Maylily - Chapter 93

[Oh my, you must’ve been very hungry. Wait a moment. I’ll bring you more.]

Giovanna sprang up and went into the kitchen after seeing Maylily’s bowl, which had already been scraped clean. Before long, she returned carrying a tray of potato soup and bread, steam rising faintly.

[You’ve got to eat dinner later, so don’t get too full.]

Despite those words, the bowl newly set on the table was filled to the brim. Looking down at the bowl she’d emptied in an instant without realizing it, Maylily’s cheeks reddened and she spoke softly, as if making an excuse.

[I don’t usually eat this much….]

[Oh, it’s only nice to see. Don’t feel awkward, eat as much as you want.]

[Those potatoes were grown with care in our garden, so it makes me really happy to see you eat them so well.]

Judging by Giovanna and Carlo’s reactions, she really must’ve eaten a lot. She knew in her head that it would be polite to put the spoon down around now, but Maylily’s hand kept dishing out food as if it were being controlled by something.

[Thank you for letting me eat food you made with so much care. It’s really delicious.]

As Maylily expressed her thanks again, the two of them looked at her steadily as if she were some rare sight. Maylily endured the embarrassment and ate another spoonful of soup. The potato pieces that fell apart softly in her mouth tasted sweet and comforting.

It was her first proper meal in four days. The whole time she’d been traveling to Cartia, she’d been unable to eat because of the nausea that kept surging up. With motion sickness added on top of her morning sickness, even the medicine hadn’t been able to take effect.

Because of that, she’d had no choice but to soothe her hunger with dried fruit and nuts she’d prepared for emergencies. After all that hardship, it was only natural that her appetite was stronger than usual when the food she finally faced suited her taste perfectly.

To think she could eat food this delicious even in a place so far away. It seemed she still had luck left. With the feeling that she was gathering up that luck carefully, she scraped up the soup without leaving a drop.

[Thank you for the meal.]

At last, Maylily quietly set the spoon down on the table.

How she and Michele had met, what her family situation was like, whether she planned to settle in Bredova like this….

They were full of questions, but the Sergio couple held back, considering the new family member was exhausted from travel. There would be plenty of time to get to know each other from now on.

[Now that you’ve eaten, I’ll show you to your room. Follow me.]

Leaving the dishes to Carlo, Giovanna led Maylily out of the dining room and to the area behind the counter. When she opened the wooden door painted green last month, their family’s living space spread out before them. After Michele left, the only family left was Giovanna and Carlo, just the two of them.

Warm sunlight fell over the red vine roses embroidered into the round rug decorating the living room floor. After crossing it, Giovanna opened the bedroom door at the end of the narrow hallway and said,

[This is the room Michele stayed in before he left for Riverton. Carlo cleaned it every week, saying he didn’t know when that boy might come back, and it feels like it was worth it.]

It was a modest, cozy room with a single bed, a low dresser, and a desk with a small bookshelf.

Beyond the window that cast slanted sunlight onto the desk, the green leaves of an orange tree poking its head out shone vividly. The unripe fruit hanging in clusters from the branches had a yellow tint.

White clouds drifted slowly across the blue sky spread above it. The scenery heightened a pastoral mood. Maylily turned back to Giovanna with a face full of awe.

[I’m fine with renting the entire guest room. I have more than enough money to pay the lodging fee too.]

[Our inn mostly has sailors coming and going, and among them there are quite a few rough, nasty men.]

Giovanna shook her head as if she felt sick just thinking about it.

[So it’s not a very good idea for a young lady to live in the guest rooms alone. And it’s out of the question to put Michele’s guest in a guest room. I won’t be a bother, so live here with us.]

[A bother? I never thought that! I was worried the two of you might feel uncomfortable because of me….]

[Uncomfortable, my foot. Since we’re going to become family… let’s live comfortably with each other.]

[Yes, I will. Thank you so much, ma’am.]

Giovanna lightly patted Maylily’s shoulder, told her to get plenty of rest, and left the room. Beside the door that closed with a small sound, the luggage bag Carlo had carried in was sitting there. A faint smile spread across Maylily’s lips as she looked down at it.

