A Butterfly Through the Mist - Chapter 102
Ilex briefly looked over Tilia, then tilted his head slightly, one hand resting on his hip.
Why. You said you came because you wanted to see me, so why are you going back there?
“Where is the hotel?”
He asked, not bothering to hide his irritation, even though he already knew the answer.
“…It’s an inn. Near the old town.”
As expected, a shabby answer came back. Ilex frowned on purpose.
“Old town? Don’t you know how high the crime rate is there?”
Of course, unless a royal spy invaded, Tilia would be fine. Once Ilex had confirmed that she’d left her belongings in such a place, he immediately planted people around the area.
“You’ve gotten reckless since I last saw you.”
“…It’s just a moderately out-of-the-way place, so it’s fine—”
“Fine, my ass. Just sleep here.”
He lightly pressed the muttering woman, not forgetting to sigh as if genuinely angry.
“How can I let a woman with my marks on her sleep there? Stop being stubborn and stay.”
Everything else was an act, but those last words were sincere.
Ilex didn’t want to let Tilia go. He didn’t want her sleeping in a place like that.
Tilia Ambrose should sleep in the safest, most comfortable and luxurious place. Like, for example, my bedroom.
“Or would you really rather go to the annex?”
At his gentle suggestion, Tilia only stared down at her wrinkled skirt for a while.
“…No.”
But the answer that finally came after a long silence was not what Ilex had hoped for.
With the last traces of hesitation gone from her face, she looked at him straight on with those painfully lovely green eyes and said:
“I’ll go back to the inn.”
***
“I’ll escort you.”
The man who introduced himself as Ilex’s aide extended his hand toward Tilia with a courteous gesture. As she reached out for the gloved hand while pulling her robe closed, she glanced back at the mansion.
Unlike the other windows with curtains drawn open to let in the sunlight, one room on the third floor stood out with its green curtains firmly closed.
The aide, noticing she was staring at the duke’s office, said with an awkward tone, “His Grace very much wanted to see you off as well, but unfortunately, something urgent came up…”
At that, Tilia couldn’t help but laugh softly.
Kevin, was it? This aide seemed to really like his master. Trying to cover for his rudeness with a clumsy lie like that.
“It’s true. His Grace genuinely wished to see you off—”
“Even saying that is enough.”
Tilia cut him off gently with a smile, then took his hand and boarded the carriage.
Once again, she glanced toward the duke’s office window.
When she had finally shaken her head at Ilex’s persistent requests for her to stay, he had stared at her in silence for a while.
Then, with a conflicted expression, he had paced the room, offering one solution after another—all of which failed to address the real issue. As she rejected every one of them, his face had twisted for a brief moment.
“…Fine.”
But after a moment of silence, the man’s face turned frighteningly expressionless.
“Do whatever you want.”
That was the end of it. After that, Ilex had turned his back and walked out without another word.
Then a maid came in to ask again if she would please reconsider staying the night, and when Tilia declined that too, she was told the robe and carriage were ready.
Ilex didn’t show his face again while she got ready and headed out. He didn’t even come to see her off, as if to make it clear how displeased he was.
Even his aide grew visibly restless and kept stealing glances at her.
But Tilia had already noticed. Through the tightly drawn green curtains, she could make out a tall silhouette shifting faintly behind them.
‘If you’re going to spy, at least hide the shadow in the window.’
Looking at the green curtains swaying ever so slightly as if someone were peeking through, Tilia smiled faintly.
What’s the point of acting angry? You’re completely see-through.
As Tilia quietly stared up at the office window, the shadow behind the curtain edged even closer.
At the obvious behavior of the green ghost, the smile tugging at her lips deepened just a little.
“Let’s go.”
But that was as far as the amusement went.
She had things to do once she got back to the inn, and not much time to do them. Knocking lightly on the wall of the carriage, Tilia gave the order to depart.
The carriage began to roll gently. As the mansion receded into the distance, Tilia unconsciously touched her neck where marks must have been left.
On her way to his house, she had steeled herself several times.
