Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 28

[Translation By Divinity]

“I’m Pascal, Lily’s aunt. And you are…?”

Although the woman exuded a somewhat intimidating aura, she had offered a greeting, so Damian responded politely.

“Ah, yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms….”

Damian realized belatedly that Pascal hadn’t mentioned her last name. As he hesitated, unsure how to address her, Pascal shrugged and said,

“No need for formalities. Just Pascal is fine.”

“Yes, Ms. Pascal. I’m Damian Stern. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh my, the pleasure is mine. But may I ask what your relationship is with our Lily?”

“Auntie! Don’t be mean to Damian! He’s my friend.”

Lilliana intervened between Damian and Pascal. But Pascal, without even glancing at her, said,

“Ah, a friend… How long have you two known each other?”

“About ten days, I think.”

“And nothing happened during that time, right? Lily didn’t do anything rude, and neither did you.”

Her tone was gentle, but there was an underlying sharpness.

Behind her smile, Damian could sense the unspoken question, ‘So, who are you to be hanging around my niece?’

Lilliana seemed to sense it too and waved her hand at her aunt.

“No, Auntie! What are you saying? Damian’s not like that!”

Lilliana was so embarrassed for Damian that her ears turned red, and she looked like she wanted to cry.

Damian knew that getting defensive and arguing with Pascal, who was already wary of him, would only worsen the situation. So he spoke as calmly as possible.

“That’s not true. In fact, I’ve been receiving help from Lady Lilliana.”

Pascal looked Damian up and down.

“And what do you do?”

“I was in the army…”

Damian instinctively started to give his rank and name but then remembered he was discharged. He paused for a moment, thinking about how to define himself, then replied,

“I was a soldier, but I’m discharged now, so I’m unemployed. I’m currently looking for a job.”

“A soldier?”

Pascal’s gaze briefly lingered on Damian’s right arm before moving away. She seemed to understand his situation to some extent just from that.

He didn’t know if it was pity or sympathy, but it seemed to lessen her wariness towards him, so he quickly added,

“I met Lady Lilliana by chance at the hospital, and she has been kind enough to talk to me. She’s been a great help in many ways.”

In reality, the only help she had offered was with his handwriting practice, but he felt the need to exaggerate a bit.

“Th-that’s right! I helped him with a lot of things! And Damian bought me tea and escorted me as thanks!”

Lilliana chimed in from across the room. Although she had refused his offer to escort her, she agreed with Damian that some exaggeration was necessary in this situation.

They were both doing their best to prove that Damian wasn’t a strange person.

“See? He’s handsome and looks like a kind person! He’s definitely not strange.”

Damian didn’t understand why his looks were being brought up. He knew some people found him attractive, but hearing Lilliana say it made him feel strange.

Lilliana’s desperate defense finally seemed to appease Pascal, who reluctantly relented.

“I’m sorry for being rude. I tend to be a bit overprotective of Lily. Especially now that she’s not in good health, I’m even more sensitive…”

“If you know you’re overprotective, then stop it!”

Lilliana interjected, but Pascal responded firmly.

“Be quiet. That’s a different matter.”

Damian nodded and replied,

“I understand. I’m also concerned about Lady Lilliana’s health. I’ll be more considerate of her condition in our future interactions.”

“Does that mean you plan on continuing to see her?”

Pascal asked, smiling and staring intently at Damian, who shrank back a little.

Pascal appeared friendly and smiled, but her words always carried an underlying meaning. Damian was starting to feel uncomfortable in this situation.

“If you don’t like me, I can refrain from visiting…”

“Damian! What are you saying?! Is that all our friendship means to you?!”

Lilliana protested, but they had only known each other for ten days; their friendship couldn’t be that deep, could it?

Damian, feeling awkward in many ways, rolled his eyes.

“To begin with, I’m an adult. It’s strange that I need my aunt’s permission to meet and befriend someone! And it’s not like I brought him here as a potential suitor. He’s just a friend! A friend! Right, Damian?”

“That’s… right.”

Pascal stared intently at Damian’s face, then nodded.

“I wasn’t trying to accuse you of anything. As I said, I’m just worried about Lily’s health… As long as you meet within reasonable limits and don’t jeopardize her health, I won’t interfere. As Lily said, she’s not a child anymore, and I don’t want to micromanage her every move…”

She trailed off and looked at Lilliana.

“I really don’t want to, but…”

“Oh, dear. Worrying is just your nature, isn’t it?”

Lilliana shook her head with a weary expression.

“Anyway, I’m glad Lily has made a friend. I have my own work, so I can’t be at the hospital all the time, and I’ve been worried about her being alone.”

“Am I a child? I’m fine on my own. Why do you worry so much?”

Lilliana was mortified by Pascal’s constant treatment of her like a child. It was even more embarrassing in front of Damian, who was a year younger than her.

“And stop burdening Damian. He’s not my babysitter. He’s just a friend, a friend. Who makes their friend their babysitter? Right, Damian? Say something!”

“I’ll be careful not to cause any trouble.”

Damian said reliably, but Paul, who knew his usual behavior, wouldn’t have believed a word of it.

However, Damian gave off a rather sincere impression, and perhaps due to maturing quickly, he was often perceived as dependable. Of course, Paul would have scoffed and said it was all an act.

“No, not that kind of talk…”

“Alright, alright. Please take good care of our Lily.”

Ignoring Lily, Pascal extended her left hand to Damian. Without any mistakes this time. Damian smiled awkwardly and shook her hand.

“It’s almost dinner time. Have you eaten yet? If not, why don’t you join us for…”

“Oh, come on, Auntie. Damian needs to go home and rest. You can’t keep him here. We can have dinner together another time.”

Lilliana cut Pascal off. She took off Damian’s coat, which she was still wearing, and handed it back to him, whispering,

“I’m so sorry. Isn’t my aunt driving you crazy? She’s always like this, very suspicious. I’ll talk to her so this doesn’t happen again.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m fine.”

“Then, um…”

Lilliana looked around, then scratched her cheek and said,

“We’re still meeting the day after tomorrow, right? Same time…”

“If that’s what you want, Lilliana.”

Damian’s answer made Lilliana beam. It seemed she had been worried that Damian might be put off by Pascal and not want to see her again.

“Great! Then I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.”

Damian said goodbye to Lilliana and turned around. He heard the sound of the door closing behind him as the two women entered the room.