CH 25

Lily intended to make fun of Blake, who was alone in her thoughts. She called the man with a fresh yet formal accent unique to the upper class.

“Princess.” (Lily)

“Yes?” (Blake)

The moment Blake answered naturally without realizing it.

Lily couldn’t stop laughing.

It was so funny that she even clapped her hands.

“haha!”

“…”

“Ahahaha!”

“Stop laughing.”

“Hahhahhhhhaaaaa, I think my lungs have burst. Call the doctor…” (Lily)

“Just die. That would be better.” (Blake)

“Is the sweet man who embraced me like a mother chicken gone? If I die, please bury me next to that person. I have to repay my kindness even in death.” (Lily)

Lily couldn’t contain her laughter. Even the way she closed her eyes was beautiful.

She also slapped him on the shoulder. Blake’s gaze reached Lily’s hand.

“In the first place, the problem is that the young lady calls people names strangely. Now Dominic II doesn’t even care when she hears her name.”

The more he spoke, the more anger he got.

How humiliating it was to have to end up calling the pony Coco II! This woman didn’t know.

Lily said exaggeratedly, as if she was really sorry.

“Unbelievable…. I was going to call it Dominic II by the end of next week, but I’m a little late.” (Lily)

“I really hate that aristocratic detour. I hope you postpone your meals for a week, too.” (Blake)

“Really. I was really trying to call it. I also wrote it down in my notebook. Would you like to see ….Oh no, unfortunately, I left it in my room.” (Lily)

After a while, the corners of Blake’s tightly closed mouth finally contained a faint smile.

“Oh my gosh. What kind of woman is this….”

Lily’s puns became more frequent and varied with each passing day.

Thanks to her, Blake had a hard time, but he looked quite good. 

He didn’t know for sure, but in the capital, Lily probably wouldn’t have showed this side of herself.

He really believed that winter castle would be the perfect space for her.

Of course, it snows all year round, and it’s cold, bleak and rough…but…

‘Wait a minute. Do I need to install more fireplaces?’

The duchy was really barren.

As soon as that thought occurred, the man quickly became anxious.

He wasn’t sure if Lily would like it here.

There would be no cool spring sunshine and picnics here.

Of course it was impossible to hold a bazaar with aristocrats to dispose of outdated valuables.

‘How about Christmas?’

The other nobles would dance under the chandeliers around the clock, but there was nothing in the winter castle.

There was a time when the knights secretly cut down an evergreen tree to create a Christmas atmosphere amongst themselves. 

-From today on, its name is Holden!

He even gave the tree the name [Holden], but after being caught by Blake, it was burnt horribly in the fireplace.

Hold on!!!

A barren place without Christmas.

Where the hell is Lily Hedwick’s favourite? Blake quickly fell into skepticism.

‘I’ll have to build more fireplaces.’

If possible, one per room, no, two more…… 

It would be better to just use processing manastones that generate heat and replace the entire wall on one side. The man has really changed. The original Blake never thought there was a winter problem.

The Upus have always liked rough things.

The word “strong” also meant being fierce.

Even after this land, which had existed since ancient times, passed through the kingdom and became a duchy, the nature of Upus remained unchanged.

Therefore, Blake and his employees did not hesitate to live in a winter castle located high in a snowy mountain.

On the contrary, they felt free.

Hanging crossbows and swords, their blood was awakened every time they hunted and fought. The duke’s last name was the reason why it existed here. Although most of the manastones were buried, he had a wealth that was second to none.

But the man today has become a completely different man.

‘I have to pave the road. To make it easy to move through the entire mountain range. When the day comes when she can live proudly here, I can bring in the merchants. It would be difficult to bring it from the capital far away, but anything… ‘

It was the sound of operating expenses for several years of a small estate.

But he was serious.

He was going to cause an accident without asking Lily for her understanding, so shouldn’t this be the case?

That was the moment.

A familiar voice was heard along with the noise of the noisy banquet hall.

ㅡ hey, guess what I brought. (YB)

It was another memory of Blake’s childhood.

