Episode 79
Before she knew it, Lillian was crying. It was because her emotions had become so intense after questioning Damian.
Damian’s betrayal felt like a blow to the back of the head, not just a punch but ripping flesh apart.
Yes, it was exactly like being abandoned by family.
Damian was a friend, a brother, and family to Lillian. Just because the place Swan held in Lillian’s life was too significant, their relationship didn’t deepen as much. Lillian often thought to herself that if Swan hadn’t been there, she would have probably been engaged to Damian. That’s how significant their time together was.
Yet, here was Damian, creating swan’s face into Odile’s.
Right behind me.
To drag me down.
“Why! Why would you do that! I thought you were my closest friend!”
As Lillian screamed, Damian sneered coldly.
“Lily. Let’s be clear. I’m not your closest friend.”
“What?”
“You’ve always been fixated on Swan. Then that bastard. And then me?”
Lillian felt her emotions cool down. It wasn’t because Damian’s words were wrong. What he said was undoubtedly true. But Damian seemed unaware that he was everything Lillian had shared her heart with.
“I’ve always accommodated you. And yet, I was always third to you. Shouldn’t you commend me for enduring this for seven years, Lily?”
“Do you think you accommodated me all this time?”
“Then didn’t I?”
“I thought we were happy together.”
Lillian’s eyelids trembled slowly and descended. And then, the last remaining tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Damian. Were any of the things you said to me sincere?”
“What are you talking about, Lily? I’ve always been sincere to you.”
Damian smiled softly. Amidst this chaos, it was an incredibly gentle smile that wouldn’t make one think he was facing a screaming woman.
“I’ve always been on your side. No matter who you are.”
“So… you created Odile?”
“I did it so you would need me.”
“So, you played with me?”
“That’s how you accepted me. If you had accepted me instead of Swan, I wouldn’t have done such things.”
A cold sneer burst from Lillian’s lips at Damian’s words.
It felt like talking to a wall. Something was deeply wrong, and although she couldn’t pinpoint it, their relationship was twisted from a very deep place.
“Yeah, if you’re not going to apologize, forget it. I won’t see you again. The reason I came to see you is one thing.”
Lillian was confident that the person who created Odile’s face from Winston had brought Swan’s portrait. And now that she knew who created Odile’s face, it was time to bring the portrait.
“Give me Swan’s portrait.”
Then Damian’s smile faded from his face. He looked at Lillian as if he had just received a very unpleasant demand or even an insult, then he wiped his face with a long sigh.
“Swan, Swan, Swan… It’s so tiresome. I just don’t get it. Why does she get to be and I don’t?”
“Curious about the reason?”
“If I’m curious, will you tell me?”
“If you give me the portrait.”
Damian chuckled softly. It was an attitude that seemed to acknowledge a very amusing joke.
“You’re asking for a portrait out of the blue. Quite a demand, Lily.”
“Can’t I have it?”
“Probably not.”
Lillian shrugged as if to say, ‘Whatever you say.’
“Can you die for me?”
“What?”
Then Damian’s expression hardened. Lillian didn’t even expect him to.
“If you’ve asked something too difficult, let me ask you the opposite. Can you live only for me? To give up everything, have nothing, want nothing, only for that person?”
“You should make sense. Is it possible to live only for one person?”
“Yeah, it’s difficult. Very difficult.”
Damian would never die for Lillian. He knows how valuable his life is. No, it would be more accurate to say that he knows how valuable he is. His love exists to fulfill himself. But Lillian’s and Swan’s love wasn’t like that.
Their love existed to illuminate each other. They burned themselves to light each other up.
Swan through death, Lillian through life.
“So you’re the one who can’t. She could die for me.”
So there was nothing that could replace Swan. That became an unchangeable fact with Swan’s death.
So Lillian could only yearn for Swan for the rest of her life. Having received such love, it was natural to be tormented by any other love. Just as life waits for death and death gives birth to life again, they are interconnected. At some point, Lillian began to feel like Swan and herself were not very different, like one existence.
So if names exist in the world to distinguish you and me, Swan…
If you couldn’t understand that, you couldn’t understand Lillian either. To envy Swan was to envy Lillian herself.
But Damian couldn’t understand Lillian’s words because he always lived for himself. His face frowned at what seemed like an absurd statement.
“What the…”
At that moment, there was a thud from Damian’s back.
Thud.
Damian’s body slumped forward, and the figure standing behind him was revealed.
While Lillian diverted Damian’s attention, Theo, who had secretly escaped, was there.
With a slightly annoyed expression, Theo lightly pushed Damian away.
“If it’s just like that, you should’ve known what she’s asking for, right? No need to make a fuss.”
“You’re the one making the fuss. Did you find the portrait?”
“Probably. It wasn’t easy to bring it without a scratch. I can’t guarantee it.”
“It’s okay. Let’s go. Damian has divine power, so he’ll recover soon.”
The reason it was difficult to deal with someone with divine power was precisely that. Divine power mostly pertained to healing and defense, so unless attacked by surprise like this, ordinary blows couldn’t inflict wounds. The fact that there were no scars left even when Damian slapped Odile’s cheek in the past was also because the divine power infused into her absorbed the shock.
And because their recovery ability was faster than others, as long as they weren’t completely suffocated, they would recover and rise again soon. Lillian accepted the scroll from Theo.
“Hey, aren’t you going to handle that? You wanted to deal with the ones involved with Odile.”
“Yeah. But it’s not the right time now.”
Lillian looked back at Damian.
She remembered Grayson, who died pretending not to know anything.
‘The one who made Odile’s face wasn’t Bishop, it was Damian.’
That alone made it clear who had stronger divine power. Then Grayson could be considered just an obstacle. So it made sense that Grayson couldn’t spit out any clues and died.
Keeping Damian alive would help turn the blades of revenge in the future at the temple.
Lillian turned around coldly.
“Let’s go, Theo.”
The two of them left Damian’s mansion.
The sun was setting in the west.
* * *
As they returned, the sun had completely set. Looking at the dark road, Lillian suddenly realized that Theo hadn’t asked her anything since she returned. Come to think of it, Theo had always been like that.
Despite being closest to Lillian and knowing the most about her, he never asked questions easily. Whether it was out of consideration or indifference, Lillian couldn’t tell, but either way, she was grateful for it.
And now, with Swan’s portrait in hand, Lillian made up her mind.
‘Let’s reveal all the secrets…’
To Theo.
