Chapter 118.1

The Marquis’s gaze, which felt even cooler as it was shaded, moved from Lydia to Karion. He distorted his face even more than when Lydia had startled him with her rebellion.

And when Lydia saw the fire in her father’s eyes, she tried to stand in front of Karion, but Karion stretched out her arm first to stop her.

“Who told you to intervene?”

“It seems that the lady was tired and slipped for a while.”

“Okay, get out of the way.”

“Lydia looks very tired, so I’ll just take her to her room…”

In an instant, Karion’s face turned to the side with a slap. He stood in front of Lydia without stumbling even after being suddenly slapped by the Marquis. Lydia, who had been fidgeting behind him, examined his face with a shrieking shriek.

His cheeks, which were pale enough to show blood vessels from not seeing much sunlight, were swollen red. His lips seemed to have been cracked, and at first glance, bright red blood was dripping from them.

“I’ll take her to her room.”

“A worm like you… what do you know?!”

The moment Marquis De Flon raised his hand again, Lydia pushed Karion away and stepped out in front of him.

“Father!”

She closed her eyes tightly, preparing for the pain to come. However, contrary to her expectations, there was no pain in the cheek. When she opened her tightly closed eyes, she saw her father looking madly with his hand raised.

“I, I made a mistake.”

Lydia stuttered as she felt Karion’s hand on her back.

“Like Kai said, I think I made a mistake because I was tired. I’m sorry.”

It was then that the Marquis’ stern expression softened a little. He lowered his raised hand and patted Lydia on the head. She shrugged her shoulders in surprise and squeezed the hem of her skirt with her hands.

“Yes, that’s how it should be. You couldn’t do this to me.”

“I’m tired, so can I go?”

Seeing Marquis De Flon’s gaze directed at Karion behind her, she hurriedly added.

“I don’t feel well, so I want Kai to take me to my room.”

Marquis De Flon had a disapproving expression on his face, but soon nodded..

“Sure.”

“Then I will go.”

Lydia bowed her head, took Karion’s hand and left the office.

As usual, Karion stayed a step behind Lydia and trotted along instead of walking alongside her. Lydia wanted to tell him to come closer, but she couldn’t because of other people’s looks.

“Then rest please.”

Karion brought Lydia to the room and uttered only one word. He didn’t enter her room, but stood in the corridor, trying to close the door.

Lydia stared blankly at his disappearing face, then quickly reached in between the cracks in the door and held it shut. Karion was startled and grabbed her hand.

“It’s dangerous if you hold the door like that when it’s closing…”

“Why did you do that?”

Lydia asked in a weeping voice, looking at his cheeks and lips, which were more swollen than before.

He closed his mouth while holding her hand. She furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips as if to cry.

“Why did you intervene, knowing that my father would hit you?”

“Otherwise, my lady…”

“There’s no way my father would hit me with his hand.”

It was a lie.

When she stood in front of Karion moments ago, she was actually afraid that her father might slap her on the cheek.

However, she sternly denied it without revealing her intentions and pulled his arm. Karion, who had been holding on to her body for a while, entered her room.

Lydia sat Karion down on the couch, asked the maid to bring hot water and a towel, and sat next to him.

“Kai.”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I was wrong too?”

“…”

“I hate that my father talks about Lady Carthia like that. Before, I just didn’t like it, but after meeting Lady Carthia in person, I really hated it.”

“But you were careless.”

Lydia looked at Karion’s face as he calmly replied. Looking at his chapped lips, Lydia felt that this was definitely thoughtless of her.

‘I should have kept Kai from stepping out.’

She bit her lip and wiped his face with a towel the maid had just brought with her with warm water. As the water washed over the wound, Karion frowned slightly, but then looked at Lydia’s depressed face and relaxed.

“But still, I really want to be friends with Lady Carthia.”

“…”

“I think I would be really upset if something happened to Lady Carthia.”

Lydia tried to add in a bright voice, seeing him still not responding.

“Still, you are my first friend, Kai.”

Lydia remembered the first time she met him.

Seven years ago, on an exceptionally cold winter day, her father called her to the office just like today. Ten years old at the time, she took her nanny’s hand and entered her office.

Funny enough, the first thing she noticed was not the father, but the strange boy standing next to him.

The pitifully skinny boy was about the same height as Lydia. He was wearing very thin clothes that didn’t suit him in winter, and even that was ragged with holes here and there, so the wind seemed to blow in.

The father pointed to the boy.

– It’s Karion. From now on, he will be living in the mansion from now on, so keep an eye on him.

– This my friend?

Lydia was excited. She grew up without siblings and was bored all the time. There were many people in the mansion, but everyone was older than her, and even the youngest maids had a hard time with Lydia. Nobody treated her like a friend.

So Lydia thought that her father brought the boy to her as a friend. But the next answer lingered in her memory for a long time.