Chapter 4. Bring That Kid Over
The meal was lively and cheerful, but Razel alone couldn’t join in properly and just picked at her food.
The attention directed her way lasted no more than a few minutes at best.
Having been separated from her family for so long, Razel didn’t know them well, making it hard for her to fit in.
Then, unluckily, she choked a short while later.
“Cough…!”
She hurriedly covered her mouth, but her family’s gazes gathered on her even faster.
“What, that’s disgusting…”
Ronedy muttered with contempt in her voice, and Razel froze in place.
A moment later, Ronedy’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Did you hear that? It was just me talking to myself.”
“Oh, no, I didn’t hear anything…”
She had heard it loud and clear, but Razel pretended otherwise, her face turning deathly pale.
‘S-Surely that wasn’t directed at me? It must have been about something else…’
She didn’t want to believe that her lifelong companion—the cough that had clung to her like a symbol—was being viewed as disgusting by none other than her own family.
Razel bit her lip hard and bowed her head.
Her blonde hair, which she had eagerly scented with perfume and combed in anticipation of seeing her family, cascaded down limply.
‘I must have had too many expectations…’
The day passed, filled only with disappointment and hurt.
If it had just been that one day, it might have been bearable, but even afterward, Razel continued to feel like an outsider among her family, without understanding why.
“I’m heading to the capital with Mother and Father for a bit. While we’re gone, you can just stay here and watch over the house. It’s not hard, right?”
“Razel, you might not be fully recovered yet, so you need to remain in the territory.”
Having left behind in Pelsio all the servants who had been like family to her after so much time together, Razel felt even more isolated.
Then, a sudden idea struck her about a week after arriving at Ephor Castle.
Razel shook the bell to summon someone. Her violet eyes, which had been dull with sulkiness, suddenly sparkled with life.
“Bring that kid over.”
The dirty, lowly slave who had fallen under her command.
After giving the servant a brief order and settling onto the sofa, the person she sought entered her room.
“…I heard you called for me.”
The boy with jet-black hair approached Razel and bowed his head deeply.
Razel, lounging comfortably on the sofa, stared at him intently. His hair was neatly groomed, making him look far tidier than before.
Thanks to that, his hidden pretty features were on full display, and even knowing he was a boy, she couldn’t help thinking he looked like a girl.
“You seem about my age.”
Judging by his height, which was similar to hers, he had to be a little younger.
Or perhaps the same age.
Razel scanned him from head to toe once more, her eyes gleaming.
Questions spilled out without any restraint.
“How did you end up as a slave? Was it something you inherited from your parents?”
There was absolutely no malice in her words.
Having been confined to the house since childhood and only interacting with servants, Razel not only lacked social graces but also had little idea how to show consideration for others.
The boy remained perfectly still, without even lifting his head.
She had called him to alleviate her boredom, but with no real response from him, it wasn’t as entertaining as she’d hoped.
‘Does he have trouble speaking?’
Razel, who had been expecting someone to help pass the time, felt a surge of disappointment.
Still, it was better than being alone, she figured, so she sipped her tea indifferently and idly tapped her foot. When the pink ribbon on her indoor slipper came undone, she asked him.
“Tie this for me.”
He, who had been standing silently, finally moved to fulfill his purpose.
Razel watched as he knelt before her without a word of complaint.
‘When I first saw him, his eyes seemed so fierce. But he’s more docile than I expected.’
His eyelashes, as black as pitch and remarkably long, were cast downward. His smooth, straight nose bridge gave off an air of gentleness, and his red lips were pursed, revealing no emotion on his face.
As she observed the slave, Razel murmured thoughtlessly.
“He seems to have a puppy-like quality about him.”
She saw his hand hesitate for a brief moment. Unfazed, Razel asked.
“Tell me your name.”
“…Kylo.”
“Kylo?”
Razel let out a small, amused laugh.
“That name feels awfully grand for a slave.”
At her offhand remark, Kylo’s black hair trembled faintly.
He had brushed it off earlier without reaction, but now it seemed like he was unsettled.
Razel’s eyes narrowed as she watched him, puzzled by this unusual response.
At the same time, a great curiosity stirred within her.
Reflecting on what she had said, Razel opened her mouth, intent on probing further.
“You haven’t been responding properly to anything I’ve said. It seems rather presumptuous.”
With her arm draped over the armrest and her chin resting on her hand, Razel looked up at him with a pert gaze.
It felt like their eyes brushed against each other—his blue ones still lowered. She could see the tension in his jaw.
“I’m sorry.”
