Brother-in-law (2)

Buttercup paused and exchanged glances with other maids.

Lily quietly looked into their eyes as they glanced at each other.

“Well, that’s…”

Seeing them fumble, Lily realized.

It was a private residence.

To be precise, it was the maids’ quarters.

Lily’s expression darkened. Men who came as guests entered the maids’ quarters? Even if they were her own family, it wasn’t something that could be overlooked.

But, instead of asking more questions, Lily shut her mouth.

The people to be questioned were Tristan and Dandelion.

“…I need to see Tristan.”

Lily had something to say to him anyway.

***

“Phew…” Lily sighed as she walked through the corridor.

“Do you have any concerns, Madam?” At the voice of Talin, Lily turned around.

He sounded concerned.

Lily was worried about everything. Her friends, her brother, her husband, and even her own condition.

But there was nothing she could tell anyone.

Lily quickly changed the subject. “I just wanted to see if I could eventually be a good mistress of this estate like other noble wives.”

Talin hesitated and scratched his cheek. “The lord is someone who doesn’t care much about that. So, to some extent…”

Vlad’s territorial laws were full of surprises.

Among them, Lily cared about the least important one.

Talin snapped his fingers. “In Arcadia, rape or forced prostitution warrants a death penalty. There are still some who try to circumvent the law, but if they get caught, the lord himself slices off their head and hangs it on the outer wall of Cadis…”

Talin, who almost said more, paused when he remembered that Dandelion had reacted negatively to the sight.

“Is that possible? There must have been a lot of backlash…”

“If the lord says so, can they refute it? That is how it is here.”

Lily was shocked.

How did her husband manage the estate? There was still so much she didn’t know.

“If you have any questions, my lord will tell you as much as you like. Don’t worry too much.”

Lily nodded sullenly. “Yes, thank you for saying that…”

She saw a man standing on the side of the road, signing to the Knights Order in the outer yard.

“Oh…”

Lily covered her mouth with both hands.

People communicating in sign language was a rare sight.

No… she reacted because of the man’s face.

“What kind of face…” Lily looked at him, completely unaware that she was sticking to the window.

It was an appearance that surpassed words.

She wanted to shake a bag of gold coins in front of a painter and commission a portrait, but it was clear that no one could perfectly capture what she was seeing now.

He looked like a god of the underworld, dangerous and fascinating.

Although the position of the window was quite high, his image was clear as day.

Onyx-colored hair, thick brows, a well-proportioned set of eyes, a nose, and tightly-closed lips.

The rest of his body, covered as it was by a uniform, looked to be just as perfect.

Can a person’s shoulders be that wide and legs be that long?

Lily unconsciously placed her hand on her chest. “I guess this is called heart-fluttering…”

“Yes?”

Lily came to her senses with Talin’s questioning voice.

She looked back at Talin with a slightly refreshed expression on her face. “Well, Lord Talin. Who’s that? The one in the knights’ uniform…?”

Come to think of it, everyone was in uniform.

The two men were walking towards the another knight, turning their backs before she knew it. Lily was a little disappointed.

Talin stuck her head next to Lily. She pointed her finger towards them.

“The knight over there. The…” She almost said the handsome one, but quickly swallowed her words.

She had a husband, so she couldn’t show such an interest in another man.

“The… one using sign language.”

“Aha! You’re talking about the Chief Knight.” Talin nodded slightly.

Since he highly doubted she was asking who her husband was, in Talin’s mind, it was natural for him to think Lily was pointing to the Chief Knight.

“He is a loyal servant who has served the Lord for quite some time. He can’t speak because his tongue is cut off, but there is no problem since all knights can sign. Using sign language is good for communication.”

Lily listened very seriously and nodded. “It would be better if I learn sign language more diligently,” she said quickly, and added, “Since some maids also…. use sign language.”

Talin looked at Lily again, touched. “I often think that Madam is actually an angel. Every time I look at you, my eyes are dazzled, like you have a halo. To be honest, I think that way—”

“Thank you! You may stop now. Let’s go, Lord Talin.”

Before Talin continued his sentence, Lily hurriedly walked away from the window and crossed the hallway again.

Talin followed, regretting not being able to finish the compliment.

Heading up the stairs, Lily thought about the handsome man again.

His appearance made her wonder if she had hallucinated.

Lily had never felt strongly about men’s physical appearances ever since she was born. She had thought that all men were similar.

But she couldn’t believe she was now thinking about a good-looking man that she didn’t even know.

Reluctantly, Lily decided to acknowledge a new realization of herself. “I like handsome things too…”

It was just something she never knew.