Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 76

[Translated By Divinity]

Lilliana left Damian and started unpacking the boxes with quick movements. Damian asked impatiently once again,

“What did Ms. Pascal send?”

“Well… summer clothes since it’ll be early summer in a few weeks, my art supplies, and… I asked her to send everything I used during the two years I can’t remember. I thought it might help me regain my memories.”

“You still haven’t recovered your memories?”

At Damian’s worried question, Lilliana shrugged.

“Not at all. Nothing’s coming back to me.”

Lilliana took out a pile of clothes and tossed them carelessly onto the bed. Then she opened the next box, searching for something specific. She unpacked the box, organizing things haphazardly, but couldn’t find what she was looking for.

Finally, after unpacking all three boxes, Lilliana laid out a few items and sat down cross-legged on the floor, her arms crossed in contemplation.

“This is all?”

In front of her were a few canvases with paintings, a jewelry box, and a wooden box with burn marks on its edges.

“This is all I used for two years? Did my aunt make a mistake? And is there any message from her? Any information about the current situation?”

Lilliana seemed somewhat disappointed.

She stared at the items laid out before her, then picked up the wooden box. It wasn’t very big, but she could hear something rattling inside.

Lilliana opened the lid, and Damian leaned closer, trying to see what was inside with her. But Lilliana’s back blocked his view.

Lilliana took out a sewing kit from the box, frowned at it, and then put it aside. She rummaged through the other fabrics inside, then suddenly stopped. She unfolded a piece of cloth on her palm and stared at it intently.

Damian made a noise behind her, and Lilliana, who seemed to have forgotten his presence, jumped in surprise and hid the cloth in her hand. But the edge of the white fabric peeked out from her fingers.

“What is it?”

“Uh, I was… I was making something, I think.”

Lilliana’s face reddened slightly. She caressed the fabric and muttered,

“I did have someone I liked…”

Then she sighed deeply. Lilliana brought the cloth to her nose. It had a faint burnt smell, perhaps from being in the box.

‘A fire… happened?’

Lilliana narrowed her eyes unconsciously and fell into thought.

‘Why was there a fire? Did something happen that could cause a fire?’

“Lilliana?”

‘Was it because of my power?’

“Lilliana?”

Lilliana finally heard Damian’s call and looked at him.

“Are you okay? You look pale…”

“Oh, I was just thinking about something.”

Lilliana smiled brightly as if nothing was wrong.

“Do you think any of your memories are coming back?”

“Not really, but…”

Lilliana smacked her lips. Damian squatted down beside her and said,

“If you have any worries about your lost memories, maybe you could talk about them? Sometimes, talking about things can help you remember.”

At Damian’s words, Lilliana looked back and forth between the cloth in her hand and him. She looked at the burnt part of the wooden box and said,

“Come to think of it, I haven’t told you how I lost my memory, have I?”

“Didn’t you say it was an accident related to your constitution?”

“Ah, you remember that.”

“Was the constitution you mentioned related to you being a half-spirit?”

“Yes, yes. It was because of that. So, it’s like this… I don’t remember it myself, but according to my aunt, my power went out of control, and my heart couldn’t handle it and stopped. Three times.”

“What kind of form does this ‘out of control’ take?”

At Damian’s question, Lilliana pressed her index finger against her lower lip and said,

“Well… since I can use fire, I guess there must have been a fire…”

Damian’s eyes twitched slightly at her words. He unconsciously pressed further,

“Aren’t there more details? Ms. Pascal must have explained something.”

“Well, about my aunt’s explanation…”

Lilliana trailed off, looking a bit troubled.

“She only said it was an explosion and that no one else was involved.”

“Where did the accident happen?”

Lilliana’s eyes widened at the question.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard about that.”

“You haven’t heard about it?”

“Exactly. I’ve never heard where or how it happened.”

Lilliana looked shocked, as if she couldn’t believe she hadn’t realized this sooner.

“I only heard that my power went out of control. I didn’t even try to find out more. I just accepted it on my own. Because, you know, my body is like a ticking time bomb because of my spirit power. So I always knew an accident could happen, and it wasn’t strange for my power to go out of control. And since no one else was involved, I thought there was nothing to worry about. But even if that’s the case for me, why didn’t my aunt explain it?”

“Maybe Ms. Pascal also thought you didn’t need any further explanation, just like you did.”

Damian paused and looked at Lilliana.

“Or maybe she deliberately withheld information to hide something.”

“That’s also possible. Like I said, spirits don’t say things they don’t want to.”

“Then…”

Damian shifted his gaze to the cloth Lilliana was still holding and said,

“If there’s a reason, we need to hear it. Lilliana, as I said before, it seems like Ms. Pascal is hiding a lot from you. I don’t know why, but we need to know the reason to understand this situation and her intentions.”

Lilliana couldn’t help but agree with Damian. She had known for a while that Pascal was keeping things from her. Lilliana had assumed it was because Pascal, being a spirit, was tight-lipped.

Her way of thinking as a spirit was different from that of a human. Their priorities and what they considered important were different. Lilliana had given up on trying to make Pascal understand.

But this was different. Even if she wasn’t lying, Pascal was making things complicated. They needed to talk to her, no matter what.

“Well… I’ll unpack and try contacting my aunt again. Since she sent my luggage, she must at least be alive, so she’ll probably answer this time.”

Lilliana muttered and smoothed out the wrinkles on the cloth she was still holding. Damian watched her intently, but she quickly put it back in the wooden box.

Placing the wooden box on the desk, Lilliana sat back down on the floor and opened the jewelry box she had set aside earlier. She gasped at the contents inside.

Dazzling accessories like rings, necklaces, and bracelets, studded with large gemstones, sparkled brightly.

Lilliana wasn’t particularly interested in jewelry, but she could at least tell that these were all top-quality pieces. Her aunt was an earth spirit, and her father was an alchemist, so she had naturally learned to appraise gems by observing them.

The brilliance of the jewels was so intense that it caught Damian’s eye, who was leaning against the door frame. He also stared at the jewelry box with wide eyes, and Lilliana said in disbelief,

“Why did she send me all these jewels?! What am I supposed to do with them?! And what if they got lost or stolen during the move? Why did my aunt send these along with the rest of my luggage?!”

Even Lilliana, who usually didn’t hesitate to spend money, carefully picked up the most radiant necklace with trembling hands.

It was adorned with a large 17-carat diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds.

Lilliana gently placed it back in the jewelry box.

“Lilliana, I’m saying this just in case, but…”

Damian spoke cautiously.

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