02. A Letter from the Past
Yubar looked around.
‘Where did Father run off to now?’
He exhaled a long sigh. The moment he looked away, his father had vanished.
‘It’s not as if he’s a child.’
Lately, his father had been acting strangely. Ever since stepping down and passing the leadership of the Night of Plenty guild over to him, the man’s usual sharp, coolheaded composure had faded.
He sighed far more often, and at times wore a distant, longing expression, as if reminiscing about something long gone.
‘He’s grown even stranger as of late.’
The trouble had started when his father began looking for a house where he could retire in peace.
His father had outright rejected every single luxury resort Yubar painstakingly selected for him.
‘High-ranking nobles would kill for spots like those.’
Yet he rejected every other retreat that followed, one after another after another…
Even when Yubar asked what kind of place he actually wanted, his father met him with stony silence.
The only answer he ever gave was a suggestion to visit this region, his hometown, just once.
‘He was never a man to act on vague whims.’
Was he not the very man whose ruthless calculations had built the Night of Plenty into one of the greatest merchant guilds on the continent?
‘What could possibly be wrong?’
As matters stood, Yubar had no way of knowing.
His mother had passed away around the time he entered his adolescence, and his father had been so buried in work that Yubar was lucky to catch a glimpse of his face once a month.
While he held a measure of respect for a man of common birth who had built such an empire from scratch, they were hardly close enough to share their deepest thoughts.
“What a headache…”
Rubbing his face roughly, Yubar described his father's appearance to a passerby and asked for his whereabouts.
Fortunately, he quickly found out which way his father had gone.
Yubar walked in the direction pointed out by the villager.
In the distance, a red-brick house came into view.
‘A rather old house.’
A thought crossed his mind: his mother might have loved a place like this.
She had always been fond of old things. She used to say they carried the traces and memories of those who lived before.
She had been quite playful as well. She often teased her son, posing baffling riddles or startling him with mischievous pranks.
Yubar had never minded that girlish charm of hers. Had she still been alive, his relationship with his father might have been far less distant than it was now.
‘Pointless what-ifs, all of it.’
His mother had died, and his father, utterly consumed by his work, had not even been there by her deathbed.
On the day she passed, Yubar had been forced to watch over her final moments all on his own.
‘Yubar, tell your father to look for the turquoise jewelry box.’
And with those final, enigmatic words, she had drawn her last breath.
‘The turquoise jewelry box…’
The very box she had sold off somewhere after a fight with his father.
Yubar had inquired far and wide to track it down, but he still had not found it.
Suddenly, Yubar stopped in his tracks before the red-brick house.
A familiar floral scent drifted to his nose.
‘Lisianthus?’
It was his mother's favorite flower.
Yubar peered over the low stone wall to take a closer look at the blossoms.
He saw two figures standing in the garden.
One was his father, and the other was—
‘Rodi Evant!’
He hastily stepped forward.
“Step away from that woman this instant.”
At the sound of his icy voice, both of them turned their heads at once.
“Oh my.”
Rodi gave a quiet chuckle.
“Quite a lot of guests today, aren’t there?”
Rodi regarded the abruptly arrived Yubar with curious eyes.
People said that when someone was absurdly handsome, looking at them felt almost unreal—and that was precisely what she felt right now.
‘First Likens, and now him… male leads really are something else.’
Yubar radiated an aura of striking, intellectual beauty.
His long blue hair was tied to one side and draped over his shoulder, and his nose and lips were so finely sculpted they looked like the work of a master painter’s brush. To top it off, his golden eyes seemed to hold the warmth of sunlight.
“Rodi Evant.”
Though, naturally, those brilliant eyes scowled fiercely the moment their gazes met.
“Why are you here?”
“Long time no see.”
Rodi smiled pleasantly.
“Yubar.”
The moment she uttered his name, Yubar’s expression turned utterly sour.
“Do not presume to act familiar with me.”
“You were the one who called my name first.”
