CH 15

So, Dominic’s birth was approaching.

Lily kept stroking the horse’s black fur.

“Good girl. You’ll be fine. Everything will be fine…I’ll be with you all the way until the end.”

Lily cast a small spell and comforted Dominic. 

The black horse exhaled with a hint of relaxation.

Blake, who had sent the boy away, came back to Lily.

“How is it feeling?”

“It looks like it’s about to give birth, but I’m not sure. I’ve never even seen a person give birth to a child before.”

“Horses are similar. Not long after the amniotic fluid breaks, the foal’s forefoot appears.” 

So they waited quietly in the stable.

Blake suggested that Lily should go to the castle to get some rest, but Lily refused.

“Do as you please. Was there a time when you didn’t do what you wanted? However, I suggest you sit on a chair. Or you’ll get in trouble.” (Blake)

The man became brusque when his consideration was rejected.

Silence reigned in the stable. Blake stood there for quite a long time, checking on Dominic.

After such a long time.

The man couldn’t take it anymore and turned around again.

“Hey, miss, you too should be in a warm room …………..”

Lily was dozing in a small chair.

He closed his mouth quickly without realizing it.

“…”

Blake carefully hugged the sleeping Lily.

The frail body came snugly into his arms.

It was surprisingly light. It was reasonably cool.

Blake stood still, feeling strange.

‘What the hell should I do with this woman?’

What were these old memories that came back to him every now and then?

He could only sigh at the fact that it hadn’t even been a month since she had stayed here. It was a terrible year.

‘You said you’d leave after a year…. …Where the hell are you going?’

In the arms of the abusive ex-husband?

Blake’s inner child self felt like shouting again.

‘That’s outrageous.’

The current Blake agreed.

He had no intention of agreeing to that. In fact, he would rather kill her ex-husband, as the servants had said.

But then where should Lily Hedwick go?

‘Well, let’s not care. You act as if you’re anything to this lady.’

He realized by reflecting on his words.

‘I don’t really want to be her something, do I?’

That was a ridiculous thing to say.

He muttered in a creepy low voice.

He didn’t have to worry about Lily’s next year.

There were many things that were far more important to him. Territories, management, battles, and so on.

The man tried to shake off worries about Lily. Then he laid Lily down on the hay. 

He didn’t forget to throw the coat he had taken off earlier on her. 

His thoughts and actions were completely different.

“….”

‘Come to think of it, I think I have a diary from my childhood lying in my old room.’

‘Perhaps there is a clue to all this uncertainty.’

‘Should I look for it when the horse is done giving birth?’

***

“Ha!”

“…”

“Lady!”

Lily woke up at the call.

That was when crisp blue eyes appeared beneath long lashes. 

“I’m seeing the bay. Can you bring me the towel?”

Lily came to her senses at the sound of Blake’s voice. 

How long had she been lying on that hay bale? 

Lily rushed to Dominic’s side. A mare was lying on the other side of the open door.

“Oh, Coco!”

“All is well. Can you see the foal’s nose? It’s coming out in a normal order.”

Dominic floundered in the air with its front feet. Lily also bent her knees and sat down.

“How can I help you?”

“Why don’t you cheer me up?”

He meant just watch.

Lily understood the joke, but her fists tightened as she looked at Dominic.

Blake sat down beside her.

Then he saw Lily twitching next to him, without even closing her eyelids.

‘What are you really going to do?’

The man couldn’t help but smile and watch.

At last, the black pony in the amniotic sac poured onto the ground.

Blake and Lily looked at each other. Their eyes lit up at the birth of a new life.

“Lord Blake…..!”

“Give me a towel over there!”

The man climbed through the sliding door at once and checked on the foal.

“Young lady, come here! Dominic has already checked the foal, so you can dry the foal off.”

Lily wiped the foal’s body as Blake had instructed.

The two people with the highest status in the castle did this voluntarily.

Blake looked at Dominic while Lily did her best with passion and sincerity.

“It seems the foal is already bigger than me!”

“Horses are upper body animals right from birth. They grow a lot from the start.”

