13. Mirror of Face
She thought she had fallen asleep with Damian, but when she came to her senses, Lilian had arrived in an unfamiliar space.
“Here is…”
Lilian carefully looked around her. As she looked slowly, she saw something familiar.
“The western palace…?”
It was the western detached palace where the last day of the opening banquet was held.
‘Am I dreaming?’
Lilian began to look around her little by little, bewildered.
There was no one but her in the empty hall.
It’s the same when she cautiously went outside.
Then, suddenly, light footsteps was heard.
She thought it was a dream, so strangely, she didn’t feel scared. Lilian involuntarily moved her body and began to search for the owner of the footsteps.
‘I have to find it.’
She didn’t know why but she started to think that way.
Lilian listened carefully and moved. After a while, she was able to find small bloodstains lined up in the middle of the hallway.
Looking closely, it was shaped like the sole of a child’s foot, smaller than Lilian’s palm. Apparently, an injured child was roaming the palace.
Lilian became desperate. In that sense of urgency, she started running with her skirt up, something she would never normally do.
It was a dream, so no matter how much she ran, she could breathe. Thanks to that, she was finally able to find the back of a small child with his feet wet with the blood.
‘There you are.’
The moment she found the small back, she felt an indescribable sense of relief.
Was he five or six years old? From his tangled, blonde hair that grew over his shoulders, it’s evident that he’s not being properly cared for.
Lilian stopped approaching and spoke cautiously to avoid provoking the child.
“Hey, are you hurt?”
“…”
“If you don’t mind, can I take a look at your wounds?”
The child turned around and shook his head. The uncared for child seemed full of wariness.
“I can’t go.”
“Um…then can I come?”
“You can’t come here either.”
“Why?”
The child slowly looked back. Familiar purple eyes twinkled through his hair.
“…I am in the mirror.”
At that very moment, Lilian woke up.
Looking around her, she saw the familiar view of her bedroom. But it was too vivid to think it was just a dream.
Especially those purple eyes…
“…are you awake?”
Damian, sensitive to her presence, opened his eyes beside her. With purple eyes so identical to the one she saw in her dream, Lily was speechless for a moment.
“…yes. Did His Highness sleep well too?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
She didn’t think she did anything enough to be thanked, but she didn’t feel bad when Damian said that.
Receiving Damian’s small, charming kiss on the cheek, she felt as if she’d finally returned to reality.
Lilian wondered if the reason why she suddenly had a strange and contextless dream was because the eyes of Damian, who had been defending himself the night before, was so pretty. And soon she slowly forgot about her dream.
***
It was announced that Duke Blanchett had a serious illness of unknown cause and that Ethan, his heir, would inherit the dukedom.
At the same time, Marianne was forced to leave the imperial capital with her mother.
The former Duke of Blanchett intended to minimize the responsibility of the Duchess by disgracing his daughter, but Ethan did not.
In exchange for causing controversy, he ordered house arrest without a deadline.
It’s his decision to make Blanchett responsible for Marianne’s misdeeds.
Marianne followed Ethan’s decision without protesting. It was because she had already heard through her mother about her father’s heart-rending decision that her heart trembled.
For a while, among the Blanchett’s employees, rumors of ‘the young lady suddenly became quiet’ circulated in secret, then disappeared.
There was a lot of talk in the social world about the sudden succession of the Blanchett family.
“Isn’t the timing a bit odd?”
“If the Grand Duke had a hand…”
“Could he have gone that far because of the Grand Duchess?”
“I think it’s because you didn’t see it, but His Highnes the Grand Duke is upset when it comes to Her Highness.”
“Pardon? Him?”
On the last day of the opening banquet, Damian’s pampering of Lilian was gaining weight and spreading.
“Anyway, whether or not the Grand Duke is behind this succession, it’s certain that His Highness the Crown Prince benefited.”
“That Ethan Schmidt became Duke Blanchett…”
Duke Blanchett, who was blinded by power, sent his young son to Emperor Idoel, so he’s someone who grew up seeing the Emperor’s face more often than his own parents.
