Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 80

[Translated By Divinity]

Lilliana’s expression turned sullen, showing her disappointment, and Damian belatedly realized his slip of the tongue.

“…I apologize. I just meant that you shouldn’t feel burdened since you’re paying me a fair wage.”

“Hmm… Okay.”

‘What would Damian have done if there was no talk of payment or deals?’

Lilliana couldn’t help but smile wryly, knowing that this kind-hearted person would have come to her aid even without any compensation.

‘It’s a relief that we made it a business deal.’ At least she could compensate him financially for involving him in this mess.

“But even so, it’s not like we’re doing nothing. I think we need to investigate the ‘Lion’s Heart’ group and Marquis Sutton.”

“Ah, I’ll take care of that.”

“No, I can also…”

Damian frowned at Lilliana’s words and asked,

“How were you planning to investigate?”

“…”

Lilliana rolled her eyes and fell into thought. But she couldn’t come up with any ideas on how to start the investigation.

Seeing her deep in thought, Damian said, as if he had expected this,

“Do you know which informants to use?”

“Me, informants?”

“Gathering information isn’t my specialty. And I assume it’s not yours either. So we have one option: we need to use informants. Fortunately, we have a generous budget, and with this much, we should be able to get most informants to cooperate.”

“How do you know about such things, Damian?”

“I had a colleague in the military who worked as a spy. He was discharged a month before me and said he was planning to become an informant, so I should contact him if I needed anything. I think it’s best to reach out to him first.”

“Damian, you’re really capable.”

Lilliana looked genuinely impressed. Damian shrugged as if it were nothing.

“I just have good connections. Let’s approach this case from this angle for now.”

“Okay, okay. See? My aunt and I picked the right person.”

“Thank you.”

“Ah, I don’t want to think about it anymore today. It’s giving me a headache.”

Lilliana held her head, then started eating the cake again with a blank expression. For her, who was always cheerful, to have such a look meant she was truly exhausted.

Damian didn’t bother her further and simply went back and forth, refilling their drinks while she finished her cake.

He had something he wanted to ask Lilliana since earlier, but now wasn’t the right time, as she seemed drained.

Ever since he saw Lilliana’s embroidered handkerchief, it had been on his mind. The material and embroidery style were strikingly similar to the handkerchief Lady Lintray had given him.

No one but Lady Lintray would make a handkerchief with such sturdy fabric and embroidery.

Seeing that, Damian couldn’t stop searching for similarities between Lilliana and Lady Lintray.

‘Was it all just a coincidence?’

Damian bit the inside of his lip discreetly. He couldn’t stop thinking and was as exhausted as Lilliana.

***

A few days later, Lilliana followed Damian, asking,

“Why didn’t you wake me up early for exercise today?”

Lilliana, who had slept in for the first time in a while and had a refreshed face, looked at the back of Damian’s head with a puzzled expression.

“I’ve recently realized that your stamina is worse than I thought, Lilliana. I didn’t expect you to struggle so much with just a simple walk. I mixed in some jogging on the first day because you found it difficult, but even with just walking…”

As Damian said, Lilliana was half-dead for the entire morning after their exercise.

It wasn’t a leisurely stroll but a brisk walk with deep breaths, so it was different from a typical walk.

But what could she do when even that kind of exercise was difficult for her still-recovering body? Lilliana felt a bit wronged.

Damian continued nonchalantly.

“Rather than continuous exercise, it’s important to have breaks in between so your body can recover. Of course, in the military, you need to build up your stamina quickly, so running laps around the training ground every day is the norm, but this isn’t a battlefield, so there’s no need for that. I don’t think Lilliana’s heart can handle it either.”

“Hmm…”

Lilliana was inwardly relieved. She had been worried that Damian, being ex-military, might try to train her in a military style and make her run herself ragged.

Even so, today’s peace would only last for a day, and the thought of being dragged out for exercise again tomorrow morning already made her feel reluctant.

“When you go to the hospital today, be sure to ask how much exercise is appropriate. I’ll create a schedule based on that.”

“But who’s going to protect me in the morning when you’re gone? I woke up late because I didn’t set an alarm, and you weren’t there, so I was a bit surprised.”

Lilliana had declared she would live her own way, but she felt uneasy without Damian, her bodyguard.

Nothing major had happened in the past few days, but his presence had allowed her to relax and let her guard down.

She complained a bit, and Damian looked genuinely apologetic.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I assumed it would be okay since you wouldn’t be alone in the mornings with Asher and Annette around. I went to the hospital for my rehabilitation therapy because your appointment wasn’t until the afternoon. I thought I could be back before then.”

As he said, Lilliana’s heart checkup was scheduled for the afternoon today. So Damian, who usually went in the afternoon, had gone alone in the morning.

But Lilliana didn’t seem entirely pleased with that.

“By the way, any progress on the investigation? About that Marquis Sutton guy.”

“It’s only been a few days since I made the request, so I haven’t received any substantial information besides basic personal details. I’m sure something will come up if we give it a bit more time. But it’s a bit difficult to explain without mentioning anything about spirits.”

“Ah, I guess that’s understandable. Even informants can’t go around talking about spirits and stuff.”

Lilliana wiped under her nose. Damian, sensing that he was walking too fast, stopped and waited for her.

“Anyway, it’s a bit awkward. I can’t stay by your side 24/7… We both have our own private lives.”

“I don’t have much of a private life, so it’s fine, but I’m worried it might be inconvenient for you.”

“At least I need to ensure my safety at home. If it were my aunt, she would have taken some measures…”

Lilliana trailed off, then exclaimed, “Ah!”

“Come to think of it, my aunt told me to go to an address she gave me and give them the jewels if I got into trouble. I think I know who lives there.”

Damian stared at Lilliana, and she narrowed her eyes and said,

“It’s probably a wizard. Wizards can sometimes exchange jewels for magic. That’s why they like earth spirits. Earth spirits have a lot of jewels underground. That’s probably why she sent me so many.”

“Ah, I see. So if you go to the wizard, they can cast a spell to help you?”

“I’ll have to go there to find out. But if they’re a skilled wizard, they should be able to solve most problems.”

Then she clapped her hands and smiled brightly.

“Maybe they even have a spell to restore my memories!”

Her hopeful words brightened Damian’s expression as well.

“That would be great! I don’t know much about magic, but… Since you say so, Lilliana, we should visit the address Ms. Pascal gave us and meet the wizard as soon as possible.”

“But…”

Lilliana frowned and continued,

“I can’t quite remember the address my aunt gave me. I was so flustered at the time that I didn’t hear it properly…”

“Corot Apartments, 1st floor, 22 Luther Street, Gambena District, Nichio.”

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