It was a sudden and long-overdue apology. Lily had no intention of forgiving her no matter what she said, but she turned back, wanting to hear what she would say.

“I didn’t want to do that either. Truly… I wanted to help you.”

Kennedy looked at Lily with teary eyes and spoke haltingly.

“But Father said I absolutely must not help you… He said if I helped you, our family would be in danger, so I had no choice but to turn a blind eye. It was never because I wanted to!”

“……”

The green eyes that captured Kennedy, who was desperately making excuses as if begging her to believe her words, were indifferent. As Lily just stared at her as if feeling no emotion, Kennedy lowered her gaze and mumbled as if talking to herself.

“It’s true. I really wanted to help……”

“So?”

When Lily asked in a dry voice, Kennedy looked at her again.

“Why are you making such excuses now? Don’t tell me you think you did nothing wrong and want me to forgive you? Are you saying you want to be close friends again like before?”

Kennedy’s face hardened, as if struck at the core.

“Wake up, Kennedy. Just like broken glass can’t be put back together, our relationship can’t be restored either.”

Unlike the cold and dry voice that was chilling, the green eyes capturing Kennedy were surprisingly calm.

“Well, if you offer a lot of money like your father to be on good terms again, I could act like I’ve forgiven everything. As you said, I have no pride, enough to marry a trash-like man for money.”

Kennedy’s face turned much redder than before, receiving back the attack she had made herself. Her tear-filled eyes looked somewhat pitiful, but unfortunately, it had no effect on Lily.

“Like father, like daughter, they say. You’re the same in changing your attitude as easily as flipping your palm.”

“……!”

As Lily drove in the final nail, tears fell from Kennedy’s wide-open eyes. Lily left the reception room, leaving behind Kennedy who had finally collapsed on the floor, crying loudly.

“Where’s Kennedy?”

When Lily returned to the terrace alone, Count Stacy asked curiously. Lily sat down next to Fredrick and answered nonchalantly.

“She said she wasn’t feeling well and wanted to rest, so I came alone.”

“Is that so?”

Seemingly concerned about his daughter being unwell, Count Stacy slightly frowned and signaled to a servant. The servant who understood the order to go check on Kennedy quickly went outside.

Lily was certain Kennedy wouldn’t come. Her mental strength wasn’t good enough to appear in front of others as if nothing had happened after receiving such an insult.

“The young lady says she’s feeling very unwell and would like to rest.”

As expected, Kennedy didn’t come. Upon hearing the servant’s report, Count Stacy clicked his tongue as if finding it pathetic.

“I wonder who she takes after to be so weak. Lily, it would be nice if she were healthy like you.”

“Indeed.”

Lily picked up her teacup and said calmly.

“I hope Kennedy will take after me.”

Not just in health, but in fate as well. Count Stacy’s expression soon stiffened as he understood the hidden meaning in her words. Fredrick also looked at her with slightly raised eyebrows, as if surprised.

However, Lily drank her coffee without showing any agitation. The coffee was still bitter, but strangely, she didn’t dislike the taste.

I thought the dinner would be canceled since Kennedy said she was sick, but it wasn’t. In the end, we had to have dinner at the Stacy estate as planned.

Even though I took the digestive medicine I had prepared in case this happened, I still felt uncomfortable. As Lily frowned, Countess Stacy asked worriedly.

“You don’t look well. Are you feeling sick?”

“She ate too much.”

Fredrick answered, placing his hand on Lily’s shoulder.

“Perhaps it’s because the count’s chef is so skilled. I thought she was eating more than usual, and it seems that’s why she’s feeling unwell.”

“……”

Lily looked at Fredrick as he arbitrarily defined her condition. Fredrick, who also turned to look at her, was smiling with his mouth but his eyes were sending a demanding gaze to agree with his words.

“……Yes. That’s why.”

Lily was dumbfounded, but her desire to avoid causing trouble prevailed. Having no other excuse, she accepted Fredrick’s demand.

“Oh my. Do you want to see our family doctor before you leave?”

“No, it’s not that bad. I’ll feel better as time passes.”

More accurately, she felt she would feel better as soon as she left this damned count’s mansion. Lily declined the countess’s offer to give her some digestive medicine and left the mansion with Fredrick. As she was about to get into the carriage right away, a man approached.

“Boss.”