Now that he had become Duke Blanchett and had nothing to be afraid of, it’s obvious which path he’d take.
In fact, Ethan went straight to Matteo. Of course, Matteo did not immediately meet Ethan.
He just gave the order through the Head Butler, ‘wait until I’ve sorted out my thoughts.’
From then on, Ethan really began to wait at the door of his private house like a stone.
“When will His Highness the Crown Prince plan to call the Duke?”
“I don’t know.”
Damian drew the curtains sullenly. He didn’t care that Ethan was suffering.
“It’s something the Crown Prince will do on his own, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“It’s a situation where a Duke of the Empire is standing in front of our house. As the house owner, I don’t feel comfortable.”
Indeed. It was a wifely answer with a clear line. With her frankness blocking any room for jealousy, Damian is blissfully happy.
“If you don’t feel comfortable, let’s put him in the back door instead of the front door.”
That was a full-fledged statue treatment.
“Your Highness.”
When Lily scolded Damian, he pouted.
“But I don’t want to go over there even if you’re concerned.”
Lilian smiled bitterly. Now she realized that when Damian is at a disadvantage, he acts cute.
But, despite Lily’s realization, the method still worked quite well.
“I want you to focus only on recovering your body.”
Sweet whispers and kisses reached her ears. Even if there were no people, it’s broad daylight so Lilian blushed.
“Your Highness is looking for a cure but Sir Ivan is in charge.”
In addition, Shaw Winston, as her family doctor, would occassionally help out.
There’s little room for Lilian to step in. It’s to the extent that she occassionally went to see a doctor or her husband diligently supplemented her with mana every day.
“Well. Isn’t wife taking on the responsibility of disposing of the bizarre health food sent by your older brother?”
“That does sounds like a bit of a challenge…”
A few days ago, after consulting with Damian, Lilian informed Cedric that she was on a deadline.
From that day on, Cedric began to consistently find and offer things like the root of a plant she had never heard of before or unknown meat.
Mrs. Maureen warmly welcomed the strange ingredients and brought them to Lilian’s table every day.
“In fact, I’m more effective for my wife’s health than those rare tasteless things. Right?”
…Damian was now jealous of even the health food that Lilian put in her mouth.
There was nothing as severe as this.
There were times when Lily couldn’t handle Cedric’s or Damian’s affection. But she couldn’t deny it. It was because she knew how the two of them felt.
In Lily’s mind, the memory of the day she told the two of them naturally came to mind.
It didn’t take as long as she thought to talk ot Damian. It’s thanks to the fact that Damian had already seen through most of it.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be honest with you.”
Damian was silent for a moment when she said she wanted to remain as a person of value to him.
“I’ll ask you one thing.”
“Yes.”
Damian moved closer to Lily, who was clearly nervous, and sat down. The knees of the two touched.
“Are you serious about saying that you will work hard to live in the future?”
“Yes.”
Lily nodded without hesitation. Damian stared at Lilian for a moment, as if trying to decide whether the words were true or not.
“If…if I asked you not to leave me in the future, what would you say?”
“I will try my best.”
At that hesitant answer, Damian stiffened for a moment, then took a deep breath and leaned over Lilian’s knee.
“Your Highness!”
“It’s nothing…I’m just a little relaxed.”
Damian said, “it’s okay since you said you’ll try. As long as you promise me, it’s fine” he muttered over and over again.
Lilian realized once again the size of Damian’s heart.
She didn’t know how to return it yet, so she only caressed Damian’s back up and down with clumsy hands.
After talking with her husband, who took longer to calm down than it did to talk, the first person Lilian thought of was Cedric.
When she said she would inform Cedric of the news, Damian responded by saying it’s up to Lily.
“There’ll be a scolding.”
“Probably.”
“No, it’s not my wife that will be scolded.”
Cedric scolding Damian? Lilian shook her head in disbelief.
“I’m the one who is sick and I’m the one who didn’t inform him. No matter how childish he is, he won’t go that far.”
Both expectations were wrong. Cedric didn’t scold either of them.
“It’s my fault, Lily.”
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