Chapter 41
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Aquawoods was a city with a canal (a waterway dug into the land) longer than most small cities.
With more than a hundred bridges, the end of the canal was said to touch the sea.
"Uh...."
Lily stepped out of the carriage, leaving the station behind. She had a bird's eye view of the city and couldn't help but admire it.
Thanks to the constant flow of water, lush green trees fill the gaps between the bustling buildings. A cool breeze blew along the canal, wafting the scent of phytoncides.
The beautiful sight was enough to make her heart flutter.
She wrapped her shawl around her arms and walked down the street.
She saw sailors, watermen, and even a man who appeared to be from the Duchy sharpening the oars of a boat.
"Have you been here before?"
Blake came to stand beside her, wrapped in a well-tailored navy blue coat.
"Are you serious? Maybe I've been here in a past life."
Lily had never been outside the capital in her life.
"You’ve asked the wrong thing."
"Haha, have I? You seem to have a natural way with directions."
"This is the most 'barbarian' city outside of the Duchy. It's a suitable stopover before catching the train."
There were three trains tomorrow, and the hired men who had booked morning tickets followed, each in their robes.
"Well, you might as well cover your face, it's not a good look when you're walking around with a bunch of Upus.”
Blake started to say, "Besides.......," but stopped himself.
Lily was wearing a white lace hat, and even as it was, it drew a lot of attention.
"What? Are you some kind of noble?"
The clothes Lily wore were something the maids had haphazardly made from an old book of capital trends. He didn't want Lily to feel intimidated in court.
Their wish had been granted: the outfit was a bit scanty, but her beauty was enough to make up for it.
"Wow............ pretty."
"What house's young lady is out?"
Her hat hid half her face, but it was enough to make passersby stop and gossip.
"..."
Blake didn't like this situation. He felt strangely jealous.
The maids' futile attempts to lace the hat were useless, since Lily's face was covered.
"Maybe we should just go back to the inn."
Blake said in a monotone, pretending not to think about it, and the servants went wild.
"What, no way!"
"There are so many amazing things to see in the Aquawoods, Lily, I've bought dozens of travel brochures of all kinds to show you around."
"It's a festival day, there's plenty more to do."
They were in no mood to accept Blake's idea.
But Lily watched him carefully.
"If you don't like it, then so be it."
In fact, it was Lily who wanted to see the canal city and the festival the most.
It was a very natural thing to say. It was natural for someone who had lived without freedom to want to know the world.
But she decided to let Blake make the choice. It was very natural for Lily.
"Besides, I don't have any money to see or buy anything..................."
"Wait a minute. What's wrong? Why don't you have any money?"
Blake said incredulously.
"Since I've become your guardian, I've been paying you 20,000 rubles a month, starting last week."
"But,"
"You've spent 20,000 rubles in a few days? That's groundbreaking and amazing. I'll tell them to give you more. When we go back to the castle................"
"No, I’m saying twenty thousand rubles is too much."
Lily's ex-husband's dignity allowance was 1,000 rubles a month, which was her pocket money, and 1,000 rubles wasn't enough to keep up with social trends.
But Lily could barely leave the mansion, let alone socialize, so 1,000 rubles wasn’t enough.
"I hid the 20,000 rubles deep in an unused fireplace in case Lord Blake wanted them back, and I only brought a small amount for travel expenses."
"How much?"
Lily looked toward the vendor selling skewers. She looked at the price tag.
"It's enough to buy five chicken skewers," she said.
"For a sum which would barely cover one mouth? Are you mad, and how would you get back to the castle alone if you got lost?"
Lily didn't know what to say, but she was suddenly bothered by the fact that Blake's offer of 20,000 rubles seemed to have been ignored, so she just rolled her eyes prettily.
It was better to be safe than sorry. That's how she was trained.
“If I do this, I will never be separated from you. Isn't that right?"
She rolled one eye and linked arms with Blake.
In an age of pickpockets and other dangers, this kind of interpersonal behavior among the pack was natural.
"Right?”
"..."
Even so, Blake tensed just as tightly as he had the last time he'd been kissed.
It was very...... It was not.
So he quickly changed the subject.
"......Anyway, let's take a walk around the city today."
