North x Northwest

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Confirming her identity based on her response, Sagastar dropped the bottle which then fell and rolled over the ground. The gurgling contents caught Lil’s eye, but Sagastar seemed to see only her. In the meantime, an actual homeless man snatched the bottle of alcohol and fled.

“You’ve woken up? Since when?”

When an unbearable smell came out of his mouth, Lil tightened the muscles in her face so as to not commit the unconscious rudeness of wrinkling her nose.

“A little over a week, maybe ten days now.”

“Ahh…”

“..?”contemporary romance

Sagastar suddenly fumbled. While reaching out with the intention to kiss the back of her hand, he withdrew upon noticing his own blackened one. He had even already bent his leg as if he was about to kneel, then, as if he remembered something, he drew his attention towards an unidentified wrapping paper next to the stake. He picked it up and handed it to Lil.

“I see, I’m glad you woke up.”

Inside the wrapping paper were several yellowed and withered plant stalks. Lil couldn’t figure out why the hell Sagastar gave her this.

‘Is he… asking me to throw it away for him? Or… No way…!’

Hesitating, Lil asked.

“Um, was this supposed to be a bouquet?”

Embarrassed, Sagastar pulled the bouquet and checked the inside of the wrapping paper. In it were flowers that had been stuck there til they finally had met the end of their fate.

Lil gave a moment’s attention to the dried petals that had already fallen off next to the stake.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll get you another one.”

“Commodore, there’s no need for that.”

“It will only take a minute, really. I’ll call someone from the residence… Oh! What’s the date today? I must have been out of my mind. I’ve been holding on to this since I was kicked out of Retiro’s residence for the third time…”

“…”

Sagastar’s sad eyes watched the stems that began to crumble.

“I didn’t know it had withered like this… Despite my shame, I went to visit, but Sir Edgar was so furious that I had to go back without seeing you…”

“…”

Lil mindlessly scratched the back of her neck upon hearing about the part where Ed had gone into a fit of rage.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen him lose his temper like that. Whenever he was angry, he was rather expressionless and silent, which made us afraid enough as it was already… But… who the hell knew that the alternative was even worse… or maybe he’d been awake for a few days because he didn’t even look like a human being. I actually screamed and ran away cowardly… I should’ve been made to pay for my crime right away, which is making me even more embarrassed.”

Lil pretended to soothe him while trying to imagine what the ‘payment’ Sagastar was talking about meant. After all, she herself resented Sagastar no matter how well his intentions at that time were. In the end, he did everything to throw himself at her. Her wound wasn’t skin-deep, but her whole torso had been pierced… It made a fatal wound that couldn’t be taken lightly. In addition, Lil still had to deal with the aftermath of the strong medicine that woke her up, and she couldn’t go out like she did now without the medicine Levi prescribed. No matter how hard she tried not to blame Sagastar, Lil couldn’t change her mind that easily.

‘If only he had stopped himself from pushing his dagger for a moment and listened to me… But of course, he wouldn’t have shown such mercy to those he judged as southern pirates, even if his opponent was about to die.’

“I’m grateful that you feel that way. In fact, you don’t have to blame yourself that much. At the time, I was an unknown person who was aiming for the Admiral, so your response was justified. Who could blame you?”

“But I…”

Sagastar wiped his face in embarrassment. As he did so, soot smeared along his fingers that ran down his cheeks.

‘He probably means that he’s sorry for puncturing my belly, but he can’t bear to say it with his own mouth.’

Lil turned her foot toward a store and pointed to a bar near it.

“We have a lot more to talk about.”

“What can I do with this sorry heart?”

Sagastar followed Lil’s pace, but out of fear of getting too close, he kept his distance. He was compelled to keep even the slightest etiquette.

Lil turned her head, conscious of Sagastar’s presence behind her.

“Don’t be too sorry, actually, I’m the one who’s grateful that you stopped the battle.”

“I just did what I was supposed to do. Continuing the battle just wasn’t right…”

Lil stopped her steps and looked back at Sagastar.

