The Perfect Cage
After that night, our daily life in the mansion appeared utterly peaceful on the surface. I woke up at the exact same time every morning and slipped into clothes that had been pressed to perfection. The books I favored in the study were always placed exactly where I liked them. To any outside observer, it must have looked as though the man who had returned from war had finally settled into a tranquil routine.
At the center of that flawless daily life was Yua.
For an entire week, without missing a single day, I took walks around the mansion grounds or strolled through the garden in the late afternoon. Yua always knew my exact movements. If she knew I disliked cold winds, she would open the greenhouse doors in advance to warm the air. If she knew I favored a particular flower, she tended it with meticulous care so it would bloom at its peak. She never followed me like a shadow. She simply watched from afar.
Every single one of her arrangements matched my preferences with eerie precision. The sophistication of it all sent chills down my spine.
I stopped in the middle of the garden. My eyes caught on a fully bloomed red rose, and I brushed its petals with my fingertips as I called out to her.
"Yua."
She approached me immediately.
"These roses… they're beautiful. Did you cultivate them yourself? It looks like you put your heart into it. They're like living works of art."
I asked with genuine admiration, hoping even a fragment of my emotion would reach her.
She lifted her wooden board.
I am in charge of managing the gardens of the ducal estate. It is my duty to create the optimal environment and maximize aesthetic value. These roses are the variety you favored in the past, Young Master. The full management report is in the third compartment of the study.
Beauty, pleasure—everything fell under the categories of duty and management. Even the phrase "the variety you favored in the past" sounded like it had been read straight from a database.
"You even remembered what I liked in the past… That's impressive."
I praised her memory. She paused with her pen for a moment, then wrote again.
All of the Young Master's preferences and tastes have been databased and are reflected in the operation of the ducal estate. This is for the sake of efficient management.
Was I nothing more than a subject to be managed in her eyes…?
I turned my gaze toward the pond. My distorted reflection stared back at me from the still surface.
"This pond… are the fish still doing well? When I was young, I used to feed them here. Yua, you were there with me back then…"
I brought up an old memory. It had been one of the few joys I'd shared with her by my side.
She lifted her board once more.
Yes. Regular water quality management and appropriate feed distribution have maintained their health successfully.
Everything that enters or leaves this estate passes through my hands.
Even the Young Master requires my permission to go outside.
The warm memories in my head froze over in an instant. I let out a sigh. Once again, I realized it was impossible to find the old Yua in her now.
"Hmm… I see. The garden management is truly flawless. You must have worked hard."
I wasn't sure whether it was praise or resignation. Yua gave a short bow.
It is my duty. Do you have any further questions?
She acted as though her task was complete, as if she had no desire to remain with me any longer. I shook my head. She turned and headed back toward some other part of the garden. Her retreating figure was as neat and quiet as always. Yet within that silence, I sensed something deeply unsettling. She had become the most perfect, and the coldest, being imaginable.
Life in the mansion flowed every single day within rules so perfect they felt suffocating. The clothes I would wear in the morning were already hanging in my room. When I headed to the study, the door was always open in advance. It was as though she already knew what I would do and where I would go.
I felt Yua's presence in every moment. Even without appearing before me, she seemed to control my every movement and action.
One afternoon, I was reviewing the territory's financial reports in the study. With every page I turned, I couldn't help but marvel at how flawlessly organized everything was. Despite the massive volume of records from the many years I had been gone, they were stored without a single misplacement, as if they had been arranged just yesterday. It was obvious that this was all the work of Yua, who had become the head maid.
When I paused while reading, lost in thought, the study door slid open and Yua entered carrying a tray with tea and refreshments.
"Yua, how did you know? I was just thinking about having a cup of tea."
According to records, you always wanted tea around this time while reviewing documents, Young Master. I prepared it according to the health-oriented daily schedule.
She offered the tea as she wrote. It was the exact variety I had always drunk, and the temperature was perfect—neither too hot nor too cold. It was as if she had measured the temperature of my tongue.
That night, I stayed in the study until late, unable to sleep. My mind was a chaotic swirl of the complicated figures from the territory reports and the horrific images from the battlefield. I had simply left the study lamp burning deep into the night.
Then I sensed a faint presence outside my door. A very quiet, delicate knock followed.
There should have been no one visiting my room at this hour. The servants never walked the corridors at this time. And my father would never have knocked so cautiously.
My body tensed. Could it be Yua?
The knock came again, this time more distinct. I grabbed the old sword that had been like a part of my body. I slowly approached the door. My heart was pounding wildly.
"Who… is it?"
