If I Disobey the Duke - Chapter 128

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The moment he heard a terrifying gunshot, his muscles reacted before his conscious thought.

He was so desperate that he let the image of his lifelong denial and pressure on him pierce through.

Had it been a little late, everything would have been in vain.

This life and this land.

“Because you weren’t hurt… That’s it. It’s enough.”

He couldn’t have wished for more. He was thankful though, that her disgusting bloodline kept her alive.

After the situation calmed down, vain and despair crested over him.

He had spent the days trying not to reveal much about himself. Every day, for a lifetime.

The way he saw himself was always ugly.

She didn’t see it. He was lucky.

“…”

Vlad closed his eyes. The assumption was meaningless. It was a waste to dwell on the irreversible any longer.

He whispered, “I will take care of your brother. You do not need to worry about anything.”

Lily’s heart, which had gradually hardened, cracked open. She shook her head. Her wavy hair, which had been neat that morning, was messed up, with fine hair hanging from her forehead and the nape of her neck.

Even the moment they met again, just like the day they separated, she only let him down.

She could understand his reaction.

He was greeted by the Isles family’s problems as soon as he arrived.

It was bad to have experienced that. She knew it was obvious, but… Her stubborn rebellion brought tears to her eyes. She was upset.

“I was just… trying to do my best… until you returned…”

The back of her nose turned stuffy. Her chest was constantly pounding as if she was holding her breath.

Lily bit her lower lip, begging her tears not to fall.

Every attempt was to fulfill the responsibility you gave me.

What about the night when I threw away countless letters filled with longing?

Her tongue stiffened with the words she wanted to say. She bit her lower lip as if to prevent them from escaping.

All the time she spent her whole life learning language was in vain. Everything that came to mind was just useless words.

“Lily, I…”

She didn’t have to raise her head. He knelt with Lily’s thighs in front of him and looked at her. It was the first time they met face to face after a long time.

Dark hair and dark eyebrows drenched in rain.

Sharp grey eyes. A distinct nose. A manly jawline and a mouth that was firmly closed.

He looked exactly as she remembered.

The only difference was the shape of his hair, flowing down his forehead and unkempt due to his frantic running.

“I didn’t mean to do this. I am… Damn it.”

The reunion he dreamed of day and night in the dry desert was not like this.

How often has she looked like this? Why am I always…

He carefully raised his right hand and wrapped it around Lily’s neck. His thumb stroked her white cheek.

“Were you very scared? I haven’t asked… you yet.”

Lily stared into the gray eyes below her.

They were sincere. There was no sense of compulsion to comfort her who was on the verge of bursting into tears.

He looked like a tamed beast. It was an apology that overcame his barbaric nature as he bowed down to his master.

It was the same as he had appeared in her dream.

The lump in Lily’s chest melted abruptly at the unexpected kindness, like sugar melting in the sun.

Was I scared? I…

Tremors began wracking her body. “I-I was scared…” When she answered, the emotions she had been concealing suddenly burst out.

Vlad got up and pulled her to his chest. She felt his hands on her nape and his heat all around her.

Lily closed her eyes tightly to hold back the tears. “I was scared. Very…”

She liked the sound of his heart pounding.

In fact, it wasn’t Rocus who built the fear up.

Lily hugged his firm, broad back. “I hoped you would come back. I worried that you might have died. I–”

His hands tightened. “It is my fault.” He rested his forehead on Lily’s head.

The tightly closed eyelids trembled continuously. “Late… no.”

He exhaled a sigh of remorse, “I’m sorry for everything, Lily.”

Finally, the tears she had been holding back poured out.