Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 146

The pen in Casey’s hand snapped with a cracking sound due to his strong grip. Lilliana hurriedly waved her hand dismissively.

“Ahaha, but it’s okay. See? I came back perfectly fine! I’m completely fine! It was nothing!”

“How is that nothing?!” Damian raised his voice, then took a deep breath to calm himself and ran a hand through his hair.

“How did it happen?” Casey asked.

Damian stammered, uncharacteristically hesitant.

“I…”

“No, there was this girl I became somewhat friendly with, Beth, and she lured me away, and then some men kidnapped me.”

“Beth… you say?” Casey muttered with a chilling expression.

“I had no idea she was that kind of person! I was completely fooled! I won’t let her get away with this in the next class. Will you help me?”

“Why wait for the next class? Wait here for a bit. I’ll go buy her personal information from the informant.”

Lilliana hurriedly stopped Casey, who was organizing his writing utensils and about to get up from his chair.

“No, why are you in such a hurry? Listen to me first. Aren’t you curious about what those people said to me?!”

Damian and Casey nodded and listened as Lilliana recounted what had happened while she was captured.

“What kind of people are they?! The prosperity of the Istarica Kingdom? They have to make sense!”

Lilliana, dumbfounded, repeatedly exclaimed in disbelief and drank her iced cafe latte to calm down.

“And you know what they said to me? They asked if I wanted to bring my dead father back to life! So I said there’s no way to do that in this world, but that Geoffrey guy didn’t seem to think so. He seemed crazy!”

Lilliana sank deeper into the chair and continued, “My father is already dead, and they don’t seem to understand how insulting it is to the deceased to conduct some absurd experiment to bring him back.”

“Hmm… Father…”

Casey narrowed his eyes and hummed. To Lilliana, who didn’t have a strong attachment to her father now, Geoffrey’s offer wasn’t that tempting.

But what if it were Lilliana before she lost her memories of her father? If she knew that he had died because of her? She would have probably taken the bait.

Even if she didn’t take the bait, she might have been caught in the net while hesitating. Casey, uncharacteristically, let out a sigh.

Damian looked around the peaceful ‘Rabbit’s Garden’ cafe and asked Casey, “Didn’t anything happen to you? Did those people, Geoffrey or whatever his name is, come to you and say those things?”

“There’s no way anything would have happened to me. Those people can’t just show their faces to me like that,” Casey said with a grin.

“I burn them as soon as I see them, no questions asked.”

Damian was momentarily speechless, unsure how to react, and then Casey asked in a low voice, “Should we kill him next time?”

Damian rubbed his face at the innocent-sounding suggestion. Casey put the broken pen back in the pencil case, took out a new one, and said, “You shouldn’t hold back next time either, Damian. Just kill them.”

“Casey.”

“If you’re worried about cleaning up, just call me. Getting rid of one or two people is as easy as eating cold soup…”

“Casey, so…”

“Lily even listened patiently to all that pointless talk. You guys have amazing patience.”

Lilliana frowned at Casey, who spoke as if he were choosing a dinner menu.

“Brother, don’t talk like that. You shouldn’t kill people so casually.”

“But they’re bad guys. Traitors to the country, and they’re after your power. They deserve to die.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Don’t go easy on them, Lily. You almost died because of those people once. You shouldn’t forget that, even if you don’t have the memories.”

“I agree with that, Lilliana. I don’t know about when I’m around, but if you’re ever kidnapped alone like today, don’t hold back.”

“Then… what should I do now?” Lilliana asked, looking like a lost child.

Casey and Damian exchanged glances.

“If you want to live in hiding like two years ago, just say so. I can hide you as best as I can. But I don’t recommend it. You were on the verge of going crazy back then.”

“Well, besides running away, is there really anything else that can change? Just act as you have been. In the meantime, Casey and I will either destroy the enemy’s base or kill everyone who approaches Lilliana, and that will solve the problem.”

“What? Is that okay? No matter what you and brother do, it’s clear that there are people targeting me, so if I go around like this, wouldn’t it only make things harder for you two? It’s not like the danger to me will completely disappear…”

“Lilliana, think carefully,” Damian said with a shrug.

“There must be many people targeting the current Prime Minister, right? The royalists aren’t just targeting you.”

“That’s true.”

“But she’s still doing everything she needs to do, right? Attending briefings, taking care of national affairs, participating in events… and having some personal leisure time occasionally?”

“That’s true.”

“It’s the same thing.”

Lilliana looked at Damian with a dubious expression, then turned to Casey.

“Still, since they kidnapped me, it seems like they must have figured out our house too…”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. Going to classes and the atelier does expose you to many people, so they could have tracked your movements, but our house is still safe. I’m always there. There’s been no tailing or surveillance.”

Casey nodded vigorously in agreement.

“So you don’t have to worry about those people, Lilliana. Casey and I are here.”

“That’s right. There’s no need for Lily to be cautious when we’re here. We’ll protect you. You don’t have to run away or hide.”

Lilliana bit her lower lip and muttered at their words, “That’s right. I’m Lilliana Carnell… who neither runs away nor hides.”

Lilliana sat at the bar table, arms crossed, lost in thought for a while. Damian and Casey waited patiently.

Before long, Lilliana opened her eyes and clapped her hands.

“Still, we can’t just cower and hide. Damian.”

“Yes?”

“This won’t do. Let’s settle this as soon as possible, whether it’s raiding Marquis Sutton’s estate or something else. Can you do it?”

“That’s a very tempting offer, but…” Damian actually smacked his lips.

“It’s too early. Let’s wait and see a little longer.”

“How much longer?” This time, the question came from Casey.

Damian had something in mind, but he wasn’t sure, so he replied with an uncertain expression, “When I’m ready…?”

“You need to be ready?”

“I need certainty. The certainty that now is the time to strike.”

“When will you have that certainty?”

“I don’t know. But I don’t think it will be anytime soon. Of course, a quick decisive victory is a good tactic, but in this case, rushing things will only backfire. I don’t want to imagine what kind of golem Seidel will pull out next. We need to deal with Seidel Luriantz first before we can decide whether to kill or capture Marquis Sutton. You said it yourself, you were overwhelmed by ten of Seidel’s Dorothy type golems.”

“But from what I’ve seen, Damian seems quite strong. You easily defeated the Dorothy type that I couldn’t even touch.”

“But Seidel doesn’t only have Dorothy types, does he?”

“That’s true, but…”

As Casey trailed off and backed down, Damian looked at Lilliana again.
“Lilliana, don’t be too impatient. You can just live without any worries for now. If they try anything, I’ll take care of it. And if I can’t, Casey will.”

“So what do you mean by ‘take care of it’…” Lilliana scratched her head, but she couldn’t find any fault with Damian’s words.

“Anyway, okay. I understand what you’re saying, Damian. But there’s one thing I want to correct.”

Lilliana cleared her throat and continued.

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