CHAPTER 4 – Escape at Night (Part 4)

No matter how pitiable her situation was, the result would have been the same. Even if she was born into nobility, nothing would have changed. This applied to any noblewoman from any family.

The only daughter of the sole marquis in the capital.

Or an imperial lady.

That’s what it took to compete with the Edelgard Duchy. Lillian would not be the only lady in the capital to weep at the news of Cedric’s betrothal. Her tears dried quickly as her thoughts turned to that.

‘But I slept with Cedric. Perhaps Marianne is already growing inside me.’

Her monthly cycle hadn’t started yet.

All the female priests suffered from menstrual irregularities. Lillian, too, experienced irregular dates after her divine power blossomed.

But praying for another miracle, she stroked her belly happily.

“Viscountess Primrose, where shall we put all these paintings?”

“Place them in the dressing room.”

“There are so many paintings…”

“Yeah. Arrange them neatly so they’re well-displayed.”

Lillian had decided to use the dressing room next to her bedroom as her own collection room. There was no need to fit dresses every month or wander around banquet halls in this rural area.

“Be careful not to damage the paintings. They are all tremendous masterpieces.”

“Yes, Viscountess Primrose.”

The cheesecloth-draped paintings were all portraits of Cedric, thirty-two in all, from the time he joined the Order of the Silver Cross as a squire to the most recent.

Lord Turin’s mansion was an old fortress.

For the precious guest who came all the way to this countryside, Lord Turin provided a large bedroom inside the fortress.

Furthermore, thanks to the lord’s generosity, Lillian had quite competent maids and servants under her command.

“None of you are to enter the bedroom until I call for you. Especially the dressing room.”

“Yes, my lady, but what about the cleaning?”

“I’ll take care of it myself.”

“My lady, that would be unseemly. We received orders from the lord to serve you well…”

“Oh, stop talking. If I say don’t do it, then don’t. Frankly, you’ll be more comfortable this way.”

The maids and servants were hesitant, but Lillian was so determined that they had no choice but to comply.

“But if you need any help, be sure to call us. Don’t clean it yourself.”

“Understood.”

While she answered like that, she’ll never allow them into her collection room.

Lillian already had a cleaning routine of her own: paintings were prone to dust, and it was part of her daily routine to carefully dust each one and admire Cedric’s portrait.

Moreover, how could she let others see a room with thirty-two portraits of the same man? In addition to the paintings, there were practice swords and quills he used, a towel he wiped his mouth with, bandages stained with his blood, and so on.

She didn’t want to add to the list of “poor maids who have fallen for him instantly” after seeing Cedric’s face, let alone how perverted her collection room would look.

A wry smile broke out from her as she looked down at the roughly adorned garden.

“Even though it doesn’t look like it, I guess I’m starting to live again…”

She left the capital where Cedric was. It was strange. She felt like she would die without him, yet now that she was near him, she was somehow living.

It had been six years ago that she’d been so afraid she’d never see Cedric again that she’d gone to the Order’s commander and begged him to let her join the expedition.

She fearlessly followed him even to the battlefield, barely sixteen years old, an age when others were seeking a husband.

At that time, it felt like she would die if he disappeared before her eyes. There was no room for consideration or second thoughts.

But now, Lillian is twenty-two. She’d escaped death many times before, and she’d endured six hellish years on the battlefield. She was much stronger than she was at sixteen.

Moreover, she had fulfilled her wish. She had exchanged kisses with Cedric and even gone further than that.

Lillian had no regrets. The thirty-two portraits of Cedric, from his splendid boyhood to his dignified youth, were by her side.

‘It will take at least a few months for news of his engagement to reach this remote village.’

It took a little over a fortnight by carriage to arrive at Turin. It had been over a month since she last saw Cedric, but instead of feeling like she was dying, it was oddly refreshing.

Unlike in the capital, there was no one here gossiping about his engagement. The social circles in Turin were truly insignificant and chaotic, quarreling and making up among themselves.

Marriages and divorces among the nobility of the imperial court, which influenced the fate of the empire, were irrelevant tales to Turin’s social circles.

Lillian, as per the lord’s request, only had to accompany him on inspections and cast protective spells in the borderlands. Her role was to attend the parties hosted by the lord’s wife and cast blessing spells.

Turin was peaceful and beautiful. Perhaps it was because she had mentally prepared herself for rural life, but it was not as stifling as she thought. The town, as she had heard, was warm, quiet, and surrounded by blooming flowers.

However, Lillian’s peace did not last long.

Someone suddenly appeared and was waiting for her at Lord Turin’s family dinner.