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Chapter 26
Couples Resemble Each Other
Thanks to Herald’s consideration, Lily comfortably returned to Viscount Benjamin’s residence and stood at the foot of the stairs, staring at the mansion.
When would she be able to cross that threshold with a happy heart?
No… that day would never come. Crossing that door happily would mean that things with Fredric had improved—and the likelihood of that was slimmer than the empire collapsing tomorrow.
She didn’t want to go in, but she had no choice. There was nowhere else to go. Lily took a deep breath and forced herself up the stairs. The hem of her dress brushed against the steps, picking up dust, but she didn’t care.
It was already dirty—what difference would a little more dirt make?
The mansion, bathed in the red glow of the sunset, was quiet. The emptiness gave the place a slightly eerie atmosphere. Even if Fredric and his family were home, the absence of the servants was odd—but Lily didn’t care. She didn’t even want to care.
Wanting nothing more than to remove her dirty clothes and wash off the grime, she began climbing the central stairs when she heard footsteps from the left hallway. The mansion’s silence made the sounds unusually loud.
Lily instinctively turned her head and saw Brian walking toward her, then quickly looked forward again.
Better get upstairs before Brian notices me.
“Oh, it’s my sister-in-law.”
Her wish was not granted. With legs longer than Lily’s, Brian quickly closed the distance. Seeing Lily’s dirty dress, he furrowed his brows.
“What happened? Did you roll around in the mud? Why are your clothes like this?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Lily replied coldly, but Brian ignored her and reached for her skirt. When he tried to lift it, Lily gasped and swatted his hand away.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean? I’m checking how dirty you got.”
Brian rubbed his fingers, brushing off the dirt.
“Ugh, there’s a lot of mud. I heard you went out with Fredric, but how did you end up like this? Did you have a mud fight with him? No… he came back looking fine.”
So Fredric had returned. Lily didn’t really want to know, but the information was useful, so she looked toward Fredric’s bedroom. On the second floor, at the end of the west hallway was Fredric’s room, and at the end of the east hallway was Lily’s.
Between them, at the center of the second-floor hallway, was the couple’s shared bedroom, but Lily had only ever entered it on their wedding night—first and last time.
Fredric, on the other hand, sometimes went there, but Lily didn’t know with whom. And she didn’t want to know. To her, Fredric was a man with the title of husband.
No, he was worse than just a man. A stranger wouldn’t drag her reputation through the mud too.
Thinking of all the bad reputations he’d brought upon her, Lily clenched her fists and glared at his room.
When she first married him, she had hoped for a kind, family-oriented husband—but not anymore. She just prayed he would leave her alone. She didn’t care what he did outside, as long as he didn’t tarnish her or the Benjamin family’s name.
“Just the same.”
Brian’s casual remark made her green eyes flick toward him.
“Fredric used to peek at his wife’s bedroom from here too. Exactly the same. They say couples resemble each other, huh? Even in things like this.”
Lily’s expression tightened. Seeing her murderous glare, Brian shrugged, raising his shoulders.
“I don’t know what happened with Fredric, but try to work it out. They say a marital fight is like cutting water with a knife.”
“I said, don’t concern yourself with my affairs.”
Lily replied coldly and continued up the stairs. Brian just watched her go, not making any move to stop her.
Once she turned her back on his piercing gaze and entered her bedroom, her small frame collapsed.
It wasn’t just anger at Brian’s insulting words—it was that his remark had made her vividly recall the man with black hair and golden eyes. Memories of holding his hand, walking through the forest, and kissing him played like a panorama, and Lily shut her eyes tight.
She could write off spending a drunken night with him in a hotel as a mistake, but what happened in the forest was not a mistake. Everything had been her choice.
It was clearly desire, infidelity, and immoral behavior.
It was the very act she had despised.
Brian’s words forced her to confront what she had been happily ignoring. The resentment she had directed at Brian was actually aimed at the reflection of herself in that man’s eyes.
Even as she thought she should stop, never see him again, the sweet voice calling her name echoed in her ears. The soft, warm feeling of his lips and hands lingered on her own, and she couldn’t bring herself to decide. She buried her face between her knees.
The fleeting good mood from Herald’s kindness had plummeted again because of him.
“Did I hear you left your fragile sister-in-law alone on the streets?”
While returning to their bedrooms after dinner, Herald’s older brother, Hamilton, playfully placed a hand on his shoulder and asked. Herald snickered and replied:
“I did leave her, but she wasn’t alone. There were the coachman, a maid, and a guard to protect her.”
“So you did leave Olivia, huh? The sister-in-law who was excited to go out with you, you just left her behind?”
“If you have something to say, don’t beat around the bush—say it straight.”
Herald removed Hamilton’s hand from his shoulder and asked coldly. Hamilton shrugged.
“Olivia wanted to introduce you to a lady, but you left suddenly, so she couldn’t. I just wanted to pass that along.”
Herald had found it odd when Olivia asked if he had a woman he liked—and now he knew why.
“You’re doing pointless things.”
Herald muttered to himself, causing Hamilton to frown.
“What’s pointless about your sister-in-law?”
“Maybe it’s futility. Or uselessness?”
“Herald.”
Hamilton warned by saying his name, but Herald stood his ground.
“If you don’t want to hear it, tell her yourself—make sure it never happens again.”
Herald lightly tapped Hamilton’s arm in a gesture of goodwill and continued walking. Hamilton, now larger than his brother, quickly caught up and asked:
“You’re really not getting married? Do you know how worried our parents are?”
Herald kept walking and replied:
“I know. I’m thinking about how to make them give up.”
“So you won’t? Why not? No woman you like?”
Herald paused as he thought of Lily. Hamilton’s eyes gleamed.
“So there is a woman you like? Who is it?”
“Brother.”
“Ah, I see. Go on, tell me.”
“They say couples resemble each other, but stop asking me the same question as you asked my sister-in-law. My ears are bleeding.”
Herald’s previously bright eyes darkened in annoyance. Hamilton lectured about marriage, but Herald ignored him and continued down the long hallway.
Back in his bedroom, Herald retrieved a bundle of papers he had stored deep in a drawer—research on the Benjamin family conducted by Austin and the Information Guild. Sitting on the sofa and flipping through the documents, his hand paused on the page with Lily’s portrait.
When he first saw her portrait, he had thought she was ordinary. Dillon had said she had a pretty face, but Herald had seen many women far more beautiful, so she seemed average.
When he saw Lily in person, however, he changed his mind—she was better in reality than in the portrait. And the more he met her, the more his opinion changed.
Crying made her ugly, surprise made her look like a rabbit, but her smile was beautiful. Especially when she smiled widely, showing her even teeth.
Most of all, he liked seeing her slightly parted lips glistening with saliva of unknown origin as she exhaled in warmth.
“……”
Herald’s eyes sank deeper than the darkness outside as he recalled kissing her.
He had not intended to kiss her—he only wanted to warn her when she naively followed him, claiming she would repay him if he helped her. But when he faced her fresh green eyes, his rationality collapsed, leaving only the desire for her wet, red lips.
Even while barely holding onto the last thread of reason, he gave her a final chance—but Lily rejected it.
She had seized the opportunity he gave.
Though it was consensual, Herald still felt uneasy. Pondering why, he looked back down at her portrait. Indeed, she was better in person.
“Lilliana Benjamin.”
Muttering her full name, he frowned as if dissatisfied.
“Lily.”
This time, the frown eased. Herald repeated her name softly to himself over and over.
