The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 20

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 20

In the corner of the corridor, a figure crouched in the dim shadows. A single ray of moonlight streaming through the window fell upon it. Long golden hair glimmered silver.

Richard felt his drunkenness instantly clear.

“Liri?”

He called her name as if entranced. The golden hair covering the crouched body flinched, then lifted her head.

“Ah.”

Lillieta, who had been sitting slumped in the corridor in her nightgown, looked at him with a strangely vacant expression and murmured softly.

“Ah… it’s Rihi oppa.”

Richard froze at hearing that nickname for the first time in 10 years, then hurriedly approached her.

“Liri, Liri… wh-what are you doing here?”

“Just.”

Lillieta rested her arms on her raised knees and pressed her forehead. A groan-like voice flowed out.

“I’m… fine. I’ll go back in soon, so oppa should go to sleep too.”

She pressed down on her throbbing head and let out a sigh.

This time Richard clearly recognized it. That his little sister’s face was pale as paper.

The night he had replayed and regretted countless times came to mind. The night he had prayed to God again and again that he would do anything if only he could turn back time.

He slowly crouched down in front of her.

That day too had been a quiet and clear night like now. Starlight and moonlight fragmented by the window frame poured down, covering the corridor where the siblings sat facing each other.

Richard asked quietly.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

Lillieta didn’t answer.

“In your dream… did you see something strange?”

Richard knew his voice was trembling and cracking terribly. Even so, he couldn’t stop speaking.

“Liri, I.”

Lillieta lifted her buried head. Richard looked down at her and contorted his face uncontrollably.

“Until you fall asleep… can I, stay by your side…?”

Moisture welled up in his purple eyes, the same as hers. Despite his efforts to hold back by squinting, it overflowed uselessly and dropped.

Richard asked while shedding tears.

“Liri… until you fall asleep again, can I stay by your side?”

Lillieta finally realized what this moment was a recreation of.

The current her had no comrade to empathize with her, no colleagues to watch over her.

However, instead.

The existence called family that she had forgotten for so long. Memories of childhood when she loved and was loved without fear. ‘Liri’.

Rita opened her mouth then closed it, lowered her eyes then raised them, and slowly opened her mouth again.

“You know, Rihi oppa.”

“Yeah.”

“I had a scary dream.”

“Yeah.”

“Will you stay next to me this time?”

“…Yeah.”

Richard collapsed as he wrapped his whole body around her crouched form.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be here, I’ll stay by your side. Liri, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… thank you, I’ll watch over you from beside you this time. From now on, definitely…”

His trembling arms held her tightly. The sound of his sobbing pierced her ears.

Lillieta closed her eyes and leaned into her family’s embrace. She felt like she had returned to being a protected child.

Ah, this isn’t that place.

This is my home.

Then the endlessly exploding bomb sounds stopped.

* * *

When she opened her eyes in the morning, Rita smelled a foul odor mixed with the scent of alcohol.

She saw a red-haired drunk leaning against the bedside, asleep while clutching her hand with both hands.

Lillieta stared quietly at her second brother’s hands gripping her own like a lifeline, then sat up.

She tilted her remaining hand as if to stroke his head, then chuckled and instead firmly grabbed his nose.

“Kheuk?”

Richard, unable to breathe, immediately opened his eyes wide. She removed her hand from him and spoke with a disgusted expression.

“Rihi oppa.”

“Huh, huh?”

“You smell rotten.”

“…Huh?”

Richard glared then looked down at his own appearance. Rita deliberately pouted and pretended to cover her nose.

“Just how much did you drink? And you didn’t even wash, did you?”

“Uh… uh, well, you see.”

“Disgusting. Embarrassing.”

“…!”

“The Rihi oppa I knew wasn’t like this. A person who used to be neat has become dirty and shameful. Don’t go around saying you’re my brother.”

“Hey, Liri you!”

Richard jumped up and glared with a flushed face.

“You, you… who do you think I became like this and slept here for…! Just wait. I’ll wash up properly and come back!”

