Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 68

[Translation By Divinity]

If Damian got forceful or excited here, it would only agitate Lilliana further. He spoke to her in a calm voice.

“As you said, Lilliana, this Ray person seems even more suspicious than I thought. But why would you try to meet him without any guarantee of safety? I’m in charge of your protection. I believe I have the right to stop you from doing anything dangerous. So please calm down and sit down.”

Damian coaxed her, and Lilliana calmed down, but her gaze was still fixed on the direction of the museum as she muttered,

“You’re right, but…”

Damian sighed softly and bent down to meet Lilliana’s eye level.

“What’s so important about this person that you want to meet him? What did you want to do when you met him?”

“Well, it’s because he might be…”

Lilliana’s eyes looked anxious for some reason. She bit her lower lip slightly and shook her head.

“He might be someone I know. But…”

She couldn’t easily continue. At her words, “He might be someone I know,” Damian asked in a low voice,

“Is he dangerous?”

Whether Lilliana knew this person or not, the important thing for Damian was whether he posed a threat to her safety. After all, his job was to protect Lilliana.

Lilliana frowned at Damian’s question and said,

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I mean… I literally don’t know.”

“Then is there a possibility that he could be a potential danger?”

“Well… that’s not entirely wrong, but he might not be either.”

“That’s what I mean. There’s no need to create unnecessary trouble by meeting someone who might be dangerous. I don’t know why you want to meet him, but…”

Damian gripped Lilliana’s shoulders and said,

“There was a dangerous person, so let’s go home for now. If you have something to say, I’ll listen at home. We should have gone straight home. I was careless. Even if you don’t want to, please consider my position.”

At Damian’s plea, Lilliana nodded with a sullen expression. Then she looked up at the sky and said,

“You’re right… The sun is setting. Let’s go back.”

Lilliana gathered her sketchbook and pencils, and Damian carried the rest of the art supplies. He walked briskly towards the tram stop, and Lilliana struggled to keep up but didn’t complain.

Damian wanted to pull Lilliana back as she kept looking towards the museum, but he couldn’t because his right arm was still immobile, and his left hand was occupied with the art supplies.

***

Back at the boarding house, Lilliana unpacked her things and went down to the kitchen, where Damian was heating up the meal Annette had prepared.

“It seems Annette and Asher aren’t here. I guess it’s just the two of us for dinner.”

“Yeah.”

After a brief exchange, they sat down and started eating. Only the clinking of utensils could be heard; silence filled the space between them.

Damian didn’t initiate any conversation since Lilliana wasn’t talking, and Lilliana avoided speaking because she felt like she might choke on her food if she brought up the topic on her mind.

Damian finished his meal faster than Lilliana. He took out orange juice from the refrigerator, poured two glasses, and handed one to Lilliana, saying,

“I was in a hurry to leave earlier, so I postponed asking you this… ”

She wiped her mouth with a napkin and looked at Damian.

“Do you know someone named Ray?”

“As I said before, I’m not sure.”

“Then is there a possibility that you might know him?”

Damian’s tone was unintentionally forceful, like he was in the military, and he found himself observing her reaction. But Lilliana didn’t seem to mind and replied with a tired expression,

“He might be my brother.”

Lilliana’s confession made Damian’s eyes widen. He had thought it might be someone close to her, but he hadn’t expected this answer.

“I’m not certain, but he might be my brother. Only our family knows that Yugo Song was a spirit. And among them, the most suspicious one is my brother.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yes, a twin brother. His name is Casey Carnell.”

“But why is it dangerous? Isn’t he your family?”

“That’s…”

Lilliana hesitated, unsure how to explain her situation to Damian. Seeing her confusion, Damian moved to the seat across from her and asked,

“It seems like it’s going to be a long story?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know the details, but family matters can be complicated to explain to others. And you’re in a unique situation, Lilliana. Just like when you hesitated to tell me about being a half-spirit, if you think this will be a long story or difficult for me to understand, I’m willing to listen patiently.”

It was a somewhat blunt statement, typical of Damian, but it contained consideration. Perhaps it was because he also had a family situation he didn’t want to talk about.

“And what I need to do won’t change whether Ray is your brother or not.”

Damian took a sip of his juice, and Lilliana also took a sip from the glass he had given her.

“Damian… you never ask many questions. You didn’t before, and you’re not now either.”

“I don’t like prying into other people’s affairs. But right now, I need to know whether your brother, Ray, is a threat to you or not. I don’t need to know anything else, even if you don’t want to tell me.”

“Just like how you don’t like talking about yourself?”

“…”

Lilliana had seen how Damian reacted to such things. She could roughly guess what he was thinking. He wasn’t fundamentally interested in people. So when he asked someone a question and they seemed reluctant to answer, he would back off without hesitation. There was no need to pry.

Whether it was a form of consideration or a bad habit, Damian didn’t enjoy listening to other people’s stories and had no intention of doing so.

The most important thing for him right now was to distinguish between what was harmful and what wasn’t to Lilliana. He didn’t need to hear any stories that wouldn’t help him make that judgment.

In fact, the questions Damian had asked Lilliana were all related to her safety, and his interest in mythical creatures stemmed from information related to her well-being.

This time was no different. Damian’s questions about Lilliana’s brother weren’t out of curiosity about her family relationships. He needed information to determine whether he was a potential threat to Lilliana.

Anything else was irrelevant. So if Lilliana hesitated to answer, he would back off without hesitation.

Lilliana, who thought they had become somewhat close, was displeased by Damian’s silence in response to her questions.

“Fine.”

Lilliana stopped trying to pry into Damian’s attitude and told him what he was most curious about.

“My brother Casey once tried to kill me.”

It was quite a shocking statement, but Damian simply turned his head to look at Lilliana and uttered one word,

“Why?”

“…To absorb my spirit energy.”

Damian frowned and tilted his head.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.”

“That’s why I wanted to explain about mythical creatures first.”

Lilliana looked at Damian with a complex expression.

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