CH 8.4

After being wrapped up in the blanket and carried to her room by Lucas, Lila hastily tried to wash up and get dressed, but when she saw her reflection in the mirror, she let out a small scream.

“I must be crazy!”

She tried to do something with her hands to cover her naked body, which still bore the marks of yesterday, but her arms flailed as she looked at the unmistakable marks.

“Calm down, let’s calm down.”

Lila thought that he’d seen it all, but she realized she’d never been in a situation like this before.

There was no time to waste, so she hurried to get dressed.

Even though she tried, she couldn’t hide the most visible marks on the nape, so she took out her partlet from the dressing room and covered her neck.

She then let her hair down, untied.

That’s when someone knocked roughly on the door.

“Lila!”

Hearing Michael’s voice, she jumped up and opened the door.

“Michael!”

Remembering the child’s crying earlier, Lila opened her arms to hug him without looking.

But her outstretched arms were stopped in their tracks by the look on Michael’s face.

“…Michael?”

Breathing heavily, Michael put his hand on her waist.

“Um… I think we should go inside and talk.”

Just then, a low rumble from overhead made Lila look up.

He, who was obviously just as naked as she was, was now immaculately dressed and giggling.

His mint-colored shirt and amethyst earrings caught her eye, and her eyes widened.

Lila frowned at Lucas, who frowned back at her as she looked up at him.

“What are you doing, and why are you kneeling on the floor?”

Wanting to get down to his eye level and give him a hug, Lila shrugged it off.

“No, I wanted to give you a hug…”

Michael was still furious, but her words softened him a little. He was relieved to see her unharmed, after all.

Gently picking Lila up and patting her on the back, Michael said.

“Let’s go inside first. It’s not good to do this in the hallway, Lila.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

Lucas snorted as he watched the two get cozy. He had no idea when they’d gotten so close.

And he hated that Lila was being so vulnerable with Michael when she wasn’t with him.

“Let’s go in.”

So Lucas grabbed Lila’s arm and pulled her up. It was a light tug, but her body jerked.

“Oh, Uncle, don’t lift a lady like that!”

Lucas felt a subtle twinge as he watched his nephew, who was always quick to point out his behavior when he said something to Lila.

“Then maybe I should lift her up like this.”

Very gently, he lifted her into his arms. Lila’s heart fluttered uncontrollably at the sight of him holding her the same way he had held her this morning.

It didn’t seem like a big deal, but she thought that any woman’s heart would tremble as she realized that he was holding her so securely, like she were something very light.

Lucas walked in with her in his arms. Gently setting her down on the couch, he casually took the seat next to her.

Michael, who had followed them, sat down next to Lila.

The couch across from them was empty, and it felt strange to be staring straight ahead.

Lila turned to Lucas and said.

“Do you mind if I sit across from you?”

“Yeah, that’s not possible.”

Lucas, sitting comfortably cross-legged, gave her a smirk.

Embarrassed by his flat refusal, Lila rolled her eyes hastily.

Then she met a pair of pink eyes and couldn’t bring herself to tell him to sit on the couch across from her.

She got up to move herself, but hands reached out from both sides.

One long, firm hand and one short, small hand grabbed both of hers and said.

“Just sit down.”

“What’s wrong?”

Lila’s eyes widened as she felt awkward with two people leaning casually on her arm, not like a puppy that had been tamed for food and wouldn’t fall off.

She pursed her lips, unaware that the number of people who knew her bare face had grown to two.

Lila smirked, remembering Lucas’s strange change in demeanor and Michael’s inability to stay away from her.

She had kissed him goodnight when he’d come to tell her that he’d be sleeping in her room tonight, and her face had turned a bright red apple.

When she was at the barony, every day had been painful and exhausting, but she hadn’t felt that way since coming here.

Lucas had been cold at first, but he was always polite, and he cared about her, even when she whined.

Anna, Michael’s biological mother, hadn’t called her names or insulted her except on her first day, and Vincent had always been polite to her, except for the other servants.

Just as she was getting comfortable in bed, there was a knock on the door and the sound of soft footsteps entering.

“My lady, I’ve brought you some hot tea.”

Due to the hustle and bustle of the morning, she had forgotten that Jessie had come as her personal maid.

She’d been so anxious about not being asked to do anything that she’d asked for tea just a moment ago.

