Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 109

Damian asked in a stiff voice.

“Perhaps, Casey, would you prefer it if I used formal speech with you?”

At that question, Casey looked at Damian and asked back, “I don’t mind either way, but as I said yesterday, speaking comfortably feels like we’re friends, which I like. But why bring it up again?”

“Well, that’s…”

Damian scratched his temple and shook his head. “If you’re comfortable with it, I’ll keep speaking informally.”

“Alright. I’m not that difficult of a person.”

Casey said it jokingly, but he knew that interacting with him wasn’t easy for humans. That’s why every friend he connected with was precious.

In that sense, he didn’t dislike Damian. Although Damian was old-fashioned, he wasn’t a bad guy who would try to take advantage of him.

Watching Damian and Casey speak informally to each other, Lilliana was dumbfounded.

“No, I didn’t mean for you to be formal with my brother, I meant you should not be with me!”

“I’ve been speaking informally to Casey from the beginning, so it’s more comfortable for me. But I’ve been using formal speech with Lilliana for months, so it’s hard to imagine speaking casually to her,” Damian said awkwardly.

“And I have a bad habit from my time in the military, where I tend to be rude when I speak informally.”

“But you’re not like that,” Lilliana replied in surprise, but Damian shook his head and said,

“I can be inconsiderate and insensitive, so using formal speech makes me feel a little less rude. But if I speak informally, my words can come across as quite unpleasant.”

“Is that so?”

Casey tilted his head with a spoon in his mouth, making a smacking sound, and Damian nodded.

“Casey is a bit dense in this regard, so he doesn’t really notice the difference, which is why it’s okay for me to speak casually to him. But Lilliana is different. I don’t want to make a slip of the tongue and hurt her feelings.”

Damian’s intention seemed firm, so Lilliana blinked and slowly nodded.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“So, I get the formal speech, but can you stop talking like you’re putting up a wall? Are you a department store clerk?”

“It’s because I haven’t fully shaken off my military habits yet.”

Lilliana chuckled at his words. Damian, staring at the empty ice cream cup, muttered, “…You ate all of that.”

“It was delicious.”

Casey scraped the bottom of the cup with his spoon, looking disappointed.

“Should we get another one?”

“Can you even fit any more in?”

“My stomach is always serious about dessert.”

Damian made a fed-up face. Lilliana laughed, for some reason it felt like a casual conversation between guys her age.

“Forget it, just go return the cups.”

Damian shoved all the cups towards Casey, and Casey obediently complied. Left alone with Damian, Lilliana deliberately looked away and pretended to be lost in thought.

“I overheard some people saying that the competition for good spots to watch the parade is fierce,” Damian said.

Lilliana turned her head towards him.

“If we go on the Ferris wheel and see the night view, it’ll be too late to get a decent spot. Should I go ahead and save a spot while you and Casey ride the Ferris wheel?”

“But then you won’t be able to ride the Ferris wheel. I was planning on the three of us riding it together…”

“It’s alright.”

“It’s not alright with me. Making you do something boring while I’m with brother Casey alone wasn’t part of my plan.”

“But Casey came all the way here today because he wants to spend time alone with you. I’m not insensitive enough to interfere with that.”

Of course, Damian didn’t want to pass up the chance to ride the Ferris wheel with Lilliana. But he didn’t want to throw a wrench in Casey’s plan to improve their sibling relationship either.

Casey cared for Lilliana in his own way. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stayed in a rural backwater like Edenfallen for two years to protect her.

Damian could understand Casey wanting to get closer to Lilliana, who had lost her memories.

So, if he could help, he wanted to.

In that sense, securing a good spot to watch the parade was helping Lilliana and Casey create a happy memory.

Taking on a slightly bothersome role was no big deal.

Damian wasn’t particularly interested in the night view or the parade. So, it was fine with him to willingly give way or make a sacrifice. If Lilliana were still afraid of Casey, it would be a different story.

But seeing how she was now treating him as an afterthought, it seemed she didn’t mind being alone with Casey.

At Damian’s words, Lilliana mumbled with a slightly sullen expression, “Then what was that about earlier?”

“I didn’t quite hear you. What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Lilliana turned her head away with a pout.

Seeing Casey returning from afar, Damian got up from his seat.

“Then I’ll be on the main street over there. They say that’s where you get the best view of the parade. After you ride the Ferris wheel, come find me there.”

“Huh? You’re not riding the Ferris wheel?”

“I’ll save a spot for the parade, so you two go ahead. It doesn’t matter if I don’t ride it.”

“Really? Okay.”

Casey didn’t seem to have any particular thoughts on Damian’s suggestion. To Casey, Damian was literally just a bodyguard attached to Lilliana.

He didn’t particularly feel the need to do anything with Damian. So, he left Damian behind and said cheerfully to Lilliana, “Let’s go, Lily.”

“Uh, yeah…”

Lilliana glanced at Damian once, then followed Casey, who was walking with long strides. Left alone, Damian didn’t want to appear lonely as he watched them.

So, he put on his usual indifferent expression and waved his hand.

Damian looked at the Ferris wheel in the distance. It was probably quite a distance to the Ferris wheel, and it would take time to go there and back.

That Ferris wheel was built to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Istarica Republic’s independence and was the largest one on the continent. No Ferris wheel had surpassed its size yet. As a result, it took 30 minutes to complete one rotation.

To be honest, Damian didn’t quite understand the point of spending 30 minutes inside a Ferris wheel. But his perspective had changed a little after meeting Lilliana.

More precisely, after learning that Lilliana was “Lady Lintray” yesterday.

He now had a lot to talk about with Lilliana. There were also many things he wanted to do with her.

Just as he had told Lilliana before, that if he met Lady Lintray, he wanted to do various things with her, see beautiful things together. In truth, he wanted to see the night view with Lilliana inside that seemingly boring and tedious Ferris wheel.

But now, it seemed like he shouldn’t.

He had become certain when he interlocked his fingers with Lilliana earlier. He had no confidence in controlling himself if he started to get closer to her.

The feelings he had been suppressing until now, all the things he wanted to do with Lady Lintray, were bound to explode if he so much as nudged them. That’s why he let go of Lilliana’s hand.

He wanted to tell Lilliana that she was Lady Lintray, but he understood why he couldn’t. He had no intention of breaking his promise to Casey to keep it a secret.

It was annoying and frustrating, but he could endure it.

Nevertheless, Damian was still unsure about what he truly wanted to do.

In fact, what he wanted to do if he met “Lady Lintray” wasn’t anything extraordinary, just as he had told Lilliana.

He just wanted confirmation. The definition of this emotion he was feeling.

As a result, Damian was now confused.

Since Lilliana was “Lady Lintray,” should he change how he treated her?

But what was the difference? What exactly should change? And had he defined this emotion he felt towards Lilliana, the emotion he felt for “Lady Lintray”?

No, he hadn’t. Instead of defining it, he only had more questions.

Damian wandered around the designated viewing spot for the parade, trying to organize his thoughts. But the more he thought, the more confused he became.

It felt like a tangled ball of yarn was pressing down on his brain.

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