"You don't have to."
"I'd love to see what's going on. Oh, yeah, what, a festival? I'm sure there's something fun."
Lily was almost dragged along by Blake's long strides. But somehow she was smiling.
Aquawoods was a beautiful city. Lower-class people carried groceries on old but clean bicycles, while others read newspapers on the grass.
There were a lot of couples, which meant it was a tourist town. It was a festival, so there were more couples walking around.
There was so much to buy and see that the hired hands scattered.
"I'll get some of the local specialty, water bread, then."
"I'll see if I can book a play!"
Blake said.
"Then I'll take my lady and stand in this line."
A must-see experience at Aquawoods was the small boats. The ride held up to six people.
Once they were alone, Blake looked down at Lily.
Her eyes sparkled as they reflected off the water in the canal. She didn't say it, but her anticipation was obvious.
‘If you're so excited about this, why didn't I do anything earlier?’
Blake grumbled, but he was proud of himself.
Just then, a few men in the back row chattered, then approached Lily.
"Hello.”
"Yes?”
"Let’s see the fireworks tonight............."
One of the men reached for her. Blake didn't miss a beat and stopped him.
"What the hell."
Blake blinked fierce eyes under his robe. They weren't even a threat to Blake.
"Miss. Do you know him?"
"Nothing, unless my memory is faulty."
The man Blake had captured was very surprised. His wrists felt like they were stuck in a rock.
He didn't recognize him because of the robes, but he's quite a character.
Besides, Blake was a big man. They backed away helplessly.
"Let go of me................... I thought she was alone. Let’s go, I'm going."
"I'm sorry, I thought I knew you."
But at the same time, their excuses had a completely different tone. The men's faces turned bright red.
"Ha............."
Blake let them go with a humorless chuckle.
"Crazy a**holes are everywhere, anyway."
Lily responded.
"I see you've finally realized the truth of life, don't take it so hard."
Just then, an agent called out to Blake and Lily.
"Next person, come on over and get on board, it's twenty rubles. Are there two of you?"
"There are six of us, plus four others.................. Oh, here they come."
The well-timed servants rushed over, but one was missing.
Blake said hesitantly.
"Forget what I just said. Five total."
"Yes, five..................... hold on to the railing and climb down carefully."
The hardest worker of the day let out a long yawn of fatigue and opened his harness.
"I can't be bothered to open it for you. I'll be there the whole time anyway, so I'll just leave it unbuckled.”
Meanwhile, they settled into the boat.
Lily peered over the side of the boat.
"Look at the water."
The river was clear and pristine, lined with shops on either side, and the trees reflected in the water.
It wasn't quite the same as a nobleman renting a private lake for a gathering, but it was still quite a sight.
Then one of the maids, who was late, shouted from the opposite bank.
"Take me with you!"
"You’re late!"
"I'm going on the boat with you, Lily!!!"
And she meant it.
Even the water didn't deter her. She jumped up and down, diving for the water.
"What......?"
Lily was dumbfounded.
Her swim was like digging a hole.
The water didn't stop her, and she reached the boat in a butterfly stroke that was frighteningly fast. The people on the boats around her clapped in unison at how fast she was.
"Oh................"
"Oh...."
Blake raised his eyebrows.
"Do you really need to attract attention like this? I'd rather just throw you away."
"Hehehe."
Lily pulled off her shawl for the soaking wet maid and placed it on her head.
"If you wanted to go on the boat, you could have gotten on the next one. It's dangerous. What if you get hurt?"
"But the next ship doesn’t have Lily."
"Oh my, my heart just skipped a beat."
"Ha."
Blake muttered something about being a lousy sailor.
There were eyes watching them from the water.
It was the men from earlier.
"How dare that bastard embarrass us." (The men)
"Are you going to back down?" (The men)
"Then this body, Chris Felton's body, is a disgrace." (The men)
"Yeah. You're the winner of the Boxing Prize Fight." (Then)
The men rattled off plans for revenge.
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Write a comment
Eve (Thursday, 04 April 2024 10:14)
I love how everyone wants to be with Lily no matter what ❤️ hehe /// those stupid guys will get a good beating after this ��� lmao