I really hate it! (5)
In spite of her running out, Lily did not meet Vlad yet.
The treatment room was one floor down from the drawing room where she was. Cadis Castle used most of the first floor as a treatment room to accommodate as many wounded soldiers as possible at the same time. Among them, Vlad said he would use a private ward for officers.
Lily, who hastily descended the stairs, stopped in her tracks. It was because she ran into someone completely unexpected. He wasn’t a very welcome guest. No, looking at it, the most undesirable, uninvited guest. It was Prince Marius.
Wherever the aide and the knights had been separated from each other, they were short, and their messed-up uniforms had already been changed and they looked neat.
“…Lily de Winter. I greet you, Prince.” She bowed her head slightly and lowered her knees to greet him. A red sunset fell like soft paint on her shiny silver hair.
She was just like a summer sky, because she was wearing a light blue dress at the same time. The tone of her voice, which was polite to the prince, was lower than usual. It was completely different from when she was polite and kind to citizens and the knights. It was because she became displeased as soon as she met the prince.
He was treated very coldly, with minimal courtesy, and was meant to disappear from her sight quickly. However, contrary to her intention, her face, which had erased her intimacy and favor, only emphasized her classical splendor. She was a beauty admired by those who believed in the myths.
Starlight silver hair that Dandelion neatly braided without letting a single hair drop. Her fine eyebrows and her nose that fell with a graceful curve shed a softer light on her characteristic elegance.
Lily put her hands in front of her and bowed her head slightly. It was because she hated making eye contact with the prince. Marius reflexively blushed at the gazelle-like nape of her neck.
He coughed and turned his head. “I was still on my way to you. I have just finished treatment….”
Lily frowned slightly. She greeted him politely and was going to pass him by, but he was talking and taking his time. Instead of answering him, she looked at her toes and bit her lips.
“I spoke out of turn in front of your husband. And I stabbed someone in front of a woman and dishonored her husband. I wanted to tell you this directly.”
“…” Lily did not answer this time either. She just nodded her head slightly, pretending that she heard it.
Marius never asked her to raise her face once. “By the way, duchess, you…” He cleared his throat once more in the awkward air. “You are truly beautiful, just as the crown princess said. I have never seen a woman like you in the city. It’s like a pitiful lily of the valley that will fall when the wind blows.”
The duchess had something more than just a beautiful appearance. Maybe it was the charm of maturity.
Ingrid was also famous all over the continent for her gorgeous looks, but she was only a half-sister to him, who was, in fact, born with a temper. She was the one who was always in trouble because she couldn’t control her energy like an angry pony and gave trouble east, west, north, and south.
It was a mistake to think of Ingrid when it was mentioned that she married two men before marrying the duke. He thought that if she had been engaged three times, she would have had at least thirty lovers. But the duchess didn’t look like that kind of woman at all.
“…You look so weak,” he said to himself.
It seemed that before she knew it, she had grown accustomed to Talin’s creative praises seeping through her like a drizzle. And Talin’s admiration was usually sincere. Marius’ mouthful evaluation of her appearance only made Lily more unpleasant.
Besides, his words were rather offensive, making her feel guilty that she had become Vlad’s weakness.
When the prince did not say more, nor let her go, his body turned to face Lily.
I have to go to Vlad.
Eventually she closed her eyes and opened her mouth, “My apologies, but I ask you to allow me to leave my place first, inevitably, as I was on my way to see my husband who is receiving his treatment, Your Highness.”
“It’s fine. I also wanted to see what the duke’s wounds were like. If we go now, I hope we can see him together.”
Lily frowned and avoided his eyes. She hated it. She hated to talk to him, much more walk side by side with him. Besides, he said that they should go see Vlad together! She had to somehow get around this situation.
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