To bare her heart. To stop denying and hiding. Hadn’t she spent the past three years doing nothing but regret, realizing too late what was hers only after losing it?
Though she pretended otherwise, it had taken considerable courage. Trusting someone and taking a leap—that was one of the things she was worst at.
Having lived her life hiding her heart even from herself, revealing her true feelings was incredibly difficult for Tilia. Even if it was the tiniest of truths.
So no matter how much she had braced herself, no matter how much courage she’d mustered, she wouldn’t have dared if she hadn’t been sure.
If she hadn’t been certain she could still shake him. If she hadn’t believed that even if she bared her heart and was left pitiful and fallen, he would catch her.
If the person weren’t Ilex Davenport—
Tilia would never have been able to summon even that meager bit of courage.
‘Of course, even this time, I didn’t manage to say everything I wanted to…’
Remembering how she had fumbled and hesitated just moments ago, Tilia’s face flushed red, just like the marks on her neck.
It was because she remembered the man who had charged in with blazing eyes at just the small sliver of affection she had awkwardly revealed.
The sensation of something heavy pressing down on her lower half still lingered vividly, and Tilia let out a forced cough for no reason.
She had expected some reaction. She had provoked him with that in mind.
‘But still, wasn’t that a bit too much…’
Recalling what she had witnessed up close in a moment of surprise, Tilia quickly rolled down the carriage window and shifted closer to the edge.
She decided to keep the fact that the heat she felt wasn’t from outside, but from within, a secret—even from herself.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t startled by how he had lunged at her, eyes wild. But, well, it hadn’t been unpleasant to the point of irritation. To be honest, she might not have minded if they had gone all the way.
No matter what anyone said, both she and Ilex were adults, and it was true they had waited a long time.
But even with her body flushed with excitement, there had been one reason she had no choice but to push him away in a panic.
Tilia let the wind from the window wash over her face as she thought about her damp underwear.
No matter what, Ilex Davenport was her first love. Someone she wanted to start anew with—someone she wanted to look good for.
‘But to welcome our reunion… in underwear like this?’
She had a lot to do today. She had to catch the train from Ontaroa to Arkansis, search for an inn, and even visit her father’s hospital.
On a day that demanded so much activity, the underwear Tilia chose was her most comfortable, most practical pair—loose-fitting and plain.
Maybe Ilex wouldn’t care at all. But she hated it. She didn’t want to approach him in sweaty, worn-out underwear that could kill the libido of a hundred-year-old.
She wanted to remain a desirable woman. At least to him, she wanted her appearance—usually so irritating to herself—to shine.
If the me from three years ago had heard this, she would’ve scowled and asked if I’d lost my mind…
‘But people change.’
Pretending not to notice her face flushing again, Tilia focused intently on the view outside.
She had definitely seen it on her way here. Right in front of the inn she was staying at—there was a rather large women’s lingerie shop.
‘I’ll pick something suitable from there.’
Determined not to be frugal just this once, Tilia quickly sketched out the color and design she wanted in her mind.
***
But when she returned to her room at the inn after buying several sets of underwear under the enthusiastic recommendation of the shop assistant, Tilia forgot even the thought of trying them on. She could only stand frozen.
‘…What is this.’
For a moment, her brain seemed to refuse to accept reality.
But no matter how long she stood there, the scene before her didn’t change. Tilia’s eyes slowly scanned the room in ruins.
The room she had left with nothing but her luggage neatly in place now looked like it had been ransacked.
No—rather than “looked like,” it clearly had been.
Her bags had been completely opened and rifled through, contents spilling out. Drawers she hadn’t even touched were open, the bed covers stripped. Even the notes she had brought just in case seemed to have been taken and read—scraps of her handwriting were scattered everywhere.
MANGA DISCUSSION
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Mikasa
vilain ilex, il ne fallait point la denuder ainsi voyant, soit romantique et laisse lui le temps de se déballer elle-même. Tu sais, notre Miss voudrait s’emballer joliment d’abord pour te laisser le loisir et l’honneur de déballer le cadeau toi-même. un peu de patience mon joli