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Side story 3
Liloas Chapter 1: The Fruit
Huh?
Didnt that young girl say her na was Philly?
Igor absentmindedly opened the paper that was folded in half.
[ This is the disinfectant I made from the fruit you picked. Its effective, so try it when you need it. ]
Oh my
Imdiately realising his mistake, Igor belatedly ran out the front door towards the streets, but the child was no longer in sight. Instead of chasing the child himself, he tried to think of a more effective way.
I should give the glass bottle to a servant who has been working around here for a long ti. Malus is a small territory, so as long as I ask soone who has a wide foot*, they should be able to deliver this vial to Miss Philly and resolve any misunderstandings.
***
Liloas autumn was boring. Her body felt strangely lethargic and nothing she did gave her joy. After she returned from Obernyu, her daily life remained flatly the sa as before she left. Lord Malus still watched her as if wanting to check if she was doing anything naughty, but Autriche had made it a habit to emphasise to her the importance of being a cultured lady. Sure, Autriche still gave her the warm hugs she craved, but at the sa ti, Liloa was getting sick of Autriches parrot-like deanour in her teachings.
Even though her daily routine didnt change, it was now harder to endure than before sumr.
In addition, her questions kept arising. Liloa simply couldnt understand why people would criticise her whenever she tried to act outside of what she was told to do, even if she clearly knew how to do much more than only being a cultured lady. She noticed that she would be deed greedy when she stepped outside the boundaries they set for her and dared to do anything not considered within the acceptable behaviours of a lady. And whenever Liloa expressed her frustrations, she would be treated like a difficult child.
The only person who intently listened to Liloas words was the boy she t briefly in early sumr. Having experienced the joy of possibility, Liloa could never go back to her old days. However, she gradually lost motivation, and as her vitality drained from her body, people began praising her for becoming more and more like a true lady.
But, as expected, Liloa was not at all pleased by such praise. To make matters even worse, word was sent from Obernyu at the height of her distress.
It contained an obituary about Henriettas sudden death.
Liloa could only cry like a baby who didnt know what to say, for no words could accurately describe her feelings. The sa was true for Autriche, who could only shed tears and wrap Liloa in a tight embrace. But before her sorrow could even subside, she had to leave Malus.
The cold winter air filled her throat.
When Liloa recalled her mother during her sumr vacation in Obernyu, Henrietta seed already weak and depressed. On Liloas last day there, she clung to the hem of her mothers skirt to express her sadness to part, but at that ti, Henrietta said.
{ Youre throwing a tantrum again. See, youre still so young, you need more education. }
Henrietta appeared annoyed by Liloa as she bit down on a long, thin cigarette. Slowly, her face started disappearing into the smoke she had puffed out and beca fainter and whiter
The winter sun was dazzling. Liloa stared at the bright sunlight shining against the window of her rattling carriage. The carriage passed by tall trees that occasionally block out the sparse sunlight.
Miss, cheer up.
When her only response was a faint whimper, Liloa was gently patted on her shoulders, but her eyes remained looking out of the window without answering.
The further she got from Malus, the colder the air and the more bitter the wind beca. At so point, Liloa fell asleep and upon opening her eyes, a pure white snowy landscape greeted her. With the carriage pulling down a snowy road, her body naturally trembled from the cold emanating from the frozen ground
End of side story 3
Liloas Chapter 1: The Fruit
***
Lil, who was leaning against a wooden pole, opened her eyes. The sea breeze blew on the hill in front of the Retiro mansion, making the spot where she was standing the perfect spot to cool off after training.
Lil rotated her stiff right arm.
I cant believe this is the shape Im in after just firing a few shots
Ed and Levi had praised her for her amazing resilience, but Lil was nothing but impatient.
If Im like this, it has no use asking for a real sword yet
She first had to withstand the recoil of her gun without difficulty, but that was already a challenge for her.
Lil sighed.
When she lifted her head, the maids, who were stealing glances at her, imdiately lowered their eyes. Lil couldnt help but mind them because their presence was so obvious. At Levis orders, three or four people followed her around at all tis, carrying baskets filled with food and dicine bottles. In addition, instead of blending naturally into the background, they didnt forget to blatantly observe her every move. At first, they saw Lil as a mistress, so they constantly flattered her looks and figure. This soon converted into silence when they beca unhappy to serve a woman without a clear status or na. And now, more recently, their eyes had turned strange since Lil started to run around the backyard of the mansion, shooting a gun and sparring with Ed in light clothing.
