Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 59

[Translation By Divinity]

“Even though he’s a good tenant who pays his rent on time and keeps his place clean…”

Damian was inwardly surprised, recalling the chaotic mess that was Asher’s workshop. ‘That guy knows how to keep a place clean?’

“He’s just so grumpy and difficult to deal with!”

Annette complained, and Lilliana chuckled, seemingly resigned.

“He is grumpy, but…”

Lilliana scratched her temple, remembering how Asher had rushed to Damian’s aid in the middle of the night and how he was committed to making prosthetics as quickly as possible for amputees. It seemed like people had many different sides to them.

Lilliana’s eyes widened when she saw Damian, who had been reading the newspaper in the living room, quietly getting ready to go out and heading straight for the front door.

“Damian, where are you going?”

“Huh? To the library…”

“What? You’re going out? No, no!”

Lilliana grabbed Damian’s sleeve and pulled him back inside. But Damian stood firm, looking at Lilliana with an indifferent expression as she treated him like a patient again.

“But I’m fine now.”

“But you were so sick yesterday!”

“I’m okay.”

“Damian, I think it’s best if you just rest today and don’t do anything.”

Annette chimed in, and Lilliana and Damian started bickering. Just then, Asher came down the stairs, yawning lazily.

Seeing the two by the front door, arguing about whether Damian could go out or not, Asher seemed to grasp the situation and adjusted his glasses, saying,

“Leave him alone. He was sick because of… that thing, you know. Yeah, just that thing, and he’s fine now, so leave him be. Are you his mothers or something?”

“What thing?”

Annette looked at Asher, dumbfounded, and he waved his hand dismissively.

“It’s like… a nervous system issue combined with some psychological… um… temporary thing. If he says he’s fine, then he’s fine. So leave him alone. Are you his mothers or something?”

Lilliana was about to retort to Asher, asking if he wasn’t worried about Damian, but she remembered how he had shown concern for Damian last night and kept her mouth shut. With Asher on his side, Damian pushed Lilliana aside and opened the door.

“I told you I’m fine. Asher has seen more cases like this than either of us, so his answer is more reliable than my insistence that I’m okay.”

“Th-then I’m going too!”

Lilliana said resolutely, but Damian replied in his usual indifferent tone.

“Haven’t you always gone with me?”

Lilliana smiled brightly and followed Damian out.

“Oh, and Asher, thank you for last night.”

After they left, Asher, who was alone with Annette, asked with a puzzled expression,

“They’re… not dating, but why are they always together?”

“Because they’re young.”

Annette’s answer made Asher look even more confused. Seeing him act like he had never experienced youth, Annette inwardly thought he was quite foolish.

***

Even at the library, Lilliana followed Damian around. He assumed she was doing so because she was worried he might collapse again and wandered between the bookshelves, then belatedly realized something.

He was once again in the children’s book section. He hadn’t properly explained to Lilliana why he was reading children’s books yesterday, and now he didn’t have the courage to openly pick out the books he wanted in front of her.

And that was exactly Lilliana’s intention. She wanted to peek at what books Damian was reading. It wasn’t like he was reading banned or indecent books, so there was no need to hide it. They were just fairy tales.

Damian whispered to Lilliana among the children’s books,

“Lilliana, feel free to read whatever you want. You don’t have to follow me around.”

“Follow you? I’m just going this way because I think there might be books I want to read here too.”

Lilliana said nonchalantly, leaving Damian speechless.

Damian sighed softly and, feeling a bit uncomfortable, picked out some fairy tales about mythical creatures and hugged them close. He glanced at Lilliana, and she was looking at the books he had chosen with a curious expression. Damian turned his body to hide the books from her view.

“Why are you so embarrassed? I’m the one who was crying over ‘The Adventures of the Brave Knight Stern’ yesterday!”

Lilliana said, taking one of the books Damian was holding. She checked the title and exclaimed in a slightly excited voice,

“Ah, I loved this fairy tale when I was little! It’s been so long. Have you read it?”

“…I was just about to start.”

“You don’t know this story?”

“…I didn’t have any adults who read fairy tales to me when I was young, so I don’t know many.”

“Ah, I see.”

Lilliana let out a short exclamation, seemingly realizing the common theme in the books Damian was reading. Suddenly, she burst into giggles in the quiet library, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand. With a lingering smile on her lips, she said to Damian,

“You’re reading stories about mythical creatures?”

“…Yes.”

Damian had been responding a bit slowly since earlier, but Lilliana found his obliviousness endearing and had to clench her teeth to suppress her laughter again.

“Why?”

“…Because I don’t know much about mythical creatures. I don’t even know the stories everyone else knows.”

“But do you have to read fairy tales? There are other books too, you know?”

“…It seems you overestimate my understanding of mythical creatures, despite what I’ve been through. I need to start with the basics.”

“Hmm…”

Lilliana skimmed through the other books Damian had picked out and said,

“You don’t have to read books. I can tell you the fairy tales and legends I know if you ask me.”

“But weren’t you upset with me until yesterday? I can read the room, you know. I can’t ask someone who’s angry at me to teach me something. And if I don’t understand what you’re saying, you’ll just get upset again…”

Damian glanced at Lilliana’s face.

He was worried that Lilliana might get angry again if she saw him reading children’s books for research, even though the atmosphere had been good on their way to the library.

But Lilliana didn’t seem offended at all and just scratched her head.

“I did say that… but at the time, I was really flustered and didn’t know how to react. I didn’t expect you to be reading fairy tales to try to understand.”

Lilliana then pulled Damian’s arm.

“If you’re just going to keep reading fairy tales, let’s check out the books you need and leave.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll help you. Wouldn’t it be better to talk openly at home rather than the library?”

“But Annette and Asher will be there. If we talk about that kind of stuff…”

“If you’re worried about that, we can go to the cafe downstairs.”

At Lilliana’s suggestion, Damian hesitated for a moment, then readily stood up as she pulled him along. Lilliana selected a few books from the ones Damian had picked out and added a few of her own choices to check out. They left the library, carrying armfuls of books.

Since Damian couldn’t handle many books with only his left hand, Lilliana ended up carrying most of them.

He felt quite uncomfortable about it and said to Lilliana in a timid voice as they walked,

“Maybe we should stop by the house first, and then I can go to my rehabilitation session in the afternoon…”

As soon as he said that, Lilliana’s expression turned sharp.

“What?”

It seemed like she was ready to tie him up if he mentioned going to rehabilitation. Damian quickly shook his head.

“It’s nothing.”

“Good.”

Lilliana smiled brightly again and adjusted the books in her arms as they walked.

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