"Been long, Agnes."
The words left my mouth before I could second-guess them.
She stood frozen in the doorway, her face going completely blank.
Then her eyes widened.
As her gaze moved over , taking in everything. The blonde hair, shorter now than the last ti she’d seen . The blue eyes. The way I was sitting there probably looking more nervous than I wanted to admit.
"Young Master Jin..."
The words ca out barely above a whisper.
Relief flooded through so fast it was almost dizzying.
I opened my mouth to say sothing, but before I could get a single word out—
She lunged at .
Her hands grabbed my shoulders, fingers digging in hard enough that I felt it through my shirt. Like she needed to confirm I was real, solid, actually sitting here in front of her.
"Are you okay?" The words tumbled out frantically, her voice rising with each question. "How did you get here? What are you doing in Greyford? Why are you—"
Her hands moved to cup my face, tilting it toward the light streaming through the windows.
I saw the exact mont she spotted them.
The thin pink lines across my cheek. Barely healed. The kind of marks claws would leave.
Her breath caught audibly.
"What happened?" Her voice cracked, panic bleeding into every word. "How did you get these? Did you fight soone? Did your father—"
"Agnes." I grabbed her hands gently, pulling them away from my face before she could spiral further. "I’m okay. I’m fine. These are nothing. Just a minor scrape from training. Nothing serious."
The lie was obvious even to my own ears, but I kept my tone steady, reassuring.
She stared at for another long mont, her breathing still uneven, her eyes searching my face like she could find the truth written there.
Then her mind seed to catch up to what she’d just done.
She straightened abruptly, releasing and stepping back. Her hands fell to her sides. She bowed deeply, properly, her whole body rigid with sudden formality.
"I’m sorry, Master Jin. I shouldn’t have done that. It was inappropriate. I forgot myself—"
I didn’t let her finish.
Just stepped forward and pulled her into an embrace.
"It’s alright," I said quietly, my voice coming out rougher than I expected. "I missed you too."
For a heartbeat, she stood completely rigid. Every muscle locked. Shock radiating through her entire body.
Then sothing broke.
Her arms ca up slowly, hesitantly, wrapping around .
And she hugged back.
The first sob ca quietly. Just a small hitch in her breathing.
Then another.
Then she was crying. Not loudly, just silently shaking against my shoulder while tears soaked into my shirt.
I felt her trying to control it, to stop, to pull herself together and be professional.
But she couldn’t.
So I just stood there and let her cry. My hand moved to rest gently on her back, not saying anything, not trying to make her stop.
Just letting her have this mont.
Because I knew why she was crying.
A year ago, my father had kicked her out. Removed from the household she’d served for years, cast out without proper references or severance.
Because of . Because she’d been kind to the useless son. Because she’d treated like I mattered when everyone else had written off.
And I’d been too weak, too sick, too powerless to stop it.
I’d watched her leave and couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
But I could do sothing now.
"I’m sorry," I said quietly, the words muffled against her hair. "I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him. I’m sorry you had to leave. I’m sorry it took this long to find you."
She shook her head against my shoulder, still crying, but her arms tightened around .
We stood like that for what felt like minutes but was probably only seconds.
Eventually, her crying slowed. The sobs beca hiccups, then just uneven breathing.
She pulled back slightly, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand, saring tears across her cheeks.
"I’m sorry," she said, her voice hoarse. "I shouldn’t have—"
"Stop apologizing," I said, more firmly this ti. "You have nothing to apologize for."
She looked at , really looked at , her green eyes still wet but clearer now.
"Why are you here, Master Jin?" she asked quietly. "How did you even find ?"
I took a breath, my hand going unconsciously to the back of my neck.
Here goes nothing.
"I ca to take you back," I said simply.
Her eyes widened again. "What?"
"I’m buying your contract from Duke Glimor. You’re leaving with ."
Agnes pulled back slightly, wiping at her eyes one more ti before looking at directly.
"What are you saying, Young Master?"
I moved to the couch and sat down, gesturing for her to do the sa.
But she didn’t just kept standing.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees.
"I ca here to find you, Agnes. To see you again. To apologize for what I did and what I couldn’t do." The words ca easier than I expected. "A year ago, when Father kicked you out, I was too weak to stop him, to even stand up for myself, let alone you. But things are different now."
Her eyes searched my face, still red-rimd from crying.
"Master Jin—"
"I’m buying your contract from Duke Glimor," I said firmly. "You’re leaving with ."
She took a step back, almost involuntarily, her hand reaching behind her for balance.
"But the Master will not welco back. And Lady Vivienne will—"
"She’s exiled."
The words cut through whatever she’d been about to say.
Agnes froze. "What?"
I t her gaze steadily. "Vivienne is exiled. Stripped of her title. She’s gone."
"But... why?" Her voice ca out small, confused. "What could she have possibly—"
"Because I wasn’t terminally ill. She was poisoning ."
The color drained from her face so fast I thought she might faint.
Her hand ca up to cover her mouth, eyes going wide with horror. She stumbled backward, her legs hitting the couch behind her, and slumped down onto it.
Just sat there. Processing.
The silence stretched between us, broken only by the distant sounds of the manor beyond the closed door and her increasingly uneven breathing.
"Why..." Her voice cracked. "Why would she do sothing like that? She used to love you. Didn’t sh—"
She paused mid-sentence, her eyes going distant.
I could practically see her replaying mories. Monts that hadn’t made sense at the ti suddenly clicking into place with horrible clarity.
I shrugged.
"I don’t know for certain. Could be many reasons." I kept my voice level.
"Eliminating threats to her son’s inheritance is the most likely. After and Victor, Cedric becos the legal heir. Since she can’t touch Victor yet, she probably decided to target first."
Agnes stared at , her face pale, her hands trembling in her lap.
Then her eyes moved over again. Taking in my appearance. The fact that I was sitting here, alive, healthy, talking to her instead of wasting away in so sickbed.
"You’re..." She swallowed hard. "You look good now. Healthy. How did you...?"
"I’m fine," I said, offering her a small smile. "It took ti, but I recovered."
Agnes nodded slowly, her breathing starting to even out. So of the color returned to her cheeks.
She looked down at her hands, twisting them together in her lap.
"I’m grateful, Master Jin. Truly. That you ca looking for , that you want to..."
She took a shaky breath.
"But I can’t leave the manor. Not yet."
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