TOPWL 69

“Oh! I’m sorry. Are you okay? Where are you hurt?”

“I’m okay. It’s nothing.”

Yasin quickly pulled his robe tighter and shook his head. However, not only Lyett, but even Selena, who had come to greet them later, saw this. Yudit apologized and greeted them.

“I’m late. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say that. I’m grateful that you came.”

Selena smiled gently as she spoke.

“The wind is chilly here. Shall we talk inside?”

“Do you have time?”

Yudit worried that the host cannot leave their seat to chat, Selena nodded and responded briskly.

“It’s fine. It’s turned into a charity concert rather than a charity event.”

Yudit, looking at those performing music on stage, spoke.

“It should be fine for the next 30 minutes. If something happens in the middle, I’ll have to step out. Please, come this way.”

After giving instructions to a servant, Selena led them to the lounge. The sound of music filled the hallway, and although they expected the inside to be noisy, the thick walls and door muffled the sound. Shane naturally stood by the door while Lyett, Yasin, Selena, and Yudit sat in a row on the sofa. A servant soon brought hot tea and placed one cup in front of each of them.

“Are you alright? It’s been so long since I saw you, I was so happy…”

“I’m fine. I was just surprised.”

Yasin waved his hand dismissively and spoke to the apologetic Lyett.

“Thank goodness. How have you been? Tell me what’s been going on.”

Reluctantly, Yasin began to speak at Lyett’s prompting.

“Just stayed home. It’s cold outside…”

“It has gotten quite cold lately. You haven’t caught a cold, have you?”

Selena asked kindly. After tasting the tea, Yudit met Selena’s gaze.

“This is…”

“That’s right. It’s the tea His Highness served during the banquet. I liked it, so I’ve been drinking it often.”

The tea Selena offered was a herbal blend made from leaves of the Wuton region and a herb called ‘Ja.’ As they drank, Yasin’s tears suddenly dropped. The tears fell onto the table, drawing everyone’s attention to Yasin. Embarrassed, Yasin waved his hand, trying to hide his face, but he accidentally knocked over his teacup. The tea spilled onto his robe, wetting his chest, abdomen, and thighs.

“Ugh, it’s hot…!”

Yasin groaned as he stood up. The teacup rolled across the floor, and the spilled tea began to soak into the carpet.

“I’m sorry!”

“It’s alright, it’s alright, calm down! Are you hurt? Get some water and ice!”

At Selena’s words, the servants opened the door and rushed out.

“Quickly take off your outer clothes, or it’ll soak through!”

“I’m fine!”

“It’s not fine, so take them off quickly!”

Under Selena’s firm command, Yasin hastily took off his outer clothes. Once removed, his wet undergarments became visible.

“Oh my…”

Selena sighed. It wasn’t because his clothes were wet. Yajin’s outfit was made of a material that became see-through when wet, revealing his chest and abdomen.

On Yasin’s body were clear bruises that anyone could recognize. Yasin, embarrassed, tried to cover himself with his outer garment again, but it was already too late.

An icy silence fell over the lounge. It was broken by the servants who had returned with cold water. Selena, who had grabbed Yasin’s shoulder as if to strip him of his clothes, hesitated as she seemed to remember Shane.

“Shane, could you step outside for a moment?”

“Understood.”

As Shane left the room, Selena quickly unbuttoned Yasin’s shirt. Yasin, startled, tried to pull away, but Selena’s stern voice stopped him.

“Stay still. You could get burned worse like this.”

Selena placed a wet cloth on the reddened wounds on his chest.

“Th-the sofa and the carpet are getting wet.”

“Don’t worry about it. Normally, it’s best to run it under cold water, but the bathroom is far… I’ll do this for now and get you a change of clothes. Let’s head to the bathroom.”

“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt much.”

“What are you saying? It’s so red…”

“It’s… not from the burn.”

Yasin spoke in a small voice. Selena froze at his words.

“…Who did this to you?”

Although everyone pretended not to know, they all understood. Yasin looked like he was about to cry as he answered Selena’s question.

“If you don’t want to say, you don’t have to.”

After a long silence, Selena spoke again.

“But remember this. The Craven mansion is large, and guests are always welcome. Morning, night, or even at dawn.”

At Selena’s words, Yasin’s eyes filled with tears.

“…Okay.”

“It’s still better to cool it down. Let’s go to the bathroom together.”

This time, Yasin didn’t refuse Selena’s help. One of the servants brought a change of clothes, and Yasin followed her to the bathroom. The lounge became quiet, and feeling a gaze upon him, Yudit looked up. Lyett was looking at Yudit with curious eyes.

“…Does His Highness know?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

Yudit’s polite refusal made Lyett sigh softly, as though she knew something.

“I see you know. I was hoping you didn’t.”

“…”

“I’ve known for a while that Jahed has possessiveness issues.”

Lyett spoke with frustration, glaring at the ‘Ja’ in her cup. Her husband and Jahed were both merchants, so she seemed to know about Jahed as well.

“Yasin’s an omega, but Jahed is a beta. He’s probably scared that another alpha might take him away or that he’s not enough. He’s often away from home too. But I didn’t know he had gone as far as hitting him.”

Lyett spoke with a rare, cold expression. Yudit, hesitating, finally spoke.

“Actually, I wasn’t planning to attend the charity event today. I happened to meet Yasin and thought I should take him away from his husband, so I came here. I wasn’t sure what to do on my own.”

Yudit spoke, feeling his own helplessness.

“You did well. When we all think together, a good solution will come. It’s better with two than one, and with four than two. If it grows bigger, though, rumors might spread, so that’s not good.”

“Yasin has helped me so much, but I haven’t been able to do anything for him.”

Yudit’s sorrowful tone made Lyett’s eyes widen in surprise.

“What are you talking about? His Highness brought Yasin here, didn’t he? Do you know how hard that was?”

“…I don’t know.”

“If it were Selena or me, Yasin wouldn’t have come. Jahed wouldn’t have allowed it either. He came because it was His Highness.”

“Does that mean I forced him with my power?”

“Well, a little bit of power helped!”

Lyett playfully hit Yudit’s arm and laughed heartily, only to look embarrassed and grab her own hand.

“Oh, sorry, it’s a habit.”

“It’s fine. Actually, I’m glad to see that power doesn’t work on you.”

Yudit rubbed her sore arm and smiled. Lyett chuckled again.

“I heard. Sonia didn’t sing at the banquet, right?”

“It wasn’t because of Sonia.”

“I know. It’s always the men that are the problem. The last performance for today’s charity is Sonia’s. I saw a bit of the rehearsal, and she sings really well. Let’s watch together.”

“Alright.”

As Yudit and Lyett were talking, Selena entered the room alone.

“Selena, you’re back? How is Yasin?”

“He’s got a fever and a bit of the chills, so I gave him some medicine and put him to bed.”

Selena’s expression darkened as it seemed Yasin’s condition wasn’t very good. Just then, a servant entered and spoke to Selena.

“Baron Longhem would like to discuss about juice with you.”

“Juice?”

“Yes. He wants to know if the recipe for this juice will be auctioned, and if it is, he’d like to buy it.”

Selena looked a bit taken aback.

“It won’t be at the auction, but please tell him to wait for a moment.”

“Wait? We’ve been here a while, so we’ll leave and let you talk here.”

“But I haven’t had a proper conversation with His Highness yet…”

Selena asked anxiously, worried Yudit might disappear in the middle of the event.