Working at a Haunted Mansion Chapter 130 - Side Story Chapter 6

Aiden still remembered that time vividly. Except for sleeping, they were practically inseparable every moment. Lily Dientha showered him with all her attention.

Looking back, he’d set the right tone from their first meeting. Acting like a cat rubbing against his legs—excessively affectionate—had been the right move.

Had he crushed her with aristocratic authority, arrogantly commanding or intimidating her, they never would have reached this outcome.

Unaware that Lily Dienta had accepted his request purely out of fear of the ghost’s vengeance, Aiden was lost in happiness.

Even after he finished his self-centered recollection, Lily still hesitated. Unable to meet Aiden’s gaze, she murmured.

“There was that story before we met. The claim that he was my lover.”

Aiden was about to say he knew it was a lie.

His name wasn’t Norbert Rider to begin with. His real name was Norbert Lader, a regular at the low-class gambling den.

There was an eyewitness account from yesterday morning: a man dressed smartly, unlike anything seen before, showed up, lost a fortune, and left laughing.

Before he could finish explaining this, Lily cried out desperately.

“Please believe me. That’s all lies too! I don’t even know what that bastard looks like. I’m hearing his name for the first time!”

When she pleaded with her flushed eyes, even if she were lying, Aiden was willing to be deceived.

It didn’t matter if it wasn’t about Norbert Ryder. What did it matter if she had a past?

He was the one who had claimed Lily’s present and future. He was the one who would be proclaimed her spouse before the gods, the one who would change her surname.

He tried once more to tell Lily the truth, maintaining the composure of a victor. But Lily was one step ahead.

“No, leaving Norbert Ryder aside, you were the only man in my life from the start.”

With that forceful confession, she grabbed Aiden’s arms.

Lily seemed consumed solely by the need to clear this unjust accusation. Yet her posture was hardly suitable for a serious conversation. It was far too distracting.

Aiden, feeling awkward, gripped her waist with both hands. She might lose her balance if he wasn’t careful.

Anyway, now was the time to hold onto reason. Her head was foggy from the sudden confession and her body being held in his hands, but that was a personal matter. Calmly, without getting excited, she had to answer him…

Then, Lily pressed her face right up to his, impatient.

“Did you hear me? Aiden, you’re my first love, waaah…”

Her voice was swallowed by another’s lips.

He pulled her waist deeply toward him with his left arm. His right hand swept across her back to wrap around her shoulder.

Lily looked utterly bewildered before her eyes fluttered shut. Aiden watched intently as her closed eyelids twitched irregularly.

Her face flushed as she held her breath, her eyelashes quivering. The sight was so adorable it threatened to make him lose his mind.

Of course, he intended to stop at the right moment. As he’d thought earlier, it was time to regain his composure.

He had a duty to ease her worries. He needed to return to serious talk. This should end as a light expression of affection, a brief moment of connection.

Suddenly, the hand that had merely been draped over his shoulder pulled him closer. Simultaneously, he felt her gather courage and move her small tongue.

Aiden completely forgot about controlling his strength and pressed into her.

In the past, he never imagined he’d be aroused by becoming someone’s sexual object. The idea of someone coveting his body had only ever disgusted him.

But now, this feeble pull made him boil over with heat in a ridiculously simple way.

Lily Dienta wanted him. Beyond acceptance, she desired him.

Even Aiden couldn’t properly explain why that fact excited him so much. He just wanted to melt into the moment.

Even as his reason crumbled, he gave Lily room to breathe. Pulling away briefly meant they could kiss longer.

Then, just as she reached the point of unbearable need, he pulled away, pretending to be the gentleman.

He confessed to Lily, catching her breath in his arms, his expression ecstatic.

“You were my first love too. I’m glad I can confess this with confidence.”

The act of adorning himself to appear worthy of love truly resembled a peacock spreading its feathers.

But if he could see Lily’s eyes crinkle with joy, he could flirt endlessly.

