‘I haven’t been threatened like this in a while.’

For a moment, Yuri felt her interest increase. Of course, it was only for a moment.

Dominic sat cross-legged in his seat, with his fingers interlocked loosely on his lap. There was still no recognizable emotion in his gaze which were leveled on Yuri. However, his eyes were still filled with a chilly glaze.

Yuri momentarily considered whether this could be a warning because Bastian’s offer itself might be dangerous to her instead of a threat to shorten her life if she accepted Bastian’s offer.

However, considering the atmosphere around Dominic, she didn’t think that was the case.

‘I thought he met me by coincidence when he was passing by the shopping mall but, maybe he knew I was here from the start, so he came here on purpose? To tell me this?’

Yuri began to have doubts about her chance encounter with Dominic. Soon, Yuri’s lips parted.

“I don’t know what offer you are talking about so it will be difficult for me to give an answer now.”

At her words, a corner of Dominic’s lips slowly curled upwards.

“Did you not understand what I just said?”

Yuri’s face was still calm as she faced Dominic.

“I understood but I wasn’t convinced.”[1]

“You’re a fearless lady, I see.”

Even though Dominic said her life was on the line, Yuri didn’t look scared in the slightest and her attitude was still very calm, causing Dominic to look at her a little differently.

Despite that, Dominic’s attitude towards Yuri remained as before.

“You will know what offer my father has for you soon enough. All you have to do is remember what I say here.”

Soon, Dominic laid it straight out.

His overbearing attitude seemed to say that the answer had already been decided and she only had to give him the answer he wanted.

“From what I’ve learnt, you’re an orphan with nothing to your name. Your first residential record in the East is from 2 years ago so you’re not originally from the East…I looked into the north and south afterwards but considering there’s not a single record in either places, you must be from the slums or that shady side…”[1]

Dominic didn’t even hide the fact that he had looked into Yuri’s background. Who knew whether it was fortunate or not, but he didn’t seem to know that Yuri was someone from Carnot.

Although if you were to argue about the specifics, saying that she was from the slums or the shady side of the world was right too…

Judging from the faint look of contempt in Dominic’s eyes, the shady side he was referring to seemed to be parts like the red-light district which was outside the law.

“Your work at the coffeehouse seems to be paying you more than average but obviously, it cannot be compared to a Crawford. From your position, I see how you might think you have suddenly gotten a huge amount of luck.”

Yuri felt a certain sense of familiarity as she looked at Dominic. Wasn’t this similar to how Damon Salvatore was when he first came to the coffeehouse?

“But it is imperative that people know to live within their means.”

However, compared to Dominic, Damon was somewhat on the cuter side.

“If you refuse Father’s offer and quietly disappear like I said, you will be compensated generously.”

He was never giving Yuri a choice in the first place. She had no idea what kind of offer Bastian Crawford was going to make soon but it seemed Dominic really didn’t like it.

‘Now that I think about it, this situation is similar to those melodramas…’[2]

Dominic’s current actions gave her a similar feeling to the mother-in-laws in those dramas. You know how they go ‘Don’t meet my son anymore!’ and throw an envelope of money at the female lead? Wasn’t his behavior just like that?

Of course, in this case, it seemed to be a ‘Don’t meet my father anymore!’ situation.Yuri felt there was something quite funny about the situation she was in right now. She quietly stared at Dominic then she opened her mouth. Soon a quiet voice flowed from her lips.

“Since you mentioned compensating me generously, I’m curious as to how much you can give me.”

To think there would be a day in her life where she would utter such lines from her mouth.

“Good. You have made a wise decision.”

When Yuri gave a reaction that seemed positive, Dominic nodded slightly in a manner that seemed to say he expected this. In the first place, although he said he was making an offer, it was basically threats so considering a rejection from Yuri wasn’t even on the table.

“I will let you live in luxury without lifting a finger. However, you will have to leave the East so that my father does not see you.”

Still, seeing as Dominic tried to solve things with money instead of just threats, Yuri thought of him as an ambitious noble in his own way.

“I will give you further details at a later time.”

The carriage had been stopped in one spot for a while and the familiar layout of Grey Ferret could be seen from the window. Perhaps Dominic was satisfied with getting this far today because he finally sent Yuri down from the carriage.

A while later, Yuri stood holding her shopping bags while staring at the increasing distant carriage that was going away.

Well, it seemed Dominic was mistaken about one thing.

Yuri had not accepted his offer yet.

