CH 11

Lily and IIDexter chatted as they walked along the path outside the winter castle. And, Blake stared at them.

“….”

His calm appearance hid his blazing eyes.

He didn’t like the situation, so he cupped his chin in his large hands, but the lips visible between them were slightly tilted at an angle.

The man did not admit it, but he was clearly jealous.

‘Lily Hedwick, you shouldn’t have done that. I’m appalled that you flirt with another man in front of me.’

When that thought came to his mind, questions followed.

‘Wait a minute. Why?’

Well….. yes………….

‘Because I made a promise.’ (Young Blake)

It wasn’t Blake who answered.

Young Blake from his childhood was standing in the corner of his memory with a sulky face.

The boy made a promise.

‘What did you promise her?’ (Old Blake)

‘We promised to marry. We held up our pinkies to each other and even sang a nursery rhyme.’ (Young Blake)

The young Blake disappeared like a phantom before anything could be further watered down, leaving only the lone remaining man in shock.

“What?”

Was it an illusion or the truth?

When it was hard to discern the truth.

Lily and IIDexter walked slowly down the snowy mountain path, not knowing it either.

“Mr. IIDexter? What did you just say?”

“It’s nothing.”

Instead of saying, “The maids will not accept Miss Lily’s absence from the banquet,” IIDexter shrugged and said something else.

“Do you know that the current headcount in the castle is less than a tenth of the total? They all work outside the city.”

“Oh my, I thought it was small in size, but there was such a secret.”

They talked about many things after that.

He said the closer to the banquet period, the livelier it gets.

They said that the drivers don’t stay at the castle much.

“Why are the knights staying outside the castle?”

“Because monsters go to places with a lot of oxygen. And it’s easy to fight. You can shoot there.”

“You can’t use firearms here? Come to think of it, I don’t think I saw anything like that in the castle.”

IlDexter stopped for a moment, pretending to shoot a gun.

He was very embarrassed as if he had said something he shouldn’t have said.

“Oh… Um…………. As you know, guns are very difficult to handle. It hasn’t been long since it was developed, they’re big and break down easily. I think an axe is still a better choice.”

“I heard you use them under the mountains?”

“Only in some zones where we can inspect the guns in real time…Please don’t ask me more questions. I should get going now!”

IIDexter left Lily alone and disappeared in a hurry down the mountain.

‘Is there a special reason why you can’t use guns in the castle?’

When Lily returned to the castle alone, she could see Blake out near the door. 

“It’s been a long time, what an hour when I ran into you in the first floor hall this morning and you were angry.”

Blake’s dark brows furrowed every time he ran into Lily over the past few days.

Lily teased him lightly and then got to the point.

“I see you have some business to attend to.”

“That’s why.”

The man couldn’t understand why he had left his office.

Did Lily Hedwick really make a promise to marry him?

It couldn’t be, since he had always been ostracized as a barbarian.

In the first place, even if he had hung out with her when he was a child, he would not have seen her more than a few times. There were always only a handful of times a year when he went to the capital.

“When did the Lady promise to marry your husband?”

Blake suddenly asked Lily.

“We had our wedding soon after the matchmaking came and went, so it wasn’t long, was it? Black tea would have taken longer to make.”

“Then didn’t you promise to marry anyone before that?”

“Of course not. Breaking up and similar actions are not good for a socialite.”

“I meant a promise you made when you were very young….. D*mn it, nothing.”

Blake was disappointed.

The girl in his memory looked younger than five years old.

Very few people remembered that time, and even if it were true, it was pointless.

“Did Lord Blake come down to ask me that? That’s the most fruitless question I’ve heard all day.”

“…..I’m going to see if the horse is going to give birth today.” (Blake)

“Oh! That’s adorable Coco. Let’s go see it together.”  (Lily)

She should have said “Dominic” instead of “Coco.”

There were many words hovered on Blake’s tongue. But the sentence that came out after the sigh was insignificant.

‘’I thought I told you to turn around if we met.” (Blake)

Oh, he said it.

But he knew for sure that he had come down to see Lily.

They talked as they walked to the stable.

“I heard there’s going to be a regular banquet?”

“It’s an event that annoys me once a year. All visitors will be properly taken care of, so your disappearance will not be leaked to the outside world.”

Hearing this, Lily remembered her husband. 

He must be dying of embarrassment right now, sending servants all over the place to find her. Despite this, it was interesting to note that he did not send people to the Upus dukedom.

“Thank you for your kind attention. However, you need not to make your visitors suffer. I’ll just stay quietly in my room during the banquet.”

“You are not going to attend?”

