Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 100

Annette, clinking her glass against Casey’s, took a long sip and then asked,

“By the way, do you have a job?”

“Not at the moment.”

“At the moment? What did you do before?”

“I played with Lily.”

Lilliana gave Casey a strange look.

“Lily was resting and not doing anything. So I rested too.”

Lilliana wanted to ask what he meant, but she was conscious of Asher and Annette. Annette asked again with a bright smile,

“So you were with Lily for the two years she lost her memory?”

“Yes.”

“That’s great, Lily. It seems like Casey can help you regain your memory!”

Annette seemed genuinely happy, so Lilliana, with a stiff expression, played along for the time being.

“Oh, yes. Well, I’m looking forward to it.”

Lilliana smiled prettily at Casey.

“I’m really looking forward to it, brother.”

Casey gulped down his drink and shook his head.

“No. I won’t tell you.”

A cold silence fell over the table.

Lilliana, her smile frozen on her face, asked through gritted teeth,

“Why?”

“Because there’s no particular reason to tell you.”

“Ahahahaha!”

Lilliana laughed brightly and waved her hand at Annette.

“My brother is just a playful person! He’s just saying that, just saying that.”

Casey was about to say something, but Damian pinched and twisted his waist hard from the side. Damian filled his glass with more alcohol with his other hand.

“Drink.”

Casey obediently drank as Damian told him to. Annette, taking Casey’s words as a dry joke, wiped the alcohol from her lips with her sleeve and laughed.

“I guess all older brothers are like that.”

“Do you have an older brother, Annette?”

Annette replied with an even heartier laugh at Lilliana’s question,

“I had two, but they died in the independence movement. Hahaha!”

A chilling silence, incomparable to the one before, fell over the table. Asher rubbed his eyes with his hand and grumbled.

“If you’re going to get drunk after just two glasses, why do you even bother drinking?”

Annette shook her head and slapped Asher’s shoulder.

“Ahahaha, I’m not drunk, I’m not drunk.”

“You’re not drunk?”

Asher poured more alcohol into Annette’s glass.

“If you’re not drunk, drink more.”

And before Damian could stop her, Annette emptied the glass.

“Ahh, this alcohol goes down smoothly.”

Annette, her face flushed, laughed pleasantly and then suddenly slumped forward, hitting her head on the table.

“Annette!”

Lilliana was shocked. Asher, sitting next to her, looked at Annette with a satisfied expression and murmured,

“Good, she’s out cold.”

Then he gestured to Damian with his chin.

“Take her to her room.”

Casey and Damian got up almost simultaneously, each taking one of Annette’s arms and carrying her on their shoulders. And so Annette was led away to her room by the two men.

“Ha…”

Asher let out a long sigh as Casey and Damian returned and sat down.

“So… it’s been 23 years since our country gained independence, right? You two were born after independence, but Annette and I were born when our country was still a colony. Even when we were old enough to understand things, we didn’t realize something was wrong.”

The others had no choice but to keep their mouths shut and listen to Asher’s serious story.

“Annette comes from a family of independence activists, and they used this house as a secret hideout. That’s why there are still secret passages and trapdoors here and there. Annette doesn’t tell me the details, so I only know a few places. Anyway, Annette is the only one left alive among her immediate family. Her two older brothers were executed, and her parents died from complications from torture. So she’s a bit sensitive when it comes to the Suvelz Empire.”

Asher sipped his juice and continued,

“And I don’t have good memories either, because I lost my left leg because of a Suvelz bastard. When I was young, I bumped into him, and he just threw me onto the road. A truck loaded with cargo ran over my leg at that moment… There was no way a child’s fragile bones and flesh could withstand that. The police didn’t hold him accountable for the accident. I was just a powerless Istarican child.”

He rubbed his eyes as if his vision was blurry.

“That’s why Annette and I really hate the Suvelz Empire. You two wouldn’t know, but life as a colonized people is really miserable. Ah, I guess Damian would know.”

Asher murmured as if to himself,

“I wish the Suvelz Empire, and those nobles who were their puppets and are still living comfortably, would all just die.”

A moment of silence followed. Damian looked at Asher with a rather perplexed expression.

“Mr. Asher, why are you talking so much? It’s unlike you…”

It wasn’t a criticism or a negative remark, but a question of genuine curiosity. Asher pondered for a moment and then asked Damian,

“You’re right. Why am I so talkative today?”

Asher stuck his nose in his juice glass and sniffed. Then he frowned, drank some water, and murmured,

“Annette, this damned woman spiked my juice…”

He stood up and said, staggering,

“I think I’ll go to bed now.”

He refused Damian’s help and went up the stairs unsteadily. Casey, watching him, murmured,

“Interesting.”

Then he smiled at Lilliana.

“It seems like I can have fun here too, Lily.”

“Speaking of which, brother. I have a lot of questions…”

Lilliana spoke to Casey, though she wasn’t sure how much he would answer. But Casey wasn’t in any condition to continue the conversation.

He grimaced and vomited what he had just eaten.

Damian and Lilliana, with cold expressions, threw Casey into his room and quietly cleaned up the mess.

***

“Oh my, I don’t know what’s going on. This wasn’t what I intended…”

Lilliana grumbled as she wiped the sweat from her forehead after putting Casey to bed and making sure he didn’t vomit anymore.

“Lilliana.”

Damian called her softly, and her blue eyes gazed at him quietly. Damian smiled silently and said to her,

“I missed you.”

“What?”

Lilliana raised an eyebrow at his unexpected words. But Damian didn’t answer her question and said something else instead.

“I don’t think I could sleep without saying this…”

Lilliana was puzzled to see Damian’s face flushed red even though he hadn’t been drinking.

He brushed his face with his right hand and opened and closed his mouth a few times. But he couldn’t string together any coherent words and swallowed them back down.

An awkward silence fell between the bewildered Lilliana and Damian.

He quickly opened his mouth before Lilliana could express any further doubts.

“And… I’m sorry about this morning.”

Lilliana let out a small laugh at Damian’s apology.

“You’re acting strange today, Damian.”

“Strange?”

“Yes. In many ways.”

It seemed Lilliana was willing to overlook his actions, thinking he was just acting strange today. This was a relief for Damian in many ways.

“Well, I forgive you. You watched over my brother and made sure he didn’t do anything weird.”

“Thank you.”

Relief washed over Damian’s face, but the redness didn’t fade.

“Are you alright, Damian? Your face is a bit red…”