“If I had been killed the way I was, no one would’ve known anyway.*”

Sagastar’s face, which had been wearing a faint smile, hardened in an instant. Lil observed Sagastar with her eyes hidden under the shade of her hat.

‘Given that he was forced to leave the position next to the admiral because of an incident involving me, and him now seeing how entangled Ed still is with me, Commodore Sagastar is actually the one I should be the most wary of. He also knows that I’ve been to the South, and more than anything, that I’m alive. So, he’s definitely not someone to laugh at just because he was kicked out by his superior and sat in the harbour like a beggar.’

“No one would’ve known? What do you mean?”

‘What do I mean? Was there someone who knew me?’

This time, it was Lil’s turn to ask, dumbfounded.

“Then who knew me?”

“Why else would Sir Edgar have treated you…”

“Stop.”

Lil paused abruptly, immediately feeling that she cut off Sagastar too hastily, but there was no way to reverse her reaction. However, she would rather go on pretending not to know anything than feel humiliated by this.

“..?”

“That’s not it.”

“What?”

“That was just a rash guess. I have nothing to do with Admiral Retiro.”

“Ah, my bad. I understand.”

‘That’s what he’s saying, but it’s hard to confirm if Sagastar really believes my words.’

Lil had lifted her chin in an attempt to show her frustration, but Sagastar straight-up apologised to her. What confused Lil even more was hearing Sagastar taking back his rude guess.

‘Was Ed so obvious that even Sagastar noticed? Didn’t he know the implications of all this? Lil Schweiz’s entanglement with Admiral Retiro doesn’t look good in itself, but Liloa and the Marquess of Roahn is a much greater disaster. If it becomes known to the public that I’m involved with a noble family of the level of a marquess, my brother won’t stand still. My brother… is a human being capable of far more than one could ever imagine…’

Lil’s thoughts flooded in as she walked to the bar. She was unfamiliar with Sesbron’s recent power structure because she had lived away from the mainland for a long time, but she was confident of one thing.

‘The Emperor has a reason to leave Ed alone, but my brother, on the other hand, has no reason to do so.’

Lil continued walking with all kinds of anxious imaginations clouding her mind…

“Careful, my lady!”

“Ack!”

A caravan ran right in front of Lil’s nose, creating a wind strong enough to blow her hat off. Her near-death experience made her heart thump widely. Looking up at Sagastar who pulled her from behind, Lil pressed down on her surprised chest.

“T-thank you.”

Sagastar was suddenly taken aback by his own action and quickly let go of Lil.

“I’m… very sorry for the way I look.”

“That’s okay.”

“Aren’t your clothes stained now? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have held you for that long.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Still, Sagastar was persistent in his apologies. He didn’t stop until they entered the bar and took a seat inside a cubicle.

Since it was morning, it was more like a restaurant than a bar, but Sagastar insisted until the end that he should take her to a high-class restaurant, saying that she didn’t deserve a mere bar. Exhausted from his zeal, Lil slumped in her seat. Sagastar looked at the stretched Lil with pity before telling her to wait for a moment and disappeared with a servant.

‘That servant must’ve been watching his immobile master leaning against a stake… He followed Sagastar the moment we began to move.’

Lil didn’t bother to run after Sagastar. It was because the servant who was welcoming his owner who had finally returned to his senses after a few days seemed to have a lot to say. In the meantime, Lil was thinking about how to convince Sagastar. She was doubtful whether Sagastar would be persuaded by a mere woman who had nothing else but her position to negotiate with.

While internally debating for a while, a boy wearing a narrow-brimmed hat suddenly stood by the table, holding an armful of flowers.

“…What?”

Lil shook her head to tell the boy that he must’ve made a mistake with his delivery.

“Are you sure? Here. Table 6 by the window.”

“No, you must be mistaken…!”

After saying that, Lil noticed the card placed on top of the bouquet. WIth an ominous feeling, Lil pulled it out and turned it over.

[ Congratulations on your recovery, Victor Sagastar. ]

Footnote:

“If I had been killed the way I was, no one would’ve known anyway.” = Lil talks about dying in the skin of Lil Schweiz, no one would’ve known that Liloa had died, if she died as Lil Schweiz.

done.co