CHAPTER 6 – Time of Atonement (Part 3)

A few days ago, Lillian had been devastated to see the bright red blood on her underwear. It was clearly His will.

As if to punish her for her ill-conceived idea of secretly bearing and raising someone else’s child, Marianne hadn’t come to visit her.

Though she knew it was the right thing to do, Lillian couldn’t help but feel bitter. Even if it were just the two of them as a family, life wouldn’t have been this lonely.

A solitary life was always lonely. She let him into her empty heart and leaned on him without anyone knowing.

Since the beginning of her unrequited love, he had been at the center of all her choices.

She’d learned numbers to keep him company, and letters to avoid embarrassing him. Even going to the battlefield, and even the sacred power, it wasn’t for herself.

She knew how she looked in the eyes of a nobleman like him, but Lillian wanted to be confident. She tried to become a useful person.

But a woman who had done that. If he found out about her disgusting plan to secretly raise his child… just the thought was terrifying.

It would be better to be remembered as a crazy woman.

Lillian, who had bathed outside and returned, tidied her blonde hair and quickly returned to the bedroom.

In comparison to the modern houses in the capital, the old estate was undoubtedly uncomfortable. She particularly didn’t like that the bathroom was outside.

Inside the intimate bedroom, Lillian, seated in front of the dressing table, untied the towel wrapped around her head.

As she tilted her head to the side and began to dry her wet hair, her hand stopped abruptly.

“…!”

Someone was there.

Shifting her gaze through the mirror, a sturdy figure was revealed under the dim moonlight. An intruder. And he was sitting on her bed.

Startled, Lillian sucked in a racing breath. The man, who had his hands folded on his knees, quietly raised his head.

“Lillian. It’s me.”

It was Cedric. His low voice cut through the darkness.

“I apologize if I kept you waiting for your fiancé.”

Frowning, Lillian’s thin eyebrows creased.

‘Fiancé? He couldn’t be talking about Felix, right?’

In her moment of confusion, his reflection standing up was reflected in the mirror.

In the darkness, his well-built figure walking towards her appeared even larger than usual. The lone wax candle, the only source of light in the dim bedroom, flickered precariously.

“There’s no need to be so surprised, Lillian.”

Without realizing it, Cedric approached her from behind. His hand gently embraced her shoulder, and Lillian shrank like a small animal, lowering her head.

“H-How…”

“I came because there’s something I want to ask.”

“If it’s not urgent, can we talk about it tomorrow?”

“No. I need to talk about it now.”

His large hand gripped her chin, lifting her head forcibly. Lillian had no choice but to look at his reflection in the mirror.

An emotionless face stared back at her. A chill ran down her spine as her gaze met the cold green eyes.

“If I may ask, when will the two of you get married?”

“M-Marriage?”

“I’m talking about you and Sir Felix Perry. You seem to suit each other well.”

“…”

“A liar and a coward, what a fantastic combination.”

Lillian couldn’t comprehend what Cedric was saying. She just wanted to avoid those eyes filled with malice and resentment, but she was chained in place, unable to move.

“He must be sleeping well here in Turin. Knowing he’ll be marrying you, Lillian Primrose.”

“…We’re not on those terms.”

“He has liked you for a long time as well. Maybe not as much as I have.”

“What on earth…… are you talking about?”

Everything was confusing for Lillian. From why he was decisively determining her marriage to Felix, to Cedric saying he liked her for a long time.

‘What did I just hear?’

‘And why was this man so infuriated?’

The way he looked at her was filled with fierce anger. She hadn’t felt such fierce energy even on the battlefield…

She could almost believe that the Cedric Edelgard of today was not an angel descended upon the Empire, but a servant of Satan.

“Why did you lie to me?”

“What lie did I tell you…….”

“The lie about loving me. The promise that you would never disappear.”

“That…”

Lillian, about to make excuses, bit her lip.

What good would it do to say that she still passionately loved him?

The man reflected in the mirror was no longer someone she could play her pranks on at her whims.

He was now the man who was to become the master of House Edelgard, the Duke of Edelgard.

Back then, when he was Lord Cedric Edelgard, the distinguished knight commander of the Silver Cross Holy Order, everything was uncertain. At that time, she could have thrown a confession of love that aligned with the whims of the moment.

Lillian had never wanted to be Duke Cedric Edelgard’s mistress, but if she confessed her feelings now, she might end up living like that forever.

He might have come all this way to take her into that abyss. She would be living in the false illusion of being loved by Cedric, engaging in the cursed act of dealing with a married man, never able to escape.

Lillian closed her eyes. She wanted to escape his fierce gaze for a moment.

“…It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Why doesn’t it matter? You’re going to be my woman.”

“I don’t want to live that kind of life…”

A pained voice escaped her small lips. At the same time, a wicked smile tugged at the corners of Cedric’s mouth.

“I know you don’t want a future with me. Lillian.”

At that moment, the long hair hanging over her right shoulder was seized by a strong grip.

“Ah!”

“If you didn’t want a future with me, we shouldn’t have started in the first place.”

In the mirror, the nape of her slender neck stuck out, and Lillian whimpered like a captured deer.