CH 16

The diary found in the room Blake Upus had used as a child. The man read through thirty-five badly-written pages full of swear words and malicious intent. It had taken a great deal of patience for him. 

“What did you write in here? What a bad handwriting.”

He still had bad writing, but the man was seven years old at the time, so his writing style was more free. But he endured reading it because of his curiosity about Lily. Finally, the clue he had been looking for came out of page 35.

<The upcoming tea party had the annoying girl. I know this girl. Because her parents deliberately put the cake over my father’s head and badmouthed him while enjoying the situation. >

An annoying girl? 

From then on, Blake could occasionally find the appearance of the girl. Next page.

<Today is the day of the women’s association-led antique auction. I was told to attend because it was an event held by the emperor’s cousins. I met that annoying girl again. >

The cursing level dropped when the annoying girl made her appearance. It meant the young Blake’s heart was warming up.

The last page.

<At the anniversary of the imperial war, the girl tried to greet me, but stopped. Her parents were watching. It’s hard to play with that kid in secret unless the party is so big that the adults cannot watch us.>

In the diary, the young Blake’s anger had subsided a bit since then.

He almost understood the story when combined with the butler’s words.

“Young Blake would now enjoy his days in the capital a little more.”

There was someone he wanted to meet.

Old memories that had been dormant in Blake’s brain were slowly beginning to awaken. He looked back again at the scene that had come to his mind a few days ago. 

“Are you nuts? You spoke to the ears of wheat, but they didn’t answer.” (Young Blake)

It was just the young Blake and the little girl in a field of yellow wheat. The man finally remembered why the two of them were in the wheat field.

They escaped the party by crawling under the table, avoiding the eyes of the adults, and they found themselves in a nearby wheat field.

“No, but….” (Little girl)

“And talking to grass is the work of clowns.” (Young Blake)

An intense scarlet reed lay beneath the bright sunlight.

The little girl in the scene turned to face him, and Blake could see her face now, unlike before.

She was Lily Hedwick.

It was clear.

“……”

Blake dropped the diary he had been holding in shock.

‘Really—I met that girl when she and I were little?’

He picked up the diary from where he sat by the window.

Through the window, he could see Lily and the pony playing around in the snowy field.

‘They go well together. Maybe it’s because they have the same mental age………’

The horse Dominic’s bloodline was better than the imperial one.

So Dominic’s child belonged to Blake and Blake’s family, but…

‘Seeing how you follow the Lady so well, I guess it wouldn’t matter if I give you to her?’

Either way, Blake doesn’t have any children, so maybe that’s better.

“Lord Blake!”

Lily waved at him from afar.

The moment he opened the window to hear the sound clearly, she threw a snowball she had hidden behind her at him.

Of course, the snowball fell to the ground due to Lily’s lack of strength.

‘What are you doing?’

Blake watched with blank eyes, then closed the window again.

He wasn’t in the mood to play. Because he was very disturbed.

It was far too late to ask her anything. He was a few years older than she was so he could remember, but she was too young back then to really remember anything.

So even if he goes to her and says, ‘We actually promised to get married,’ it’s only pathetic.

“What am I really doing here?”

Blake read the diary all the way through, but could not recall the past anymore.

<I secretly took the jerky and gave it to the girl. It’s strange that the girl from the capital liked it even though it’s been made 500 years ago in winter castle.>

Whoosh. He turned the page.

<How many more months must it take for me to see her again? >

He flipped through the pages.

Flap, flap, flap.

In the end, only a faint memory remained like an afterimage, and then it was gone.

Finally, Blake’s patience ran out.

‘Done. I’m going to stop doing meaningless things now.’

He found only one diary anyway, so there was nothing more to read. 

‘I’m not curious at all about how we ended up not seeing each other anymore.’

This was when he was thinking like a fox in front of the new grape.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Blake sensed footsteps approaching his old room. His in-house ears were keen and had served him well on the battlefield.

