Chapter 29
Lloyd’s sarcastic remark made Kallion’s expression twist in anger.
“Layla is my secretary.”
“You two seemed so close, I couldn’t even imagine that,” Lloyd replied smoothly. “Didn’t you also ignore your wife at the last Valdormer banquet to care for that woman?”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
Kallion growled, but Lloyd remained calm, smiling slightly.
“I’m simply stating what I saw.”
At that moment, Layla sensed the tension between the two men and bit her lip nervously. Then, with a fragile expression, she spoke as if it were nothing.
“Kallion-nim, don’t worry about me. I can go inside by myself.”
As she turned to leave, Layla staggered. Kallion instinctively reached out to catch her and sighed. Then his gaze shifted toward me and Lloyd.
Looking uneasy, as if he didn’t want to leave me behind, Kallion stiffly said,
“I’ll just take Layla to her room. Wait here for a moment.”
…
This situation felt familiar—almost like déjà vu.
The only difference was that this time, he glanced at me with a bit of hesitation.
But in the end, it was the same: he left me behind at the banquet to take care of Layla.
Layla knew Kallion too well. She understood that he was weak toward people from Valdormer and that once he trusted someone, he became emotionally attached.
Layla, who fit all of those traits, now smiled victoriously in Kallion’s arms.
As I watched them walk away, expressionless, Lloyd leaned in and whispered,
“Are you just going to stand here and wait for your husband?”
It was a devil’s whisper—or maybe an angel’s rescue.
After thinking for a moment, I turned to him with a blank expression.
“Let’s go.”
He smiled radiantly.
“A wise choice.”
***
As we rode in the Silverstel carriage, I stared silently out the window.
Regret crept in.
I had firmly rejected his offer to be even friends, yet now I was accepting his help. It made me feel pathetic.
Breaking the silence, Lloyd spoke first.
“Honestly, I wanted to do this back then, too.”
I looked at him, puzzled. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and continued.
“Back at the Valdormer banquet, when I saw you left alone.”
…
His bitter smile made me realize again that this was wrong.
It wasn’t just about gossip or reputation.
He had already suffered enough in a past life because of me.
“Please drop me off at the Valdormer estate.”
At my cold words, Lloyd frowned.
“Are you really going to return quietly to that house?”
“I’m still the lady of Valdormer.”
“Still, huh…”
I hadn’t meant anything by it, but Lloyd seized on the phrase like a hunter spotting prey.
“So you’re saying one day, you might not be?”
Caught off guard, I couldn’t respond.
I had forgotten—Lloyd always smiled warmly, but beneath that was sharpness and calculation.
That’s why, no matter how much I tried to leave him in our past life, I could never escape.
He would always find me with a smile and lock me in his embrace.
Now I wondered—was he a bit obsessive?
“How about some fresh air before you go back?” he suggested softly.
“To get a little revenge on that stubborn husband, too.”
It was a tempting offer.
Honestly, I felt feverish and warm. A cool breeze would be nice.
And I didn’t feel like going back to Kallion’s estate right away.
Thankfully, I wasn’t as dizzy as earlier.
As I looked at Lloyd’s smiling face, I felt myself soften.
Maybe a small rebellion was okay.
Finally, I gave in to his smile.
“Just for a little while.”
Pretending to be stern, I replied, and Lloyd smiled even brighter.
“As you wish, my lady.”
***
The carriage took us to a familiar lake.
It was the same place I used to visit often with Lloyd in our past life as husband and wife.
We sat on a bench, staring at the lake under the lamplight. I asked casually,
“Why were you at the Schultz banquet?”
He answered calmly, as if it were nothing special.
“I’m currently working on a business deal with Valdormer, and the Schultz family is part of the partnership. That’s why I was invited.”
I remembered that around this time in the past, there was a deal involving iron mines owned by Valdormer.
I nodded absently.
Lloyd glanced at me, then extended his hand toward the lake.
Curious, I watched as a blue light began to glow from his palm, surrounding the lake in a circular aura.
“…Ah.”
Even though it was still autumn, snow began falling from the sky.
Only around the lake, snowflakes floated down like petals, turning the scene into another world.
It was Lloyd’s ability.
I watched the fluffy, white snowflakes fall in a daze.
He used to show me this often in our past life, too.
Then I remembered something troubling: in the past, Lloyd once tried to suppress his power too much and lost control.
His powers erupted, revealing his hidden strength to his family, and he fell ill for quite some time afterward.
“Lloyd… don’t keep that power hidden too tightly.”
He suddenly stiffened and stared at me.
I avoided his gaze and looked up at the snow.
“If you try to block a flowing river, eventually the dam will burst.”
He looked at me, visibly surprised.
Feeling awkward, I gave a sheepish smile.
“Sorry. I guess that was too nosy of me.”
“No… someone told me something similar once.”
That strange, meaningful comment made me freeze.
There’s no way he remembers his past life.
He must’ve heard something like that from someone else.
I looked away and gazed at the sky again.
For a while, we sat there in silence—he watching me, I watching the snow.
Maybe because I felt calm, but drowsiness suddenly hit me hard.
My eyelids were heavy, and my body felt hot again.
Why am I so sleepy…?
As I drifted, I faintly heard Lloyd murmuring to himself.
“That person… is precious to me…”
His voice was soft and distant, as my mind grew hazy.
Sensing something was wrong, Lloyd stood up abruptly.
“Yuliana? Are you okay? Yuliana?!”
My head throbbed, and everything buzzed.
All I wanted to do was lie down in the snow and sleep.
My body slumped, and Lloyd caught me in his arms.
“Yuliana!”
He cursed under his breath and lifted me.
Through my blurry vision, I could sense him rushing to the carriage.
That was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.
***
“Damn it. Snow, of all things, when she’s sick.”
Lloyd muttered curses, blaming himself for not noticing Yuliana’s condition sooner.
He glanced nervously at her, afraid she might hear.
She was fast asleep, wrapped in his coat and a blanket from the coachman.
It was more like passing out from the fever than sleeping.
He wanted nothing more than to take her to the Silverstel estate…
But he knew that if she woke up there, she’d push him away.
The carriage soon arrived at the Valdormer estate.
Carrying the unconscious Yuliana, wrapped in blankets, Lloyd stepped out.
He planned to hand her off to the servants and make sure she was checked by a doctor.
If Valdormer mistreated her in any way, he was ready to take her right back with him.
But instead of servants, he was greeted by none other than Kallion.
Kallion’s eyes flared with anger as he saw Lloyd holding the sleeping Yuliana.
Lloyd calmly met his glare and walked forward.
Kallion was about to lash out when he noticed something wrong with Yuliana.
He had assumed she was sleeping peacefully in another man’s arms—but her face was flushed red, and her breathing was labored.
“What happened to her?!”
Kallion’s voice was harsh, as if blaming Lloyd.
But Lloyd shot back coldly,
“I should be the one asking. How could you not notice your wife had gotten this bad?”
