Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 72

[Translated By Divinity]

“No, no! Of course, my brother almost killed me, but that was a long time ago! It was before he went on a journey with Dad! He might have changed his mind now!”

But Damian didn’t believe her. His disbelief was evident on his face, so Lilliana waved her hands, trying to explain.

“Look, I’ll tell you why my brother went on a journey with Dad. That incident where he almost killed me was the trigger. Before that, he was a bit lacking in humanity, but he was still relatively well-behaved. But after Mom passed away, he started questioning his identity. I was just a human who could breathe fire, but he was neither human nor spirit. It would have been better if he had talked to someone about it, but he couldn’t find common ground with either my aunt or my dad. Neither of them were like him. So he made a decision on his own and decided to become a spirit.”

“And that’s why he tried to kill you?”

“No, I’m telling you he didn’t really intend to kill me. Anyway, that incident happened when we were about ten years old. We became estranged after that. Since he was still developing his emotions and understanding of others compared to humans, he didn’t try to understand me back then. So Dad and my aunt thought we needed a solution. They decided to show him the wider world. They hoped that seeing how humans, not spirits, lived might change his mind. So…”

Lilliana struggled to find the right words, and Damian helped her out.

“It was a kind of journey of self-discovery.”

“Yes! That’s it!”

Lilliana snapped her fingers and continued,

“I don’t know the exact details, but the journey wasn’t entirely ineffective. The last time I saw my brother was when I was around 18. He stopped by home for a few days before going abroad, and he wasn’t in the same messed-up state as before. He was getting along well with Dad too. We were a bit awkward, like siblings who hadn’t seen each other in years and had parted on bad terms, but still.”

Lilliana tried to defend Casey, but Damian said nonchalantly,

“But you said you don’t know where Casey is now.”

“Ah, about that… I told you, neither I nor my aunt knows Casey’s intentions. How can we ask someone who’s cut off contact and disappeared?”

Lilliana sweated as she struggled to find the right words. She didn’t know how to explain it herself.

“With Dad gone, there’s no one to keep an eye on him, so Casey can act however he wants. But we don’t know why he had to disappear without even telling us. There might be some circumstances…”

Damian was about to say something, but Lilliana quickly waved her hand and continued,

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Like I said, my brother has changed a bit… So there’s no guarantee that he’s trying to harm me! I don’t know what happened during the two years I can’t remember, and my aunt won’t tell me the details. But if it were really because of my brother, she would have at least hinted at it! She was actually trying to defend Casey!”

“But Lilliana, that’s just Ms. Pascal’s perspective. Casey might act differently from what she thinks. What will you do then?”

“Well… I guess things will work out somehow? And if my brother’s personality has changed, we might not even need to fight.”

Lilliana forced a smile, and Damian sighed again.

“Anyway, I understand it’s a complicated situation. I also understand what you’re trying to say. But if I encounter Casey, I’ll prioritize your safety. Please understand that.”

“Ah, okay. That’s fine. I expected that much since I hired you as a bodyguard!”

Lilliana laughed awkwardly and said,

“So… do you have a better grasp of what spirits are now?”

“…”

Damian hesitated, unsure whether to be honest or tell a white lie. But his brief silence was enough of an answer for Lilliana.

“Why are you still like that… You said you believed me!”

“As I said before, it’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s just hard to accept.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?”

Lilliana slumped onto the table, looking troubled, and Damian said reassuringly,

“But regardless, I understand the situation intellectually, so I’ll make sure to do my job properly.”

Lilliana, who had been seeing her situation through rose-tinted glasses, doubted how ‘properly’ Damian, who was detached from reality, could handle things.

“Do you have time tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? I was planning to paint…”

“If it’s not urgent, could you spare some time in the afternoon after my rehabilitation therapy?”

It was the first time Damian had asked her to make time for him, as Lilliana usually took the initiative in their outings.

“That’s not a problem, but what for?”

“I want to buy you something.”

Lilliana’s eyes sparkled with anticipation as Damian stood up. She failed to grab his sleeve and asked him as he walked away,

“What is it?”

“Rest up.”

“Tell me!”

Lilliana followed him pitifully, but Damian slipped into his room. She wanted to knock on his door, but she decided to leave it as a surprise for tomorrow, thinking he was preparing a gift.

The fact that she was a little excited and couldn’t sleep that night was a secret she kept from Damian.

***

“How is it?”

Damian asked with an expectant look, but Lilliana didn’t know how to respond.

“How is it and what not… I don’t know what’s good or not about it.”

“The grip, the handling…”

“I told you, I don’t know those things. I don’t even know how to shoot it! And it’s heavier than I thought. Can I even use this?”

Lilliana looked back and forth between the gun in her hand and Damian. But he just crossed his arms and nodded.

“You can definitely shoot it. If it’s too much for you, a Derringer model could be an alternative, but it has too few bullets and low accuracy and effective range. You need at least a revolver. Shooting it isn’t difficult either. Honestly, I don’t expect you to be a sharpshooter, Lilliana. Just being able to hit the enemy in front of you, even if it’s just one part of their body, is enough.”

“But, I mean…”

Lilliana was truly at a loss. She had been excited about Damian’s offer to buy her something and had happily followed him, only to find him carefully selecting a pistol for her at a gun shop. Her vision blurred.

“I don’t have the confidence to use something like this… This is, well…”

‘A weapon that harms people?’

She wanted to say that, but she couldn’t in front of Damian. He had been someone who held a gun and shot enemies to death until just a while ago.

Still, she couldn’t shake off her uneasiness. It wasn’t that she found Damian unsettling, but the problem was that she didn’t have the confidence to point a gun at someone. So she gave Damian a different excuse.

“I’m not good with physical things…”

But Damian raised his left thumb with sparkling eyes and said,

“I’ll teach you well. I’ve even trained recruits before, you know.”

‘That’s not the problem…’

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