North x Northwest

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Ed, however, didn’t answer. As he remained silent, Shail swallowed his saliva as he looked at his master.

“…I’ll be over there.”

Shail nodded and walked away. When he disappeared beyond the carriage, Ed turned his head so fast that a slight gust of wind blew out. Lil, on the other hand, pretended to concentrate on the newspaper.

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“The way that kid blushed when he saw you.”

“..?”

‘I normally pass that off as pure innocence.’

But Lil didn’t bother to say that.

“But we have to keep moving together with the guards…”

“…”

Ed, who was now standing in front of Lil, stroked his chin and made a humming sound.

“…So what should I do about this problem?”

“What do you mean, what should you do? You should go to city hall. He just said Linhardt is looking for you.”

Ed narrowed his eyes and glanced at Lil. Nonetheless, Lil remained oblivious.

“Why don’t you try using this in case any other guys talk to you while I’m away?”

As soon as Ed pulled out his gun and held it out, Lil was dumbfounded and sighed.

“Are you being serious?”

“This is my subtle way of telling you that I can be the only man you love.”

Lil wrinkled her nose at Ed’s casual mention of love. She couldn’t get used to such unfamiliar words yet.

“That’s enough. I understand.”

“What if they make you feel uncomfortable?”

“What do you mean? I’ll take care of it…”

“It must be bothersome.”

“Just go to city hall.”

Lil pushed Ed’s shoulder.

Ed pretended to hold out, but Lil didn’t find it amusing anymore, so she had no choice but to slap the city’s lord on the shoulder in the square where his subjects passed by. Ed, who had been beaten, looked sullen as he dragged his feet towards the city hall.

Lil momentarily felt sorry for the people walking peacefully down the streets.

‘Those people have no idea to what kind of lord they have to pay taxes to…’

As Lil was thinking such random thoughts, her gaze met with Shail’s, who was on the other side of the carriage. The young man quickly looked away, not knowing what to do. Contrary to the inexperienced guard, Lil expertly ignored him and walked toward the market.

Even though it was a small alley, the surroundings were quite noisy, perhaps because there was a market. Lil had packed everything she needed and didn’t really have anything to buy, but she snooped around from stall to stall anyway.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean that there can’t be something interesting popping up and catching my eye.’

Without realising it, Lil made her way down the street thinking about what Ed might need. After passing through the market alley with stalls and sacks lined up under the awning of tents, she reached a shopping street with more prosperous-looking shops.

A clothesman passed by her, with several hats and canes hanging from his arms.

Lil looked at the clothesman’s hats with a mixed impression. This was because she became nervous when she remembered Ed’s collection of hats, which were reminiscent of a hat museum. Of course, she knew he would be happy with anything she would give him, but she still wanted to match his assortment. She also knew though that there was no way she would find something worthwhile if she searched for it in such a hurry. In addition, even Lil had never used ready-made products while she was at court.

‘How can I choose something like that for Ed, knowing he’s extremely picky?’

Then suddenly,

“…What the hell am I even doing…”

She realised that she had been unconsciously picking out a gift for Ed. Lil couldn’t understand her actions. But just when she was about to turn around in confusion, a heavy metal object touched her lower back. Her senses were heightened in an instant. Lil lowered her eyes to see a shadow and realised it came from a large, hooded figure who was standing close.

A voice behind her whispered sternly.

“…Go into the alley on the right…”

Lil stopped from moving her hand to the sheath of her sword at her side, recognising the voice.

“…Maxwell?”

“Now.”

Lil obediently entered the alley between the clothes shop and the shoe store while a stray cat heard the footsteps and ran away.

Facing the wall, Lil raised her hands, feeling the rough stone bricks making contact with her skin. Maxwell took a step closer, still pointing his gun at her.

“What is this?”

“Stop being foolish. What are you doing with the Marquess as someone from the house of Obernyu? You two can’t be together anyway.”

“What the…”

“It isn’t too late yet. Ask the Prince Regent for forgiveness and come back. He is very angry, but he’ll accept you generously as you’re his only sister.”

‘After strangling and kidnapping me, what’s up with his persuasive stance now?’

Lil was more suspicious of Maxwell’s attitude than of what he was saying. She turned her head over her shoulder and looked under his hood. Maxwell wore an anxious and gloomy expression. It was as if he was suffering from something. There were even wounds around one eye and near the cheekbone. It seemed like he alone was enduring Venua’s temper. It wasn’t hard for Lil to imagine how violent Venua must’ve become after being imprisoned in a villa when he had travelled all the way from Obernyu to Roahn.

Lil slowly lowered both hands and turned to face Maxwell.

‘What’s Maxwell afraid of? Death? No, that’s too abstract. Failure? But he already has too many. Even not successfully keeping me in the villa can be considered a failure. But was that enough to scare him this much? …I better figure it out…’

“Why are you trying to persuade me out of nowhere? Instead of knocking me out and taking me away like last time.”

“…”

“I won’t fight back, so why don’t you give it another try?”

“…A lot of eyes are watching.”

Lil pulled her eyebrows together.

‘Of course, a lot of eyes are watching, but if you look at it that way, he shouldn’t even have approached me in the first place. Just two blocks behind this square is where the guards are gathered.’

Lil was suddenly on to something.

‘If it’s neither death nor failure… then, is it success?’

A chill ran down her spine.

“What did my brother do?”contemporary romance

“…”

“No, what did he order you to do?”

Lil raised her hand and pushed the barrel of the gun to her side until the muzzle, which was obediently pushed away, slowly sank downward.

“Is it something you can’t handle?”

“…”

“If someone’s life is on the line, you should tell me!”

Maxwell’s lips twisted. The jaw that was clenching its teeth wriggled as if it would open at any moment. But exactly then, the sound of several people’s footsteps drew nearer. Maxwell, sensing their presence, ran by Lil and jumped deeper into the alley. When he passed her, however, he bumped partly into her, causing her shoulder to be slammed onto the wall of the building.

“Shit!”

Maxwell’s shadow turned and disappeared behind the building. At the same time, Shail entered the alley. When he saw Lil slumped on the ground, he ran toward her in panic.

“Are you okay?”

Behind Shail, young men in similar clothing quickly rushed into the alley. Lil spoke to them as they tried to pass her.

“It’s okay. He’s someone I know.”

With a flushed face, Shail asked back.

“…Really?”

The guards, who attempted to run after Maxwell, suddenly hesitated with equally confused faces.

“It’s true. I just fell on my own.”

“How can anyone whom you know…”

Shail slurred the rest of his words. After all, it was fairly understandable. The sight of Lil sitting like that in an alley didn’t seem like she simply talked with someone she knew.

Lil grabbed her left shoulder and tried to get up…

“Allow me, my lady.”

“Huh?!”

Out of nowhere, Shail’s arms stuck out from behind Lil’s back and below her knees, causing her to freak out and push away the young man who tried to carry her.

“No, wait!”

As expected, his study body wasn’t pushed away but merely paused.

“Yes?”

“I can walk alone.”

“But…”

“Stand back.”

Still, Shail didn’t seem to understand, so Lil spoke low and slowly as if giving off a warning.

“Step back. If I say it one more time, that would be three times already.”

“S-sorry.”

Shail hesitated before backing away.

Lil lifted herself up halfway by using her right hand as support. Just then, Ed appeared in front of the alley. His face was obscured by the hat and backlight, making his expression difficult to see. When Lil roughly held out her hand towards him, he came to her without delay and caught her.

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