But his gaze returned to the floor, fixed there once more. Razel felt a pang of regret.
She had only been trying to strike up a conversation to ease her boredom, but it yielded no results, leaving only an uncomfortable residue.
‘What am I even doing, engaging with a slave like this? It’s foolish.’
This wouldn’t provide anything to substitute for her family’s warmth.
‘…Fine, let’s stop.’
Intending to dismiss him, Razel pulled a white pouch from the nearby drawer.
Considering his ragged appearance from their first meeting and feeling some pity for his lowly status, she meant to extend a kindness in her own way.
She casually extracted a single gold coin and held it out to him.
“Take it. It’s a token of my goodwill.”
It was a substantial sum for someone like him to receive—a clear act of benevolence.
But in that instant, she saw Kylo’s ebony eyebrows furrow.
For a slave, his expression revealed deeply wounded pride. It was the first genuine reaction she’d seen.
Kylo, who had kept his body low and avoided all eye contact until now, finally looked up at her.
Without so much as a glance at the gold coin Razel extended.
‘What?’
Wondering what this was about, she met his eyes, and he spoke in a calm tone.
It was the first time she’d heard his voice at length—sweet, yet surprisingly low for someone her age.
“I appreciate the young lady’s grace, but I am destined to remain the property of the count’s household for life. Such a large sum is unnecessary for me. Please, take it back.”
“…You’re telling me—a lowly servant—to take back the money I personally offered?”
“Furthermore.”
As Razel sat there, stunned by his audacious and pride-filled words, he continued.
This time, he lifted his head and boldly stared straight into her eyes, as if he were the one in a position above.
“I understand the young lady’s lonely circumstances, so I don’t mind being used as a conversation partner in this way. However, I am but a lowly slave, deficient in manners and upbringing. I ask that you employ me solely as a servant and set your sights higher to befriend someone more suitable.”
“…What?”
Razel’s brows knitted together. His few words had truly wounded her feelings.
It sounded exactly like, ‘Even if you’re friendless and lonely, how could you possibly try to befriend a slave like me…’
As if even he, with his humble status, didn’t want any part of it.
“Hah…”
Razel felt the blow deep in her bones. It stung because she truly had no friends.
During her time at the Pelsio villa, she had invited peers her age, but most of them took one look at her bedridden state and turned away without a second glance.
‘…But when did I ever ask him to act like a friend?’
Moreover, how long had he known her to behave as if he pitied her? And him, a mere slave.
Suddenly, the image of her own pitiful self—unable to fit in with her family, always on the outside—flashed in her mind.
The reality that had been so vastly different from what she had longed for over such a long time.
And yet, he claimed to understand her loneliness?
Razel’s teeth ground together audibly.
“You insolent…!”
Unable to contain her rage, Razel swung her hand up sharply.
With a sharp slapping sound, his cheek whipped to the side.
Having done it, Razel herself flinched in shock.
But soon, she bit her lip firmly and clenched her fist. In her delicate violet eyes, which were breathing heavily, transparent tears shimmered.
He was the one who had been slapped, yet her fragile palm had turned even redder.
“Don’t get above yourself!”
Razel, who had spent more than half her life confined to a sickbed, was both sensitive and faint-hearted. Especially when it came to matters involving the affection from her family.
Her violet eyes, narrowed in irritation, hung with sorrowful tears as they glared at him.
“…”
Kylo slowly straightened his turned head. The mark Razel had left on his cheek looked quite painful.
Yet, as he faced her again, a cold sneer played at the corners of his mouth.
His chilling blue eyes showed not the slightest sign of being intimidated.
Without a word of apology like “I’m sorry” or “Please forgive me,” he simply stared at her steadily, as if daring her to hit him again if she wished.
“Even if you continue to punish me like this, it seems the young lady will suffer the greater loss.”
He glanced briefly at her flushed hand and continued his know-it-all prattle.
‘Dare he… dare he…’
Kylo was nothing like the slaves Razel was accustomed to hearing about. This insolent boy seemed utterly fearless.
Biting her lip, Razel glared at him with eyes trembling in fury.
“…Get out right now.”
At Razel’s command to leave, Kylo rose from his spot.
Bowing once more, he finally spoke in a submissive tone.
“Thank you for your grace.”
After he departed, leaving the room empty, Razel seethed alone.
As she released her grip on the gold coin, it dropped to the floor and rolled away with a spin. The unpleasant jingling grated on her ears.
Razel could sense it instinctively.
Just as much as she disliked him, he disliked her in return.
And this was undoubtedly an ill-fated connection.