There was the young Blake in the heavy but somehow dismal carriage. It looked like he was handing the pouch to the young Lily.

—Yeah, what is it? Is it another moving frog? (YL)

— I won’t give you that again after you cried, silly! (YB)

There were a few pieces of dry jerky in the bag, and even today, when there was a snow storm, Winter Castle made it still.

—And candy cane and this..… (YB)

At that time, young Blake was also anxious to do anything for young Lily.

‘what the…..’

As the new memory finished playing, Blake smirked.

‘By the way, where were we going in the carriage back then? According to the diary, sometimes we only played secretly at parties, is that possible?’

Then Lily spoke to him, and he woke up from his thoughts.

“Pretty princess, what are you thinking now?” (Lily)

“I’m not deceived anymore, so stop calling me princess.” (Blake)

Blake flicked Lily on the forehead. Then he dropped his hand. It was just that.

For him, it was an act without much thought, but..…

“Ouch……”

Lily touched her slightly sore forehead. She opened her eyes wide.

The man had never hit her.

There were times when she was carried on his shoulder like a bag, but there was never any violence.

Blake had just realized that, too.

What he had done to the people of the winter castle, he had done it to Lily involuntarily.

‘Did I feel so close to Lily Hedwick?’

His cold face twitched strangely. Somehow he felt some kind of shock.

The atmosphere in the banquet hall was also chilly.

Everyone was buzzing.

From a middle-aged woman with a scar on her face to a young man wearing a bear’s skin.

“Master hit Lady Lily.”

They kept glancing at Blake and Lily, so they saw everything.

“Master hit Lady Lily.”

“Someone worse than an oak hit Lady Lily.”

“You crazy, how?”

The more the news spread from mouth to mouth, the more distorted the facts.

“He slapped her on the forehead.”

“What a terrible and vulgar thing he did to Lady Lily with his middle finger and his thumb!”

“What? Did it leave a permanent scar?”

“She fainted, she needs treatment!”

“My righteous ax is thirsty for blood again.”

“It’s war!”

They were really great people in Lily’s eyes.

She couldn’t believe it when they pulled out weapons from somewhere under their thick clothes.

Did they expect this to happen?

No, even if it was like that, where did they keep the weapons in their bodies?

Blake was quickly swept away by the hordes of enemies, moving away from Lily. Lily’s embarrassment subsided and she now smiled.

Her ex-husband used violence against her whenever he was drunk. By comparison, Blake’s flicking her forehead was a child’s play… No, it was really a joke.

Even so, when a war broke out like this, the people of Winter Castle were just cute.

Lily thought.

But she couldn’t laugh because Lord Blake would definitely get angry.

It was certain that he would return as fiercely as before, so Lily endured it.

“…”

However, there was no way Blake, who was quicker than the devil, could not notice the change in her expression.

Even when he was busy avoiding the swords from the servants, his great vision saw everything.

Lily, using her small hands, grabbed her small cheeks as well, trying to keep her expression hidden.

And in the end, she covered her face and laughed.

“Look, you really have to stop this.”

Blake murmured grimly.

Even so, he put the closest enemy on his shoulder armor, and then swung it back. The second opponent was also mercilessly disarmed and Blake shouted with annoyance.

“What the hell! What a fuss, you idiots!” 

“Die without excuses!”

The last day of the banquet ended so affectionately. 

(Blake didn’t know why everyone suddenly attacked him )

****

One afternoon, sunny and cool.

A mansion located in the imperial capital was certainly beautiful.

The round garden harmonizing with nature, elaborate white stairs, and even the door leading to the outside were meticulously constructed to show geometrical beauty.

“Can’t you go away right now?”

There was a commotion at the front gate.

“How a savage kid like you knows Lady Fox?!” 

A giant knight pushed his opponent back with a stern expression.

“Ahh!”

The person who was pushed out was none other than Sebastian.

Although he soon became an adult, Sebastian helplessly fell on the ground. 

Sebastian’s appearance was not very good.

The clothes he was wearing were torn in several places, as if caught on a branch. It proved how hard it was to get from the winter castle to the capital.