North x Northwest

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Side story 3 – Liloa’s Chapter 1: The Fruit

Realising her mistake, Charlotte immediately lowered her head, but Liloa generously pretended not to hear her subordinate’s unsolicited remark. Charlotte, a tutor in charge of Liloa’s education, was an open-minded woman from the empire and was brought to Obernyu as Henrietta’s maid when the latter got married.

Liloa understood her tutor’s point.

She never thought that her mother, Henrietta, was bad. The people of Obernyu used to suspect Henrietta of being mentally ill because of her lively personality, but now that her energy had waned, she began displaying symptoms bordering on depression. That was why Liloa was particularly fond of Charlotte, for her tutor reminded her of her once free-spirited mother, whom she admired.

‘But… What I’m getting from Charlotte’s words right now is that just like father has ‘Madame Drieux’, mother has a lover too?’

Normally, people consciously refrain from speaking about it in front of her. Thus Liloa didn’t know much about her parents’ private lives, but there were times when she heard someone spill something like this.

She wondered if Henrietta would be happy if that was the case. After all, Joseph looked happy whenever he smiled at Madame Drieux. But Liloa couldn’t imagine Henrietta smiling like that.

Breaking the silence, Ann muttered.

“…If true love is only for lovers, then why do children born between them become illegitimate children? Everyone criticises illegitimate children. They’re even considered dirty. But shouldn’t the proof of love be thought of as a blessing? Why are they thought of as children of the devil though?..”

“Having children and carrying on the family line is a duty. Children are not proof of love, but rather proof that their duties and responsibilities have been met. Being distracted by this ‘great love’ and giving birth to a child outside the family who is supposed to carry on the family line means succumbing to the devil’s temptation. So, if a child is born from that, is it not the devil’s?”

Ann burst into tears at Charlotte’s harsh words.

“Then, I will love my husband. I will meet a loving husband and we will be blessed with children.”

“I don’t blame you for your naivety.”

Charlotte merely laughed at Ann. Because of the obvious disdain in her voice, Ann became even more discouraged.

Even though Liloa was a smart child, she was still too immature to keep up with the conversations of women whose breasts were already grown and fleshy. At the very least, she understood that marriage was a process of fulfilling responsibilities and duties as an adult. Liloa, who was willing to perform her part by marrying, asked Charlotte for a book detailing the traditions of marriage. However, the book she received only contained romantic descriptions of marriage and praise about the wonder of how two human beings meet and become one. This just made Liloa even more confused.

“Don’t trust books too blindly. How can someone capture the entire world in such a thin piece of paper?”

Although Charlotte sneered, Liloa didn’t put the book down. She was determined to find out who between Ann and Charlotte was right.

Time went by, albeit slowly for Liloa and in the end she had to face Duke Lacroix’s procession without obtaining any answer.

Duke Lacroix was a young man about ten years older than Liloa. It was only after Liloa’s disappointment in him that she realised that she had been expecting something from her husband-to-be.

First of all, he looked even older than Joseph. And it wasn’t just in Liloa’s eyes. As soon as they saw his face, the maids began whispering among themselves.

“…The Duke of Lacroix has a lot of wealth…”

“…What makes a husband desirable is his ability, not his looks…”

Liloa accepted the information coming through both ears at the same time, but her disappointment didn’t improve.

‘Who on earth painted the Duke’s portrait? Had the portrait been done to resemble him properly, there probably wouldn’t have been such an embarrassing disappointment…’

“…Who knows? He might have a charming speech that will make a woman happy…”

Her nanny whispered belatedly. contemporary romance

Liloa was devastated, but she couldn’t openly show it. This was because the courtiers of Obernyu were already lined up on both sides of the garden where Lacroix was walking towards Liloa. They were all watching the first meeting between Liloa and the Duke with interest. Liloa slowly raised her head and looked up at the Archduke and Archduchess. Joseph was expressionless as always, but what surprised her was that Henrietta shared the same look on her face.

After being surrounded by gazes pouring from all directions, Liloa prepared for dinner and entered the hall where the banquet was in full swing.

The Duke of Lacroix was as tall as Joseph.

“Miss Liloa.”

Liloa held his rough hand and followed his lead for a dance. It wasn’t difficult for her to dance with someone much taller than her. At court banquets, there weren’t many opportunities to dance with anyone shorter than her anyway. The boys and young men of the palace, regardless of their age, were willing to dance with their backs bent just to match Liloa’s height.

Liloa deliberately refused to look at him. Even without looking at the Duke, she already strangely disliked him and felt that she would dislike him even more the longer she stared at his face. Moreover, what came as a shocking realisation to her was that she tended to treat people differently based on their appearance. Still, this didn’t deter her from being willing to soften up should he speak kind words and show her his gentle personality. In fact, she wasn’t completely sure where this dislike had come from. It might not be because of his physical appearance. Rather, it could be a fabricated emotion caused by the stress and anxiety of a child about to marry.

Lacroix, however, rarely spoke and simply looked down at Liloa with unwavering eyes.

Actually, among all his physical features, Liloa hated his eyes the most. This was because of how he gazed at her. Even though he seemed to be looking at her, it wasn’t her face he was looking at. Instead, Lacroix was staring at her “parts”. As his infinitely large shadow cast over the top of her head, his gaze crawled down from her neck to her unswollen chest.

Liloa’s vague feelings of disappointment towards him gradually transformed into discomfort. She stiffened, not knowing what to do. With his eyes not looking like that of a human, it reminded her of the story she read about the God of Death when she was younger.

‘Is this the gaze of the undertaker?’

As her vision darkened, Liloa kept blinking while a chill ran down her spine.

Lacroix was holding Liloa’s damp hand tightly when he suddenly let go of her fingers and gradually wrapped the back of her hand instead of pressing their palms together. For the first time in her life, Liloa felt uneasy as a result of someone’s unwanted touch.

‘No one has ever touched me like this before.’

Liloa glanced to her side every time their position and movements changed and saw how the rest of the guests simply watched her and the duke while they drank, laughed, and clapped.

‘Is this what others call a blessing? Is this what marriage is like? It feels so strange… is this the sense of duty and responsibility I should feel towards the person who will be my husband? But… this serious matter shouldn’t be something that makes me uncomfortable… right?’

But even if Liloa tried to think about it that way, she couldn’t convince herself. Her throat was drying up until there was no moisture left in her mouth. Her head felt dizzy, and her fingertips turned cold. She became thirsty as if she hadn’t had water in a long time. Liloa hoped that the music would end quickly, but the more she hoped, the longer the melody went on. In the meantime, the background became more and more a blur, till she was only left with those two eyes attached to a large man, towering over her. From some moment on she could even hear him breathing and a foul smell seemed to come from his breath.

Liloa felt sick.

‘Ah, becoming an adult is really difficult. Do I have to endure feeling like this every day? I guess that’s what maturity means, doesn’t it?’

Liloa tried hard to keep her body from touching Lacroix, such that whenever their movements changed, she would twist her body awkwardly. But without hesitation, he pulled Liloa into his arms. Because Liloa didn’t respond anymore, a force wrapped around her and lifted her up, causing her body to move involuntarily. It wasn’t her first time dancing, so it surprised her at how it felt so different from the other times. At the same time, Liloa wondered if she had hardened her expression too much towards him that it triggered her partner to treat her so rudely.

But to confirm it meant that she would have to look up to see Lacroix’s complexion. Yet Liloa didn’t want to see that face again. She couldn’t bear to look up at him. She thought that if the face she saw before still wore the same triggering expression, she expected herself to burst out in tears.

‘What on earth is that face? Why on earth is the Duke looking at me with such a strange expression?’

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