HEAD 22

~Chapter 22~

“Do you have something to say to me?”

Blake asked. Lily stood on the high platform, looking over the dining hall.

Somewhere, a plate of spaghetti flew over someone’s head.

Oh my.

“Before that, I should say thank you. Thank you for inviting me. This is a really fun party.”

“If you want a late answer, I’ll just say, ‘No big deal.’ There’s a beer contest going on over there, you should watch it later.”

“So, what did you want to say?”

“Straight to the point, huh. So, what is it?”

Lily gave her usual elegant smile.

“Please don’t punish Sebastian too harshly.”

“What?”

Blake’s face grew dark.

Of course he’d look that way. Sebastian was no longer just a kid—he’d tried to kill Lily.

“You don’t have the right to punish him. I’m the one who decides.”

“As the victim, I can at least make an appeal to the one in charge. Or as someone who saved many lives here. Didn’t you say all the wounded were treated successfully?”

“He has to face real punishment.”

“But I’m leaving in a year anyway.”

Lily was trying to be considerate toward Blake—or at least she thought so.

If she hadn’t been here, Sebastian would probably have grown up as a good part of Winter Castle.

Lily was just an outsider.

She felt uncomfortable watching an insider be harshly punished because of her.

She didn’t even know the details of what Sebastian had done.

“I’m going back to the capital in a year. If you really have to punish him, just don’t let him come to Winter Castle until then. That’s enough.”

For a moment, Blake felt like his mind snapped.

“You act so smart but you’re a total fool!”

What a time for this.

Blake had been about to ask her to stay longer.

He honestly thought Lily wanted to hear that, not because she wanted to avoid the capital, but because—

He believed Lily… actually liked Winter Castle.

Otherwise, what were all those smiles about?

Why did she always take walks with Dominic II? Why did she laugh so much when she dumped a bucket of snow on his head with the maids?

But now, Lily looked like she had no attachment to the castle at all.

“Did you think I’d thank you for saying that? You think you’re a good person, forgiving a criminal? You think you’re so kind?”

Lily was startled by his sudden harsh words.

“Why are you saying that? Don’t talk to me like that. I was just trying to be considerate to the estate, Blake.”

“You’re acting stupid, clueless, and stubborn.”

The world Lily grew up in valued self-sacrifice.

Especially among nobles, it was the opposite of commoners—nobles hated people who showed even a little greed.

Lily learned never to want anything.

As a child, she’d been beaten just for asking for extra dessert. Now she had no appetite or greed.

Even when she almost died at her husband’s hands, she barely managed to escape from the capital.

“If a servant is punished, it hurts the master’s reputation too. Punishing Sebastian is proof that a servant did wrong. In our society, that would…”

“This isn’t your stupid high society!”

Their argument grew louder and people nearby started watching.

Even Lily’s always gentle, elegant voice had a bit of anger now.

“Don’t overreact! I’m just a boarder who’ll go back to the capital in a year. I just wanted to protect your reputation…”

“Sounds like you’re counting down the days until you leave. If you like the capital so much, don’t touch anything from here! If you need something, I’ll have a servant buy it and send it from the capital. Just use capital goods!”

When Lily fell silent, Blake realized he’d gone too far.

He never meant to insult her like this.

His plan was simple: Tell her she could stay after a year and have her say, “Thank you, I appreciate it.”
But now, it was ruined.

‘I shouldn’t have been so sarcastic.’

He still wanted to argue.

‘But how can she defend someone who tried to kill her? That’s too much.’

Blake’s feelings were always a mess around Lily.

He kept trying to deny it—how much her traditional dress made him smile, how angry he got because of her, how he’d even locked a boy who grew up here in the dungeon because of what happened.

And yet Lily seemed only to think about leaving.

Thinking this, he twisted his lips in frustration.

“Fine. I’m leaving.”

I guess I’m the only one who cares.

He already knew that.

His belt suddenly felt tight, so he tore it off and messed up his hair, returning to his usual messy look.

“Enjoy the party, or don’t. Whatever. The next party is a year from now—you won’t be here for it.”

The dining hall was loud and hot with people and the smell of alcohol.

But everyone nearby had heard their fight.

“What happened?”

“No idea, but the crazy master did something crazy again…”

Blake stormed off, and Gianna the maid came over to Lily.

“Oh dear. What was that all about? Why did the master get mad?”

“I know, right?”

Lily smiled weakly.

“I was just trying to be considerate, but he got angry.”

She couldn’t believe it. How could he say she liked the capital, after hearing her story himself?

She always knew he was rude, but this was too much.

‘So stubborn. Was he this stubborn as a kid?’

At least he seemed to realize his mistake. She’d seen it in his embarrassed eyes.

Lily decided to make up a new nickname for him—just to make herself feel better.

“I should go clear things up with him. I’ll be right back. Wait here.”

Blake sat in his office.

He rubbed his face with his callused hand and sighed.

“Ha…”

He glanced at the frozen window.

He still felt angry.

But now, he regretted it.

‘I really shouldn’t have done that.’

What if Lily got scared? Her body was already weak.

‘She probably doesn’t even know what Sebastian did.’

The servants had all kept the truth from her.

She probably thought Sebastian was just a boy who made a small mistake.

‘She was only trying to be considerate… Ugh, why did I do that?’

He rarely made mistakes this bad. The last time was about six years ago, when a lady confessed her love to him.

—“Mr. Blake, even though we just met, I feel fate with you. When you return, will you propose to me?”

She was the eldest daughter of a rich family with many hotels—a family connected to many nobles.

—“Me? Really?”

Blake didn’t see the need to let her down gently.

The lady was hurt and told many nobles about it. After that, the Uffus family became even more disliked.

‘It only ended when I made her family’s hotels go deeply into debt. Looking back, maybe it would have been easier to just marry her.’

Blake remembered that moment, and thought, at least Lily was already married once. He himself was long past marriage age.

He’d never bothered with it, since love seemed like a hassle.

‘Still, it’s strange… To think, there’s a woman who’s been connected to me since childhood.’

The memory of young, small, cute Lily flashed in his mind.

…Anyway, just like with the hotel family, he needed to fix his mistake now.

But how?

He glanced at the papers on his desk, but they didn’t even register.

He tried to focus, but regretted it instantly.

“Damn, it’s that.”

It was a pile of news from the capital.

Usually, anything from the capital he burned immediately. That’s how he didn’t know Lily was a shaman.

This time, he’d ordered someone to keep the news.

‘Right now, I don’t want to see anything from the capital. …Wait.’

Blake noticed a familiar face on a flyer with a yellow ribbon tangled around it.

It was Lily’s portrait.

The first thing he saw was:

[Missing Person Report]

‘That damned ex-husband. He knows exactly why Lily Hedwick is gone—why pretend she’s missing?’

Blake’s lips twisted into a rough smile.