Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 111

After briefly thanking Damian, Lilliana returned her attention to the parade. Instead of watching the boisterous spectacle, Damian gazed intently at Lilliana.

Unlike Casey, who had nothing on his head, she still hadn’t taken off the rabbit ear headband. As he watched Lilliana with her rabbit ears flapping, a thought surfaced in his mind.

Wanting to see beautiful things with Lilliana meant wanting to see her smile like that.

The desire to do various things with her meant wanting to share the same feelings, the same experiences.

If that was the case, there was no need to change how he treated her, to treat her like he would ‘Lady Lintray.’

All along, this was what Damian wanted to do with Lilliana. It wasn’t because she was ‘Lady Lintray.’ He wanted to spend time with Lilliana Carnell, a person separate from ‘Lady Lintray’… to monopolize her time.

As soon as this thought arose, another question popped up.

Then, what did ‘Lady Lintray’ mean to him?

The more he thought, the more his head ached. Damian dismissed it, blaming the chaotic parade for his confusion.

***

“That was fun~!”

On their way home, Lilliana stretched and exclaimed with satisfaction.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t ride the Ferris wheel with Damian, though…”

Lilliana clicked her tongue in disappointment, but Damian didn’t seem to mind.

“There’s plenty of time for us to ride the Ferris wheel, Lilliana. I spend more time with you than apart, so it won’t be difficult for me to make time.”

“And I have plenty of time to spare.”

Lilliana chuckled playfully.

“Hey, let me join the fun.”

Casey interjected, linking arms with Lilliana with a dissatisfied look. She glared at him.

“Don’t you have anything to do?”

“Nope.”

“What have you been doing all this time?”

“I told you, I’ve been avoiding Marquis Sutton and playing with you for the past two years.”

“Then what was I doing for those two years? I wouldn’t have just been hiding with only my eyes peeking out, would I?”

“Painting, reading books, going for walks…”

At his words, Lilliana gave him a suspicious look.

“You think I lived such a boring life? With my personality?”

“We didn’t have much choice back then.”

As Casey spoke nonchalantly, Lilliana glanced at Damian, then beckoned Casey with her hand.

When Casey leaned in, Lilliana asked him discreetly, “Did I, by any chance, have a boyfriend?”

At that, Casey suddenly burst into laughter and, without any regard for Lilliana’s attempt at secrecy, said to Damian, “Hey, it seems she really did have someone she liked!”

“No, why are you telling Damian that?!”

“Damian already knew, didn’t he? That you had someone you liked.”

“Damian! What did you tell my brother?!”

At Lilliana’s reproachful tone, Damian subtly averted his gaze. Lilliana’s interrogation continued.

“And what’s with that reaction? Don’t you know who I liked either?”

“No, I don’t. I only found out you had someone you liked from Damian in the first place.”

“Hey! Damian!”

Damian pretended not to hear and moved away from them. Lilliana glared at him, fuming, then turned back to Casey.

“So, were there any decent guys around me?”

“All the decent guys are dead. There was no one.”

“Really?”

“I mean, there really wasn’t anyone around you that you would like, you know? That’s why I don’t understand what you’re talking about. And how did you even know you had someone you liked when you’ve lost your memories?”

“That’s because I…!”

Lilliana was about to raise her voice, but then lowered it and whispered to Casey, “You know that amulet Auht Pascal taught me how to make? Do you know about it?”

“The one made with spirit power?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Of course. She taught us when we were kids. You carry a piece of spirit stone from your own body close to your heart for a hundred days and make a wish, and it creates an amulet with that wish.”

As Casey said, spirits could create spirit stones imbued with their power.

For a pure spirit like Pascal, or a being with strong spirit energy like Casey, it took only a few minutes to create a spirit stone, but it was different for Lilliana.

Her spirit energy was weak, so creating a single spirit stone took days, even weeks, and drained her considerably.

Therefore, Lilliana had only made a handful of spirit stones in her entire life.

If you carry such a spirit stone close to your heart for a hundred days and make a wish, it becomes an amulet. Although it couldn’t do anything extraordinary, it possessed the power to bring about small miracles.

For example, if you guessed on a test with two possible answers, it would ensure you picked the right one. That kind of minor miracle.

Or when you’re having a bad day, it might lead you to a street with your favorite flowers in bloom.

“When I regained consciousness after losing my memory, I was wearing a necklace made of strung-together amulets for some reason. But…”

Lilliana swallowed hard and continued, “But they had already been used. They were cracked in half.”

“Hmm…”

Casey tilted his head and asked, “What does that have to do with having someone you like?”

“You wouldn’t know, but do you have any idea how much effort it takes for me, who’s close to human, to create a single spirit stone fragment? I went through all that trouble to make an amulet for someone. If it wasn’t for someone I like, then who else would it be for? I wouldn’t do that unless I really liked them!”

“But there’s no reason that ‘someone you like’ has to be a man you’re in love with, right? For example, it could be your father…”

“If it were for Dad, you could have made the amulet for him, and I wouldn’t have to go through the trouble myself. I told you, it was someone I had to make it for myself, with all that effort. So it must have been someone I liked!”

“I don’t know, Lily.”

Casey shook his head with a truly puzzled expression.

“There was no one like that among the men around you.”

Lilliana clutched her head.

“No! There definitely was! I even made him a handkerchief!”

“Ah, I remember that. You making a handkerchief.”

Lilliana’s face brightened at his words.

“Really?! You remember that? Then do you know who I gave that handkerchief to?!”

She looked at Casey with eyes full of anticipation, but he only frowned and tilted his head.

“No. One day, it was just gone.”

“Agh! What is this!”

She slammed her forehead in frustration.

“Please, just remember, please. At this point, finding this person I like is becoming an obsession…”

Casey, who couldn’t offer Lilliana any help, simply looked at her with pity.

***

Damian, having distanced himself from Lilliana, was feeling rather sulky. He wanted to repeat what he had told Lilliana before.

“So what are you going to do when you find this person you like?”

“That bastard didn’t even come to the hospital when you were hurt…”

“And there’s no one in Edenfallen who remembers you properly…”

“So, is that someone who likes you? Isn’t it more likely he was just some guy who tried to hit on you because you’re pretty?”

“I guarantee you, he’s not a good guy!”

Damian gritted his teeth. But he knew Lilliana would get angry again if he brought this up, so he had to suppress his frustration.

Not wanting to hear what Lilliana was saying as she interrogated Casey, he walked ahead by himself with quick strides.

Lilliana seemed to be saying something angrily from behind, but Damian blocked his ears with both hands, trying to ignore her completely.

Damian wished Lilliana would never regain her memories. And if he ever met that bastard, he would put a bullet between his legs.

Damian gritted his teeth again.

“Damian, why the grim face?”

The Carnell siblings, who had caught up to him with quick strides, asked as they pulled his hands away from his ears.

Damian replied with a sullen face and a grumpy tone, “I’m tired.”

“Really? Then let’s hurry home and rest.”

Casey, oblivious, said so, but Lilliana clicked her tongue inwardly.

There he goes again, sulking because I brought up the person I like.

Honestly, she couldn’t understand why he was acting like this when she was the one who wanted to find the person she liked.

What does it have to do with you? I’m just curious!

Annoyed with Damian, Lilliana deliberately clung to Casey as they walked.

“Hmph, Damian.”

Lilliana stuck her tongue out at Damian, but he retorted by glaring back at her. Lilliana found it novel that Damian was defying her, but she was more focused on being upset.

In the end, the day’s outing concluded with a cheerful, 90% pure spirit whose relationship with his sister had improved, and two sulky people.

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