Maylily - Chapter 46

No, that’s not it. He must have had a tiring day today, that’s why.

Maylily tried to comfort her sinking mood even with the splendid night view and delicious food before her. But as the meal passed its midway point, she too gradually spoke less, and unlike before, the dinner ended quickly.

Then she returned home just as quickly. The date she had anticipated so much that she’d lost sleep over it the night before ended in disappointment, and she regretted it deeply. She wanted to at least offer the Count a cup of tea, but since it was late, she hesitated.

The conflict that had begun as she passed through the building entrance lasted all the way up the stairs. Finally, arriving at her front door, Maylily decided to set aside her disappointment.

It’s not the only day. I’ll just give him his gift and end it there.

“Count, would you wait here for a moment? There’s something I’d like to give you. I’ll bring it out right away.”

At Maylily’s words, the Count slowly shook his head. “Let’s go in together. I’ll help you undress. That’s what you were expecting when you put on that dress, wasn’t it?”

“No! W-what are you saying? I wore this because it’s the prettiest dress I own. Today’s a special day….”

Seeing Maylily jump and protest, the Count gave a short laugh and placed a hand on her back to calm her.

“Either way, you’ll need help. Let’s go in.”

Maylily pouted, lips sticking out in a sulk, but in the end, she entered the house with the Count. And when she passed the hall and opened the bedroom door, she unwittingly gaped at the breathtaking sight before her.

“This can’t be….”

Inside the softly lit room were countless lilies of the valley. Bouquets and baskets, sometimes single stems, filled every place: furniture, window sills, even the carpet.

Maylily stood dazed, staring at the fantastical scene as if snow had fallen thick inside the room. Each breath she drew carried the refreshing, tender fragrance, flooding her lungs.

“Count, how did you….”

After standing still for a long time, Maylily turned to look at the Count of Everscourt, tears glimmering in her eyes.

“Happy birthday, Maylily.”

“So…. so beautiful. Thank you so much.”

At her choked words of thanks, the Count smiled faintly. As if it were nothing, though he had surprised her so.

As the rush of hot joy gradually settled, what came in its place was relief.

The Count’s feelings hadn’t changed.

Confirming that truth, the ground that had sunk beneath her all through dinner now felt solid beneath her feet again.

In that moment, Maylily suddenly realized she liked the Count far more than she had thought. Even though she’d told herself dozens of times not to expect anything so as not to be disappointed, her heart had still nurtured expectations without her knowing.

It felt strange that such overwhelming happiness and deep anxiety could coexist. Overcome by these emotions that were at once grand, unfamiliar, and frightening, Maylily finally shed tears.

The Count, standing beside her silently, took out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes.

“I’m just too happy… Excuse me, I have something for you too.”

Quickly wiping away the rest of her tears herself, Maylily smiled bravely and went to the vanity. The Count leisurely removed his gloves and followed.

“I wish you happiness always.”

The gift Maylily had prepared was a small bouquet of lilies of the valley and a handkerchief.

Lovers’ Day was a day to exchange lilies of the valley, but since flowers soon wilt, she had embroidered lilies of the valley on a handkerchief that could be kept for a long time. Her wish was that whenever the Count saw this handkerchief, he would think of her.

She believed it to be a humble but meaningful gift. Yet now, giving it in a room overflowing with lilies of the valley, she suddenly felt it looked shabby, so she quietly added a word.

“I put my sincerity into it, but it feels so inadequate. Next time, I’ll give you a better gift.”

“Give it to me now. I won’t let it pass with just this.”

The Count, who had tossed aside the gift and his gloves on the vanity without even glancing at them, suddenly pulled Maylily into his arms.

“But, but right now, this is all I prepared….”

Flustered by the unexpected turn, Maylily instinctively tried to pull away, but the Count’s arms drew her back in. Their bodies pressed together like magnets of opposite poles.

“Just give yourself to me. Aren’t you the most precious lily of the valley in the world?”

The voice whispering seduction in her ear, the bluish-gray eyes filled with her, both burned with desire. That heat began to scorch Maylily’s body as well.

