Volume 7 Chapter 228

Lil was reminded of Sagastar’s remark about him.

{ “Whenever he was angry, he was rather expressionless and silent, which made us afraid enough as it was already…” }

Meanwhile, Avar was engrossed in his perversion. His hand, which had been on her shoulder earlier, suddenly moved down to her waist and pulled her in.

“Don’t act like you don’t like it and come closer, my lady.”

While contemplating whether or not to break the hand that was reaching for her buttocks, Avar fell back. Although his body was moving away from her, his arm was still struggling to reach for her. His dirty intentions completely failed because Ed pushed Avar’s shoulders further from Lil. Avar glared at Ed and tried to push his body forward until his face and even the back of his neck turned red. Still, even after all the effort, Avar couldn’t budge an inch.

Ed, whose needed effort to keep Avar at bay wasn’t even straining enough to furrow his brows, spoke rather calmly.

“Stop it.”

“…What?”

Belatedly realising his tone, Ed corrected himself.

“Stop… leave her alone, Sir Avar.”

Avar eventually managed to regain his footing and slapped Ed’s arm away. 

‘Fortunately, Ed didn’t push or knock down Avar completely, so it hasn’t attracted anyone’s attention yet.’

Lil flapped her fan as she watched Ed, trying her best to not show her surprise despite her heart becoming anxious.

“What? Are you two lovers?”

“…”

For the first time, Ed’s expressionless face twitched, and his adamsappel moved slightly as he swallowed.

Lil looked back and forth between Avar and Ed, chewing her lip in frustration. Avar stroked his beard before declaring.

“This woman seduced me first.”

“That can’t be possible.”

“So, are you two lovers? Why are you making me repeat myself?”

“…”

“Huh? Can’t you answer? What are you two? Why would someone who’s nothing to her act like this…”

“I’m sorry.”

‘Damn it Ed, just say yes!’

However, Ed kept his mouth shut after the apology.

“Who are you? And what are you? Where do you come from? You… huh?”

Avar’s expression, as he pointed at Ed, turned strange at that moment. He paused, as if recognizing someone. Lil instantly realised what was going on. 

‘I’ve been told that Avar isn’t only quite influential, he also holds a noble status. So chances are that he might’ve seen Ed somewhere before… And even though Ed’s still wearing a hat in an attempt to obscure his identity, Avar is shorter. In fact, most people here can easily see the face underneath the hat…’ 

Without a second thought, Lil got in between the two.

“Ah, oh my goodness. Sir Avar, you’re asking the obvious. Ho… Ho, ho, ho, ho…”

“..?”

She knew she was putting up an act that most people wouldn’t fall for, but with the conviction that if they couldn’t get past this point, everything would end in failure, Lil quickly threw herself into Ed’s arms. Of course, Lil didn’t forget to make a big scene out of lifting Ed’s arm and placing his hand on her waist. Then, when she pressed the side of her face against his chest, it was actually Ed who almost lost his balance out of perplexity. Sensing this, Lil discreetly pinched his side in frustration and Ed quickly came back to his senses, wrapping his arm around her waist. Lil then smiled happily and pressed her body close to him. 

However, because she happened to lean on Ed’s left side, the incessant pounding of his heartbeat rang in her ears. She wasn’t sure if it was because he was still angry or for some other reason, but Lil tried to ignore the sound and spoke softly.

“This person runs a fairly large clothing store, and he came to visit to supply sails for Sir Avar’s next voyage. But now something like this happened… Ho, ho, ho, ho… Seeing him this surprised, I’ll feel the need to provide him some comfort… If you know what I mean… After he calms down we’ll look for you again, so leave it to me and please excuse us for now.”

Lil smiled desperately at Avar. She could only hope that Avar wasn’t so crazy as to split up a happy couple and take the woman for himself in the full view of his guests.

Avar looked back and forth between Lil and Ed with a confused expression. Similarly, a few people around them stopped dancing and paid attention to the slight commotion. Avar glanced at Ed closely with a puzzled face but soon withdrew his gaze. 

Lil inwardly sighed in relief and agreed with the confused thoughts Avar would probably have right now. 

‘Yes, you should think that the real Marquess would’ve no reason to be here like this. Even addressing you respectfully.’

Realising he needed to save face, Avar ordered a servant to light a cigarette. He blew out a long puff of smoke while pretending to agonise over it, then leisurely returned to his seat and nodded his head.

“Okay. Well, let’s talk again later then.”

Avar’s persistent gaze followed them all the way out of the banquet hall. Thanks to this, Lil had to exert a lot of effort just to successfully act out their unexpected love affair. What certainly didn’t help was that Ed was extremely uncooperative with her. 

‘I can’t understand this guy. He had always been such a pervert in the South, but now he’s become so reserved all of the sudden.’

The guard who had led them to their room walked away with a knowing look on his face. The room they stepped into had a bed that took up most of the space, making its main purpose very obvious. Lil, who would normally have cursed the existence of a room for this purpose in a prison, had no time to think about it because Ed pushed her away as soon as the door closed. No, rather than pushing her away, it was more accurate to say he slipped away from her shoulder, which he had been holding till now in an awkward manner. 

Lil exclaimed, tossing down the small hat she wore to keep her veil in place. 

“What were you doing? Were you out of your mind? Why didn’t you say anything? It could’ve turned very dangerous.”

Pouring out her frustration, Lil quickly took off her gloves. Taking off his justaucorps a little distance away, Ed answered hesitantly.

“…I had no idea what you were thinking.”

“I was just faking it, so what did it matter what I thought about it?”

“I was afraid it might be unpleasant for you…”

Ed answered in such a gloomy tone that Lil lost the will to argue any further and instead shrivelled up helplessly. Her shoulders, which had been raised high, sank down. 

Throwing aside her coat, Lil roughly unpacked the luggage which the servants had placed there in advance.

“Just change your clothes.”

“…”

Lil pulled out an old but clean vest and shirt which she then tossed to Ed. Ed had already undone his cravat and caught the clothes mid-air before draping them over his shoulders. Lil herself sat down on the bed and lifted the hem of her skirt. With her dress still on, she slid her legs into her pants while muttering the rest of her frustration.

“…Then at least act properly…”

“I was suddenly so surprised…”

“…”

Before Ed fully looked back at Lil, he jerked his body to turn away again.

“I didn’t mean to. I know it’s a pathetic excuse, but your dress was too…”

“Too what?”

“It was too thin…”

Lil looked down at the dress she was wearing, then closed her mouth, pretending not to hear Ed’s remark. She clearly remembered the smug smile he had when he first introduced the dress to her.

‘Chemise à la reine.’

For no reason, Lil snatched her shirt with a big movement and stretched her arm out. As they were both silent, the only sound in the room was the sound of fabric rustling. No, actually, if they listened closely, they could hear the moans from the room next to theirs… 

Time passed and Lil became more and more conscious of the noise. Perhaps due to the strange mood in their own room, the sound even seemed to get louder. Lil hoped that it would disappear quickly on its own, but she also knew better that it probably wouldn’t.

Despite Lil’s earnest prayers, Ed, who was changing his shirt, suddenly turned his head. To the wall to his right to be more precise. Surprised by his slight movement, Lil turned her gaze to the back of his head but quickly turned her gaze when she noticed that Ed hadn’t pulled his shirt completely over his head yet. She’d seen his bare back a few times before, but the situation this time was so embarrassing that it made her break out in a cold sweat. 

They were undressing with the lamp beside the bed as the only light source, so the atmosphere gradually turned strange. To make matters worse, they had been groping each other’s bodies just moments ago…