CH 36

Lily was tired too, but in fact, it was Blake who was the most sleepy. It was natural because he couldn’t sleep for days and now he was relaxed.

His jaw muscles tightened as he held back his yawn. When she saw it, Lily smiled gracefully as she closed her eyes as she normally would.

“I’m curious about the contract and the story of my childhood, but I’ll put it all off until tomorrow. Let’s take a break.”

“Well, then, okay.”

Blake pressed hard on the corners of his eyes as if he suddenly feel sleepy.

Still, he made the gesture to take Lily to her room.

“By the way, what is that bowl in your hand? You’re going to throw it away? Give it to me. It’s not empty at all.”

“I will definitely have breakfast starting tomorrow. I’ll see you at the dining room after a long time.”

“Oh.”

Blake stopped trying to tell her that since Lily was upset, he had his meals in his office.

‘It’s not love, don’t misunderstand. Anyway, it’s not love. It’s not love.’

For the man, the word ‘love’ seemed to keep popping up in his head these days, but he just passed it over, saying it was because of his mood.

“Tomorrow, breakfast. Anyway, I see.”

Finally, Lily said goodbye to him in front of the door of her room.

“Then see you tomorrow.”

As Blake was about to leave, Lily stopped him.

“Why?”

“I have something I want to say, but I don’t think I have delivered it yet.”

Lily pulled Blake and made him bend down slightly.

The man lowered his head gently, thinking Lily was going to tell him a secret, and was startled.

Lily kissed his cheek in a friendly and formal gesture. 

“Thank you.”

This greeting, which thanked him for the kindness of the knight, was proof that she felt reassured about Blake.

This quarrel was ultimately a matter of whether Lily trusted the man, so there was no better way than this as a gesture of reconciliation.

“See you tomorrow.”

Before Blake could say anything, Lily disappeared into her room.

She stretched out under the dim moonlight and looked around inside.

Lily thought.

‘Um, I said thank you…now since I rested too much, starting tomorrow, I’ll have to work hard again for the winter season…’

She thought about filling the stable’s food bins, and would ask if there’s anything she could do to help the maids.

Meanwhile, in Lily’s room, the window was closed and the air was stagnant.

She never cared about the stuffy air, but now her breath was suffocating.

She opened the window wide.

Whoosh.

A cold wind shook her hair and the smell of winter felt good.

‘From tomorrow on, I should stop lying in bed. Let’s stop thinking about my ex from today.’

Lily yawned slightly. Slowly falling asleep.

***

Left alone in the hallway, Blake had completely lost his sleepiness.

Now he didn’t look like someone who hadn’t slept for a long time. Only the cheek that someone’s lips had touched was blankly touched.

Just now…What was it?

Even trying to recall his memories, he was so startled that only the strong peach scent was engraved in his mind.

One beat later, Blake’s face darkened.

‘D*mn it, you d*mn woman…’

In fact, Lily went back as if nothing had happened, but it was funny that he was overreacting like this.

‘It’s not a big deal. It’s nothing. It’s no big deal.’

Okay, let’s not think about this any more.

With that in mind, he walked back in stride in the hallway of dawn. But Lily’s eyes kept coming to his mind. Blake used to feel strange when he looked into her eyes, and the feeling was like a shock.

It felt different from war neuralgia. When the blue eyes hidden behind her long eyelashes were revealed and looking at him… When Blake was in her twinkling eyes..…

‘Stop thinking!’

Blake hit the wall in the hallway hard.

The problem started there.

A fist made of stone-hard muscles had tremendous destructive power, and the brick was in a state of needing some repairs to the adhesive.

A huge white brick fell far down in search of freedom. Fortunately, there was no one, so it ended with being buried in the snow.

“…”

Blake was met with a blank expression on the cold wind coming through the open hole.

What is this?

He looked around and made sure that no one was there, and then moved on quickly.

‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’

Returning quickly to the room, he unfastened his belt. Then he stopped at the moment when his reflection in the mirror was disturbing.

