North x Northwest C.370

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Extra Chapter 370

Extra 2: Malus beach

On their first day, Ed and Lil were so tired that they fell asleep without any time to argue. Only by morning did Lil realise her mistake.

‘I was so exhausted that I fell asleep in the same bed as Ed. It’s unpleasant to be ??sleeping next to such a despicable sinner… From tomorrow on, we’ll sleep in separate rooms.’

“Starting tomorrow, you go out and sleep somewhere else.”

Shocked by her harsh declaration, Ed immediately devoted himself to his investigation. As she remained cold all day, Ed, who had been passionately researching what he had done wrong until lunch, became increasingly discouraged.

Meanwhile, Lil couldn’t accept that fact.

‘Why doesn’t he remember? Does this imply he doesn’t even remember meeting me? If that’s true, it’s right for me to not feel a shred of sympathy.

I, on the other hand, recall it so clearly… The young doctor I met in Malus… As soon as I saw the view of the mansion, I immediately remembered and realised the identity of that mysterious doctor from so long ago. A boy far too young, too rich, and too arrogant to be an actual doctor…

Turned out to be Edgar Retiro.

And he’s still incredibly similar to when he was young. Self-indulgent, unruly, doing only what he wants to do without thinking about others at all… No, perhaps not anymore. A lot has changed since then. Now he’s… No!’

Lil battled her unconscious that started to be sympathetic to Ed’s side.

After kicking out the bothersome Ed, Lil locked the study door and started writing the letters and diary she had been putting off. The letters slowly became monotone as there were so many people she had to inform that she was alive and not dead. As a result, the existence of the man struggling outside was naturally forgotten.

When Lil finished her last letter and got up from her desk, it was already evening.

“…Oh, gods!”

Ed was staring intensely at her from behind a bookshelf ladder. The study consisted of two stories, so Ed was able to enter through the door between the bookshelves on the upper floor. Lil was already planning on leaving the study anyway, so she just passed by the bookshelf where Ed stood. After living with him for so many years, such antics weren’t surprising to her anymore. She became all too familiar with his tricks of hiding behind curtains, waiting at the end of a hallway and pretending to meet her by chance, or pretending to observe his shadow on a wall.

Lil sensed that Ed was following her from behind, but she didn’t hold the door for him. He asked urgently through the closing gap.

“…What about dinner?”

“I don’t want to eat. I’ll just sleep.”

Ed opened the door and followed her through the hallway and into the bedroom. Lil scolded his shameless act as she climbed onto the bed.

“Why are you coming in?”

“Aren’t you going to sleep with me like you did yesterday?”

“Yesterday, I was so tired that it slipped my mind. Don’t forget. You are a sinner now.”

She pulled the blanket up to her head, leaving Ed standing alone in the dark. She could hear him pacing around the bed for a while and thought about kicking him out if necessary. She was grumpy for the first time in a long while and because he was so cheeky about it, it was hard for her to forgive him.

Eventually falling asleep, Lil began dreaming of two versions of herself appearing.

“…It’s crazy if you forgive Ed. How can he not remember you?…”

“…It’s annoying, but what kind of heartless act are you pulling off to someone who went through the trouble of almost dying with you just a few days ago?…”

Even Ed, who showed up out of nowhere, joined and started talking about how one of Lil’s versions was right.

“…How dare he…”

“…How shameless…”

“…It’s crazy…”

The bickering eventually got so loud that Lil woke up groaning.

By then, the day had just dawned, but the light coming through the curtains was already bright.

“It was just a dream…”

After tossing and turning for a while, Lil got up and came down from the bed. She opened the windows one by one starting from the bed and moved toward the couch. There she found a newspaper, a steaming teapot, and breakfast cookies set on the small table. As she unconsciously sat down on the couch next to the table, something hard touched her buttocks.

“…Ack! What the heck!”

She jumped up and turned around in haste, only to discover it was Ed’s leg. He, who had been sleeping pitifully curled up on a couch that didn’t match his height, opened his eyes.

“Liloa…”

The large half-naked man raised his upper body. He was wearing an open robe with only pants on.

‘The newspaper and tea were brought in. Does that mean the servants witnessed this pitiful situation?’

“Did you sleep well?”

‘His hair is a mess and he can’t open his eyes beyond squinting. Still, he’s smiling brightly…’

“…I’m speechless, really.”

As Lil sat down next to him, Ed leaned in and buried his face in the nape of her neck. Although she tried to shake him off, he merely pressed his lips against her wiggling shoulder. Lil gently jerked away the arm that was wrapping around her waist and spoke without taking her eyes off the newspaper.

“You said you were going to find out for yourself, what you’re doing now is obviously foul play.”

Ed sullenly moved away. Yet after just a brief period of moodiness, his head popped up again. He wriggled enough beneath the newspaper for Lil to look down at him as he lay on her lap.

“Are you going to act pitiful again?”

“…”

“Do you even know what your sin is?”

“If being born beautiful is a sin…”

‘This nonsense again!’

When Lil attempted to lift her knees, Ed wrapped his arms around her legs as if he were holding onto a pillar while muttering to himself in a low hushed voice. He seemed to be saying that he disliked all the other rooms and that he shouldn’t be kicked out.

‘Whatever. Who is really being treated unfairly?’

“…Why didn’t you go to another room, why did you sleep so uncomfortably here?”

Instead of answering, Ed merely rubbed his head against her thighs and held on tightly. The way she sat on the couch made the space for him even narrower, thus making Ed look even more uncomfortable. In the end, Lil just gave up and focused on the newspaper. She couldn’t even touch the tea or cookies for fear of spilling them on Ed. When he seemed to have fallen asleep again, Lil unconsciously fiddled with his fine hair while reading the last few pages of the paper.

***

She spent the morning lazily inside the mansion. In fact, it wasn’t just the morning, Lil had no plans in the afternoon or even the rest of the week, so she spent all her time just idling around. About a week later, she thought it would be nice to visit the grave of Madame Autriche, who had taken care of her in Malus when she was young.

‘It’s the first time I have this kind of freedom in months.’

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Lil selected a suitable book from the library and sat down. When she did, servants came in quietly and left her some cold brewed tea and snacks. She stretched her hand and took a bite out of a round cream puff.

‘It occurred to me before, but the servants of Ed’s villas throughout the Central Continent are loyal without exception. They’re always ready to greet their owner who might invade at any moment, and they ask nothing and divulge nothing.

Of course, Constance and Levi helped a lot, but it was thanks to Ed’s inestimable villas that I got to escape across the continent even as a wanted criminal. It’s amazing really. Maintenance and repair costs for this mansion alone must be incredibly expensive. I have no clue who is in charge of hiring and management, but compared to Ed’s own indifference, the management of his properties seemed to be going very well.’

Thanks to this, Lil didn’t have to use her own assets. Her inheritance, which was released when Constance ascended the throne after Venua’s death, had no use other than being invested in a school that Levi would soon build.

Levi said she would establish an academy for girls who were excluded from the education of the empire’s subjects. It was something said in passing one evening, but Lil shed tears endlessly. Everyone at the dinner table was shocked as Lil cried and laughed, immediately announcing that she would be the first investor.

Lil’s eyes scanned the study.

‘Just thinking about Levi’s academy makes me excited. Children who will grow up in the future will feel familiar with this scene of books. When that time comes, I hope they’ll live without even being conscious of it because it has become so natural. Without ever worrying that it might be taken away.’

After thinking about this and that, Lil concentrated on reading again. But just as she shifted into a half-lying position, Ed burst in and shouted ambitiously.

“Shall we go to the white sand beach? It’s behind the garden.”

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