He stormed out energetically. Lillieta smiled as she watched his retreating figure, then turned her gaze to the window.

Birds chirped and sunlight sparkled. It was a refreshing and new morning.

* * *

“Rihi oppa just drinks and doesn’t do any proper work, right?”

“Who says that? Who? Hey, I’m a holy knight, a Sword of Sha and Protector of Shadea!”

“Can a drunkard be a holy knight? Weren’t you excommunicated for drinking?”

“Th-uh, ah, no, it’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! I’m not that bad!”

“Seeing how you reeked of alcohol from morning, it doesn’t seem like a misunderstanding. The Rihi oppa I knew wasn’t like this. You’re the fake one, aren’t you? What did you do to the real Rihi oppa?”

“Argh, hey, I’m sorry for calling you fake! You thought I was fake too! Watch and see if I ever touch alcohol again!”

Friendly bickering and laughing complaints could be heard from the dining hall.

Leonhardt stood blankly at the entrance of the dining hall as if dreaming. The Countess he was supporting also stared into the dining hall in a daze.

The siblings sitting side by side chattering soon noticed them.

Lillieta smiled in the sunlight, and Richard, clean and neat in appearance, bowed his head politely.

“Good morning, Mother.”

The Countess let go of Leonhardt’s hand and stepped forward. With each step she took, she gradually returned from being a patient to the elegant noblewoman of 10 years ago.

“It’s been a while since you looked presentable, Rihi.”

“Ah, Mother, if you say that, Liri will misunderstand.”

“Oh my, it wouldn’t be a misunderstanding, would it?”

The Countess smiled playfully and headed to the head seat of the table, next to Lillieta. Seated, she greeted Lillieta with a trembling voice.

“Did you sleep well, Liri?”

“Yes.”

Lillieta placed her hand over the Countess’s trembling hand and added affectionately.

“What about you, Mom? Did you sleep well?”

“…I slept soundly. Really, for the first time in a long while.”

Leonhardt felt so overwhelmed by that ordinary, everyday scene that he almost cried. He bit his lip and barely held back.

Richard, noticing him, said teasingly.

“Hey, little brother, look at that. Big brother is crying.”

“I’m not crying, Richard.”

“Stop putting on airs. Just cry comfortably, will you? I already bawled like an idiot in front of Lily last night.”

“At night? Don’t tell me you went to find Lily yesterday just like that? In that state after crawling in drunk?”

Leonhardt’s expression became terrifying as he glared at Richard and strode toward him. Richard, feeling guilty, raised both hands and desperately pleaded.

“It was a mistake, brother! I was wrong! I didn’t do it on purpose, it just happened that way! I’ll never drink again!”

“You won’t drink? Do you think I’d believe that?”

“I’m serious this time. Lily has returned.”

Richard grinned while keeping both hands raised.

“Brother, don’t worry. I won’t even touch that stuff anymore. I don’t need to be drunk anymore.”

Leonhardt quietly gazed at his younger brother’s face, where the shadow that had been deeply cast for so long had disappeared.

Whatever happened last night, it seemed the returned Lillieta had changed him.

Just like how she used to easily coax and bring back Richard when he sulked and holed up in the Garden as a child. Just like how their parents, who had been in a cold war after a big fight, would somehow make up and apologize to each other after talking with Lily.

What the eldest son couldn’t do, his younger sister always managed to accomplish.

It was the youngest’s miracle he hadn’t seen in a long time.

‘Right, this was our family. It’s only complete with Lily here.’

He smiled slightly and pulled out a dining chair, giving a brief reply.

“I believe you, Richard.”

“Oh, thanks, brother.”

Leonhardt, seated, looked back at Lillieta with an expression completely different from when he looked at his younger brother.

“Lily, good morning.”

“Yes, you too, Leon.”

Thus began a peaceful breakfast. It was a daily routine that had returned to Birch Tree Castle after 10 years.

“Hey, eat this too. And this.”

“Daughter, here’s the apple you used to love.”

“Lily, how is it? Does it suit your taste?”

All three family members were more interested in whether Lillieta was eating well than in their own meals.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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