Thread (4)

She seemed to have fallen asleep, exhausted from crying. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was her forearm that had obscured her view.

Vlad was sitting on the couch, and Lily was on his lap, resting her cheek against his broad chest.

“You woke up.”

At the whisper, Lily turned to look at him. Her mind was still hazy. “How long have I slept?”

He let out a laugh at her hoarse voice. “About two hours. It must’ve been hard sleeping like this, but it’s good to go back now. You’ll rest more comfortably in bed. Please check with Ivan before it’s too late to make sure there are no signs of a fever.”

Lily shook her head. “Let’s stay like this a little bit more.”

It’s the guard’s lounge. It was not the right place for her to rest after the commotion. Vlad couldn’t help but be confused.

“Uhm, Vlad. Are you really hurt?” Even though she was not fully awake, Lily couldn’t let go of her concerns, and she looked at his face at many angles. “You said that the elite knights ran to the point of exhaustion.”

Then Vlad must have been tired too. It was said that Ataka was a land of monsters, and that those monsters had deadly poison.

What if he got hurt in Ataka and he is just hiding it?

Since they were moving at such a high speed, there must have been no time for Ivan to check for injuries.

Lily licked her lips. The bright green eyes that had regained their color looked at him anxiously. “First, let’s go back to the castle. It must be very difficult for you, and I didn’t even think of it.”

Vlad looked at her softly. “It is not difficult now. Not at all.” He carefully swept her fine hair to tidy it up. His large hands juxtaposed against Lily’s delicate hair made an amusing sight. “And you. How many times have you been sick?”

Of course, she would have been ill often. He had no idea what Lily was like.

“I was in good health. Never got sick.”

“Did you ever fall down?”

“No.”

Little by little, Lily’s anxiety began to rise. It was like there was a grading of her exam papers in front of the teacher.

She looked into his eyes and added cautiously, “I worked really hard. You don’t have to hate me anymore.”

Vlad’s mouth was rather stiff. He frowned and asked. “Why would you think that way?”

“That…” Lily lowered her gaze and faltered. “Before you left, I said that if something happened to you, I wouldn’t have the confidence to do anything… I will no longer hold you back like that anymore. I promise.”

Vlad stiffened, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back onto the backrest. “That means…” He raised a hand and covered his eyes and forehead.

Contrary to what she was worried about, there was, fortunately, no damage to his body. But…

He didn’t think she would take it that way.

The misunderstanding is my fault. If I explain now, will she believe me?

“Are you… angry?”

Vlad lowered his hand and looked at her again. “…I am not angry.”

“It may be weird to say this right now, but I had a really good time. The administrators and I made friends, and they were really fun to work with. I had so much to do every day that I hardly had time to think about anything other than work, um…”

Because of today’s events, she did not want to let the hard work of the administrators crumble.

The more Lily tried to explain, the more his eyes narrowed.

After a while of chattering about what she was doing, she bit her lips.

He seemed somehow more upset.

“…You’ve been doing really well.”

Lily shook her head. “Yes.”

“…”

A strange silence passed between them. It was as if a cold wind had blown into the guard room.

Vlad opened his mouth and pushed the long silence away. “It wasn’t because I didn’t trust you that I went with the Knights Templar.”

It was his choice. This was to not add anymore misunderstandings.

Lily seemed a bit surprised. She blinked her eyes a few times. “Then why…?”

Vlad narrowed his brow slightly. Was that cautiousness deeply ingrained in her bones?

Now that she knew it was something else and not her, her lips twitched at the injustice.

He was afraid he might be misunderstood by his facial expression. He closed his eyes and sighed.

“Because I missed you.”

“Yes…?”

He realized one more thing.

When she questioned his longing, it must have meant that she had thought he didn’t even care.

Suddenly, he felt Lily’s breath tremble. Sensing that her mood had changed, he opened his eyes.

“I… Did you miss me?”

Her face, which looked like a startled rabbit, was bright red. Vlad stiffened.

With her cheeks dyed peach and eyes fluttering, she looked like a girl who was courted for the first time in her life—shy and flustered.

“…”

Vlad let out a deep breath. It was a reunion after three months. In other words, it meant the third month of abstinence.

His body reacted.