How Lilies turn Black - Chapter 11

“Use her however you want, but don’t ask her to come back for something unseemly.”

Whatever Antonio had envisioned, Theodoro’s reaction was clearly not within his scope of prediction.

It was as if he hadn’t even received a blow, leaving Antonio completely speechless. He wasn’t the only one who was taken aback.

Lilia’s heart dropped like a stone when she heard the same words.

Wouldn’t a normal person have felt the slightest bit of resentment toward her at this point?

Theodoro had none of that. The lifeline she was clinging to had snapped.

Without hesitation, Lilia scrambled to her feet.

“The…Theodo…ro.”

Lilia stretched out her slender arms, calling his name aloud. 

Sadly, her tiny voice was drowned out by Antonio’s, unable to attract his attention.

“No, Theo. Wait!”

Antonio rushed after him and grabbed Theodoro.

“The Crima Hotel! We need to talk about the hotel. That’s why I visited you before, right?”

“…Ah.”

With a sigh, Theodoro stopped walking and gazed into space. 

Antonio’s nervous eyes widened in relief at the seeming acceptance.

“That’s the important thing, brother, just know what she’s doing—”

But even that defied Antonio’s predictions, and Theodoro interrupted him heartlessly.

“I’m sending someone to talk to you. I feel like I’m getting below my level just breathing in here.”

“Uh…?”

Antonio’s face went white.

“Oh, that’s… but while you’re here, wait, I’m going to tell the investor—”

As he stammered on, Lilia’s pale complexion finally flushed with hope.

‘Just hold on… just hold on a little longer.’

Theodoro wouldn’t have long to listen to excuses that didn’t make him Theodoro.

‘I have to… say something… to him before he leaves.’

Lilia crawled off the couch with an effort.

As she glanced over, Theodoro’s sunken eyes were growing darker in the corners. The fatigue of Antonio’s persistence seemed to be taking its toll.

No doubt he would leave soon.

‘No, not yet…’ 

Lilia pushed herself up on her legs, ignoring the blurring of her vision.

The table was piled with wild delicacies and all manner of expensive liquors for the guests. She reached over and grabbed a bottle, then stood up on wobbly legs.

One step…

Another step…

The world felt like it was spinning.

The only thing she could see clearly through the strange hallucination was the back of Antonio’s head.

‘Just his… head…’ 

She stumbled forward, her eyes fixed on her target.

‘Just a little more, please, only a little more…!’

My arm trembled as I lifted the bottle, realizing how heavy it was.

The effort of squeezing it outstretched to my fingertips. My weak forearms tingled with effort,

“Hmm?”

Antonio looked up, startled. His vision was strangely blurry, but clear enough to see the sight of her in his eyes.

“Ugh…!”

The two pairs of eyes locked together. 

In less than a fraction of a second, a million thoughts flashed through Lilia’s mind.

However, there was only one thought that flashed through Antonio’s mind at that moment, and that was…

‘Ah. Where’s George.’

It must have been a short word. Even if Lilia had frozen, the bottle was already in orbit, hurtling toward him.

Puck!

The glass hit him squarely on the bandaged crown of his head.

“Ouch!”

With a groan, his knees buckled under him.

But there were other variables Lilia hadn’t anticipated. The first was that she hadn’t expected him to collapse on top of her and hit the floor with her…

Bam!

The second was that she hadn’t realized that her strength was far inferior to Antonio’s.

“You little wench!”

“Ugh…!”

A thin groan escaped from between their overlapping bodies.

Antonio wondered why he hadn’t been knocked unconscious by two blows to the head. Lilia shoved him away in a panic, but his hold on her was bone-crunching.

It was too late to blame her lack of strength.

“You’re high!”

With a thunderous roar, he yanked at Lilia’s ankle.

She struggled as she was dragged away from him, but without a word. At this rate, she would be gagged.

‘Oh, no… come on…!’ 

All she could see was Theodoro’s scuffed shoes and the hem of his pants. Her gestures toward him are desperate, knowing it’s her last chance.

Lilia crawled relentlessly across the floor, her fingernails spread wide.

Clear tears formed in her eyes, distorted by pain. Blood pooled on the tips of her slender fingers as she struggled to hold onto the floor.

‘Please…!’ 

Just a little more, that’s all.

Lilia’s eyes squeezed shut with the last of her strength. Stagnant tears rolled down her pale cheeks.

“Ugh…!”

She threw out her arm with all her might, and the end of it caught hold of something. It was a lifeline.

Her neck bent, she lifted her head, but she couldn’t see the face that must have been up there.

Instead, Lilia’s parched lips parted in desperation. Hoping that even the smallest voice would reach him…

“Where… go.”

The words came out stuttering. It was hard to get the words out, as if they were stuck in her throat.

“Shut your mouth!”

Antonio’s desperate voice interrupted her, but she couldn’t stop. Nor should she.

“You… you’re the reason I’m in this mess… and you’re responsible.”

“…”

I’m not in my right mind. I don’t even have time to use honorifics.

Without even realizing what she was saying, Lilia spat out the last words.

“Either… you… use it… for a…. Or you… take it… and take responsibility.”

With those words, Lilia’s eyes drained of all strength, lit up. Her fingers that had been clutching the robe tightly loosened.

She could feel Antonio’s body crashing over hers, but there was nothing she could do.

His harsh curses echoed in her ears, and she dragged herself dreamily away.

The rest of her memory was hazy. She would regain her vision, and then it would fade to black.

Each time, the scene before she flickered and changed.

On top of her, Antonio swung his fists in anger. Crimson blood, possibly her own, splattered on his fists.

Suddenly, a black foot appeared in the middle of her vision.

The next thing she knew, the pain was gone, and Antonio was being trampled to death by those hooves…

When she opened her eyes again, Lilia was lying helplessly in someone’s arms. 

Was it Theodoro?

The stale smell of cigarettes on his shirt lingered on the tip of her nose, and the world around her was upside down and spinning.

A few moments passed in flashes like a broken film. When she came to, she was lying in a cozy room, wrapped in furs.

✨

It was 11 in the morning.

Fragmented light streamed through the closed blinds.

It wasn’t enough to illuminate the dimly lit room, but the green nightstand on the desk provided a faint glow.

There wasn’t much else in the stark space.

A coat rack exposes a wide variety of branches. An angular, wide desk with a few papers on it. 

A large bottle of whiskey in a glass chest of drawers. A couple of drinking glasses.

There were no knickknacks, and that was it.

Blink. Again, blinking…

Lilia’s heavy eyelids closed and opened a few times as she became aware of the unfamiliar space surrounding herself.

A gentle voice spoke at the bedside.

“Are you awake?”

Slowly turning her head, she jerked up, startled by the sight of a young man with an unfamiliar face, and then a dizzying pain shot through her head.

“… Argh!”

My bones ached, and I felt like my limbs would break at any moment.

“Oh, you shouldn’t move like that yet.”

The man, startled out of his reverie, rushed to her aid. His grip on the couch was gentle as if he were trying to take care of her.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. You’re safe.”

The words were polite and thoughtful, but Lilia’s eyes darted around, uneasy.

“This is… where am I?”

“This is Master Theodoro’s office. We had nowhere else to put you, so we brought you here. I’m Paul, his assistant.”

The man’s face, now that he was properly identified, was vaguely familiar.

He had a stern look, almost as stern as his slicked-back hair, but he made up for it with a friendly smile.

It was not a very impressive appearance. It was Paul Galliano, Theodoro’s driver and secretary, who was always by his side.