Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 90

[Translated By Divinity]

Damian backed away as Casey approached, but he continued to aim the gun with a stern expression.

“Handle? Handle what?”

“Well, I also wanted to see my sister. More importantly, are you going to keep that gun pointed at me?”

“I intend to keep it aimed until you tell me your purpose.”

“If I must state my purpose, then let’s say I wanted to see my sister. That’s not entirely untrue.”

“How can I believe that?”

“I told you, Damian. If I were after Lily, she’d be dead already. And this moment, when you’re away from Lily, is my chance, so why would I come to you instead of going to her? And Damian Stern,”

Casey leaned forward slightly and whispered,

“You’re easier to deal with than Lily. You’re just a human, aren’t you? Humans are nothing to me.”

For some reason, Damian felt a chill run down his spine at his nonchalant tone. Because the expression on Casey’s face as he uttered those words truly seemed inhuman…

Damian felt his body slowly stiffen without realizing it.

At that moment, Casey clapped his hands once and said with a bright smile,

“I cherish Lily very much. Really.”

“You almost killed Lilliana once.”

“No, I mean, what you’re talking about happened years ago… It’s true, I was young then, I didn’t know what was what, and I was just acting on instinct. But now I’ve grown up, and, well… I guess you could say I’ve matured.”

Casey muttered to himself and nodded as if he understood.

“Well, anyway, I miss Lily. That’s why I’m here.”

“Then why did you come to me instead of going straight to Lilliana?”

“Because I expected you’d react this way.”

Damian tilted his head.

“I don’t want to cause a commotion in front of Lily. Her heart isn’t in good shape right now, is it? What if she gets scared and collapses after seeing us fight? That’s why I came to say hello first. I wanted to let you know that I have no intention of harming her.”

Then, Casey bowed elegantly in the manner of a nobleman.

“Allow me to introduce myself again. My name is Casey Carnell. I’m Lilliana Carnell’s twin brother. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Damian Stern.”

Damian was dumbfounded. What was there to ask for when he didn’t even know Casey’s purpose?

He hadn’t forgotten Pascal’s words. The last message to trust Casey…

Since spirits couldn’t lie, Damian believed Pascal’s words, not Casey’s, and slowly lowered his gun. However, he was still wary of Casey.

“I can’t completely trust you. After all, the fact that you possess a potential danger hasn’t changed.”

“That’s not wrong either.”

Casey readily agreed with Damian.

“I’m different from humans, so sometimes I don’t know how to treat Lily. Lily is a bit dissatisfied with that, but I can’t help it. I’m trying my best, but I can’t do anything more than this.”

Damian, listening to Casey, narrowed his eyes.

Lilliana had said she met Casey when she was 18, but it had been quite a while ago, and the meeting itself wasn’t very long.

However, Casey was speaking as if he had been interacting with Lilliana to some extent. Perhaps reading Damian’s expression, Casey snapped his fingers and said,

“Oh! You’re thinking something’s strange after hearing what I said, aren’t you?”

Casey walked towards Damian. Damian didn’t avoid him or back away like before but simply stared at him quietly with a frown.

“Have a lot of questions?”

“…”

Casey asked with a grin, but Damian didn’t answer.

“You’re not a very honest fellow, are you? Try to be a bit more friendly. I have a hard time getting along with people like you who hide their true feelings.”

Damian wasn’t particularly secretive, just not very talkative. Even though he didn’t speak much, he always said what he needed to say.

But Casey didn’t seem to grasp the difference.

The last time they met at the museum, Damian hadn’t bothered to hide his displeasure.

Yet, seeing how Casey had just chatted away as he pleased, it seemed he couldn’t grasp human emotions unless they were expressed directly.

Damian wanted to tell Casey that he was also a difficult person to get along with. Damian, too, wasn’t confident he could get along with someone so clueless.

Casey stared at Damian curiously, then hugged his drenched body with both arms and continued,

“How about we go back home for now? You’re completely soaked.”

“Home? Which home?”

“Our home, of course. Where else?”

“Our?”

Damian asked back, quite unsure if he was included in the scope of “our” that Casey mentioned. Casey spread his arms and said brightly,

“Yes! Our!”

Damian was taken aback by Casey’s confident statement. Not only did he appear out of the blue, but now what? He was going to go to his house? Why was it ‘our’ house?

“Why do you have ownership of my house?”

“Because I’m going to live in that boarding house.”

Casey added, and Damian narrowed his eyes and asked,

“What do you mean by that?”

“There was a vacant room in your house. So I made a contract with the landlord. The fourth room, across from Lily’s, is my room now.”

“What?”

Damian felt a ringing in his head at those words.

He hadn’t considered the possibility that the fourth tenant Annette mentioned was Casey. Of course, she hadn’t given him any hints about it.

But Annette seemed to find this quite amusing, mischievously leaving only vague words for Lilliana before departing. If Damian had known, he wouldn’t have left the house, leaving Lilliana alone.

“I was getting tired of moving from hotel to hotel. Since things have turned out this way, I’ve decided to stay there for a while. So I just came back from signing the contract…”

“You should have told me beforehand!”

Damian, dumbfounded, raised his voice without realizing it, and Casey scratched his head with a puzzled look.

“Well, I’m telling you now.”

“Ha…”

The more Damian talked with Casey, the more he felt like the conversation was going nowhere.

“Anyway, I have a legitimate reason to go to that house, so I’d appreciate it if you’d stop giving me a hard time.”

With that, he turned and started walking towards the boarding house, which was Damian’s home and now also Casey’s. Damian hurriedly followed him, saying,

“What’s the reason for all this?”

“Does a brother need a reason to see his sister?”

Damian was speechless. He couldn’t understand why there shouldn’t be a reason for family members to see each other.

Marquis Jeska was someone Damian saw only when there were issues with his residence or living situation, and Paul Jeska was his superior, so their relationship was purely professional.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he had thought about seeing his mother.

In the end, Damian couldn’t find a good reason to refute Casey’s words or stop him, so he had to return home with him, soaking wet.

***

Lilliana was speechless, her mouth agape.

It wasn’t just the sight of Damian and Casey drenched from head to toe, but Casey’s appearance itself was quite a shock to her.

“Lily, I missed you.”

Casey spread his arms and approached Lilliana, who flinched and didn’t know what to do.

The Casey she met when she was 18 wasn’t someone who acted like this. Casey, seeing her reaction, stopped.

He lowered his arms with a slightly sullen look, then looked at Lilliana and smiled.

Lilliana rubbed her eyes at the sight of the drenched and rather pathetic Casey and asked,

“B-Brother? Is it really you?”

“Of course, Lily. It really is.”

“Uh…”

Lilliana scratched her head, then raised her hand to block Casey’s approach and said,

“Why are you here…? Why did you come?”

Her face was a mixture of agitation and confusion.