“It’s Sebastian.”

The child was slyly following Blake. He had previously come up much earlier than the banquet.

Blake had a look of annoyance on his languid face.

‘He must have heard that I came here.’

It was better to avoid the boy than to scold him for sticking around and kicking him out.

Blake jumped out of the window. 

It was several stories high, but his body, flung like a wild animal, immediately trudged across the snow.

“Oh my, Coco II. Let’s go see him who suddenly appears. You’re going to be a sorceress.”

The black pony that had been following Lily around stared at Blake.

“…”  (Blake) 

“…”  (The pony )

Blake glared at the pony as well, a strange stubbornness forming.

The mother horse recognized him as its master, but this fierce thing didn’t seem inclined to do so.

“What are you two doing? Have you fallen in love or something?” (Lily)

“Why is your reasoning going in that direction?” (Blake)

“Because Lord Blake had a very intense look in his eyes…Coco II, don’t look at someone like that.”

“Oh, by the way, didn’t you also say that you would call it Dominic II occasionally?”

Lily frowned, elegant and mischievous. 

“You’d have to fall in a river to believe me, not to mention a word.”

***

The annual winter banquet was really just around the corner.

The castle was noisy in the morning. Lily felt a sense of wonder from the moment she woke up to the cold sunshine. It was the time when Gianna, her full-time servant, should have arrived.

After she had done everything she could to wake Lily, Lily said, “You are a perfect example of a servant.”

“I’m embarrassed to be praised!” She looked at Lily with a twinkle in her eyes.

‘But nothing happened today. What is it?’

Lily walked out into the gray corridor that was always so lonely. The servants were moving busily. It was not a cheerful atmosphere. 

They ran around with hard faces, without noticing Lily.

Each of them had either a bow or a harpoon in their hands….. 

“Lord Blake.”

Lily went down the round stairs and found Blake on the first floor.

“Where are you going?” (Lily)

He was usual. Instead of a loose cotton shirt, he was well armed. His matted black armor was overlaid with a wolf-shaped brooch and a thick leather sash, and on top of that, a fur-lined winter cloak came down to his thighs. 

It looked so heavy that Lily wouldn’t be able to stand up if it covered her. But it was perfect for Blake’s appearance.

“The families that were supposed to arrive by now haven’t come.”

Blake replied bluntly. Quite a few of the people on the attendee list did not arrive at the castle.

They lived outside the castle, but they belonged to the castle. Blake had reason to be concerned for their safety.

“Oh my god… what’s going on?”

A situation was discovered where the number of monsters had increased. 

“It looks like they’ve been attacked, so we have to form a team and search the mountain range.”

Lily remembered the proverb about the Dukedom of Upus.

[Even if you set a schedule and prepare everything, you will still freeze to death halfway up the snowy mountain.]

It meant that no matter how hard you tried, there were some things you just couldn’t do, and ‘snowy mountains’ was exactly what these winter mountains were.

Blake received a sword handed by others. The sword handle on his waist was already glittering.

It was a serious situation, even for Lily, who was a complete stranger.

“Are you all right, Lord Blake?”

‘You hate loud noises because of war neurosis.’

Blake understood what Lily meant and smiled.

It was the same smile he always had, arbitrary. The smile made Lily feel a little relieved.

“I guess you can’t see what’s wrapped around my body.” (Blake)

“Miss Lily, Master is a genius with all kinds of weapons. He can hold anything in his hands and end the lives of ten people at once.”

IIDexter explained as he prepared to leave.

He was a sorcerer, which helped him a lot on the snowy roads, but he clearly didn’t want to join the ‘combat team’.

“If I die, I won’t get promoted. Please worry about me instead of His Excellency, who is as strong as a monster.” (IIDexter)

“Please take care of yourself and come back safely, Sir IIDexter. And everyone else too.”

Blake climbed onto Dominic, the black horse Lily called Coco.

“Dominic.”