Earlier, when she asked Dominic how much he could give her, she was simply curious as to how much the generosity of a great noble Crawford was worth.

Although, honestly from Yuri’s standpoint, there was no reason to refuse when he was going out of his way to give her money. She didn’t know what Bastian was going to offer but in fact, since Yuri hated troublesome things, there was a high chance she would have refused even without Dominic’s interference. However, if there was going to be money added to it, then she was the one profiting all around.

Of course, she would only make her final decision after listening to Bastian’s offer and weighing both sides on a scale.

Yuri moved her gaze away from the receding carriage and began to head home.

* * *

When Yuri was almost at her house, the door to the house next door flew open. Out of it came a girl with sparkling silver hair and light green eyes.

“Hi, Hestia.”

When Yuri greeted her first, Hestia’s shoulders flinched, and she spun to look at Yuri. She seemed surprised because she didn’t expect to see Yuri the moment she opened the door.

“Hello, Yuri Unni.”

Soon enough, Hestia returned the greeting, her face regaining its cool. Even her eyes which had gone wide with confusion, returned to its original state.

“Where are you going?”

“Oh, I’m just…going in front.”

At Yuri’s question, Hestia replied in an oddly evasive manner.

Yuri glanced at the package Hestia was holding. A closer look told her that there were snacks like cookies and candies inside the parcel. It didn’t seem like Hestia was going far on her own(like the time she went to buy flowers), instead she looked like she was just going to hangout nearby.

This kind of thing hadn’t happened before…it seemed Hestia had made some friends.

“Wait. I’ll give you this.”

Yuri quickly went through the bag she brought from the shopping mall and pulled out something. A moment later, she handed Hestia a glass bottle which looked full of colorful candy. Since she was at the shopping mall anyways, Yuri had gotten the candy Hestia liked.

The moment Hestia saw what Yuri held out, her face changed.

“This, it’s similar to what my dad used to get me a lot…”

“It is?”Hestia took the bottle of candy from Yuri, her gaze filled with nostalgia.

“Thank you, Unni. I’ll give you this too.”

Seeming in a much better mood, Hestia smiled and picked up a packet of sweets from her basket then gave it to Yuri.

“Thank you.”

After that small exchange of gifts, Yuri went into her house and Hestia headed to the alley.

Hestia’s footsteps were light as she treaded along the narrow alleyway. Her face was a little red with excitement.

“Leo, I’m here!”

“Kng!”

She finally arrived at their meet up location and her little furry friend greeted her happily.

* * *

“When will your Master be here?”

Damon asked the butler in a somewhat hostile tone. Unlike when he first arrived and took a seat, his posture in the chair was as unfriendly as his voice.

“There was more work than expected in his schedule, so he will be somewhat late. If you wait a little, he will be here soon.”

Damon’s mouth distorted when he heard the butler’s polite words.

“You said the same thing earlier too.”

At Damon’s thorny words, the butler lowered his head like he didn’t have anything more to say.

“I didn’t realize the butler of the Crawford family was someone who didn’t keep their word.”

Eventually, Damon stood up, his eyes shining coldly.

“I will take my leave now. I am not free enough to be wasting anymore of my time here.”

“I shall inform the lord as you wish. Please be careful on your way.”

The butler calmly saw Damon off like that, making Damon even more annoyed.

Damon left the receiving room in a bad mood and walked down the hallway, emitting a frost chill.

Today, he came here because he had an appointment to meet Dominic, the head of the Crawford family. However, even after an hour passed, Dominic was nowhere to be found.

It’s not like Damon came here without notice. He had set up an appointment before coming which is why he was even more upset. It would have been better if they told him that Dominic had a sudden urgent business to handle so they had to reschedule instead they told him to wait blindly three times.

‘Is he playing a power game or what. It’s not even funny.’

Damon furrowed his brows with annoyance and headed down the stairs.

Then he happened to see a woman coming out of another hallway and heading towards the front door. She had a strikingly beautiful face with glistening silver hair and green eyes akin to delicate leaves.

Only

For an instant, a sharp light flashed through Damon’s eyes. Just from her features, he had a guess as to who that might be. However, Damon acted like he didn’t know and asked the butler:

“Who is that? Was there another guest besides me?”

“She is Bastian-nim’s caretaker.”

Translator’s Corner.

[1]He says you must be from the slums or the shady side. Shade here meaning the darker side of things, close to the underworld but underworld isn’t too accurate.

[2]Melodrama: The words used here is makjang drama. If you don’t know what that is, this article explains it better:click here