If I Disobey the Duke

Fog (5)

A thin silhouette of a woman crossed through the hazy mist. The sound of her stepping on the damp dirt road rang out. She was an elegant woman, even as a shadowy figure. From her head, graceful curves glided down from her delicate body.

There was a lot of strength in her chapped lips. Even her steps seemed to be full of grace.

She stumbled upon a little stone, and the escort knight following her was startled.

“It’s okay, Sir Talin. It’s just a small stumble. It’s no big deal.” Lily hurried her steps, pretending to be calm, as if she had never stumbled.

She was silent, as if all around her were immersed in the deep waters. Using her blurred vision as an excuse, she sank into doubts.

She may have been mistaken for a long time.

Maybe she believed that the scenery she saw changed and the place where she was standing also changed.

Lily may have been drowning in the spot with her nose and eyes popping out of the water surface.

Although she knew she was going too deep. Doubt, which clouded reason, struck her like a disaster, and she couldn’t control it.

She was also frustrated with herself. Also, how far would she go in the waters?

Her whole body was split left and right, and they were fighting, shooting different thoughts.

She was tired of both herself and others who doubted the whole world and most importantly herself. Lily shook her head slightly, trying to get rid of her thoughts.

“…Sir Talin.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“It is said that the older people get, the more they live their lives the way they want.”

Talin bit her lips, unable to find her answer. It didn’t sound like she was telling her to respond. But she did not dare to stay silent. She answered cautiously, “Is that so?”

“It is said that people who have only gone through unhappiness find the path to happiness easier. It is said that even a person can do it…”

There were far more memories she had left in pain than experiences of being welcomed. She was adept at recalling her old wounds vividly.

The time she didn’t know him. The time she was left alone. The veil that had been covered by turning away was removed. The loneliness that had been gathering secretly as if it had never existed in the first place crawled out.

When she saw the light, she was thrown back again, and she groaned in the speck of darkness. The tip of her nose was cold.

“Then you have to work twice as hard, Madam.”

She glanced back as Lily did not stop her steps at her unexpected reply.

It seemed that Talin was seriously considering her words. Talin replied, staring somewhere in the air, her eyes tightening, “Neither the optimist nor the pessimist. If you want to head for the right path, you have no choice but to work twice as hard as you have been doing, Madam.”

“…”

“Anyway, as long as you get to your destination, the result is the same.”

The smell of wet straw began to seep through the damp air. Lily’s steps softened slightly. After a brief silence to choose her thoughts, she answered in a low voice, “Okay.”

By the time the destination was revealed through the mist. Lily muttered as if to herself, “You are right.”

She soon reached the entrance to the wooden stable. The stable keeper, who confirmed the identity of the visitor from afar, screamed. Without his prosthetic legs, his face was almost level with his shins as he bowed.

Even the servants who combed the horse’s hair all jumped out.

“Oh, M-madam, for you to visit this shabby place. What’s wrong? Oh my gosh.”

Maybe it was because Lily had walked through the mist, or it was because her emotions were churning. It took more than a few minutes for her breathing to calm down.

“Raise your heads. I’m so sorry, suddenly… I’m here. I know you must have been surprised.”

“Oh, no. Dear Madam, we are… For some reason…”

“I have a place to go, so please bring me the carriage.”

The stable keeper rolled his eyes from side to side.

When he saw her with his own eyes, it was hard to believe that she was born a commoner, just as he was.

Graceful silver hair, small face and piercing facial features, as well as a voice as pure as the summer breeze. If they traced her family lineage, it was clear that she must’ve come from a fallen noble at least.

As such a belief was so ingrained as a wick, it was even more difficult for the stable keeper to speak. It would have been better to have a knight with her eyes wide open behind the lady and send some kind of signal.

“Uh, where are you going….”

Talin looked at the stable keeper and shook her head.

When Lily felt something strange about her and turned around, narrowing her brow, Tallinn turned her head and lifted her chin.

Unable to catch her, Lily looked back at the stable keeper. “I’m going to the glass greenhouse.”

Talin, who had twisted her body, scratching the back of her head, swallowed her dry saliva and lowered her hand. “Madam, are you really going to leave the castle now?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s off topic, but… Do you have any reason to do so? Why don’t you go back to the office and talk to him instead?”

Lily had a gut feeling. Days when she saw herself as a contemplative bird, sitting alone in a golden cage waiting for him.