CH 3

***

Lily raised her head.

She looked at the approaching man and gave him a “what’s going on” look.

“Lord Blake?”

The time just passed midnight.

Outside the warm office, snow was falling fiercely.

The mountains, frozen all year round, could be seen fluttering through the window.

Blake turned the desk and stood beside Lily.

The Upus people were larger in stature than the pure-blooded Imperials. Blake was particularly superior.

His massive stature blocked the light from the chandelier.

A large shadow fell over Lily.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t understand. What’s not your fault?”

Her platinum hair flickered in Blake’s shadow.

“It’s not my fault that the Lady looks like she’s been put in a giant sack.”

Blake tossed Lily the winter coat that had been hanging in his office.

It was rough because he didn’t want to touch the other person’s skin in any way.

He spoke in a rough voice as his ears grew redder.

“Still, cover yourself with that. It looks like you’re covered with a full-sized comforter this time.”

Well, that was exactly what he expected.

Lily was almost completely covered by the giant coat and poked her little face above the coat.

Blake looked at her with a dark face and a blank expression. Honestly, she was cute.

He made an effort to stifle a sigh of laughter.

“I don’t know who gave you those pajamas. But the sense of style has gone to hell.”

Lily deftly tied Blake’s coat around her shoulders. When she finished buttoning it up, it looked like a cape and the hem went down to the bottom of the chair.

For the first time Lily didn’t like Bake.

Even when he didn’t allow her into the house and had held her roughly. Not even then.

“I believe these clothes were given to me by the servants, Lord Blake. Please don’t disparage them. They all had nice things to say to me.”

Blake asked, still swallowing his laughter.

“Like what, for example?”

‘The taller servants said I’m pretty. It may seem awkward, but I’ve found them both to have good hearts.”

Lily spoke of the servants and smiled.

The only two servants she tried to converse with were the two who helped her with her bath, but they were both kind.

They were all from the dukedom, so they were strong and sturdy with faces like the Upus.

But unlike their rugged appearance, they treated Lily as precious as glass.

Blake became uncomfortable when she spoke nicely about his servants.

How long has she been with them to become that close?

She only threw a few formal smiles at him……..

He hated to admit it, but he was jealous.

‘Do you know that? I’m the only person who feels strangely familiar to you.’

“……………… I don’t know who you’re referring to because all the maids are tall. All those who stay in this castle will be bigger than the lady.”

“Don’t childishly take the words out of context. Let’s get to the point.”

Blake felt the urge to be even more sarcastic about everything, but he kept his mouth shut.

He felt strange when he was with her. He suddenly felt like a mean boy bullying the girl he liked.

‘I shouldn’t have done this.’

He pressed his temples and strove to return to his true self.

“So …………………… let’s try to resolve this and the purpose for which I have called you here. This is what I am curious about. Explain what you meant when you said you ran away, leaving only the divorce paper, and why you need a place to hide from your ex-husband.”

“It will be a long story. It might be a little embarrassing for men to hear.”

Before she knew it, Blake had returned to the seat across from her and waved his hand roughly as if to say, “Explain.”

It was a big hand, bulky with muscles and calluses.

“I had a political marriage a year ago. The day we got married, my husband confided in me that he had a problem with his reproductive organs. He was not a man who could work at night.”

“I’m sure he had problems.”

Blake couldn’t help but look at the fireplace burning from one side. Some people might lie to their spouse in order not to do their night duty, but would he do that to Lily Hedwick?

If he was a normal nobleman, he would wish to marry her at least once…. ………… As he was thinking this, Blake let out a small curse.

‘D*mn it.’

‘I shouldn’t have admitted it.’

It was really strange.

Why did his father make a promise to this woman?

He was an arbitrary human being, but not to that extent.

‘My father wouldn’t have known Lily Hedwick in advance.’

If only he was still alive, he could have solved the problem.

And he would have been able to ask his father why he felt familiar with Lily. Maybe there was a link to all of this….Blake thought, but quickly shook it off.

As much as he hated the imperial nobility, he should hate all of them equally.

Lily Hedwick belonged to that group, so it was all over now.

Blake was definitely not going to be nice to her.

“Go on with your story.”

