Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 75

[Translated By Divinity]

“Lilliana, I’m not sure what to do in situations like this.”

“Like what?”

“When you tell me not to do anything.”

“I didn’t say not to do anything. I said not to move.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

Damian was sitting with his left elbow propped on the window sill, his chin resting on his left hand, while his right prosthetic hand kneaded a rubber ball.

A breeze blew through the slightly open window, causing the chiffon curtains to flutter, and the morning sunlight fell on the side of Damian’s face.

“Do I have to stay in this position?”

Damian asked Lilliana, who was sketching on a canvas. She replied without taking her eyes off the canvas.

“Yes, I like this pose, so don’t move.”

“Doesn’t it look arrogant?”

“Why?”

At Lilliana’s innocent question, Damian’s face flushed slightly, and he replied,

“Well… doesn’t it look like I’m trying to be cool?”

Lilliana suddenly burst into laughter. She wiped away the tears that welled up in her eyes and said,

“Damian is already cool, so it’s not arrogant. I put you in that pose because it’s cool.”

“Then at least…”

Damian pleaded, his face filled with self-deprecation.

“Can’t we do this in the room?”

His gaze, fixed in his pose, landed on Asher, who was sitting on the living room sofa, reading the morning newspaper and gulping down coffee, and Annette, who was clearing the breakfast table.

“No, no. The lighting and composition are better here.”

Asher chuckled while reading the newspaper. Damian was truly uncomfortable in this position. Seeing him fidget, Lilliana finally spoke up.

“Oh, come on, just bear with it until I finish the sketch. You’re not a child.”

“Do you… really have to draw me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Well, it’s easier to get inspired when the model is handsome.”

Asher snorted.

“Come on~ Damian is handsome, so it’s not weird for him to model.”

Annette chimed in, defending Damian, but it only made him feel more embarrassed.

“Besides, you promised to paint with me in exchange for me helping you with your exercise.”

She looked like she wanted to complain about being woken up by Damian at the crack of dawn and forced to walk around the neighborhood before being allowed to go back home and sleep until breakfast time.

“That’s true, but I didn’t expect it to be like this.”

“I didn’t expect the exercise to be like that either. I didn’t think you’d actually make me exercise for a whole hour!”

“But on the first day, we walked more than we ran…”

“Don’t look away.”

“…”

Damian looked away with a sullen expression, pretending to look at something outside the window.

“By the way, haven’t you heard from Ms. Pascal yet?”

At Damian’s question, Lilliana’s face fell.

“No… She’s not answering her phone or telegrams. I’m worried something might have happened…”

After meeting Casey, Lilliana had immediately tried to contact Pascal to get more information.

But Pascal wasn’t responding. Not to phone calls, letters, or telegrams. It had been ten days already.

Lilliana thought Pascal, being a spirit, wouldn’t be in any real danger, but this was still strange.

She wondered if she should go to Kelta herself, even if it meant risking exposure to those who were after her.

But Pascal had explicitly told her not to return to Kelta, so she was hesitant to go against her wishes.

Damian suggested they wait patiently in Nichio to avoid any potential danger.

If something serious had happened to Pascal, preventing her from contacting them, it would be dangerous for Lilliana to go there. On the other hand, if Pascal was fine but not responding, there must be a reason for it. In that case, she would contact them when the time was right, so there was no need to rush.

Lilliana seemed to accept Damian’s explanation.

However, ten days was a bit too long. It seemed like the other party had completely forgotten that Lilliana could worry about Pascal just as much as Pascal worried about her.

‘At least she could have left a message before disappearing. It’s natural to be worried when someone suddenly goes silent without a word.’

So Lilliana was quite anxious. She would wait a few more days, but if she didn’t hear from Pascal, she was fully prepared to rush to Kelta.

But she felt like she would go crazy if she didn’t do something in the meantime, so painting with Damian was her only solace.

Just then, Damian, who was sitting by the window, saw a small truck stop in front of the building. The driver got out and rang the building’s doorbell, and then the doorbell to their apartment rang.

“Yes, yes~ Coming~”

Annette wiped her hands on her apron and spoke into the intercom.

“Who is it?”

—Is Ms. Lilliana Carnell there?

Annette glanced at Lilliana and said,

“Yes, she is.”

—There’s a delivery for Ms. Carnell.

“Lily, were you expecting any packages?”

At Annette’s words, Lilliana looked up from her canvas and jumped up.

“It’s my aunt! She must have sent my luggage!”

—The sender is someone named Pascal. Is that correct?

“Yes, it’s from Lily’s aunt…”

“It’s Auntie!”

Lilliana was about to rush out, but Damian stood up and quickly stopped her.

“Why are you stopping me?!”

“The luggage will come up here even if you stay put. It’ll be faster to wait than for you to go down and get it yourself.”

At Damian’s words, Lilliana stopped in her tracks, stamping her feet impatiently.

Annette pressed the button to open the main entrance door, and the delivery person briefly thanked her. They opened the door to their apartment on the 9th floor and waited for a bit. Soon, they saw the delivery person coming out of the elevator with about three large boxes stacked behind them.

As soon as Damian released her, she ran to the luggage and carefully examined the boxes. There was nothing particularly unusual about them.

Annette nudged the slow-moving Asher, urging him to bring the boxes over. Damian also approached Lilliana to help with the luggage.

“Oh, you don’t all have to do that…”

Lilliana waved her hands, flustered, as everyone casually approached the luggage. Annette clicked her tongue and said,

“How are you going to move all this by yourself?”

“That’s right. They look quite heavy…”

Damian chimed in, and Asher looked at his right arm with a worried expression.

“Can you even lift those?”

“I can’t move my fingers precisely yet, but I can still carry things.”

“Just don’t break it by overdoing it.”

Asher lifted the top box, and Damian naturally picked up the one below it. Lilliana and Annette carried the last box together and moved everything upstairs to the room.

Lilliana, after pushing the boxes into the room, thanked the three of them and immediately started unpacking. Damian also rolled up his sleeves and offered to help.

“Let me help you.”

“No, Damian. You can carry things, but you’re not used to moving your fingers yet. I’ll do it myself. And you shouldn’t touch a woman’s belongings carelessly.”

“Really? Then I’ll be going.”

Asher, who had been frowning, worried they might rope him into helping, quickly made his escape. Lilliana also waved her hand at Annette.

“Annette, you had things to do, didn’t you? I can handle this alone, so don’t worry.”

“Are you sure? Will you be okay?”

“It’s just this much… No problem.”

Lilliana flexed her bicep as if to show off, but Damian had never seen such a pathetic bicep in his life.

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