“What is your reason for being in this place?”
Rodi shrugged.
“Haven’t you heard? Duke Evant severed ties with me quite some time ago, and I was banished to this village.”
“I heard you had been cast out somewhere nearby. I was simply unaware it was this exact village.”
Yubar added with cold disdain,
“Because I have no interest in you.”
Sensing the lethal tension between the two, Noien cast a bewildered glance their way.
“What is your history together?”
“She is the woman I mentioned before.”
Yubar glared straight at Rodi.
“A vile villainess who brings ruin to everyone around her.”
Noien looked at Yubar in mild surprise. It was the first time he had ever seen his son display such open hostility toward another person.
Rodi, on the other hand, remained unfazed.
“Thanks for the thoughtful introduction.”
Yubar scoffed.
“I never dreamed I would live to hear words of gratitude from your mouth.”
Even under the barrage of venomous barbs, Rodi maintained an easy smile.
On the inside, of course, it was a completely different story.
‘Now what do I do?’
Yubar was glaring at her with such murder in his eyes that she could barely get a word out.
Swallowing down her nerves, Rodi reminded herself:
‘Stay calm. Act as composed and nonchalant as possible.’
Right now, she was the villainess, Rodi Evant.
“Well, now that everyone who needs to be here has arrived, shall we continue our conversation?”
“Father, let us leave. Speaking with this woman is a waste of breath.”
As Yubar grabbed Noien’s arm, Rodi spoke up.
“A turquoise jewelry box.”
“…!”
Father and son turned to look at her at the same time.
“Aren’t you looking for one?”
“How on earth do you know about that…!”
Rodi asked playfully,
“Who knows? How could I possibly know?”
“Stop playing games.”
“All right, let's get straight to the point.”
Rodi smiled.
“That jewelry box—I have it.”
“It can't be…”
Yubar let out a low groan.
Of all people, that wicked woman possessed his mother’s keepsake. Getting it back through ordinary means would be next to impossible.
Noien asked,
“Young lady, would you show that jewelry box to me?”
“Of course.”
Stepping inside the house, she brought out the turquoise jewelry box with deliberate care.
“…”
Noien examined the jewelry box slowly. It was unquestionably the very piece he had once gifted to his wife.
“Would you be willing to sell it to me?”
“Unfortunately,”
Rodi slowly shook her head.
“I have no intention of selling it.”
Yubar pressed immediately,
“Why?”
“Because this item is priceless.”
Yubar found the response baffling.
‘I was certain she would name an exorbitant sum to bleed us dry.’
“It should hold no meaning whatsoever to you.”
Rodi wore an unreadable expression.
“If you want this jewelry box back, I have a condition to offer.”
“A condition?”
Only then did Yubar remember the signpost posted in front of the house.
The asking price for the property, set far higher than market value.
“Don't tell me you want us to buy this house…?”
She gave a brief laugh.
“Sorry to disappoint, but you guessed wrong. My condition is entirely different.”
Yubar scrutinized her cautiously.
‘What scheme is she cooking up?’
The Rodi Evant he knew was a selfish, cunning woman. There was no telling how she might stab them in the back.
‘She’s bound to reveal her true colors soon enough…’
“Over here.”
Leading the two men, Rodi brought them to a corner of the wall.
“Here you go.”
They were shovels.
“…?”
Caught off guard, father and son took the shovels she thrust into their hands.
Yubar shot her a sharp look.
“What in the world is your game?”
“It’s the condition for getting the jewelry box. You two will accompany me to a few designated spots and dig the ground.”
Once again, Yubar sneered.
“Do you have a body you need buried?”
He expected her to take offense at being treated like a murderer, but Rodi merely offered a serene smile.
“Perhaps.”
“…”
The thought that Rodi Evant might actually mean it made Yubar’s cheeks go taut.
Beside him, Noien nudged his son in the ribs with an elbow.
“I don't know if she's a villainess yet, but she certainly is a spirited young lady.”
