Lily ran frantically, running and running. Her legs trembled and her breath came up to her chin, but she couldn't stop.
She wanted to get as far away from Baron Benjamin's mansion as possible. Though she kept running, wanting to escape from that bastard Fredick, ironically, her head was full of Fredick.
More precisely, it was filled with the curses he had spoken. She thought it would be forgotten a little if her body was tired, but it wasn't. Rather, the memories came back more vividly and tormented her.
'To think that Fredick was the one who sent the carriage away at the bookstore.'
That itself was surprising, but what was even more frightening was the feeling that his threat to send her mother to the Whissen Kingdom if she didn't listen to him wasn't just a simple threat.
Her bright brown hair, let loose, flew wildly in the wind. Every breath she took stung as if someone was scratching her throat.
"Aagh!"
Lily, who had been running aimlessly without setting a destination, finally fell as her legs gave out.
Her palms, elbows, and knees scraped against the rough ground stung. Lily grimaced as she dusted off the dirt on her palms and elbows and examined her wounds. Fortunately, the wounds weren't deep. She wanted to check her knees too, but she couldn't lift her skirt on the street, so she just stood up.
Her knees hurt and her legs were trembling so much that it was difficult to walk right away, so Lily leaned against the wall to stand.
Though her body was tired, she felt a little relieved having escaped far from that hellish place. If she had stayed there, she would have collapsed unable to bear the mental stress.
Lily muttered, looking at the dark night sky.
"...I want to go far away like this."
But that was impossible. Not only would the empire's laws not allow it, but the biggest reason Lily couldn't leave Fredick's side was her mother.
She was the only one who could take care of her mother, whose body and mind were not whole. She could never do such a despicable thing as abandoning her only precious family.
"Still, I won't go back today."
It was her last remaining self-respect. If even this was trampled on, Lily was determined that she would fall into a deep swamp of despair from which she could never escape.
However, she faced a big problem at the same time.
"Where... should I go?"
She had nowhere to go right away. All the people she had been close to turned their backs after her father died. There were some people she greeted and associated with after marrying Fredick, but she wasn't close enough to suddenly visit them late at night and ask for a place to stay.
The fact that there was no place to stay other than the foundation Fredick had made made her feel even more depressed, but Lily tried to comfort herself.
"I can stay at an inn."
She didn't have much money left after renting the public carriage, but it was enough to rent a shabby inn room.
"Okay, let's do that."
Having decided on a destination, Lily walked vigorously as if she had never been depressed.
[This is the timeline separator]
The Duchess of Maximilian held a small welcome party for her proud second son who had returned as a hero.
The scale of the party was large and splendid, making the word 'small' seem out of place. Not only the nobles who were usually close to the Maximilian ducal family, but also nobles who wanted to be seen favorably by them all attended in succession.
"To deal with the infamous Salaman tribe. I knew that the young lord's swordsmanship was excellent, but I didn't know it was to this extent. It's truly amazing."
"That's right. I can't express how proud I am that someone like the young lord is in the empire."
The nobles praised Herald's achievements until their mouths ran dry. While the Duke and Duchess of Maximilian smiled contentedly, Herald, the actual protagonist, wasn't happy at all. Rather, he found it annoying and bothersome. The necktie choking his neck and the buttons were suffocating.
"When will this end?"
Hearing Herald's complaint, Hamilton Maximilian laughed and put his hand on his shoulder.
"What can we do? Boasting about their children is the joy of parents' lives. You've done as you pleased for the past 4 years, so do as our parents want for a while. That's the duty of a child, isn't it?"
"I know."
He knew well, that's why he obediently attended the party. If he didn't know, or if he had intended to pretend not to know, he would have run far away long ago without attending.
Still, this insufferable welcome party should end before his patience runs out.
Herald, who was drinking champagne with an irritated frown as if everything in the world was bothersome, spotted Dillon lingering at the entrance of the party and his eyes sparkled.
When Herald found out that Lily was being followed, he ordered Dillon to find out who was behind it. He wanted to do it himself, but since he had to attend the welcome party, he had no choice but to entrust it to him.
The fact that Dillon had come here might mean he had found out something, so Herald immediately approached him. Dillon also spotted Herald and bowed his head in greeting.
"Why are you out already? Don't tell me you're trying to escape?"
The subsequent question was so ridiculous that Herald chuckled and folded his arms.
"I haven't run away yet. And if you didn't want me to come out, you could have come in. Why are you fidgeting like a puppy that needs to use the bathroom?"
"When did I fidget... Well, it did feel similar..."
Dillon scratched his head and continued.
"And how could I, a commoner, enter that place?"
"Why not?"
"Pardon?"
"Is there a law that says commoners can't enter the party hall? This is the first I've heard of it."
As Herald tilted his head genuinely confused, Dillon quietly laughed.
Right, this is what the captain was like.
It was also the biggest reason why Dillon and the other border guard members came to follow Herald.
"More importantly, I've found out what you ordered."
"Wait a moment."
Since there were too many ears listening here, Herald took Dillon out to the terrace.
Search "lover" on redcatty(.)com to read ahead up to chapter 70.