They’re really good people.

She barely knew Giovanna and Carlo, but she could feel it instinctively.

No matter what Michele asked of them, it couldn’t have been easy to accept someone they’d never seen before like family. Thanks to their kind, friendly attitude, courage welled up in her, the feeling that she could quickly blend into this unfamiliar environment.

After taking off her coat and hanging it on the wall hook, Maylily sat primly on the edge of the bed. The feel of the blanket under her fingertips was soft and warm, as if it had been dried thoroughly in the sun.

I need to do my part properly so I can repay their hospitality.

Her firm resolve lasted only a moment before sleepiness swept her away, and she fell back onto the bed as if collapsing. Along with the relief of finally reaching her destination, the post-meal drowsiness that came over her pressed heavily on her eyelids.

I’ll rest just for today, and starting tomorrow, I’ll work hard. Starting tomorrow….

The moment she slowly closed her eyes, it suddenly occurred to her that tomorrow was the day the Count of Everscourt would return to Roden.

What expression will you make when you see the empty house in Cryer? I want you to feel even half of the frustration and sorrow I went through because of you….

Please.

After finishing that earnest prayer, Maylily fell straight into a deep sleep. The golden afternoon sunlight poured down softly around her.

***

Every autumn, the hunting competition hosted by the imperial family was called a “competition,” but rather than competing, it was a gathering meant to promote harmony and exchange between the imperial family and high society.

At the imperial villa located in Rivern, lunches and dinners, hunting and parties continued one after another for five days. A place where countless conversations and laughs were exchanged. One of the topics that came up most frequently in the guests’ mouths was, of course, Hugh and Vivian’s wedding.

At Vivian’s side, as she talked about the wedding scheduled for next spring, Hugh kept pace with a smile that looked as if it had been drawn on.

However, the wedding would never take place.

The reason he hadn’t shown even the slightest hint of the decision he’d held in his heart since before coming to Rivern until the last day was the bare minimum of courtesy toward Vivian.

He didn’t intend to make her, alone, pull herself together from the shock of a broken engagement and force a false smile in the middle of the festivities. Hugh didn’t love Vivian, but as someone he’d known for a long time, he did cherish her.

On the last day of the event. After lunch ended, Hugh watched for a suitable moment and suggested a walk to Vivian. And on the garden path overflowing with autumn flowers, he informed her of the broken engagement.

“I regret having to deliver a decision like this.”

As always, it was a soft voice that pleased the ear. One that didn’t match the shocking content it carried in the slightest. Struck by a bolt from the blue in a defenseless state, Vivian grew dizzy and slowly closed her eyes, then opened them.

The gaze of the man standing before her was straight, without wavering for even a moment. Vivian sensed that Hugh’s decision had been made a long time ago.

Even so, had he acted so perfectly? She couldn’t tell whether she should be grateful or horrified that the man who had stayed by her side for five whole days, smiling magnificently, had done so.

“Is it because of that woman?”

“I think you have the right to know the reason for this broken engagement, so I won’t deny it.”

His voice was firm, as if he didn’t harbor even the slightest doubt about his decision. Vivian felt as if she’d been struck in the head with a hammer.

Was he planning to take that lowly woman as his wife? How could he? How could Hugh Skaard….

A man who believed there was hierarchy and order in everything in the world couldn’t make a decision like that. Not unless he’d lost his mind.

What’s more, this marriage involved various business interests and an enormous penalty. What it meant that Hugh had chosen to break the engagement while bearing all those losses was clear.

Hugh was crazy about Maylily Aile.

This wasn’t a relationship that would end as a game of feelings for one season. Vivian had no confidence she could turn Hugh’s decision around, and even if she married him, she had no confidence she could endure that relationship.

Vivian placed her thinly trembling hand on her chest and let out a long breath. Hugh’s gaze, waiting for her to regain her composure, was as still as a lake.

Even if she possessed this perfect man, she couldn’t live a life where every moment that calm surface rippled, swept up in fierce emotion and passion, had to be stolen by another woman. In a life like that, Vivian realized in that moment that her love for Hugh would lead her into eternal unhappiness.