One Day My Sister Died - chapter 19

Chapter 19: A Night of Intensity and Passion Known to All

It wasn’t the kind of thought one should have at such a time, but Claude Yufrees was a beautiful man.

The most beautiful person Yuan had ever seen.

Even more striking than when she first saw Louise—his beauty etched itself into her mind.

Half of his face, which was visible, shone thousands of times brighter than most people’s entire faces.

“If a man as beautiful as him were to learn about my abilities, he’d turn into a demon in an instant, just like my uncle did.”

However, if what he desired wasn’t a physical relationship but rather a little bit of peace to help him sleep, she could refrain from using her abilities for a while.

At least it would be a pain she chose herself, and she could control it.

“There’s no need to do it every day. If you tormented my sister, you should be punished too.”

Yuan looked at his fingers anxiously tapping the table.

They were hands steeped in dark pain, but the joints were thick and long, making for a pleasing shape.

“It’s not for him. It’s so that I can at least survive in this house.”

Yuan bit her lip hard before letting go.

She walked over to the large console and picked up a clean teapot.

There was a faint warmth left in the pot.

She took out the herbs she had collected from the garden earlier and brewed them.

Since they weren’t dried and processed, they were unlikely to taste good, but it was all she had at the moment.

The man, who had dropped his head to the floor, was now staring at her with a hunched posture, his elbows resting on his knees as if watching her intently.

Yuan deliberately finished brewing the tea, then picked up the teacup and placed it on the table where he had been tapping.

Instead of looking at the teacup, the man looked at her.

“Drink it.”

“Yes, you fed me something yesterday too. I remember that clearly.”

His voice grew a little sharper, as if that memory was the one thing he was sure of.

At his interrogative tone, Yuan gave a faint smile out of courtesy.

Of course, she had given him alcohol.

Not to get him drunk, but to ensure he didn’t notice her abilities.

It was a trick, just like how her uncle would drop a few drops of a common painkiller into a teacup and call it the elixir of Felice.

Yuan also wanted to give the impression that something touched by her hands brought peace, just to keep her abilities hidden.

“Yes, I am Felice. I prescribed something suitable for your symptoms.”

“What do you think this is? Do you think drinking this will make me remember yesterday? Will my memory come back just because I drink this stuff?”

Yuan sat opposite him, silently staring at him.

His eyes, full of distrust, darted between the steaming tea and her.

It was only natural for Claude to continue doubting the consummation proof.

In reality, nothing had happened that night. Claude, who had finally fallen into a deep sleep after suffering from long bouts of insomnia, only woke up after Yuan had already gotten up.

And when she saw the dagger lying on the floor and the blood that seemed to belong to Claude—a sign of his desperate struggle against the pain—she quietly soaked a thin blanket with that blood and handed it over to the butler Gustav, who was cautiously knocking on the door.

It was an old-fashioned method, so outdated that even most noble families didn’t use it anymore, but the royal family still required such consummation proof.

Usually, the husband would cut into his own thigh to draw blood and use that as proof.

But it didn’t matter to the butler whether that night had been old-fashioned or modern.

Gustav, who had been watching from a distance as Yuan, dressed in disheveled clothes, prepared for the consummation, and Claude, who had fallen into a deathlike sleep, hadn’t expected such a consummation. He had simply accepted the blanket and bowed his head.

“I heard that you always suffer through the night.”

Yuan pushed the teacup closer to Claude as she spoke.

“But even though it’s already dark out, Master seems to be quite composed today.”

There was no way to make him remember a night that hadn’t actually happened.

But Yuan understood well enough the wish of someone who had forgotten what a peaceful sleep felt like because their pain had reached its limit.

She knew it too well, which is why she had recklessly revealed herself to this man, whom she had never had any contact with before.

The man couldn’t hide the flicker in his eyes.

That was expected.

Anyone wandering through such dreadful pain would readily drive a knife into the back of their hand if it meant they could be free of the pain, if only for a moment, or fall into a more peaceful sleep.

Claude’s eyebrows began to slowly contort.

Yuan realized that it wasn’t because of any discomfort she had caused but because of the pain that started every night. The very same pain she had tasted the night before—pain that was about to begin again.

“As the pain subsides, your hidden desires come to the surface, and you release that pent-up tension on me. Maybe that’s why you slept so well.”

Yuan ignored the frantic beating of her heart and carefully chose her words to provoke a reaction.

Someone who has been in extreme pain only needs a slight reduction in that pain to long for rest, peace, and deep sleep.

For the past ten years, Yuan herself had dreamt of such nights, and in just a few days in this mansion, she had experienced that tranquil night.

Once you’ve had a taste, it’s hard to give up.

