Chapter 39 (1/2)

Chapter 39 Rebecca Evantheon

Lilia simply had breakfast with black tea, bread, and fruit. When she sat in front of the desk wearing only a light slip dress, an employee put down a box containing letters.

Checking the correspondence every morning was one of her routines. They poured out a lot every day, so she couldn’t handle it if she skipped a day. It ranged from letters asking about how she was doing to requests, but most of them were birthday parties, banquets, and invitations to gatherings.

Everyone was anxious to connect with Lilia even a little. Just because if they are considered close to the Blodens, their status will change. So they sent letters regardless of the status, but most of them were trash.

‘It may seem heartless, but Lilia was now disillusioned with creating relationships with people. It was because she noticed how people suddenly changed when they heard her name. Lilia smiled bitterly.

‘Is there anyone I can come up with now and make a pure friendship?’

In the past, she thought she wanted to be friends with someone she likes. But she knew well that she couldn’t do that now.

No matter whom she had a relationship w the ending was betrayal. Even Richard pretended to love her for money. Because that, Lilia was reluctant to be deeply involy with others.

Even if she could make a friend who really had intentions of a pure friendship, she would doubt them in the end.

Is it a real friendship between us or did you create a friendship for money?

She’d rather have a simple master-slave relationship. Their loyalty would be linked with money from the start. So, Lilia treated them differently from people who did not work for her.

The people inside Lilia’s borders were fami and employees. Everyone else existed outside.

However, these days, those borders were difficult to define. It was because of Karhan Evantheon. He hung vaguely on the fence Lilia made. It was not a master-slave relationship, but it was difficult to say that h was a friend.

It was a transactional relationship, but wher she saw him, she wanted to help him purely She didn’t know if it was because she saw him as a projection of herself from the past, or if it could be due to sympathy. However, i was clear that she did not want to stay away from him even if the deal was over.

“I don’t know what to define it as.”

Family, friends, employees, lovers…… First of all, he was a fake lover now. At first, she didn’t think much, but after she became conscious of it, the word lover felt strange fo no reason.

Lilia’s hand, who was classifying the letters, stopped for a while. A familiar name and pattern were engraved at the bottom of the envelope. It was sent by Karhan. Lilia opened the envelope and checked the letter paper.

[My parents want to see you. If you don’t mind, I’d like to invite you to the Duchy.]

Lilia put down the letter. Now it was her turn.

***

The day has come when she decided to visit the Duchy of Evantheon.

Lilia finished her decoration with a calm feeling. Instead, she focused hard on clothes, accessories, and shoes one by one. So that no one could ignore Lilia’s attire.

As she came down to the front door, she saw people with familiar blue and navy hair. It was Frances and Malek dressed more neatly than usual.

The carriage on which Lilia climbed crossed the large garden and exited the mansion. As she was thinking about this and that, Malek quietly told her,

“Madam, it’s the Duchy of Evantheon.”

“Already?”

Lilia came to her senses and looked out the window. It was a great garden, although smaller than the Bloden family’s, it gave a quiet and lonely feeling.

The wagon across the garden stopped. With the help of Malek, Lilia, who got off the wagon, slowly looked up.

The historic Evantheon Duchy came into view. The magnificent mansion held depth with the power of time. While looking at the building, Lilia found a man standing by the front door.

“Thank you for coming.”

When Karhan greeted her first, Lilia replied with a large bouquet of flowers,

“Thank you for inviting me.”

Karhan unexpectedly held a bouquet of flowers in his arms. It fit perfectly because it was a bouquet made according to his size. Karhan looked at the bouquet with very unfamiliar eyes. It seemed foreign, but he didn’t seem to dislike it.

“Flowers….it’s my first time receiving it.”

“It’s my first time giving a present to a man, too.”

Karhan was a little shaken by the words that it was her first time.

“When you came to my house last time, you gave me a bouquet of flowers. It’s in return.”

Karhan said thank you while fiddling with the bouquet.

“I’ll guide you, so please come in.”

Lilia followed Karhan inside. She climbed the stairs of the main hall and walked down the ‘hallway. The window in the hallway was small and narrow, so there was not much sunlight. Because of that, the interior was a little dark, and the wallpaper and decorations were also calmly colored.

The Evantheon mansion, which felt solemn and heavy, was the opposite of the bright and eye-catching Bloden mansion. Walking, through a very quiet hallway, Lilia asked,

“What about Tession?”

“…..He’s working in my room.”

Karhan, who answered a beat late, continued,

“And my father is out because he has urgent business. I think you’ll only see my mother today.”

Karhan apologized for not telling her in advance. She thought it would be a little too much to deal with the ducal couple alone at the same time, so she thought it was better.