‘I went to see Lily looking like this?’

Black hair disheveled as if in need of gel. And his eyes needed a rinse.

In Blake’s own eyes, some b*stard was standing opposite him.

‘Tomorrow, I’ll have to call someone and have my hair trimmed.’

His shirt was also very wrinkled. His belt had to be changed too….

It was the first time in his life to inspect his appearance so thoroughly. The man didn’t even realize it, and he concentrated on the mirror.

He stood like that for a dozen minutes before he sat down on the bed.

Thanks to someone with platinum hair, his sleepiness ran away, but he had to sleep. Anyway, he felt like his insomnia was over as of today, so it was possible.

‘Come to think of it.’

Blake was putting the locket necklace in a drawer when suddenly he realized something important. There was a reason his deceased father, the former Duke, had acted burdensome to Lily.

‘I thought my father was crazy because he made a promise using his family’s name because he spilled wine on a noblewoman. But he actually remembered Lily Hedwick.’

Unlike the two youngsters, the former Duke was still sane, so there was no way he could not remember Lily.

‘D*mn, that’s why he said he would do Lily a favor using his family’s name. But he never said anything to me.’

Blake suddenly wondered.

Did his father foresee that in the future Lily would come to the winter castle using the promise he gave? 

It couldn’t be.

Blake was convinced. His father must have an optimistic idea that it’s good to have a connection.

The mysterious father was such a simple human being.

‘Still, I have to say thank you for today.’

The man clenched his fists involuntarily. Then he remembered the accident and carefully loosened his fingers.

***

The next day, the sun rose at the same time as usual.

Lily’s maid, Gianna, stretched herself behind the circle. Her body was in bad shape. Another maid spoke to Gianna while carrying dozens of kitchen knives.

“Where are you going, Gianna…?”

“I’m going to change the blanket to a new one….”

“Yes… .”

The people of the winter castle were dying these days. Life without Lily was so lonely. Even though it was the same life as it was a few months ago, it was empty all the time.

It doesn’t matter if you haven’t eaten strawberries in your life because you don’t know the taste of them, but if you take them away after you eat them, it’s too hard.

Gianna stood in front of Lily’s door.

‘I have to smile in front of Miss Lily.’

She had to give a gloomy person a bright aura. Gianna opened the door with a big smile.

“Lily! Good morning! Did you enjoy the puree I gave you yesterday? I brought a new, fluffy blanket.”

The voice that was loud, as if it had boiled and ate a train barrel, gradually diminished.

Because Lily wasn’t anywhere in the room.

Gianna wondered if Lily had fallen under her bed and started her search. But there was no income.

Her trembling eyes and her fingers searched everywhere. Then she jumped out into the hallway and shouted.

“Lady Lily is missing!!!”

The news spread all over the winter castle in an instant.

“Miss Lily isn’t here?”

“You’re kidding, right? It’s cold today as always.”

“D*mn it, you b*stard. But there really isn’t anything inside!”

“Did she really run away without a carriage? We need to find her quickly before she gets lost!”

They searched the inside of the winter castle like a mouse and couldn’t find anything, so they formed a search group and went outside. After the knights crawled on the snow-covered ground, they found footprints that were almost erased.

“This is it!”

They brushed off the snow that had accumulated on the footprints with a brush. It was a very careful gesture, as if finding evidence of a serial killer. 

“The gait with the center of gravity inward! Depth pressed with a smaller weight than normal women! Especially since it’s 0.1cm more from the thumb, it’s definitely Miss Lily’s footprint!” 

“Let’s follow this. Everyone gather!”

In broad daylight, as if a war had broken out, they rushed to the front of the stable.

Huh? The stable?

While they raised question marks, the wooden door opened with a creaking noise.

It was Lily Hedwick who tied her bountiful white blonde hair into a braid. She looked around the people with her round eyes, holding in her arms the straw that was left over from the feeding trough.

“What are you all doing here?”