How Lilies turn Black Chapter 45 - The Blood Bath (2)  

 

“Don’t you also think… that the boss of this era should be someone who looks to the future, not the past?”  

 

“…”  

 

“The throne… is changing hands.”  

 

Vincent stood rigidly, looking down at her, yet unable to say a word.  

 

Even someone as eloquent as him falling silent—it must mean he couldn’t easily refute her.  

 

Despite her fear, Lilia hid a faint, triumphant smile and asked, “Let me ask you again… Who do you support, Vincent?”  

 

The same question as before.  

 

Now, what answer would he give this time?  

 

Vincent clenched his fists tightly and slowly looked up at the ceiling. Whatever he was thinking, his face twisted slightly as he gritted his teeth.  

 

“Miss Liliana Moretti.”  

 

His voice was low and threatening, like a beast’s growl.  

 

“I won’t answer this time, either. Because no matter what I say, the outcome won’t change.”  

 

“…Why do you think that?”  

 

“Because Theo doesn’t want the position.”  

 

That was the first thought that came to her mind.  

 

Theodoro. You… truly have someone who cares for you deeply by your side. But whether you want it or not, I will make sure you have no choice but to take that seat.  

 

As if he had seen right through her, Vincent tilted his head slightly and pressed on menacingly.  

 

“If I tell Theo about our conversation, you won’t escape his anger. You’ll earn his immense fury. All for the sake of your own greed… Haha, you’ve disrupted the bond he cherishes most—his relationship with Luciano.”  

 

“…”  

 

“Don’t you think you’ve picked the wrong opponent?”  

 

Nonsense.  

 

Lilia knew Vincent was threatening her by bringing up Theodoro, but in reality, he wouldn’t dare say a word to him.  

 

“…Go ahead and tell him. If you’re fine with that, Vincent.”  

 

“I’ll relay those words exactly, Miss.”  

 

“But I know. You share the same intentions as I do—you’d never actually do it. Deep down… You want Theodoro to use this opportunity to change the organization, don’t you?”

 

Vincent’s eyes widened at the shamelessly brazen reply.  

 

She couldn’t back down under that calm yet savage gaze—but she also couldn’t just bulldoze through recklessly.  

 

“Like you said, there’s nothing I can’t say… and nothing I can’t do. That’s because I’m not an official member.”  

 

“Hah… Do you really think that’s all there is to it? Seems to me, even if you were an official member, you’d still have no sense of hierarchy.”  

 

Well, he might have been right. Claiming she acted this way because she wasn’t an official member was nothing more than an excuse.  

 

Truthfully, the reason she acted without restraint was because she was desperate and impatient, having returned from a devastating future.  

 

But she couldn’t exactly say that.  

 

“You might find it disrespectful… but in the end, because of that, I wasn’t bound by the organization’s rigid structure and rules. I pulled Antonio out of West Peal. And in his place, I brought you, Theodoro.”  

 

“…”  

 

“From now on… I’ll keep moving forward, no matter the means. All so that you, Theodoro, can become the head of this organization.”  

 

Liliana steeled herself and lifted her chin defiantly.  

 

She had said everything she needed to say. With unwavering determination etched across her face, she met Vincent’s gaze.  

 

“Can you really cast me aside like this? Are you truly willing to let go of an opportunity that could overturn the entire organization?”  

 

✨ 

 

De Lucia Bar, where singing voices scattered like dust in the wind.  

 

In one corner, Theodoro stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall.  

 

As usual, his gloomy eyes scanned the hall.  

 

And as usual, Liliana stood in the center, singing in that husky voice of hers. 

 

Had she still not noticed Theodoro, who had entered through the back door?  

 

Swaying slightly to the melody, she looked utterly calm and peaceful—as if she sensed no danger at all.

 

But what happened whenever she ran into Theodoro? Every time, she would startle like a mouse caught stealing food.  

 

Remembering that sight, Theodoro once again felt a surge of irritation.  

 

‘…After doing all those things she could be blamed for, why does she act like that?’  

 

His displeasure was plain in his cold, narrow-eyed stare. As he watched her, an unresolved worry quietly surfaced in his mind.  

 

‘To properly accept that woman…’  

 

His gaze gradually darkened, and a deep sigh escaped from within.  

 

It was Vincent’s advice. Not just to treat her as a singer at De Lucia Bar, but to accept her as ‘his own.’  

 

He had wanted to dismiss it as nonsense—had Vincent finally lost his mind?  

