“You OK?”

“I’m, I’m oka…”[1]

But the child couldn’t say the word and stopped speaking . A small sniffing sound traveled to Yuri’s ears . Her spring green eyes that were so much like her sister’s quickly filled up with tears .

Albeit late, Hestia recognized the situation she had just faced, and she seemed overwhelmed with both fear and relief .

‘Oh no . ’

Yuri sighed . She didn’t know any tricks to soothe a crying child . So for now, she stroked Hestia’s head while tidying up the girl’s disheveled hair .

“T-Today is my sister’s birthday…so I wanted to give her flowers…”

Hestia continued to stumble over her words as she sniveled . And when Yuri gave it second thought, she realized there were quashed flowers on the ground where the carriage had just raced through . There was even a yellow flower gripped tightly in Hestia’s hand .

Today was Anne Marie’s birthday? So it seems Hestia came here to buy flowers for her sister .

“Oh, I see . Are you hurt anywhere?”

“N-No . ”

“It looked like you fell earlier though . Your leg doesn’t hurt?”

Only then did Hestia seem to realize that she had sprained her ankle . And that her knee was bleeding too from her fall . Finally, tears began to fall from the child’s big eyes .

“Euk…”

As she was a mature girl, she was trying her best not to cry but she was still a kid .

“Uwaa!”

“It’s okay . It’s okay, Hestia . ”

Yuri hugged the child to comfort her and turned to thank the man who was still standing there, watching them . She didn’t need it, but he had helped them anyways .

“Thank you for your help . ”

Besides, the man’s actions must have been with good intentions .

“No . The one who covered the child in immediate danger was not me but you, milady . ”[2]

Expectedly, a humble reply was the response to Yuri’s thanks .

Maybe it was because of his straightforward tone, or his neat appearance but the man exuded an aura of uprightness and reliability .

The scene he saw moments ago seemed to have left a considerable impression on him . Then again, Yuri’s entire composure despite the situation also gave him with a unique impression . His silver-grey eyes held faint interest as he looked at Yuri .

“I guess the child injured her leg . ”

The man’s gaze fell on Hestia who was crying in Yuri’s arms .

“Are you really alright, milady?”

Then his eyes moved to Yuri and hearing the question, Yuri felt like her stomach was churning again .

Why did he keep calling her ‘milady’?

It might be a natural title in the aristocratic world he lived in but that wasn’t the case for Yuri . Somehow, she couldn’t help but feel rejection towards that over-polite title .

“Yes, I’m fine thanks to you . ”

“There’s a clinic nearby that I know of . I can take you there if you don’t mind . ”

Yuri almost rejected his suggestion reflexively . But she soon thought of something and accepted .

“Thanks for the assistance . ”

“Don’t mention it . ”

The man carried the crying Hestia . Then he called someone .

“Lord Crawford, did you call me?”

“Disperse for today . I’ll hear the report later . ”

“Yes, sir . Understood . ”

Another man who seemed like his subordinate, stood with his back to Yuri and bowed respectfully before withdrawing . When she heard the name that came from the other man’s mouth, Yuri knew that her guess was correct .

“Let’s go then . ”

The dark-haired man looked back at Yuri and said .

His clear face was exposed by his wind-blown hair and he stood out prominently in the plain streets . He was wearing a white outfit akin to a uniform and it was decorated with gold .

Yuri knew they would send someone from the top to investigate because of the disappearances at the Red Ferret orphanage . But she didn’t know that such a big shot would come from the very beginning .

Then like she thought, this case was indeed what signaled the entry of the original novel .

The man standing in front of Yuri with an extraordinary aura was none other than Kalian Crawford, the eldest son of the Crawford family, rulers of the East .

Yes, it was the main male-lead of the novel .

That was also an important reason why Yuri accepted to go to the clinic with him .

In the original novel, the fateful first encounter of the male and female protagonist had happened due to Hestia’s kidnapping but that was something Yuri planned to destroy .

That said, both of their fates seemed to be tied together somehow, because Kalian just saved Hestia from a carriage accident .

In order words, a new flag for the meeting of the protagonists was born . So wouldn’t it be nice to give the male lead a chance to meet to meet the female lead?

With that in mind, Yuri finally took a step forward . Then suddenly, something vague set off her intuition .

‘A gaze?’

Yuri continued to walk and secretly checked with her eyes . Her red eyes gleamed sharply as it scanned the area around her . But she couldn’t find anything suspicious among the vast crowd . As a matter of fact, there were many people watching them because of what happened a little while ago .

Because it had happened so fast and the oddity only lasted for an instant, she figured it might have just been her imagination .

“Is something the matter?”

Perhaps sensing some dissonance from Yuri, Kalian turned to her and asked .

“It’s nothing . ”

Yuri calmly replied, removing her eyes from the buildings on the side and looking back to her front .

Like that, they all headed to the clinic where Anne-Marie worked .

* * *

“Hestia!”

The heroine, Anne-Marie, came running . Her long, sheer silver hair fluttered behind her while her plain white gown, unique to doctors, flapped around her like wings . [3]

“S-Sis…waaaa . ”

It seems Hestia was overcome with sadness as soon as she saw Anne-Marie because she began to cry loudly, much different from her quiet sobs before .

Anne-Marie had run up to them with no time to think and immediately hugged Hestia’s crying figure .

“Are you okay, Hestia? What do you mean you almost got hit by a carriage? Are you hurt? Did you get hurt anywhere?”

Yuri looked at the pair of sisters then she turned away slightly .

“Hestia fell down on the road, but this gentleman saved her in the nick of time . ”

While feeling like she was arranging the meeting of the protagonists, Yuri flattered the male lead that was going to be Anne-Marie’s partner .

But the honest male lead corrected Yuri’s words .

“The one who ran to the child as soon as she was in danger with no hesitation, was this lady here . ”

‘No…I don’t mind so just get your own recognition . ’

“But the one who saved us in the end was this gentleman . If not for him, Hestia and I would have been in danger . ”

Anne-Marie had grown tearful somewhere along the line .

“Thank you . Thank you so much…”

She sobbed with Hestia in her arms and thanked Kalian and Yuri repeatedly . Kalian accepted her thanks in a rather awkward manner .

Even though her nose was red from crying, she still looked piteously beautiful, making Yuri think ‘as expected of the heroine’ . If something bad had happened to Hestia, Anne-Marie would probably be crying differently .

Yuri was glad she didn’t have to see that face . She didn’t want the kind and sweet sisters next-door to be struck by misfortune . Of course, in this case, even if she wasn’t here, the male lead would have saved Hestia .

But even if she had expected that, she couldn’t turn her back on Hestia in that situation .

Translator’s Corner:

[1]‘I’m okay’ is one word is Korean so she in fact couldn’t say a word .

[2] I was going to use ‘miss’ instead of ‘milady’ but we already use Ms . for the honorifics .

[3] It doesn’t say doctors but ‘people who work at the clinic’ .