That’s why she was doing this—to stay in this mansion and hold onto that tiny piece of peace.

“It’s not poison or some strange drug. It’s a prescription from Felice. That’s my usefulness.”

Cleaning, meal preparation, other chores, even the duties of a mistress—if he didn’t need any of those from her, this was all Yuan had left.

Claude Yufrees, the fierce yet pitiable deposed prince, couldn’t hide his agitation in the end.

He couldn’t help but have distrust in his sharp, raised eyebrows and his wary eyes. But there was a flicker in his gaze, a clear sign that he wavered between wanting to believe her and being unable to trust her.

“Go ahead, drink.”

The man’s wavering gaze turned toward the teacup.

Just watching his slow, deliberate gaze was enough to make Yuan feel like she was tasting the layers of his accumulated pain.

A normal person would have scoffed at such snake-oil salesman talk. But…

“It’s not because I trust you. It’s to verify.”

If the person wanted to verify it that badly, that was a different story.

With an expression that tried to suppress some unknown emotion, the man downed the tea in one gulp.

“Alright, I drank it. Now what…”

And then, just like she had the night before, Yuan reached out and gently wiped the moisture from his lips with her fingertips.

Not only that, but she also stood up and moved close to him, placing her hand on his cheek.

Instead of kissing his clean cheek, she unhesitatingly kissed the cheek that was consumed by dark pain.

The man froze as if he had been slapped on the cheek, not kissed.

His face, which looked stunned, was the exact opposite of the one he had before the kiss—now clean and flawless.

In that brief moment, the pain had been absorbed once again.

At first, he must have been shocked and angry; then, he was probably astonished at how clear his mind had become.

Yuan suppressed the pain that was threatening to burst out from her heart and forced a smile.

“Do you remember? My prescription.”

“Is this… now…”

“This medicine and the warmth of human contact—this is my prescription, and you felt its effects just now.”

So, remember this time.

Remember my prescription, the clarity of your mind right now, and the absence of your pain.

Yuan whispered softly.

The man, looking as if he had just been hit hard on the back of his head, staggered and collapsed.

As she had the night before, Yuan laid him down on the bed, only to let out a stifled groan herself.

Biting down on the blanket, she released the pain she had absorbed, far more than the previous night, onto the bed, staring at the face of the man who slept like an angel. She bit down on her lower lip until it nearly bled.

***

The atmosphere in the mansion had completely changed from just a few days ago.

Especially the maids who had worked in the gloomy mansion for a long time—they couldn’t help but glance at the second floor, where the master’s bedroom was, whispering amongst themselves.

“If you heard the sounds again yesterday…”

“Our room is near the stairs, so if you step out for a moment, the sounds echo. It was like something was being suppressed…”

“Shh! You should pretend you didn’t hear that!”

“But the fact that such sounds came from the second floor repeatedly…”

“Quiet! There’s no need to make a fuss! The Master has now found a true partner, so isn’t it natural? What will you do if you keep gossiping about this every day?”

The young maids blushed and stared openly at Yuan as she walked around, seemingly recovered, while the older maids couldn’t hide their kind, approving gazes.

“Madam, is there anywhere you feel unwell?”

“No.”

“I was really surprised, you know? Yesterday and today…”

Even Henna couldn’t hide her flushed face, clearly eager to ask Yuan a multitude of questions. Yuan only responded with a faint smile each time.

Her heart had pounded so hard she thought she might die when she lied so easily to Claude, and now keeping secrets even from Henna, who had almost become her personal maid, left her feeling uneasy.

“Today, the master hasn’t even called for the butler and has remained silent. That alone surprised me. Normally, he’d be yelling at strangers to stay out of sight…”

Henna stopped herself just as she got carried away with her excitement.

Yuan guessed that the strangers Claude disliked were his previous wives.

“He has accepted you, Madam. Unlike before, this mansion now has a mistress.”

Henna chirped with excitement.

‘Has he really accepted me?’

Yuan had spent a long time last night staring at Claude’s sculpted face, peaceful in sleep after she had finally expelled the pain.

And at dawn, when his face began to show signs of the pain returning, she returned to her own room.

Even if the spot next to him was empty, Claude would have known that Yuan had been there.

The teacup he had drunk from remained on the table, and the traces of Yuan’s black hair, which she had pulled in agony, as well as the cold sweat she had shed, were still left behind next to him.

Yuan picked a few of the herbs she had gathered the previous day, wrapped them in a handkerchief, and tucked it into her bosom. She glanced up at the second floor, where Claude’s bedroom was.

Suddenly, the dark curtains inside the window, where there had been no sign of life, were drawn with a sharp tug.

Yuan’s previously drooping eyes widened slightly.