Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 79

[Translated By Divinity]

Lilliana covered her face with both hands, looking dejected.

“This is the worst. I told my aunt I’m an adult, but she was right. I’m a 20-year-old stuck in a 22-year-old body, with a two-year gap!”

Meanwhile, their drinks and cakes arrived. Damian pushed a slice of cake towards Lilliana and said,

“But Lilliana, the situation isn’t that bad.”

Lilliana, who had already taken a bite of the cake, looked at him while chewing.

“At least I am here. You are not alone. Like I said before, with me by your side… I will help you in any way I can.”

Lilliana, oblivious to the cream on the corner of her lips, reached across the table and grabbed Damian’s prosthetic hand.

“I really have no one but you, Damian! Right? You won’t leave me or betray me, will you?”

“Well, I’ll do my best to help you, but don’t rely on me too much…”

“No! You underestimate yourself too much! It’s reassuring to have you by my side. You can’t abandon or betray me, okay?”

Damian smiled awkwardly and shook his head.

“Lilliana, you need to be a bit more cynical. It’s not entirely impossible for me to abandon or betray you. You should be prepared for that possibility.”

Lilliana seemed shocked by his words. But Damian continued,

“To be honest… I’m sorry, but I haven’t known you for very long, so my understanding of you is limited. And the same goes for you. You don’t know much about me either. So what makes you trust me so much?”

“B-But it’s already been two months since we met, and even if it’s not a long time, I think you’re a good person…”

Lilliana said, flustered, but Damian sighed softly and continued.

“There are so many people in the world with bad intentions. I could be deceiving you, pretending to be a good person. So relying on me entirely is a bit risky. Instead…”

While Damian was rambling on, a soft chuckle suddenly came from across the table. He looked up to see Lilliana laughing, unable to hold it in any longer.

“Ahahaha! Damian, you’re such an idiot!”

Damian stared at Lilliana, dumbfounded, and she clicked her tongue with a playful smile.

“The fact that you’re saying all this means you’re already a good person. If you were truly a bad person, you would have already taken advantage of me when I said I trusted you completely.”

Damian frowned, but Lilliana smiled gently, her eyes curving into crescents.

“I told you, you underestimate yourself. You’re a much better person than you think. So please take care of me, Damian. You’re the only one I can rely on right now.”

Damian was speechless and just stared blankly. Lilliana put her hands on her hips.

“And my aunt has a good eye for people because she’s lived for so long. That’s why she chose you to take care of me. Don’t you trust my aunt?”

“No, it’s not that, but…”

“Okay. Then let’s finish eating.”

Lilliana turned back to her cake as if she had accomplished her mission. Damian was amazed by her quick recovery.

Just a moment ago, she was feeling frustrated, but now she was happily enjoying her cake, making Damian feel silly for worrying about her.

Instead, her worries and burdens had been transferred to him.

‘But… this is better.’

Damian had been like this ever since he joined the war. He would rather shoulder the burden himself than watch someone else struggle.

That’s why he had recklessly volunteered without a second thought and didn’t mind dying for someone else’s cause in a foreign land.

So, instead of letting this innocent young lady suffer and worry, he, as her hired bodyguard, would take care of the things that troubled her.

At least he was more used to being independent and solving problems on his own than Lilliana.

Whether Lilliana knew how he felt or not, seeing her diligently eating her cake made his heart feel a bit lighter.

“Lilliana, you have some cream on your face.”

At Damian’s words, Lilliana put down her fork and asked,

“Where?”

“On the left side of your mouth…”

Lilliana rubbed her left cheek, and Damian realized his mistake.

“I meant your left from my perspective. The opposite side of where you just wiped…”

Lilliana quickly rubbed the other side of her mouth but missed the spot with the cream. Damian leaned forward and reached out.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

And he wiped the cream off Lilliana’s cheek with his finger.

He wiped it on a napkin and looked back at Lilliana, whose face had stiffened for some reason.

Damian was puzzled for a moment, then seemed to understand.

“It happens when you’re eating.”

“Wh-what?”

“I meant, don’t be embarrassed about getting cream on your face while eating. It’s not just children who make mistakes.”

“…Thank you.”

Lilliana forced a smile, and Damian shrugged, muttering, “It’s nothing.”

‘I should be grateful that Damian is a bit clueless…’

Lilliana looked at Damian with a complicated expression. His hand, the one that wasn’t a prosthetic, was rough and warm, probably from calluses developed during his military service.

And what was even more flustering was when Damian’s face had come close. She had never seen his face this close before and didn’t know how to react.

So she was flustered, and by the time she came to her senses, Damian had already pulled back. Lilliana was confused about why she had been so flustered.

‘He just… wiped the cream off my face. It was a simple act, without any ulterior motives or desires.’

But when Damian’s face was close, Lilliana thought she smelled the scent of a dry forest with a breeze blowing through it.

Realizing that his eyelashes were thicker and longer than she thought, she felt an itch all over her body, making it hard to stay still.

Lilliana didn’t pick up her fork again, and Damian tilted his head and asked.

“Are you full? Should we get the rest of this packed up to go?”

At his words, Lilliana snapped out of her thoughts and quickly shook her head.

“Oh, no. I was just a bit thirsty.”

Lilliana gulped down her mocha latte. Some whipped cream got on her upper lip, but she licked it off with her tongue. Then she narrowed her eyes slightly.

The cream tasted incredibly sweet today, so much so that she wanted to steal a sip of Damian’s espresso.

It was surprising that her anxiety had been significantly eased by just a brief touch from Damian. While watching his hand approach her, the worries Pascal had left her with had vanished from her mind.

As she was staring at Damian’s drink, lost in thought, his voice interrupted her reverie.

“By the way, are there any changes to your plans going forward?”

“You mean going back to university after my treatment?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I need to regain my memories first… And if it’s difficult to run away from that Marquis Sigmund or whatever his name is, maybe I should just do what I want? It feels like we’ll eventually run into each other anyway. Then there’s no reason to keep hiding, right?”

Damian nodded briefly at Lilliana’s words.

“That makes sense. Then do whatever you want, Lilliana. My job won’t change no matter what you choose. I’m here to protect you.”

“I feel bad for dragging you into this.”

“I’m getting paid for it.”

“You’re so heartless.”

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