My voice rang out low and dry. A brief silence followed. Then a quiet, low voice spoke from beyond the door.
"It is I. Head Maid Yua."
I felt a momentary sense of relief. But why would Yua come to my room at this hour? The question flashed through my mind, yet I had no choice but to open the door.
When I did, Yua was standing there. Her face was as expressionless as always, but a subtle tension lingered around her. In her hands was a small silver tray. On it sat a cup of black tea that looked like it had gone completely cold.
"Young Master, you have not yet retired for the night? You seem unable to sleep, so I specially prepared a sleeping tea for you."
Her voice was calm, yet it sounded somehow unnatural. A sleeping tea? Yua bringing me one in the middle of the night? That was something the butler Loren would usually handle. And why was this tea so cold?
"Thank you, Yua. But right now…"
I tried to refuse the tea, but Yua's eyes suddenly fixed on me. In her gaze, I caught a faint yet sharp glint of compulsion.
She tilted her head slightly. The tray in her hands trembled minutely. Without another word, she held it out to me.
I carefully accepted the tray. The moment my fingers touched it, her hand brushed across the back of mine—briefly, but with clear intent.
The tea tasted bitter and was ice-cold. But I had no choice but to drink it.
"Thank you. Yua. There's nothing to worry about."
I answered as calmly as I could. Yua bowed silently.
Rest well, Young Master. I will see you tomorrow.
She wrote on her board, spoke those words, and turned to disappear down the far end of the corridor. Her retreating figure looked even more rigid than usual.
I closed the door and leaned my back against the wall. The hand holding the cold teacup trembled slightly. My heart hammered wildly.
What is this feeling…?
And at that moment—Wait… why am I so… sleepy…
I collapsed onto the desk as if falling into unconsciousness.
The moment Leo lost consciousness and sank into deep sleep, the shadow waiting outside the door moved silently. It was Yua.
She stared at the firmly closed door for a moment, then entered the room as quietly as if nothing had ever been there. Her eyes did not lose their light even in the darkness.
She slowly approached Leo, who had collapsed over the desk still holding a pen. His hand still clutched the pen. His sleeping face was covered in scars from the war, yet the deep lines between his brows looked momentarily peaceful.
Yua quietly set the tray on the floor. Then she placed her wooden board and pen beside it. Her cold gaze swept over Leo's face.
A moment later, her hand moved slowly and carefully. She removed the pen from his grasp. Then she gently caressed each of his fingers, one by one. His hands, roughened by the scars of war.
Leo. My master. You look so comfortable right now.
I knelt beside you. Your breathing, your body heat, your scent. All of it enveloped me.
My face was no longer the businesslike expression of the head maid. In my eyes, glittering with madness, twisted affection and a terrifying possessiveness were laid completely bare.
My lips trembled ever so slightly. My silent mouth seemed to pour out a frantic craving for you.
I slowly, carefully burrowed into your embrace. My small body clung tightly to yours, as if absorbing your warmth. My nose pressed against your shoulder, then your neck.
"…Huuup!"
"Huuuuuuup…!"
I inhaled deeply. The smell of dirt and blood from the battlefield, and beneath it all, your own unique scent.
"…Haaaa."
I trembled with satisfaction as I drank in that scent. The smell that carried all your pain. The heartbeat that would become mine.
My hand touched your back. I slowly stroked the scarred surface. I burrowed even deeper into your chest, burying my face in your shoulder.
Leo… Leo…
My language. My love. My madness.
I lifted my head and gazed at your sleeping face. Then, very slowly, I pressed my cheek against yours.
I love you, Leo. I love you I love you I love you.
All this pain of yours… it's all for me. I know you crawled out of hell… because of me.
Don't even think about running away anymore. Fall asleep forever… in my arms. I'll protect everything about you. Your wounds, your pain… they'll all become mine. I'll carry them all.
So you only need to exist for me. I love you. I love you. My master. My prisoner. My masterpiece.
No one can take you from me. Not even you yourself. You belong to me now.
I will devote everything I have… to locking you away forever. There's no need to hide anything anymore. You only need to exist for me. Only for me.
Leo… My Leo.
Yua held Leo in her arms for a long time. In the darkness, her eyes gleamed with madness, and that grotesque, twisted love froze the air in the room. She did not let him go.
Before dawn broke, Yua quietly left Leo's room. Her expression had returned to that of the perfect head maid. Her gaze was steady. Her posture immaculate. She had erased every trace of herself flawlessly and began preparing the mansion's morning as if nothing had happened.
Leo was still asleep. Yua's plan was proceeding perfectly.