North x Northwest

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“…It’s also funny that the head of a prestigious family like a Marquess chose to become a doctor. I mean, why would someone like him disrespect himself like that?”

Lil sipped some fruit juice as the ladies gathered together talked about their secretive lord, the Marquess of Roahn. She didn’t sit near them on purpose, it just happened that she found herself in that particular spot. As Lil listened to their conversation indifferently, she turned her head to look for that ‘Marquess’, the one who was said to cause people to faint due to his incredible aura.

However, Ed couldn’t be found in the banquet hall.

‘It seems like he hasn’t completed his side of the mission yet… Sooner or later, Ed and I will let ourselves get escorted to a small room by one of the guards. To outsiders, it will look like we’re desperately in search of an undisturbed space to make love, but in reality, it’s to reach underground for a guard-free route…

After changing our clothes in the room, we’ll head down to the basement, split up and release the sailors from their respective cells. We’ll then all escape through the back door and into the garden, where the men will be loaded into the wagon already waiting for us. Today is Avar’s big banquet, so Gualtiero’s backyard is filled with wagons carrying food, utensils, and servants. It won’t at all be suspicious if some of those wagons will leave the perimeter first. Ed will take the crew with guaranteed identities, while I’ll transport Julio’s group to the port. From there they’ll all board the Bell Rock and be sent out of Roahn.’

Lil observed a man and woman who began to sneak out of her peripheral vision. She was surprised that these people really couldn’t control their heat even after being locked up in prison. To make matters worse, Gualtiero actually encouraged it. Everything Lil had seen so far was a manifestation of serious corruption, but Ed had told her he couldn’t do anything about Gualtiero as the prison fell under Sesbron’s jurisdiction and not Roahn’s. Nonetheless, thanks to this, Lil and Ed would be able to blend in and complete their tasks.

Lil lifted the fabric covering her chest while her eyes wandered in search of Ed.

‘This damn dress has no shoulder straps, so if I don’t pay attention to it from time to time, it will fall down and expose my chest.’

After adjusting her clothes, she looked up in annoyance. It was then that her eyes met…

…Alain’s.

Lil and Alain were facing each other across the long table. Lil was so embarrassed by their surprised encounter, that she slowly blinked her eyes.

‘Why on earth is Alain here?’

As soon as she asked herself that question, Marenzio, who was sitting next to Alain, came into her view. Of course, he didn’t seem to have seen her yet because he was too busy devouring the duck leg he was holding. As Alain glanced at Lil and tilted his head, her heart sank. He merely squinted at her while lifting the glass in his hand and sipped his drink.

‘If only they would recognize me here, things would get a lot easier.’

Lil’s heart pounded. Just in case, she slowly lifted her veil, hoping that they’d realise it.

Now, with her fully exposed face, she stared at Alain quietly. But as soon as their eyes met, Alain spilt the drink that he had already taken in his mouth. The stream of liquid went straight down into his empty glass, refilling it again. Lil didn’t know what to think of such a reaction, so she turned her gaze to Marenzio. However, Marenzio’s reaction was no different. He looked at Lil mindlessly and dropped his duck leg. The ripped flesh in his mouth fell as well.

Lil’s nose suddenly wrinkled.

‘Well, it was never realistic of me to expect them to recognize me first anyway. They must be thinking I’m dead… It’s overwhelming to think about the sadness and suffering they had to endure here in this prison…’

Lil was about to call them in a way without anyone around her noticing…

“Al…”

…However, her efforts were in vain, for Marenzio winked at her out of nowhere. It was the first time she saw him smiling with such a greasy face, so Lil almost threw up. It was a good thing she managed to swallow the irritation. Being on the verge of losing hope, she placed her last bet on Alain and focused on him again. The old man seemed to be misunderstanding it as well and was smoothing out the few strands of hair on his head with his spit-covered fingers.

Flabbergasted, Lil decided to give up and pulled down her veil with a shaking hand.

Marenzio rested his chin on his hands, popped up on the table and made a face that made Lil want to beat him up even more. He continued to offend Lil by sticking out his tongue and licking his lips.

Lil firmly raised her hand and gestured to slit his throat from the other side of the table.

