North x Northwest
Chapter 184

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It was a small, metallic sound. The repetitive vibrating sound rang at short intervals.

All the nerves in Lil’s body came on edge and goosebumps pierced her skin. She stiffly moved her eyes. From the fireplace on the left side of her view to the tea table and bed. When the small vibrations continued to bother her ears, her heart began to beat more wildly. As her gaze drifted further to the right, Lil held the hilt of the sword with her sweaty hand.

She suddenly stopped. She found it.

By the doorway, was a pitch-black vertical gap. Seeing that made Lil’s pounding heart sink instantly. She was shocked and confused about when exactly the door had been opened, but also certain of one thing. The golden-white doorknob was shaking with a shudder. As though someone was gripping it on the other side of the door.

Lil was barely able to get up. Even with the sword in front of her, her undiminished fear gnawed at her. She took a step. The marble floor felt unusually cold to the soles of her bare feet as she walked. A chill creeping up her legs gave her the shivers and the rest of her senses had gone numb.

Eventually, Lil reached the door.

“W, who…”

The gap had neither further opened nor closed, giving her a false sense of hope.

‘There could be no one. Perhaps it was never fully closed when he left like that…’

But Lil’s eyes, which were now accustomed to the darkness, saw an obvious figure. It appeared like a person, that had been cut vertically, existed beyond the door. Its shattering breath slipped through the gap. Breathing slowly and steadily, as if enjoying her rapid breathing.

A muffled voice then whispered.

“…Where are you going?..”

“..!”

It was a voice that Lil knew so well. She was devastated at being scared again.

‘What was I expecting, that there was some kind of ghost? I knew that behind this door was a man, and I knew exactly who he was…’

Lil couldn’t be more embarrassed about the fact that she never realised that the door was open. It was the worst of all possible outcomes. Grabbing the doorknob, she instantly regretted not waiting for her senses to fully awake. The rotation of the handle had stopped at some point. When she pulled the door, the other person let go of the doorknob. Her vision, adapting to the shade, created a curve in the shape of a face. The darkness then further diluted and melted into that person’s eyebrows and the bridge of his nose. After waiting a little longer, Lil was able to recognize his eyes.

Ed seemed to have been observing her for quite some time.

“Continue what you’ve been doing. It looked fun.”

His face remained motionless as only his lips moved. The man she once considered interesting was now terrifying. But even though he was threatening, Lil didn’t want to give up and admit defeat yet.

‘I don’t know since when he has been peeping, but those knotted blankets are still laying behind me. Even if I behave subserviently, the mere look of the situation will reveal my true intentions.’

Lil gripped the hilt that was slipping in her sweat.

“So, after all this, you haven’t let go of your habit of voyeurism?”

“Shall I come in and see up close then?”

“…”

The door opened without a sound, and Ed, who had been standing firm, suddenly walked in. Involuntarily, Lil’s grip on the hilt tightened some more. The man approaching her was much larger than she remembered, however Lil convinced herself to not back down.

‘It’s just psychological pressure. All of this is a mental illusion.’

Ed ‘locked’ her inside by blocking the entrance without a chance to escape. He continued forward until the sword that rose between them touched his collar. Since it wasn’t a long sword, they now weren’t even an arm’s length apart. The fact that Ed was empty-handed provided Lil with no consolation at all.

‘At the residence of the Count of Amiaeng, he showed off his combat skills with his bare hands… It resulted in a fight where I had no choice but to suffer, not to mention my body was fine at that time… Then should I resist? What if I surrender?’

Suddenly, the wrinkled frills of her dress tickled her ankle. It was then that Lil finally realised how she looked in his eyes. It didn’t matter if her hair wasn’t properly combed or tied. What mattered was the negligee she was wearing right now. The women’s indoor wear that started at the collarbone and ended at the ankles. It was a plain, long-sleeved outfit that gave no other skin exposure, but it was still one piece. The only thing Lil wore was that. It overwhelmed her that she was a worn-out, pitiful worry of a woman in her pyjamas, standing in front of a man. Under normal circumstances, she would have felt less pathetic, but it was now unarguably clear that she couldn’t even wield a sword properly.

Lil tried to figure out a way to escape Ed. However, after she had carried the pile of blankets, her body and head became hazy. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead, heated by tension, but quickly cooled down by the cold air coming in through the balcony doors.

“What are you so worried about? If you want to stab me, go ahead and stab me.”

Ed leaned over until the point of the sword caught his shirt. Lil found his action insane, but she didn’t straighten her sword nor did she back down. She knew that the moment she was pushed back, there would be no stopping it.

“I don’t want to kill you in the middle of your residence.”

“Then run away.”

“…”

“What are you so hesitating about? You’ve already tried it once; why not try it again?”

“Then you should’ve let me run away on my own. Why did you even come in? Why did you get in the way?”

“You can run away as much as you like. I’ll just go and replace you again.”

Lil was the first to show emotion. She had no choice but to do so. After all, she couldn’t help but doubt what she just had heard.

“…What?”

“I don’t know if you’ve realised it by now, but I have no intention of losing you again.”

“I realise what…”

“It’s going to be fun, right?”

“…Madman.”

“But next time you’d better think it through though.”

A warm breath spread across her forehead. Whether it was an illusion or not, it seemed that their faces were getting closer and closer. The point of her blade eventually began to pierce Ed’s thin shirt. However, Lil still didn’t budge. She had to and so she held the hilt firmly even after her fingernails became crushed by the force.

“Back off.”

“It was boring to see you pretend to sleep.”

‘Was I that obvious…’

“…How did you know…”

“How did I know?!”

As Ed yelled and abruptly came forward, Lil flinched back in surprise at the feeling of her sword digging into her opponent’s flesh. At the same time, a sense of disappointment arose.

‘I lost.’

When she realised it, Ed closed the gap between them.

‘…At this rate, I will completely pierce his chest!’

Her floundering feet were hastily pushed back. Because the space to hold her sword was narrow, she had no choice but to step backwards. In an instant, Ed snatched up her blade and yanked it as though he was about to pull it right out of her hands. When blood stained her blade, Lil reflexively released it. She had to, otherwise Ed’s fingers would’ve been cut off. Having taken over the sword, Ed threw it away. The moment the blade flew and reflected the moonlight, Lil twisted her body in an attempt to escape. She knew that if she missed this opportunity, the desk behind her would eventually block her escape route. However, she wasn’t sure whether her body would obey her thoughts. When she lowered her posture, a hand suddenly came down in front of her lowered eyes and grabbed the collar of her negligee. Lil instinctively grabbed his wrists, but because she didn’t have enough strength to shrug him off, her body went up. Her body, which had been dragged up higher than her height, drooped down. Lil struggled uncontrollably. But the more she did, the more Ed pushed her back. Occasionally, a choking sound broke out like a cough while the hem of her skirt hung up to her knees due to her clothes being grabbed. Between her struggling shins, his legs moved unhindered. Lil tried to put her legs back on the ground, even if it was only her tiptoes. However, the way she kept dangling in the air meant she had nowhere to step on…

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TN:

Hi guys! Small question, last chapter we explained one of the references with a footnote. Was that something helpful and do you want to see it more often, or is the story readable/followable without them?