As befitting a high-class hotel that no one but nobles could visit regardless of how much money they had, both the exterior and interior of the Prasis Hotel were resplendent. It reeked of carefully applied money.
Herald took a suite room on the topmost floor of this hotel, seated Lily on the sofa, and poured water into a cup.
"Drink this."
"..."
"Drinking water will help sober you up a bit."
"...That innkeeper said the same thing."
Lily stared blankly at the cup Herald offered with unfocused eyes, then mumbled as if talking to herself as she hugged her folded knees to her chest and rested her face on them.
"She said drinking when you're depressed would make you feel better... But it didn't."
So something bad had happened after all.
Herald thought it might have something to do with her husband, Fredic Benjamin.
That's probably why she left home and booked a room at such a shabby inn.
"I don't know what happened, but it's dangerous to drink to the point where you can't even take care of yourself. Especially when you had no money. Eating food without money is a crime."
When Herald pointed out what was wrong, Lily looked up. Seeing his own reflection in her unfocused green eyes, Herald was struck by a strange feeling.
"I wasn't going to drink, but they kept telling me to... Even when I said I had no money, they said it was okay..."
Her moist red lips moved slowly. His gaze gradually lowered to her shoes.
"So I drank... but suddenly they told me to pay... and got angry..."
Due to her drunken slurred speech and increasingly quiet voice, he couldn't understand everything she was saying, but Herald grasped the general situation and gave a brief assessment.
"You were tricked by that innkeeper."
Lily raised her head again and blinked slowly as she asked.
"I was... tricked?"
"Yes, you were tricked. Well, it's a common occurrence in those parts."
Scamming money from a mark who looks wealthy. To anyone, Lily would have looked like an easy target, an naive young lady who didn't know the ways of the world.
Lily's eyes widened like saucers as the reality sank in. The green eyes within trembled.
"I was... tricked. Again... I was tricked again."
Her voice, shaking even more, was tinged with anxiety, unease, and self-loathing.
Feeling an ominous premonition that he had touched on something wrong, Herald furrowed his brows. And his premonition proved to be accurate.
"What did I do wrong for everyone to trick me like this...!"
Soon, tears welled up in her large eyes and began to fall. Lily covered her face with both hands and cried bitterly, repeating, "What did I do wrong..."
Herald looked down at Lily, feeling perplexed. Most women who cried in front of him usually shed false tears to gain his attention. This was the first time he had seen a woman cry so sincerely like Lily, and he was at a loss. He didn't know how to comfort her.
As always, there was the option of ignoring her, but his conscience pricked him. It seemed like the reason Lily suddenly started crying was because of him.
Feeling that he should at least try to comfort her, Herald put down the cup and sat beside her.
"Don't cry."
And he patted her back to console her.
"It's not your fault for being tricked, it's the fault of those who tricked you, so there's no need to cry. If it were me, I'd be thinking about how to get revenge on those who tricked me instead of wasting time crying."
Though it was a clumsy attempt at comfort, it seemed to work as the shaking of her shoulders gradually subsided.
Lily lowered her hands from her face and looked at him with moist eyes. His image was fully reflected in those green eyes that matched well with the faint scent of green apples.
"..."
As he quietly met her gaze, that strange feeling came over him again, and Herald unconsciously reached out towards Lily.
Search "lover" on redcatty(.)com to read ahead up to chapter 70.