“I can’t hold it in my arms and walk around. The face is bigger than my arms!” 

Lily learned for the first time that the foal’s eyes could open right after birth.

She made eye contact with the black foal that had just come into the world. ‘What are you thinking about?’ Her heart throbbed.

It was only a few dozen minutes that they took care of the new life.

Before they knew it, the foal was drinking its mother’s milk.

Lily and Blake stood outside the door and looked at it.

“It’s really cute. Look at Coco II. She looks just like her mother.” 

Instead of looking at the horse, Blake took notice of Lily.

Her platinum blonde hair, softer than silk, was a mess. Even the horse’s hair was sticking everywhere.

The messed up part must have been Blake himself.

He answered mischievously as he leaned his head against the pillar.

“Coco II? I’m warning you, I will hate you if you don’t recognize your own name, Dominic II, when I call you later.”

“I can’t give up “Coco”. How about we agree on Coconic II?” (Lily)

“What the hell? Doesn’t it sound like coconut?” (Blake)

Dominic II had just staggered to the door. It was heading towards Lily, to be precise.

Lily held the pony’s head.

“May I say a blessing?”

“IIDexter isn’t here. Do as you please.”

The blessing, which should be given at birth, was originally the task of the clergy and sorcerers. 

As Blake, he meant, “It doesn’t matter if she gives the blessing because the real sorcerer (IIDexter) is out,” but Lily accepted it differently.

‘So you mean I’m not a reliable sorcerer?’

‘Well, I suppose so.’

She admitted very coolly.

“You’ll be a sturdy horse. I can already imagine you riding through the open country without any illness. You will be a brave friend, not afraid of nature. I will always love you.”

Blake looked at Lily for a moment . A faint smile appeared on his lips.

It reminded him of the first time he had seen her.

It was a snowy night, more snow than now, and when he opened the gate, the small figure appeared with the sound of hinges.

From the moment she saw her, his winter castle was slowly changing.

“Hey, don’t worry too much about the snowstorm last time. So………..”(Blake)

That was when he unexpectedly opened his mouth.

“Do you understand? Coco II?” (Lily)

Lily had ended her blessing with Coco II. Blake staggered for a moment.

“What a terrible name.” (Blake)

“I’ll call it Dominic II sometimes.” (Lily)

“I’d rather fall into a river than trust you.” (Blake)

***

It was noon the next day. Blake was buried in dust. 

“My God, it’s a pain in the a****.”

He was annoyed as if he had never learned any manners. The man was going through the nursery he had used when he was a child. It was a room that had been empty for a long time since he had taken over the duchy.

“I’m sure there’s a diary in here…”

The room was a mess, as was his crazy personality. Blake, with his strong muscles, swam through the junk and finally found the diary after a few minutes. 

“What kind of trouble is this? I don’t even have enough time to look into the territory for more business.”

It’s because of that troublemaker Lily Hedwick…..because she’s so pretty.

Blake paused for a moment when he thought of that, and immediately hit himself hard on the head. 

Anyway, he moved his big body to the window and sat down, flipping through his diary.

A few old papers went over. The most noticeable contents were bad words about the capital. 

<Those noblemen who are like dogs and foot worms, I’ll take their intestines out of their ears and throw them in the pigsty, and the rest of their bodies will be XX and XX and XX…>  (*XX meant bad words that he wrote in there.)

The more he read, the higher the level of bad words. It was understandable because it was the first time he received the hostility of the nobles in the capital after staying only at the Duke’s castle.

Blake’s memories came to his mind one after the other.

He was still rough now, but he was even less polite then.

He even tried to attack the nobles while wearing a cloak and a tie.

“…One, ten, twenty five…..the first page is abusive language, the second page is also abusive language, the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and so on. The 31st page is also slang.”

What is this malevolent little thing …..

Blake clicked his tongue, forgetting that it was his past.

***

*This chapter is so cute and funny. It looked like they were witnessing the birth of their child instead of the horse’s. And how funny is that the diary of  little Blake back then was nothing but all the cursing