Moreover, he was merely stating an undeniable truth. Filtering pure admiration from thick, violent affection before offering it did not make it false.

Lily’s breathing calmed, and she pulled away from Aiden. She loosened her tangled hair and began to re-tie it.

Her nape was completely hidden, then revealed again as she gathered her hair into a tight knot.

He exhaled softly, trying to clear his thoughts.

Aiden waited quietly for Lily to finish arranging her hair. She found embroidery so difficult, yet this task seemed effortless for her.

‘I wouldn’t mind tying it for her myself.’

The fleeting thought struck him as rather appealing.

He imagined how satisfying it would be to hold her bright brown hair in both hands and style it into a shape that suited her. His hands were skilled with swords; surely they could handle a comb just as well.

He made plans to soon stand behind her, looking into the mirror together, sharing everything he had seen and heard.

Then he left the final decision to Lily.

“So what should we do? What do you want me to do about him?”

Lily, her hair pulled back tightly, fiddled with her lips as she pondered. After a long moment, she opened her mouth with a heavy expression.

“At first, I thought about secluding myself in the castle for two or three years? Or postponing the wedding until the rumors died down.”

He clenched his fist to control his impulse and continued listening to Lily.

“But then I realized, I have no reason to do that. And even if I stayed quiet for years, the moment I showed my face, people would start gossiping about it again.”

She declared with a determined expression.

“I want our honor fully restored. I want to prove every word that bastard spread was a lie, and I want no one to ever dare whisper such things about us again.”

“Agreed. And?”

“And?”

“Norbert Ryder. That man is still out there.”

“Ah… right…”

Aiden blinked at Lily’s lukewarm response.

“Once everyone knows he’s a liar, won’t he be too ashamed to just disappear?”

“Is that enough?”

“Well, honestly, no. But he was acting on orders from someone higher up, right? Whether he agreed to it or not. Unless the marquis gets punished as much as he does, I hope they don’t get too cruel.”

He grasped the point. Certainly, this incident couldn’t bring down Caleb Shayworth. Regardless of his own desire for more revenge…

Lily’s state when she’d just arrived in the room was vivid. Her wounded, miserable appearance. She’d even shed tears.

He didn’t want to let Norbert Ryder and the person who used him off lightly. Merely correcting the rumors wouldn’t satisfy him.

Yet, instead of voicing this opinion, he meekly agreed.

“You’re right. If that happens, he’ll disappear on his own.”

Lily gave him a skeptical look.

“You’re not planning something to make him disappear on his own, are you?”

“Like what?”

“Like a mysterious carriage accident…”

“Lily, that’s the kind of thing Wolfram would do!”

Aiden protested lightly.

This time, he intended to keep his promise to Lily.

But this grudge would never fade with time. Even in the distant future, if Caleb crossed the line just one step further, he would make him hang himself, just as Julius had done.

He suppressed his sinister resolve. Then, closing the distance that had been bothering him all along, he steered Lily toward the predetermined answer.

“It’d be best to clear up the rumors somewhere crowded, right?”

“I suppose so.”

“And it’d be good if it became undeniably clear that the man is lying.”

“That’s true too. Though it seems a bit difficult.”

“And I think our real story is incredibly romantic. What do you think? Falling in love with the woman who saved you? It’s like a fairy tale.”

“Hmm, it’s so overly romantic it loses all realism.”

He interlaced his fingers with Lily’s.

“I’m glad we see eye to eye. So, how about this? First, we invite Norbert Rider to the banquet. We name the person who moved him…”

Aiden devised a plan where her values and his could meet, laying it out openly.

How noble it felt to be truthful before his lover. And how satisfying it was to be a trustworthy partner, relied upon.

He was genuinely satisfied with this new version of himself. Though he couldn’t punish Norbert Ryder as much as he desired right now, there was a greater joy.

Thus, deeper love dwells in the honest lover, while divine judgment rests upon those who bring punishment upon themselves.

Looking into Lily’s eyes as she listened earnestly, Aiden smiled once more.