‘I’ll kill you.’

That was what she meant, but Marenzio seemed to get it wrong and nodded happily. He even made a similar motion to slit his own throat and pointed with his index finger at Lil.

‘Apparently, Marenzio is happy to die at my hands…’

Lil gritted her teeth and clutched the barrel of the gun under her petticoat. She might’ve actually pulled it out if it weren’t for the guard who happened to be approaching them.

“What are you two doing? I’m so sorry, my lady.”contemporary romance

Seemingly, the guard got the impression that they had been rude to her and repeatedly apologised to her while pressing the heads of Alain and Marenzio down. Lil covered her angry face with a fan.

“It’s okay. I don’t want to make a scene here, so just throw them back in their cells.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Remember to handle it quietly, all right?”

“Okay. Consider yourselves lucky, you crazy bastards.”

The guard struck them both on the back of the heads and led them away. At the same time, Lil pretended to spew arrogant insults from behind her fan while watching the guards remove Alain and Marenzio. While in reality, she couldn’t help but admit to herself that she was almost moved to tears for a moment because she felt sorry for those ‘crazy bastards’.

Lil drank her glass of juice all at once.

“Oh. My lady.”

An annoying voice called Lil from behind.

“What now?”

Lil turned around angrily, not bothering to hide her annoyance. She was contemplating how to get rid of the man who was already irritating her, but the man snatched her hand and kissed it. His finger slipped in at once and secretly tickled Lil’s palm before she could even check his face. Lil, clearly fed up, glared at the man with a rotten face.

Standing in front of Lil, was a luxuriously dressed man, with a well-trimmed beard and adorned by several rings, accompanied by a group of people.

The man must’ve noticed that Lil was looking at his clothes as he confidently introduced himself.

“The name is Avar.”

“..!”

‘Did I hear that right?’

Lil, still hiding behind her fan, muttered incessantly.

‘Shit. Why is this guy here?’

“Hahahaha! Today is a fateful day. I always thought I was lucky, but I never thought I would be this lucky.”

“..?”

‘What the heck?’

“You only lifted your veil for a moment, but I can’t believe I got to see your face in that short period of time.”

“…”

In an instant, the look in his eyes changed to a creepy one, and a blatant gaze swept Lil up and down. Her dress might only reveal her shoulders, the fabric itself was thin and airy, so the slightest movement exposed her curves.

Lil once again cursed at the dress.

‘The dress that looks like a fucking nightgown.’

Avar came forward.

“The atmosphere is pleasant right now, isn’t it? Care for a dance?”

He tucked her hair behind her ear. When his hand actually touched the shell of Lil’s ear, she was tempted to hit his wrist with her fan, but she held back. Lil became worried that if she made a fuss here, the owner of this cell as well as the host of the banquet would make a fuss. After all, Lil was made aware of his particularly prickly temperament by Ed beforehand.

‘What should I do? Ed hasn’t returned yet. It seems like it takes him quite some time to process the identity guarantees and prepare for the crew’s transfer.’

Lil checked the moon rising outside of the window.

‘If Ed ran late, we agreed that I could move first… meaning I should go ahead with the plan now.’

As Avar held Lil’s hand, she internally vomited several times while moving her body to the music. She pondered while deliberately avoiding his perverted eyes.

‘Thinking about it calmly, it won’t be a bad idea to go into the room with Avar. There, I could deal with him and wait for Ed. Besides, Avar already seems quite drunk. I can beat him up with my eyes closed.’

Lil smiled at Avar with the intention of bewitching him.

“Heavens, you’re so beautiful.”

A hand with a bunch of rings wrapped around Lil’s cheek. His fingers rose higher and higher in an obvious attempt to lift her veil. Lil grabbed his wrist and shook her head shyly.

“You can see it for yourself later, Sir Avar.”

Still, Avar stubbornly stretched out his hand. The moment she twisted her face to the side, Lil’s eyes met Ed’s, who had just entered the banquet hall. Her blood ran cold in an instant. Lil shook her head nervously as she looked at Ed quickly closing their distance. Of course, she knew she did nothing wrong, but that frighteningly expressionless face of his made her feel uneasy…

done.co