They were clearly at a point where they couldnt guess her identity anymore.
Seeing how curious the servants are, Im starting to feel concerned about the possible loose lips of the vassals and officials who co and go Ed is obviously too busy caring for
and the recovery of my stomach to pay close attention to it, and because dical equipnt can be needed at any given ti, we have no choice but to stay in his mansion Then, maybe, rumours that not only Ed, but also an unidentified woman, are staying in Roahn are already making their way to Sesbron What certainly isnt helping is that the Duke of Mireilles Garni business has branches throughout the Empire. Their communication network is well organised, so information is exchanged quickly within the top ranks And even though Venua is still imprisoned in the villa, it will only be a matter of ti until he escapes from his confinent with the help of a nobleman who will guarantee his identity I cant even guess how the Emperor will react to my sudden reappearance. Not to forget Eds lack of success in the South to top it all off, aning that even the Admiral wont leave a favoured impression on His Majesty In that case, we have even less ti
Lil stood up, clutching the barrel of her gun. Just as she was about to start again, Ed waved his arm from afar. She seed to already hear him ask why she was holding her gun before her break was even over and sure enough
I ca just in ti for your break, so why are you about to start practising again?
Ed took the gun away.
Im in a hurry.
Theres no need.
Yes, there is
Lil turned her head curtly for no reason. Ed then took a basket from one of the maids and looked inside. Seeing the untouched fruits, he grabbed an apple and pushed it into Lils mouth. Lil, now familiar with the feeling of being taken care of, obediently took a bite of the apple.
I was thinking about going out tonight.
Why?
Its the eve of the harvest festival.
Lil recalled what Levi told her earlier. Roahn was a seaside city that celebrated events since ancient tis. The ancient locals used to pray and express their gratitude for a safe journey and a good catch. Now that it has beco a trading city, such customs have been borrowed yet altered to pray for the citys comrcial revival.
What are we going to do there?
We need to gauge the current public sentint
Cut the crap.
and this thod is the most fun.
Who has
Ed didnt even have to hear the rest of her answer. Lil was about to say that she didnt have the ti to play around, but she shut her mouth, for Eds next words showed that he already knew what she was thinking.
Just this once.
As Ed pleaded with his index finger raised, his narrow-eyed smile was clearly a skilful act trying to charm her. Lil looked back on her dull love life inside the mansion and thought about Eds days of dealing with her as if she were a full-fledged sack of wheat, only concentrating on her rehabilitation. But when following her around, Lil often heard him whine
{ Are you sure you really love ? }
and asked her to confess again
***
Lil lowered the hand mirror after seeing her face decorated with colourful wing patterns in all kinds of paint.
So, why does your festival require your face to be painted like this?
Its tradition.
What kind of tradition?
More than a hundred years ago, Roahn was still a humble fishing village. What do you think was the biggest fear of a fisherman hoping for a good catch?
Storm.
Right, so because the fishern were most afraid of storms, they painted their faces like this. They thought that if they had scary faces when lightning struck the sea at night, it would scare the sky and it would take away the lightning or sothing.
Footnote:
Having a wide foot: We already encountered this phrase once in vol1, but for the ones who forgot; To have a wide circle of acquaintances.
TN:
Now that the side story of Lils past is done, we think its a good idea to look back on so loose ends; (no spoilers)
As far as we know at this point in the story, both leads have no idea that they t in the past. This is based on the fact that till now, none of the leads has even thought back on this. It started maybe as a bit of a clich story arc, but it gave us a glimpse of the core personalities of Ed and Lil even as youngsters. We do, of course, have to wait and see if this will ever co up in a conversation between Ed and Liloa.
The big adventure Ed was going on, was his expedition with his grandpa to the western continent.
Its safe to say that the disinfectant never made its way to Liloa.
It sadly feels like Liloas mom knew that her end was near and that that was the reason why she brought Liloa back for the sumr. The cold treatnt Liloa received at the end of her vacation could have been a ans for her mother to distance herself from her daughter in the hope it would hurt Liloa less in the end. But again, this is speculation. A few volus ago we already did an estimation on the age difference between Ed and Lil. Now, with all the information gathered from this volu and the side story we can be a little more confident in this estimation. We know that Ed is 30 years old, that would make Liloa, with an age difference of 5-6 years, 24-25 years old.
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