Tweet, tweet-tweet―
The sound of birds chirping awakened Lily's consciousness, which had been submerged below the surface of sleep.
Is it morning already? Realizing she had to start another miserable day, Lily inwardly swallowed a sigh and pushed open her heavy eyelids.
"Ugh."
As soon as she came to her senses, she felt a terrible headache. The sensation of something creepy like a snake wriggling through her head was both unfamiliar and dreadful.
Was it just a headache? Her stomach also felt sour and nauseous. Feeling like she might throw up everything she ate yesterday if she opened her mouth, Lily kept her lips tightly sealed and buried her face in the soft pillow. An unfamiliar floral scent tickled her nose, but the headache was too severe for her to pay attention to it.
Whoosh―
With her face buried in the pillow, Lily lifted her head when she heard the sound of water. Is it raining? Turning her head towards the window, Lily blinked her eyes wide at the sight of unfamiliar curtains.
It wasn't just the curtains. The carpet, sofa, table, and even the bed she was lying on - everything was unfamiliar.
This... isn't my bedroom.
It was already disconcerting to wake up in a strange place that wasn't home, but what made her even more flustered was the realization that she wasn't wearing a single thread of clothing.
The clothes she had worn out yesterday were hanging on the back of the sofa. Turning her head a bit more, she saw a stranger's clothes. Upon confirming this, her green eyes trembled anxiously.
Wh-what on earth happened last night?
Wrapping the blanket tightly around her body, which was defenseless against the cold air, Lily tried to recall what had happened the night before.
I ran out of the mansion, unable to bear my husband Fredic's nonsense any longer. Then I rented a room at an inn and drank in the hall. I drank because I heard drinking makes you feel better when you're depressed, but that turned out to be false. Instead, Fredic's outrageous words came back even more vividly, tormenting me.
Thinking it might get better if I drank a little more, I kept drinking, but I remained depressed. Meanwhile, the alcohol kept going down smoothly, so Lily continued to lift her glass.
After drinking like that for a while, my consciousness became hazy, and then...
Click―
Hearing the sound of a door opening behind her, her small shoulders stiffened. Her hand gripping the blanket tightened.
"You're awake."
A low, deep baritone voice. Though the stranger's tone was unfamiliar, it was unmistakably a man's voice.
I hoped against hope, but I really did sleep with a man. Lily squeezed her eyes shut. The fact that she had spent the night with a stranger, when she hadn't even had her wedding night with her husband yet, mercilessly pricked her conscience.
"Why are you so quiet?"
Because I don't know what to say.
She wanted to run away without looking back, but that was impossible. Because she wasn't wearing anything. She didn't want to become the subject of gossip as a crazy woman wandering the streets naked.
And if she just ran away, strange rumors might stick to her or other problems could arise, so she needed to handle the situation properly right now.
You can do this.
No, you must do this.
Lily took a deep breath to calm her churning emotions, then slowly turned around.
The man's hair was so black that light couldn't pass through it, and it was slightly damp. Water droplets that hadn't been wiped away gathered at the tip of his sharp jaw before falling.
His eyebrows, as black and thick as his hair, looked like those of a stern man, but his golden eyes, sparkling as if they held sunlight, were peculiar, like those of a mischievous child.
Following the smooth, straight bridge of his nose down, one could see the red smile formed by his thin, smoothly upturned lips. Though it was clearly a smiling face, it was so eerie that Lily shuddered slightly and pulled the blanket tighter.
"...Could you step out for a moment so I can get dressed?"
The man tilted his head slightly.
"You want me to go out like this?"
"Th-that's...!"
At those words, Lily instinctively looked down and saw his bare chest exposed through the open robe. She was startled and completely lowered her head.
A low chuckle was heard above her head.
The embarrassment was short-lived as the sound of laughter drew closer, and Lily frantically cried out.
"Then turn around, and you can change first!"
"Is there really a need for that between us?"
The man's voice, full of laughter, was heard right above her head. Flustered by his suggestive words, Lily jerked her head up.
"U-us?"
The man sitting at the head of the bed leaned his upper body towards Lily and asked.
"Don't you remember?"
"..."
At the uncomfortably close distance, Lily hunched her shoulders. Run away. Her instincts screamed, but sadly, she didn't have the courage to throw off the blanket and flee naked.
Instead, Lily pulled her hips back as far as possible and glared at the man, conveying that she wouldn't stand still if he laid even a fingertip on her body.
However, the man wasn't afraid of Lily at all. Rather, he laughed softly as if amused, then gently removed a strand of hair stuck to her face and said kindly.
"You asked me to become your lover."
[This is the timeline separator]
Liliana grew up in a harmonious family, not extremely wealthy but filled with her parents' love, enjoying a peaceful childhood. Dark clouds loomed over Lily's future just a week before her coming-of-age ceremony.
After spending time with friends, Lily returned home at dusk only to find the mansion engulfed in flames redder than the sunset painting the sky.
The terrifying inferno, licking its crimson tongue, devoured both the Baron Benjamin estate and the life of her father, Baron Benjamin.
The Baroness Benjamin miraculously survived, but she suffered severe burns and lost her mind from the shock of losing her husband.
Overnight, Lily was left alone with her physically and mentally unwell mother, having lost her beloved father and the precious home filled with memories. She was in despair.
Search "lover" on redcatty(.)com to read ahead up to chapter 70.