Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 141

Naturally, Lilliana was about to get angry, but Damian was quicker.

“You said your heart hurt again after having that dream, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then there’s no reason to go through the trouble of recovering those useless memories, especially if it’s going to cause you pain. What if it puts too much strain on your heart?”

His words sounded like an earnest plea, full of concern for Lilliana. She couldn’t bring herself to get angry when Damian put it that way.

Only Annette, understanding Damian’s true intentions, tried to change the subject.

“S-still, seeing as they’re coming back one by one like this, the memories Lily wants will return soon. Naturally. Naturally.”

“I hope so,” Lilliana said with a gloomy face, poking at her fried eggs with a fork.

“What are your plans for today?” Damian asked, subtly shifting the topic.

Lilliana answered without any suspicion, “I have classes… and then… I want to finish up some work at the atelier.”

Lilliana looked at Damian with the fork in her mouth, asking if it was okay.

Damian nodded, thinking it was pointless to ask now when he had let Lilliana do whatever she wanted so far.

“Don’t be bored alone while I’m painting, Damian. I’ll play with you a lot in the evening.”

“What are you talking about?”

Damian was dumbfounded, but Lilliana said with a serious expression, “You’ve been feeling left out because you’re jealous of how close I am with brother, haven’t you?”

Damian facepalmed.

“That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?”

“Well, that’s…”

He wanted to argue back, but Lilliana wasn’t entirely wrong, so he couldn’t think of anything to say. Damian shut his mouth and started picking at the cherry tomatoes again.

***

“Hey, Lilliana!”

Someone called out to Lilliana as she was leaving the classroom with her art supplies.

Although she wasn’t a regular student at this school, Lilliana had become acquainted with a few of her classmates.

Her name was… Beth, was it?

Behind Beth stood a girl Lilliana only recognized by face, looking shy.

“Can I ask you something?”

Beth’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. Lilliana nodded in bewilderment, and Beth gestured with her chin towards someone behind Lilliana and asked, “Who is that gentleman who takes you to and from class every day?”

Lilliana glanced back, and at the end of Beth’s gaze was Damian.

He was dressed in a neat shirt and well-tailored pants as usual. A very ordinary outfit. But his face was anything but ordinary.

As expected, with a face like that, even basic clothes look good on him.

Lilliana nodded to herself and then looked at Beth, whose eyes were sparkling.

“Um… you mean Damian?”

“His name is Damian?”

Beth seemed quite interested in Damian.

“Do you have some business with Damian?”

Although she asked that, Lilliana had a feeling she knew what was coming.

“Well… what’s your relationship with him?”

“We’re friends.”

“Friends?”

“Yes.”

“Just friends?”

“Yes, just friends.”

“Just friends, and that handsome man takes you to and from class?”

“Ah, there’s a reason for that… Anyway, we’re really just friends.”

“Really? Then does he have a girlfriend?”

She knew it. Lilliana said with a dazed expression, “No.”

“Ah, that’s great! Actually, Monica here, not me, would like to be introduced to Damian if it’s okay with you…”

“Hmm…”

Lilliana scratched her chin, thinking. Even without asking, it seemed like the girl was smitten with Damian.

Damian had never shown any interest in the girls who confessed to him so far. Some of them were even stunningly beautiful in Lilliana’s eyes, but Damian remained unmoved.

Then he would probably reject this girl too. Should I cut her off here?

She glanced back at Damian and made eye contact with him. Damian noticed her but seemed to be waiting patiently without interrupting since she was talking to other people.

Damian exuded an air of not caring about anyone else, staring only at Lilliana like Timo would.

“Um… so, about Damian…”

Lilliana wondered how to refuse Beth and Monica, who were looking at her with anticipation.

Beth, noticing Lilliana’s hesitation, quickly interrupted her.

“Ah, we’re not expecting anything grand. Just a simple introduction is enough. Right, Monica?”

“Y-yes. Just exchanging names is enough for me,” Monica mumbled timidly, her face flushed.

Lilliana observed Monica closely. She was quite a pretty girl, especially when she was shy.

With Beth and Monica pleading like that, Lilliana couldn’t find a reason to refuse. She clicked her tongue and approached Damian with the two girls in tow.

Damian smiled at Lilliana, then his expression turned somewhat business-like when he saw the two people who had followed her.

“Damian, I have someone to introduce…” Lilliana said with an awkward laugh, pulling Monica forward.

“This is Monica… I mean, Monica…”

She couldn’t remember Monica’s last name and was trying to gloss over it when Monica spoke in a small voice.

“Monica Phetzmann.”

“Yes, Monica Phetzmann. She’s in the same class as me. I wanted to introduce you to her…”

Damian looked at Lilliana for a brief moment with a questioning look, then quickly greeted Monica.

“Hello, Miss Phetzmann. My name is Damian Stern.”

“H-hello!”

“Do you have some business with me?” Damian asked.

Monica’s face flushed red, and she spoke in a flustered manner.

“J-just a moment. Could you spare me a moment of your time, if you don’t mind?”

“Yes, well… a moment…” Damian blinked and nodded at Monica’s request.

“We’ll be over there, so you two talk,” Beth said with a giggle, pulling Lilliana aside. Lilliana was dragged along blankly and ended up standing at the edge of the street.

Damian glanced at the departing Lilliana with a startled expression, but as soon as Monica spoke to him, he focused his attention on her.

Lilliana narrowed her eyes, seeing Monica offer something to Damian with both hands.

“Hmm…?” she hummed unconsciously.

And then it happened. A hand suddenly appeared from behind and covered Lilliana’s mouth. She was startled and tried to turn around, but her eyes were also covered with a black cloth.

The last thing Lilliana saw was Beth’s face, avoiding her gaze.

In the end, Lilliana was dragged away without a sound.

***

Monica rummaged through her bag and took out something to hand to Damian. It was a letter. She squeezed her eyes shut and shouted with all her courage, “P-please read it when you get home!”

“Ah, yes…” Damian reflexively took it.

Monica bowed again and then walked past Damian with quick steps.

She returned to Beth, who was standing by the roadside. Beth welcomed Monica with a smile, and the two turned and walked away.

Damian noticed that Lilliana wasn’t with Beth and called out to them, “Excuse me!”

Beth stopped awkwardly and slowly turned her head.

“Where did Lilliana go? Weren’t you together?”

Beth replied with a stiff expression, “She said she would go to the atelier first. That you should just meet her there when she’s done…”

Damian, finding her words suspicious, asked for confirmation, “You mean, leaving me here?”

“Yes.”

Damian stared intently at Beth for a moment.

—————

Please rate and review this novel on Novelupdates!

If you enjoy the translation, please consider buying me a coffee on Ko-fi. It helps keep me motivated!