It was Robert. When he said he had something urgent to discuss, Fredrick told Lily to get in the carriage first.

Pushed into the carriage, Lily hid behind the curtain and pricked up her ears to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“……so, ……it is.”

However, the two were talking a bit away from the carriage, and their voices were too low to hear clearly. Still, judging by Fredrick’s increasingly serious expression, it didn’t seem to be a good conversation.

Finally, when the conversation ended, Robert stood at attention, waiting for the boss’s response. After pondering for a moment with his hand on his chin, Fredrick walked towards the carriage, and Lily greeted him calmly as if nothing had happened.

“Is the conversation over?”

“Something urgent came up, so it seems I’ll have to go separately.”

“Separately? But we only have one carriage.”

Surely he’s not telling me to get out? As Lily asked in bewilderment, Fredrick chuckled.

“Robert will bring a carriage, and I’ll take that one. Well then, I’ll be going.”

Fredrick left without saying the customary words like he was sorry he couldn’t go together or that he’d see her later. But Lily wasn’t disappointed at all. Rather, she felt better that he had left. It was as if the indigestion that even digestive medicine couldn’t solve was subsiding.

Thanks to Fredrick’s departure, Lily could comfortably examine the documents she had received from Count Stacy. They were documents she had to translate. Although Count Stacy said she could take her time, she wanted to finish as quickly as possible since she would get paid for translating this.

“Ah, this will take a bit of time.”

Although she was good enough at Garta to translate novels, technical terms were still difficult. Especially since she was ignorant about business, there were many words she didn’t know. She could guess what they were trying to say by looking at other sentences, but it would be better to look them up in a dictionary to avoid making big mistakes.

“Woah!”

As she was continuing to examine the general context, the carriage suddenly stopped with a scream. Because of this, her body also shook greatly, and the documents she was holding scattered everywhere. Lily didn’t even pick up the documents and opened the window connected to the coachman’s seat.

“What’s going on?”

“Ah, I’m sorry, young madam. Suddenly someone jumped out…”

“Did you hit someone?”

“No. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem so… I’ll go check the situation for a moment.”

Through the slightly open window, she heard the sound of the coachman getting down. Lily also thought it would be good to get out, so she roughly picked up the fallen documents and stood up, when she heard a soft knock and then someone got on as the carriage door opened.

“……!”

Lily, who was about to scream in surprise, saw golden eyes clearly visible in the faint moonlight seeping in and was surprised for a different reason, her eyes widening.

“Why are you…!”

“Shh.”

Herald put his index finger to Lily’s lips and winked. The words that were swirling in her mouth went down her throat. As she blankly stared at his elegantly smiling face, Lily was startled by a knocking sound and looked at the carriage door.

“May I open the door for a moment, madam?”

“Ah, no!”

We can’t let them know Herald is here!

“Don’t open the door, just talk!”

“Ah, yes. I will do so.”

When Lily spoke almost shouting, the coachman continued somewhat reluctantly.

“A boy suddenly jumped out from an alley, so I was startled and stopped the carriage. Fortunately, he wasn’t hit, and it doesn’t seem like he’s hurt, so I just sent him back.”

“I, I see. You did well. Then let’s depart……”

Wait. Is it okay to depart? With Herald on board?

But it also seemed strange to get off now, so Lily looked at Herald, not knowing what to do. As if understanding what she was anxious about, Herald smiled and nodded.

“……Let’s depart.”

“Understood, madam.”

The coachman, who was usually disrespectful but dutiful at times like this, drove the carriage again. The sound of horse hooves echoed loudly. After confirming that the window connected to the coachman’s seat was tightly closed, she opened her mouth.

“You surprise me every time you appear.”

Despite the rebuke, Herald smiled unwavering.

“I didn’t intend to, but it seems to turn out that way. Were you very surprised?”

“……A little.”

I was more glad than surprised to see you. Lily swallowed the words she could never say and adjusted her shawl. Then Herald took off his outer coat and put it over her shoulders. It wasn’t because she was cold but because she felt awkward, and receiving such treatment made her even more embarrassed.

“So why did you suddenly come?” We agreed to exchange letters if anything happened.”

“That’s true… But there was something I really wanted to say while looking at your face, not in a letter.”

“Something you wanted to say? What is it?”

“That I missed you.”

For a moment, Lily’s eyes widened beyond their limit as her breath stopped.

“I really missed you, Lily.”