Chapter 93 – The Mysterious Writer
“I didn’t know it was here…” Lila quietly replied.
“How could you not notice it? It’s right here.” Come to think of it, it was placed on a spot that was easily visible to the eyes, but Lila spent most of her days either finishing her paper works or succumbing to exhaustion that she completely failed to notice. Unsure what to say, Lila looked down to avoid his stare. He was still exasperatingly waiting for an explanation. Her silence, however, was misunderstood as guilt.
He knew that Lila had a former partner, but being in the space where his belongings were still lying around angered him. He wanted to release the pent up frustration simmering inside him, but how would Lila react? What would she say when he tells her that he wanted to kill the man, who was already buried several meters deep in the ground? Would she scurry away from him, and look at him with fear in her eyes? It was a thought he didn’t want to consider. He steadied his breathing and held his tongue from saying anything more distasteful.
“I should have been born earlier.” He said instead.
Lila looked up, meeting his eyes with her own. Lacias continued, “If only I’ve been born earlier, I would’ve met you much sooner.” He grinned bitterly with a slight shake of his head.
Lila lost her train of thought after hearing such a heartfelt admission. She continued to stare at him, observing his face that was awash with unmistakable sadness. He broke their gaze as he let his thoughts wash over him like a tide.
Meeting each other sooner was nothing but impossible. Would he be pleased if he finds out that the first thing she did waking up in this world, was to go look for him?
With the truth unbeknown to him, Lacias forced a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, feeling saddened over his futile hopes of meeting Lila sooner than he did. He ran his fingers through his hair, muttering a curse and caught Lila’s eyes once again. This time his eyes had a strong sense of possessiveness swimming inside them.
Lila didn’t even know what Viscount Marhsmell looked like.
Lacias being jealous over something so insignificant was just endearingly sweet. She reached out and carded his hair with her fingers in an attempt to assuage him.
*
A week later.
Lila couldn’t keep still. The rush of tension was making her feel jittery that she paced back and forth, ignoring Lacias’ exclaims of disapproval as she reached for the card behind him and gave it a second look.
The invitation felt heavy in her hands. Today’s the day she would be meeting up with the anonymous writer who had been sending her the cards.
It shouldn’t be too hard to go on as Mrs. Marshmell. Nothing about Mrs. Marshmell’s features had changed so no one would suspect that it was entirely a different person inside the Madame’s body. I won’t get caught. Lila kept chanting the words to herself over and over again.
She also came up with a reasonable excuse should she falter in front of her visitor: that losing her husband jolted her a shock so great that some of her memories suffered in the process.
Lila took a couple of deep breaths, schooling her face into a neutral expression before she carefully pushed open the door. A bell chimed upon her entry as she stepped inside the graciously decorated teahouse. She took in her surroundings, noting the space was compact and slightly cramped that it could only accommodate four tables. But even with the sparse amount of tables lying around, privacy was still hardly provided since one would definitely overhear the conversation the other table was having.
Fortunately, no one else was inside the teahouse but for a woman sitting alone by herself. Standing by the doors, Lila wondered if she was the one who sent her the cards. She was not at all surprised at the latter’s gender since the penmanship was always written with such finesse and precision, the clear, obvious indication that it was written by a woman.
The woman’s face was obscured by her wide hat that also bore a thin layer of lace, making it hard for Lila to see her clearly. Lila stared unabashedly, squinting her eyes to see the woman’s face better and she wondered if she ever saw her before.
Lila was getting confused. She was already having doubts if she actually knew the woman personally. She was about to concede that she didn’t when a flash of recognition crossed her mind.
That woman is Edith Nepeli!
She was the one who got Lila into trouble at Hiln’s party. Lila remembered that day so vividly; Edith gathered a huge crowd and they invaded Lila’s personal space by asking her plans of remarrying.
What was she doing here?
Lila’s spirits dropped, coming to terms that the woman was indeed, Edith Nepeli. Why did she have to be here at the same time Lila was?
Lila took a long glance at her surroundings and she realized that it was the type of teahouse anyone could drop by anytime, one that was so frequented by everyone that Edith Nepeli’s presence was nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe she was in the midst of having a cup of tea, or was meeting someone else.
What a coincidence.