“Maylily, I want you.”

The large hand that had lingered at her lower back slowly slid upward along her spine. At the trail of heat blooming along its path, Maylily shuddered. Her chest, spilling disordered breaths, had been heaving as if it might burst for some time already.

She had known one day such a moment would come, had prepared herself for it ever since she resolved to accept the Count. Though it came sooner than expected, what mattered was that she too, in this very moment, passionately wanted him.

But before that, there was something she had to make clear. After a brief hesitation, Maylily slowly parted her lips.

“I want to keep standing on stage from now on too. So….”

“….”

“I can’t become pregnant.”

As long as she pursued her dream of being a singer, it would be difficult to live the ordinary life of becoming someone’s wife and raising a family.

So Maylily thought it was fine to give her first to the Count. And if this was what he wanted from her, she wanted to gladly do so and see him happy.

Only, under no circumstances could she ever give up the stage. Nor did she want to pass on to a child of her own the fate of a scorned illegitimate life.

She trusted the Count’s affection, but she did not delude herself into thinking he would marry her because of a child. She wasn’t so naïve as to lack that sense of reality.

“Promise me, Count.”

Though her lips trembled with tension, her eyes shone with stubborn resolve. Looking down at the woman, Hugh swallowed a strange feeling.

How brazen. To think she was worried that her lowly body might bear Skaard’s seed.

There could never be a case where a woman like Maylily would create a scandal by complicating the matter of an heir. So this time, he could answer with the truth alone and still give her what she wanted.

“I promise.”

“You must keep that promise.”

“Of course. No matter what.”

Even after extracting his repeated assurance, she still seemed unsettled, gazing quietly into his bluish-gray eyes as if to read his heart. Then, at last, she placed her small hand gently on his arm and gave a slight nod.

At her shy permission, Hugh claimed her lips without hesitation. The breath he had been holding since early evening at last reached Maylily.

“Hello, Count.”

From the moment he saw the woman smiling brightly with the necklace he had given her around her neck, Hugh had been consumed by a fierce desire to lay her beneath him.

On her body, stripped of even a single thread, he wanted nothing but that necklace, the color of his own eyes, to remain.

Perhaps because the long, slender line of her neck stood out more starkly beneath her pinned-up hair, Maylily carried a more mature and alluring air than usual. Her innocent face, oblivious to that fact as she spoke of some score she had bought last week, only made Hugh’s blood run hotter.

All through dinner, behind the face that leisurely sipped wine and feigned composure, he thought of nothing but taking her like a rutting beast.

His vulgar desire for the woman was nothing new. But as his body sensed the moment of fruition drawing near, he was overcome more often than ever by a feral hunger. Like a starving man facing food after a long fast, his craving reached its peak.

And at last, the fruit that entered his mouth after such endurance was sweet. Disgustingly sweet, enough to leave him thirsty even as he tasted it.

The only way to erase that disgust was to empty every drop of his desire.

With that conclusion, Hugh licked her with persistent devotion, as if melting everything that touched his tongue, twisting and rubbing his tongue deep against the softest part of hers. Then, the body that had been stiff with tension began to melt, yielding faint whimpers.

When Hugh guided Maylily’s limp arms down to his waist, she clutched him tightly like an obedient child. Praising that submission, his hand slid over the back of her round head, down her spine, and unfastened the hooks of her bodice without pause.

The hand that had so deftly stripped away one layer now reached the hooks at the front of her corset. Even then, their tangled tongues scraped and pressed against each other, deepening the heat.

Click, click, click. When his hand, moving smoothly downward, struggled with the hooks hidden at her waist, he roughly grabbed the front of her corset, tore it open on the slant, and threw it aside. At once, the thin chemise, hanging precariously on her delicate shoulders, slid down helplessly, exposing breasts as white as snow.

“Mm… wa-wait….”

A small, broken voice slipped from Maylily’s lips as she flinched and shook her head faintly. Hugh blocked the sound with an even deeper kiss. At the same time, his large, hot hand seized her soft breast in a firm grasp.