Thinking she had returned too soon, Lila replied.

“Can you bring it over here?”

“Yes.”

Slipping into the bedroom, Jessie set the teapot and teacup down on the bedside table.

“Well, good night, then.”

She waved goodnight and left, her reflection in the drawn canopy. Lila reached through the canopy and handed over the cosmetics she had prepared.

“Here, take this. This is all you need to wear to bed tonight.”

“…My lady”

Jessie left, dumbfounded, and Lila lay quietly in bed, lost in thought for the first time in a long time.

As she thought about the future, she suddenly remembered the past and the original Lila.

Now, after more than a decade, she could only remember limited details from the original story. She pulled the diary out of her pocket and read through the entries from the beginning.

〈Theobald, you bastard. If you love Lila, why do you try to suppress her? Why can’t she say anything? Is the male lead you love really Theobald?〉

In addition to the review of 〈Bird in A Birdcage〉 that she had written in her diary, Lila also opened the reviews of other works.

〈What Felix and Sylvia eat, I want to eat too. Why do I have to eat triangular kimbap when the main characters in the novel also eat delicious things? I want to have a fairy-like Eringium too! Ying ying ying. ㅠㅠ〉

When the people around saw Yoon Seol writing in a diary while reading a web novel, they thought it was unusual.

They would say, “Why don’t you just write it on your cell phone or post it as a comment?”

She agreed with them, but handwritten reviews in her diary was just her habit.

She’s been keeping a journal since elementary school. She didn’t keep a huge diary, but rather a small journal to write about small things that happened during the day. She’d feel like her day wasn’t complete unless she wrote something by hand.

However, as an adult, she found that every day was a struggle, and when she tried to write something, it was just a bitter real-life story, so it didn’t bring closure to her day, and only made her feel depressed.

So she started writing reviews of the web novels she was enjoying at the time. Even if the stories were completely unrelated to her, she found them interesting to read later.

It was a habit she developed, but she didn’t use it at all until she came here. Partly because she was obsessed with ugly makeup, but also because she was afraid of getting it wrong by writing down something she knew.

It was so unfamiliar to hear her name after so long. She sometimes had an indescribable feeling that she was getting used to this place.

To soothe her sinking spirits, she searched for reviews of other works.

〈“This was fun too. 〈The Magician of Water Serving Bottles〉, 〈‘m Trouble Because My God is a Pushover〉, and 〈Cooking Wizard〉 are absolutely my favorite works…”〉

Flipping through the pages, Lila noticed a review from the newest installment of the series that had been left behind.

“Huh? Why did I write it down here?”

There was a review from 〈Bird in A Birdcage〉 that she hadn’t seen for a long time.

〈I thought it was already over when the female lead became an idiot… The author’s blog says it’s not finished yet. Really? How can you continue from here? Will she come to her senses, and if so, will she regret it? If she just forgive them and do this, I think I’ll be really angry?〉

Lila tilted her head to the side, looking at the note she didn’t recognize at all, and her eyes widened at the short note beneath it.

〈Completely awesome. A regression keyword was created in the introduction of the work!〉

Lila was so surprised that she dropped the journal. She picked it back up and read the section carefully.

“There’s no title. I didn’t write a title, so maybe it’s not about the 〈Bird in A Birdcage.〉”

She patted her chest to calm her surprise. She was so surprised that she didn’t remember that part at all, so she put the diary back in her purse, thinking she was mistaken.

She lay down on her bed, closed her eyes, and tried to think of something else. But she struggled with the sentence that kept coming back to her and finally fell asleep.

Maybe that’s why.

Lila opened her eyes, realizing that this was a dream. Lying on the fluffy grass, she looked around and sat up.

She gasped as she spotted the hydrangeas spread out around her. Blue, red, white, and purple hydrangeas pushed out their buds to surround her.

As she stretched out her palm and gently touched the hydrangeas, she thought to herself, this is the Duke’s garden.

Then a voice came from across the room.

“You can’t do this! I need to see the young lady!”

“I said I wouldn’t let you.”

“Your Highness!”

Lila’s ears perked up at the familiar voice.

“She was supposed to be mine. But you beat me to the punch. You’re more cunning than you look, Duke Frederick.”

Lila stumbled back, recognizing the familiar voices as Frederick and Theobald.