 

‘Because of her, I ended up provoking my brother’s temper.’  

 

Thanks to her, he had unintentionally clashed with Luciano. Truly unintentionally.  

 

He had always believed in uniting various factions. But that had remained just a thought for a long time—he had never actually resolved to take action.  

 

Because, as a younger brother, he understood why Luciano had no choice but to reject them.  

 

Yet, how had things turned out? That woman, Liliana, didn’t stop at bringing down Antonio—she dragged the Goths into it.  

 

Now, he couldn’t ignore the very issue he had agonized over again and again.  

 

‘What… should I have done?’  

 

Save Antonio, or take the Goths’ hand? When faced with those two choices, what should he have done?  

 

Even now, Theodoro couldn’t decide which would have been the right call. Even if he went back, he wasn’t sure if he had chosen differently.  

 

“You did well. We had to do it that way. As you know… the other families had already allied with outside forces long ago.”  

 

Vincent had said that—but was he supposed to take comfort in it?  

 

For no reason, his eyelids grew heavy, and Theodoro pressed his fingers hard against his brow.

 

His mind was in chaos. The last meeting, where his decision had split them into two factions, each hurling accusations at the other as if ready to tear each other apart—that messy, tumultuous scene resurfaced in his memory.  

 

Along with it, Luciano’s voice echoed in his ears.  

 

— “You haven’t forgotten how Father died, have you? You’ve done something amusing.”

 

And whose fault was that?  

 

Gripping his throbbing head, Theodoro glared. In his fierce eyes stood Lilia, carefree and singing.  

 

‘Liliana Moretti.’

 

Yes, if she hadn’t stepped forward, none of this would have happened.  There would have been no moment where he was forced to make a choice.  

 

‘If only you had never existed…’

 

At that moment, Lilia’s wandering gaze naturally drifted toward him and locked onto his.  

 

Under the lights, her startled expression was vivid—her eyes widening in shock.  

 

— You… made me love you…. I… didn’t want to do it….

 

Even as the world seemed to freeze around him, her singing continued. But the faint tremble at the end of her voice betrayed her unease.  

 

Her pale face floated like a white moon. Large, frightened eyes, the fresh green color of young grass. 

 

A slender, almost fragile figure standing alone in the vast hall.  

 

As he stared at that weak woman, Theodoro gritted his teeth.  

 

When she had first sung at this bar, De Lucia, he should have stopped her then. He shouldn’t have stood there quietly, listening as if transported to a bittersweet past, just because the song held a rare happy memory.  

 

‘Why couldn’t I crush you back then…?’ 

 

Though the lyrics of the old song cried out about love, Theodoro wanted nothing more than to wrap his hands around that pale throat and snap it.  

 

Yet even as she gasped for breath, even as she looked up at him with eyes brimming with fear… she would still say it.

 

I was indeed the one who threw you at the crossroads of choice, but in the end, you were the one who made that decision.  

 

Don’t redirect your guilt into pointless anger toward me.  

 

As if those words were whispering in my ear, the strength drained from my tightly clenched hand, and it slowly went limp.  

 

“…Damn it.”  

 

Theodoro twisted his head to the side, erasing Lilia from his sight.  

 

Deep down, he knew.  

 

The one who chose a different path from his brother was none other than himself, and this whole mess could’ve happened even without her.  

 

“I suppose it was bound to happen someday. You know as well as I do that things had been stagnant for too long. Plenty of members agreed that change was necessary. Even if it wasn’t Lilia or Moretti, someone else might’ve sparked this kind of upheaval.”  

 

Vincent had told him, “Keep that woman close. I know she’s a wild one, but she won’t be useless. While you rein her in—since she’s dead set on turning this place upside down—you can reshape things, bit by bit. I’m not telling you to pick a fight with Luciano outright. But at the very least, as the organization’s second-in-command… you’ve got your role to play. And it’ll be for Vittorio and Lucia’s sake too.”  

 

As those final words resurfaced in his mind, the last of his strength finally left him.  

 

‘For their sake…’  

 

How could he have chosen differently after hearing that?  

 

Later that evening, after the performance ended. Lilia came face-to-face with Theodoro, who had been waiting for her in the dressing room.  

 

Her first instinct was to look for an escape, her eyes darting toward the door—but Theodoro slammed it shut right in front of her.  

 

To the woman shrinking back, he left only two words:  

 

“When you’re done here, take the car on standby.”  

 

“Wh-why…? Where am I s-supposed to go?”  

 

“To my place.”