Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 158

『 Translator – Divinity 』

She had considered other options, but she wasn’t sure if they would work. Still, what choice did she have? She had to try. It wasn’t like anything would happen to Damian just by trying.

Lilliana placed her hand on top of Damian’s, which were covering his ears. Feeling the warmth of her hand, Damian slowly opened his tightly shut eyes.

“Damian, don’t mind the noise. Focus on me.”

Damian slowly nodded. But his trembling didn’t stop.

“Focus only on me. Okay? Look only at me. Can you do that?”

He nodded slightly again.

“Good.”

Lilliana brought her face close to Damian’s.

Damian stared blankly, his eyes filled with a quiet intensity. And then, as Lilliana’s eyes gently closed, he felt something warm and soft against his lips.

Damian’s eyes widened involuntarily. As he froze in surprise, Lilliana’s breath mingled with his. Damian, as if quenching a thirst, eagerly drank in her breath.

Gradually, his breathing calmed, his dazed mind cleared, and the noise in his ears faded away.

He couldn’t tell if it was Lilliana’s hands blocking the sound of the fireworks or if he was simply too startled to hear anything.

But after a while, he realized it didn’t matter. The trembling in Damian’s body gradually subsided, and his eyes closed again.

Lilliana’s lips were so soft and delicate that he felt like he would ruin them if he handled them roughly. So he couldn’t bring himself to do anything more than savor the warmth of that small contact. That alone was enough.

The noise that triggered his terrible memories, the salty sea breeze, the slightly high humidity, everything around him was forgotten.

How much time had passed like that?

Lilliana’s lips slowly parted. Damian opened his eyes, feeling a sense of loss. Lilliana took Damian’s hands, which were still covering his ears, and pulled them away.

It was a crescent moonlit night, and the dim light made it difficult to see Lilliana’s expression clearly. But a slight shyness was evident in her features.

Damian felt his face burning and figured it must be flushed. He remained still, not daring to do anything, and Lilliana tilted her head, examining his face, and asked,

“Are you okay? The fireworks… seem to be over.”

As Lilliana said, the sound of the fireworks had stopped. Only the sound of the waves and the creaking of the wooden yacht swaying in the water remained.

Thanks to that, Damian no longer felt any fear. His eyes were focused, his breathing was normal, and his trembling had stopped. But his heart was pounding harder than ever before.

After confirming that Damian’s senses had returned, Lilliana let out a small sigh of relief. And then, she unconsciously rubbed her lips with the back of her hand, when Damian called her name.

“Lilliana…”

“Yes?”

Lilliana blinked her long eyelashes and looked at Damian, who had a slightly troubled expression. What he said next was a bit unexpected.

“You know… that I like you, right?”

Lilliana paused for a moment at his question, then slowly nodded.

“…Yes.”

At her answer, the corners of Damian’s eyes drooped slightly. It was clear that Lilliana, with her sharp intuition, would have known that he liked her.

He laughed inwardly. No, in fact, he had known that too.

Looking back on all the foolish things he had done, unable to contain his overflowing feelings, Damian realized that Lilliana couldn’t have missed the meaning behind his actions.

Ever since that day at the amusement park when Damian, unable to control his emotions, interlocked his fingers with Lilliana’s.

Then how had Lilliana been looking at him, thinking of him all this time?

He had been afraid to know the answer, so he hadn’t dared to ask Lilliana any questions that might reveal his feelings.

But now, he felt like he could ask. So he did. And the answer was exactly as he had expected.

As Damian hesitated, trying to find the right words, Lilliana spoke first.

“But…”

Lilliana looked at Damian with a slightly hardened expression.

“But… it’s not really me you like.”

“What do you…?”

Damian was confused by her sudden statement. Lilliana’s expression faltered for a moment, and then her lips twisted into a frown.

“It’s ‘Lady Lintray’ you like, the one you’re projecting onto me.”

This time, it was Damian’s face that stiffened. He felt a chill run down his spine as he heard those words. Lilliana continued in a firm voice.

“You like me because of the traits of ‘Lady Lintray’ that you see in me.”

“No!”

Damian denied it desperately. He didn’t know how to explain himself, but he felt like he had to say something and clear up the misunderstanding quickly. But all that came out of his mouth was a clumsy denial.

“No, I…! That’s not it!”

Because you are ‘Lady Lintray’!

Even if he said that, Lilliana wouldn’t believe him. He didn’t know what to say to convey his true feelings.

While Damian hesitated, Lilliana said with a bitter expression, “I… am no longer curious about who I liked because of you.”

Unlike Damian, whose eyes widened slightly, Lilliana lowered her gaze. Her expression was hidden in the shadows as she stood with her back to the moonlight.

“Every time you look at me, you make the same face you make when you talk about ‘Lady Lintray’… So I don’t know how to treat you, Damian.”

So what Lilliana meant was…

Damian felt the blood rush back to his body. He looked at Lilliana with a startled expression.

“No, Lilliana! That’s not it…”

Damian opened his mouth to explain, but he couldn’t find the words.

To make her understand that she was ‘Lady Lintray,’ he would have to bring back all her memories.

Casey’s plea to leave her memories alone came to mind, and Damian took a sharp breath.

Lilliana, perhaps misinterpreting his reaction, stepped away from Damian with a bitter look.

“See?”

Her eyes seemed a bit hurt. Damian was about to reach out to her when he heard Casey’s voice.

“Lily! Where are you? Did you find Damian?!”

Casey, who had returned after failing to find Damian, called out to them, and Lilliana stood up and waved her hand.

“Brother! I’m here! Damian is with me too!”

Casey, approaching quickly towards the voice, let out a sigh of relief when he saw Lilliana and Damian getting off the yacht. Then, he grumbled at Damian.

“Damian, what’s wrong with you? Everyone gets worried when you suddenly run off like that.”

“…Sorry.”

“Why did you do that?”

“…”

Damian chose silence instead of answering. He didn’t want to explain his PTSD in detail to anyone other than Lilliana.

“Damian wasn’t feeling well,” Lilliana answered for him, glancing at him cautiously.