“My husband seemed to feel inferior to the fact that he couldn’t perform his night duty. He always apologized for it, but his main purpose was to hear I say it’s okay.”

Lily was reminded of the early days of her marriage.

Lily’s husband had an inferiority complex about not being good enough.

He would always ask her if she was okay.

[I’m sorry. But it doesn’t bother you much, does it?] (husband)

Even if Lily nodded honestly.

He said she shouldn’t be so short with her replies. 

[I’ve apologized so much, haven’t I? I revealed my true feelings.] (husband)

Her husband always spoke formally, but that was it.

[But how can I say it’s okay for a long time?] (Lily)

[I don’t care. Tell me not to care!] (husband)

When days like this were repeated, people went crazy. Her life had always been horrible, both before her marriage and after she had started a new family in a political marriage.

Blake’s dark brows crinkled as he listened.

“He couldn’t do his part and he was controlling.”

“I wouldn’t have cared if it ended like that……On the days my husband drank alcohol, it got worse.”

Her husband hit her every time he was drunk.

He said it was the virtue of a husband to correct his wife’s bad habits.

“The rough behavior that started out as trivial became a major threat as time went on. The next day, he would apologize that he didn’t mean it. But the same thing repeated over and over again.”

Lily remembered earlier how surprised the maids here were when they saw scars on her body.

She remembered their astonished expressions, even as she asked them to keep it a secret for the time being. Pain was inflicted only on areas that could be hidden by clothing.

“Last time my husband was gone all day, I asked the butler about it. He told me that a friend of his from his hometown had won the bid for the right to work on the railroad in the area and went to celebrate. He had 40 bottles of liquor stored in the tavern.”

“…”

“I found out that day. I thought today may be the day I die.” 

Her sweet voice was nonchalant. She even smiled, as if out of habit Her pale skin was like the snow falling outside the window. 

Her blue eyes painted a landscape of wide, rugged white mountains. She had the pity of a toy whose power was all worn out and broken.

“….”

Blake Upus was a man who was very immune to war, violence, and bloodstains. In the mountain range, monsters and beasts competed for the pecking order, and he was strong enough to overpower them all.

But Lily was telling her horrible story so calmly….for some reason, he felt like his own heart was aching. And he thought that the husband should be fed to the animals in the mountains as a meal.

“Is that why you ran away here that day?”

Honestly, Blake wanted to beat the unknown husband of hers and cut off all his tendons.

“You guessed right. I got on the train trusting your father’s promise to help with anything. He was very kind to me the first time I saw him.”

After hearing this, Blake couldn’t drive Lily out.

How he could also rationalize it. Wouldn’t it be an act of protection for the less evil nobleman from the evil nobleman that was her husband?

It was a mutually satisfying outcome.

Blake deceived himself and nodded.

In other words, Lily Hedwick didn’t really like living in his barren castle.

It never had been. Never!

“Then do so. But it will be a year at most. Until then, you must find another way and leave the castle.”

“Thank you for your kindness.”

Blake stood up as if he wanted to conclude the conversation.

“I’ll get you a maid, if you need anything, just let her know. Don’t wander around the castle for no reason. Unlike the other nobles, I often walk in the snowy mountains, so you won’t see me often.”

He opened the door to his office, which was coated with oil and made only a faint sound.

“Call me if you need me. But you should only find me when there is something you must meet. There should be absolutely nonsense reasons.”

This was the last of Blake’s pride.

It was his attitude that he would never have a close relationship with a noblewoman.

He would reject the nobility equally.

“If possible, it would be good enough to forget that we’re in the same house.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Lord Blake.”

Lily went out into the corridor to see the man off. Blake picked out one of the maids passing by and assigned her to Lily.

Lily really intended to faithfully implement Blake’s words.

He did the favor and took her in, so she could at least listen to the strange demands of the difficult Duke living in the snowy mountains.

When Lily returned the coat she was wearing, the two of them really parted ways.

Blake breathed a sigh of relief, saying he will no longer have to meet Lily.

Though he did accidentally put on the coat Lily returned to him and got stuck in the smell of her skin.

“….”

He never wanted to find out that the other person had a sweet, peachy scent. A scent that somehow tickled his old memories, a scent that he was familiar with and attracted to.

A fragrance that he wanted to be filled with.

“D*mn it.”