Maylily - Chapter 104

“What kind of news is it?”

With a curious look, Maylily unfolded the newspaper. Her eyes landed on the bold headline printed at the bottom of the front page.

The ‘Bloodless Conqueror’ Finds His Fated Match in Cartia

It was an engagement article about the Count of Everscourt. The ripples that stirred in her water-colored eyes as they slowly traced down the page grew stronger.

On the 10th, the Count of Everscourt of Riverton, head of the global hotel enterprise Skaard, made a surprise announcement of his engagement. His partner is a woman he happened to meet during a business trip to Cartia… In order to protect her privacy, they have decided not to disclose her identity until the wedding date is confirmed.

A close associate of the Count stated that he feels a passionate affection for his fiancée, and that their marriage will be a noble union founded on pure love, something rarely seen in aristocratic society.

…Meanwhile, the Cereno branch of the Skaard Hotel is scheduled to open next summer under the direct supervision of the Count of Everscourt. Attention is focused on whether the naturally gifted businessman will achieve success even in Cartia, a land long barren of foreign capital.

Maylily stared at the not particularly long article for a long while, her expression somewhat dazed. Watching her like that, Michele’s gaze sank.

Despite what she said about not clinging to the past, he had known from the start that Maylily’s feelings still weren’t fully sorted out. She probably wasn’t even aware of it herself.

Over the past nine months, Michele had watched the lonely light that occasionally surfaced on Maylily’s face when she stood absentmindedly gazing out at the distant sea while they walked along the harbor, or when she quietly looked at Dylan’s sleeping face.

Every time he witnessed it, he now clearly understood the nature of the emotion that rose inside him like a splinter. It was jealousy.

He found himself wishing, without realizing it, that instead of sinking into melancholy over the man she had left behind, she would turn to him, who stood beside her, and smile brightly.

Michele became clearly aware of his feelings for Maylily in early spring of last year.

[It’s my birthday tomorrow, so we’re all getting together to have a party. Do you want to come?]

Before leaving for Riverton, Rosanna, with whom he had spent a long stretch tangled up together, came to the inn and said this. It was obvious that the party she mentioned would lead to a night alone for the two of them.

A temptation disguised as an invitation. Standing before it, Michele thought of Maylily, heavily pregnant. The woman he desired every single day after coming to Bredova, yet had never once dared to touch.

[This isn’t like you. What are you even hesitating over? You should just follow your instincts.]

Wearing a dress that boldly exposed her cleavage, Rosanna whispered seductively and subtly pressed her body against his. In the past, he would have taken her immediately, dragged her into the bushes if needed, and rolled around with her without a second thought.

For some reason, his body didn’t respond at all. Michele sent Rosanna away with a polite refusal. A woman with exceptional confidence and persistence, she reached out again with temptation several more times after that, but the outcome was always the same. He didn’t want to hold another woman while Maylily was by his side.

It had been that way ever since he returned to Bredova. It was the longest period of abstinence since his first sexual experience. During that time, Michele felt for the first time an emotion that existed above desire.

That feeling gained certainty after Dylan was born. To be honest, when he first saw the child, Michele felt a shock not much different from Maylily’s.

If it had been a daughter who resembled Maylily, perhaps he could have accepted it gladly. But as if mocking him, the child who was born was a baby boy who looked exactly like the man from her past.

So, to be honest, he didn’t feel much affection for the child. But every time he looked closely at that pale little face, no bigger than his palm, he began to notice one detail after another that resembled Maylily. The lovely cheeks, the tiny mole, the gentle gaze.

Watching Maylily hold the child after overcoming the turmoil that followed childbirth, Michele realized something. Staying by their side was the future he wanted.

He didn’t want to ruin things by revealing that desire too hastily, but he also had no intention of waiting forever. As long as the Count of Everscourt still occupied a place in Maylily’s heart, there would be no room for him to step in.

That was why he told her about the count’s engagement, even knowing it would cut into her like a sharp blade. He wanted to carve out whatever feelings she still held for the count with that blade, whether they were love, lingering attachment, or hatred.

He was sick and tired of playing the role of a “good person” that didn’t suit him.

“The Skaard enterprise’s project in Cereno has been drawing a lot of attention, so interest in the Count of Everscourt is high even within Cartia. Well, he’s famous enough that people would talk about him even without a reason like that.”

At Michele’s words, meant to pull her attention back, Maylily snapped out of her thoughts and turned to him.

“I’m glad I got to hear the news like this.”

Maylily folded the newspaper neatly and set it down on the table. Then she bit her lip as if hesitating before speaking.

“It sounds silly, but until now, a part of me always felt like I was being chased. I kept worrying that maybe the Count was still looking for me. I guess I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

As if offering encouragement for the feelings she had struggled to voice, Michele firmly took hold of Maylily’s trembling hand. She flinched at the sudden contact, but he didn’t let go.

“Forget everything connected to the Count, even the fear. He won’t be coming to look for you anymore.”

“Yes. I will.”

Truly, everything was over.

Along with that thought came a rush of complex, subtle emotions, which Maylily deliberately covered with a practiced smile.

She knew from experience how single-minded and obsessive the Count of Everscourt’s affection could be. If it had turned toward someone else, then not even a single thread of it would ever be directed at her again. Of that, Maylily was certain.

So there was no longer any reason for him to search for her.

She no longer had to feel her heart drop at the sight of a man with a similar build or black hair blowing in the wind as she walked down the street. She would no longer freeze foolishly after dreaming of the Count chasing her all the way to Bredova.

At last, she was completely free. It was the moment she had waited for so long…. Strangely, alongside the sense of relief, she also felt an inexplicable emptiness.

To cast him aside completely, Maylily decided to reclaim, one by one, the things she had lost. As the first step, that night, she picked up a pen to write to her aunt for the first time in a year.

***

Dear Aunt,

It’s me, May. Have you and the family all been well? I’m sorry I haven’t contacted you all this time, even though I knew you must be wondering how I was doing.

I can’t fit all the details into this small sheet of paper, but many things happened before I came to Cartia and settled down. Everything has been resolved now, so please don’t worry.

I’m living in a small port town called Bredova, in the southwestern part of Cartia. It’s a place where the sun is warm all year round, and oranges grow abundantly.

There’s even an orange tree planted in the backyard of the house where I’m staying, so last winter I made juice from those precious oranges several times. Isn’t that amazing?

The landlady and her husband are warmhearted, kind people. They cherish me and take good care of me, just like an aunt and uncle would. Their nephew is also a gentle, kind person, so we’ve become very close friends.

Thanks to meeting such good people, I’m spending my days peacefully and happily. I’m also working hard to build my path as an opera singer.

To be honest, after leaving the Roden Opera Company, things didn’t go very smoothly for me. So I think I need to stand at the starting line again. It will also take a little more time to keep the promise we made about living together in a good house.

Even so, I won’t give up and I’ll do my best. So please keep watching over me, Aunt, and everyone at home.

If you have the time, please write back. I’m curious how everyone is doing. I’ll write again.

I miss you and love you always, Aunt.

1XXX.10.14.

— Your eldest, Maylily Aile

After reading the letter again and again, Diane’s eyes filled with tears. It was the first letter to arrive in a full year since Maylily left Roden. At the bottom was a date from about three weeks earlier.

“Thank you, God.”

There were still words and feelings Maylily couldn’t bring herself to write, visible between the lines. But just confirming that the child was alive melted away the sorrow that had piled up in her heart.

“I told you, didn’t I? I said May would be doing well wherever she was.”

Jace, who had been glancing over the letter beside her, pressed a handkerchief into Diane’s hand, then gently took the letter and began to read it carefully.