Chapter 15
The Cairn Lilien knew could be blunt at times, but he was always a man of manners. So when Cairn was so harsh with Victor and stubborn to the point of being unreasonable, Lilien found herself stuck awkwardly between the two men.
She hesitated for a moment—she’d never danced a waltz with anyone but Cairn before—but seeing Victor still being considerate even in this awkward situation made her want to do something for him.
“Yes, Sir Regid. I’d like to have the first dance with you as well.”
Victor smiled as soon as she agreed.
“Well then, I’ll look forward to it. And if you ever have more questions, please come find me. I’ll be waiting.”
With a formal kiss on the back of her hand, he took his leave.
Cairn silently glared at Victor’s retreating back. As soon as Victor had disappeared from the maze garden, Lilien grabbed Cairn’s arm and pulled him aside.
“Cairn, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
She was baffled by how different he was acting.
“I should be asking you! You’ve been acting so weird lately, I—!”
“Weird? What am I doing that’s so weird?”
“You’re acting like you’re desperate to get married or have a relationship!”
“What? Desperate? Did you really just say that?”
“No! I haven’t said everything yet.”
He glared at her fiercely, as if daring her to think this was over.
“You keep saying you’re not interested, and then you go and ask me to… kiss you! With… with tongue! I can’t even say it out loud.”
“I know, that was going too far. I wanted to apologize! But you were the one avoiding me. That’s why I even ended up coming to this archery contest I didn’t even want to attend!”
The two of them started bickering like five-year-olds. Even though they both knew it was pointless, neither could seem to stop. Somehow, that’s always how things went with Cairn.
No matter how much Lilien tried to act like a proper young lady, he just had to push her a little for her to turn back into the child she used to be. The same went for Cairn.
“So this is all my fault? Since when did it make sense to come to this wretched garden with that damn playboy?”
Cairn, too, became immature when it came to her. He’d always been called mature and well-mannered, but with Lilien, all of that fell away.
“How can you call it a wretched garden? The Baron made this sacred place for his wife, and you insult it like that?”
“Sacred? Do you even know what kind of place this is? Do you have any idea what’s happened in this closed-off maze?”
Lilien took a deep breath and looked slowly around the garden. It was dazzling, lush, and green. Sunlight speckled through the high arborvitae branches.
“It’s a beautiful garden—of course couples want to walk hand-in-hand here together!”
“No, that’s not it—ha!”
He let out a bitter laugh.
“I’m saying this is where lovers… sleep together! Do you get it?”
“…What?”
She turned to stare at him, a bit taken aback.
Here? Out here, in the open?
Lilien, who was only knowledgeable in theory, hadn’t realized that much.
“You…don’t lie as if you know anything!”
“Do I look like I’m lying?”
The look in his eyes told her he wasn’t.
“Lilien, are you… that desperate?”
For a moment, her mind went blank as she processed his words.
Desperate?
It was a pretty insulting thing to say to a lady. Words you’d only use with a woman you looked down on. And Cairn had just said them to her…
Her eyes started to well up with tears. As Cairn realized what he’d done, he panicked.
“I’m sorry, Lilien. That was a mistake. Should I just die? Or do you want to slap me?”
She turned away sharply. He hurried to move into her line of sight.
“I’m sorry. I’m an idiot. Please, have mercy on me like an angel.”
Lilien stuck out her lip and stomped her foot.
“Come on, just look at me, please? Want me to get on my knees and beg? Will you forgive me if I do?”
No matter how much he pleaded, she didn’t budge.
“I’ll do anything. Whatever you say, I’ll do it. Please, forgive me. I’m really sorry.”
“…Really?”
Lilien was surprisingly cunning.
If she was being honest, she hadn’t even been hurt in the first place.
‘What do I care, you… you… damn eunuch!’
In truth, Lilien was usually much sharper with him. The only reason she put on this act was for one purpose:
I’ll do anything. Whenever Lilien got upset, Cairn always gave her what she wanted.
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