Blake thought of the maids he had seen on his way over. The winter clothes they made were thick and dull.

He really tried his best to find a beautiful banquet dress among them.

And the man’s heart also whispered, “Perhaps I would like to see Lily in such a beautiful dress, at least a little.”

So he ordered her brusquely.

“Participate.”

“Huh?” 

“We mostly only live in the dukedom. All guests are winter castle’s members, they won’t talk to the outsiders. Don’t worry and come to the banquet.”

“Lord Blake doesn’t have to be so considerate…”

“I do not listen to the opinions of those less powerful than me. Let’s go see Dominic.”

Blake led quickly ahead with his large body.

“I see no way to stop Lord Blake other than the royal family.”

It wasn’t that Lily didn’t want to attend the banquet. So she sighed and let out a half-hearted word.

“I’ll think about it.”

The subject soon shifted to the horse, Dominic.

Lily sincerely believed it.

After all, the lovely Coco was more appropriate than the name Dominic.

“I hope Coco the second is born before the banquet. It would be a good memory to carry around the baby Coco and see all the places.” (Lily)

“Dominic the second will be a rough fighting horse. Don’t take care of him selfishly.” (Blake)

“I’m afraid our nurturing philosophies for Coco the second don’t quite fit. It’s a good thing we’re strangers.” (Lily)

Blake paused at the joke Lily threw without much thought.

“I think it’s really fortunate…”

It was then.

“Why are firearms banned? Lord dictator.”

Lily couldn’t help but ask.

If guns were not allowed near the castle, it must have been this difficult man’s order.

“….”

Lily said it as a joke, but Blake’s reaction was intense.

As if he had been told that he was to blame for his parents’ death.

“Where did you hear that?” (Blake)

It was a low voice to begin with, but the bleak momentum became even stronger.

“I believe that whoever I name will be brutally killed.” (Lily)

“IlDexter, I presume.” (Blake)

“Where are you going, sir? No, you can’t! What if he blames me?” (Lily)

“Don’t worry, the dead don’t talk.” (Blake)

For a joke, he now had a way of freezing anyone in place. Lily shrugged as she looked at Blake going to where IIDexter had gone.

“I’m in trouble.”

***

As it turned out, nothing happened.

Except that IlDexter grabbed Lily, “Why in the world did you say that?” and almost sobbed.

And except for Blake’s more blatant avoidance of Lily.

“Good morning, Lord Blake.”

“…”

“Okay. Bad morning, Lord Blake. Did you get caught trying to sneak out the back door? You know I spend a lot of time near the front door. Cute.”

But Blake walked away without a reply.

“I feel like I’ve become invisible.” (Lily)

Lily vented her frustration to her immediate maid of honor, Gianna.

Even her appearance was graceful and refreshing, which made Gianna giggle.

“Master has gone mad. Still, you have to understand, he’ll come back to himself in a few days.”

“Why did the word gun become a banned word from the castle?”

“I don’t know. I don’t hear anything!” (Gianna)

Gianna, who had rioted at dinner for Lily’s sake, was acting like this.

Lily’s curiosity grew by the day.

Then there was an incident that solved her question.

“Thunder from the mountains is like this.”

Lily looked through the window of the castle at the pitch black night sky.

“Heavy snowfall accompanied by thunder, that’s very tasteful. Don’t you think so, Gianna?”

The maid who had been standing behind Lily earlier had disappeared.

Lily wondered and went out to the hall on the first floor of the castle.

The employees were busy with a gloomy expression.

“You mean no one has been able to find out where the Master is? Did he go see the horses?” 

“There are no tracks leading out of the main gate. I’m sure the tracks will be completely buried soon, but they can be found.”

“This is a big problem.”

Lily interrupted.

“Is there a problem with Lord Blake?”

“Oh, dear God, Miss Lily.”

This time, Lily wanted to know the truth.

The servants were very confused by her persistent glare and eventually told her the truth.

“Master lost his father, the only family he had left, five years ago. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. It was then that Lord Blake inherited the title.”

“It’s an unknown cause of death. Master walked around the battlefield in grief and suffered from war neurosis.”

The illness called PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) today was still called “war neurosis” or something similar at this time.

“He doesn’t like loud noises. Very much.”

It was only then that Lily understood the context.

“For example, thunder…..gunshot!” (Lily)

“That’s right. Please don’t tell Master. He wants to hide it. You know, in the capital, they curse that these symptoms are caused by weakness. We can’t accept the capitalists insulting us. B*stards.”

Lily quickly ran out the back door. 

Because she knew.

These days, Blake only used the back door secretly.