Lilian of Turin

“He should take care…”

The remaining Lily muttered, bewildered. Damian said, “he will”. Replying lightly.

In an instant, only the two were left. Lilian suddenly became curious.

“Your Highness, how did you get here?”

“I’m not sure. Did I disturb you having a good time?”

A meaningful and disquieting expression overflowed in the words he casually asked.

“No.”

However, Lilian, who was selectively indifferent, simply answered the question politely.

“As you can see, Your Highness is the second uninvited guest.”

“Hmm.”

It was interesting that she picked out the answer Damian wanted even though she’s unaware of it.

Looking at Lilian’s clean face without any ulterior motives, Damian suddenly asked.

“After your visit, Marquis Turin apologized to me. Did the lady ask for it?”

“No, did my brother apologize?”

“Yes, very politely. He also told me to move to the inner castle. I thought the lady must have persuaded him.”

“My older brother loves me, so I’m undeservedly loved, but Elector of Turin is not the kind of person who simply accepts something absurd as a request from his sister.”

“Aha…”

At first glance, she seems humble, but upon closer inspection, she was actually proud of her older brother.

“In the first place, I’m just a member of the family. I’m not in a position to give orders to the Feudal Lord, the Patriarch, to do this and that.”

‘I don’t think so.’ …he thought so, but it wasn’t easy even for the worldly Damian to say what he though in front of Lilian’s innocent-looking face.

“If he apologized to Your Highness, it would have been entirely the Lord’s decision.”

Unnoticed, Lilian finished her words proudly. Then.

“Do you understand?”

As if asking, she even looked at Damian blankly.

“Hm…”

Even Damian, who could be shameless under most circumstances, averted his eyes at the subtle anticipation.

The warning from Cedric flashed vividly in his mind.

[I’ll be honest. Giving up my sister is giving you the greatest treasure in Islar.]

At least in his own mind, Cedric boldly threatened.

[Not a single hair on the child’s head should be damaged. The safety of my sister, Lily Islar, is Turin’s condition for cooperation. Do you understand?]

‘That’s right.’ Damian inwardly clicked his tongue. The thoughts of this brother and sister are so…very different.

But he didn’t object to Lilian’s underestimation of her brother’s affection.

‘There’s nothing to be gained by deepening the friendship between brother and sister right now, isn’t it?’

Damian Rupenwein is cunning.

Lilian was a token of alliance with Turin. The form was a marriage alliance but to some extent, it also had the character of hostage.

So it should have been rather welcome that Cedric cared for Lilian that much. Because the value of the hostage went up.

‘But things have changed a bit…’

Rather, Damian needed Lilian now.

…more or less absolutely.

Lilian sat there, not knowing why Damian was still looking down at her, the smoke rising from her pipe floated down on the floor like a veil.

Damian thought with a smile on his face.

“Maybe if you knew a little bit about my thoughts, you wouldn’t be so free.”

Damian’s self-control was rapidly breaking down.

From the moment he realized his danger, he avoided Lilian, but that rather resulted in a rapid collapse.

He didn’t know what to point out as the cause.

Maybe it’s because of Zagreb, that goddamn ancient weapon that destroyed his mental world, which was already in ruins, or because of Lilian, who appeared before his eyes like this.

‘If it’s not this or that, it could just be my fault as a monster from birth.’

It didn’t matter.

The reason why Damian voluntarily came to Lilian now was because he decided that it would be better to appease himself by trying to make contact with Lilian in an appropriate manner while he remained in this castle, rather than going half mad and causing an accident.

He didn’t even have to go to great lengths to find Lilian. It was because his mana was fully responding to the will of the owner who wanted ‘Lily Islar’.

In other words, his longing had become a sharp compass. All Damian had to do to find Lilian was to be careful to use man-made paths and not to break through walls or jump through windows.

It was no exaggeration to say that his patience was completely exhausted, as he felt that such common sense behavior was a painstaking effort.

Now, finally, in front of Lilian’s blue eyes…

“…Your Highness the Grand Duke?”

Damian wasn’t sure if he was hiding his unusual longing neatly.

Not yet. Not yet.

The connection between him and Lilian was still unstable.

He had to hold out, at least until he and Lilian were married and officially tied as husband and wife.

Damian told himself that. It was then.

“Oh…”

A stack of books rolled off the windowsill above Lily’s head with a rumbling sound.

Dangerous.

When he thought that, his uselessly powerful body moved before he thought.

Udangtang kungtang!

When he came to his senses after the commotion, Damian was unknowingly hugging Lilian.

It happened in an instant. Lilian asked, patting her surprised chest.

“Your Highness, are you okay?”

“I, I…”

Lilian looked up, as if checking on Damian. Lily’s eyelashes fluttered under Damian’s chin.

The distance is too…

Too close.

Damian swore he didn’t have any tricks. He just wanted to hand her a book.

Hoping that Lilian’s fingertips would touch his by coincidence.

A simple thing compared to his heart’s desire.

In fact, it didn’t seem like his self-control, which was left in fragments, could handle more than that.

‘However…’

Something unbearable happened.

“Your Highness?”

Lilian looked at Damian incredulously, as if something had broken down. At that moment, Damian confirmed one fact.

This time, just by coming in close contact with Lilian, the pain that occurred while his body deformed little by little due to his mana was significantly reduced.

It was not a one-time miracle at that time. If he had to call it a miracle, then Lily herself had to be called a miracle.

As the pain subsided, his mind became clearer. As he breathed, he became dazed in a different sense.

‘More…I want to touch her.’

He had no choice but to admit it. Damian needed Lily.

It was just an absolute necessity, just as he needed to breathe and drink water to survive.

For a moment, Damian gritted his teeth.

Gathering his self-restraint, he managed to distance himself from Lilian.

At that moment, Damian had only one thought.

He can’t get caught.

Damian gathered himself and smiled.

“I have been rude. Forgive me.”

“Not at all.”

Even though she was embarrassed inside, Lilian sincerely denied it.

“You helped me when I was in trouble. It’s nothing to apologize for.”

Oh, how pitiful this is.

For a moment, Damian looked at Lilian as if looking at something very pitiful.

Lilian had no idea.

That she had become the bride of a monster without even realizing it because of the relaxation she unknowingly gave.

What a poor good bride.

‘If you know me…’

Will you be afraid, or will you feel sympathy?

He was curious for a moment, but the cunning Damian promised again that he would not solve that curiosity forever.

The Lady of Turin must not know that her husband is a monster all her life. She tried to feed him for a while, but she had to be in Damian’s stomach, not knowing that she had been eaten.

Damian thought that would be the safest route.

***

Immediately after the embarrassing contact incident.

“Thank you for your understanding. Then, since I’m an uninvited guest, I will leave.”

Thinking of Damian, who left behind a picturesque smile, Lilian tilted her head.

It was strange that he was impeccably polite.

‘I don’t know why I keep getting goosebumps at his polite words.’

It wasn’t a question that would require deep thought to answer.

‘It’s just that something doesn’t mesh well with each other.’

Recalling the miserable marriage life in her memory, Lilian was convinced. Not in her wildest dreams would she know that Damian would be deeply upset if he knew that.

Anyway, she was finally alone. Lilian pulled the ledger, which had been scattered on the floor and hidden among the books because of her two uninvited guests, back to her lap.

She was kind and meek by nature, but Lilian, who hid in the library, was not the kind of person who’d do anything to make others worry.

…she wasn’t, but this time, there was a good reason.

That time goes back a few days.