How Lilies turn Black Chapter 98 - The Great Nation of Law and Order (1)

Flutter—

 

Her feathery white eyelashes trembled delicately. 

 

Then, her eyelids rolled up, revealing unfocused, hazy green eyes. 

 

Liliana blinked slowly, caught in the vague boundary between dream and reality.

 

A single shaft of light seeped through the thick curtains. 

 

Aside from that light, the hotel room was dim. But the objects before her eyes were clear enough to identify, and her dazed eyes began to widen in shock.

 

“…!”

 

It was a broad back, intricately woven with layers of muscle. She knew who the owner of that back was, even without needing to see his face.

 

“Huh…!”

 

Liliana gasped for a choked breath and stiffened her entire body.

 

Any drowsiness instantly fled, and her vision became clear. 

 

Only then did all the events of last night flash through her mind like lightning.

 

Inside the cramped back seat of the car, she had done ‘that’ with Theodoro until her whole body was drenched in sweat.

 

As if that wasn’t enough, after their first encounter, Theodoro immediately drove them to this hotel. 

 

Like a man possessed, he dragged her all the way to the hotel room, and then…

 

‘And then…’

 

A wave of scorching heat spread across Liliana’s face. She buried her face deep into the pillow, trying to deny reality, but the memories from yesterday remained vivid, as if branded into her mind.

 

The moment they entered the room, their tongues met with fierce passion—Theodoro lifted her, pinning her against the wall…

 

‘Ah, no…. No…!’

 

Liliana squeezed her eyes shut, swallowing a silent scream.

 

She must have been truly insane. How could she have lost her mind to that extent, letting Theodoro hold her so many times? 

 

If she wasn’t possessed by something, maybe she had accidentally drunk a spiked beverage.

 

‘Otherwise… how could I have…’

 

Now that the desire and pleasure that had paralyzed my reason had completely faded, reality finally hit me properly.

If only I could turn back time, I wanted to return to last night’s party. 

 

To that place, before everything happened.

But even if I regretted it, nothing would change, and it was true that it had been thrilling enough to make me want to cling to him until daybreak. 

 

Yes, it was really, maddeningly good.

So good that I could finally understand, to an aching degree, that historical fact I had never been able to comprehend until now—why men and women still share love and children are born even in extreme situations like wartime. It was that good.

 

Until now, Liliana had thought of herself as someone not ruled by sexual desire. She also believed she wasn’t a particularly sexually developed person. 

 

That’s how it had been even during her years of marriage.

 

But how… How could she have felt such extreme excitement for a man, of all people, the one who had pressed a gun to her forehead?

 

A sense of self-loathing swept through her entire body, but holding him felt almost inevitable. She simply couldn’t refuse his touch.

 

‘Ah… How am I going to look him in the face now…?’

 

Forget about last night. 

 

The bigger problem now was that starting today, she had to face him and spend every day with him.

She had defined it to herself as just a physical relationship without emotion. 

 

A mere one-night fling. Nothing more.

 

Yet, Liliana wasn’t confident she could look him straight in the eye. She wasn’t confident she could act as if nothing had happened.

 

She remembered everything she had said last night when her body intertwined with Theodoro… all those vulgar words, like asking for more or saying how good it was. 

 

How could she possibly treat him as if nothing had happened?

 

The unfortunate truth was clear—God was not on her side.

 

Brrring! Brrring!

 

The sudden ringing of the phone shattered the silence. 

 

Startled half to death, Liliana covered her mouth, stifling a scream.

 

If only the call had come after she’d had at least a moment to compose herself. 

 

The incessant, shrill ringing caused Theodoro, sleeping right beside her, to begin stirring.

 

Her mind reeling, she hurriedly moved, turning her back to him as she lay down. She prayed, and prayed again, that the movement at this moment seemed natural.

 

As she lay there quietly trying to steady her breathing, she heard the sound of him tossing and turning violently and a stream of curses from behind her.

 

“Agh…”

 

This was immediately followed by the sound of an irritated sigh and the bed shaking. 

 

Had the terrible noise finally woken him? 

 

The sound of Theodoro roughly snatching the phone from the bedside table followed.

 

“…Hello.”

 

His voice was low and muffled, like overcast, gloomy dark clouds. 

 

In contrast, Paul’s voice coming through the receiver was loud and clear enough for Liliana to hear.

 

— Signore Theodoro!

 

“Ah… keep your voice down.”

 

— But you need to—

 

“I said keep it down. Someone is sleeping next to me.”

 

At the cold, warning tone, the voice on the other end lowered further, making it impossible to hear what was being said. 

 

Only an indistinct mumbling reached her ears.

 

Liliana listened intently to Theodoro’s intermittent replies, narrowing her eyes slightly.

 

‘What’s going on…?’

 

It was definitely not an ordinary matter. She had never heard Paul summon him with such urgency before, and Theodoro’s reaction was also unusual.

 

“Sigh…”

 

Another sigh followed in quick succession.

 

“…Yeah. So.”

 

His voice was tight, completely blocked, letting his troubled state show through.

 

Liliana’s own heart, growing anxious in turn, began to pound loudly.

 

“Come to me. We’ll leave right after I wash up.”

 

It seemed the matter was quite urgent, as he ended the call with a brief command instead of a long conversation.

 

From the way he was talking, I thought he would immediately run off to wash up. 

 

For a while, there was no movement at all. 

 

Occasionally, the sound of him swallowing saliva and the sound of his hand roughly wiping his face could be heard… 

 

But even so, Theodoro seemed to remain seated on the edge of the bed.

 

Next to him, Liliana had been lying still like a corpse the entire time. Her limbs were slowly starting to go numb, and she gritted her teeth.

 

When is the right time to get up? Should she get up now and ask what’s going on? 

 

But was it already too late for that?

 

While she was having such foolish thoughts, Theodoro picked up his phone again. 

 

And the person he called was someone Liliana had never expected.

 

— What kind of bastard, first thing on a Sunday morning…

“Silvano, bring some clothes for Liliana and come to the Golden Libera Hotel. Right now.”

 

Liliana’s eyes widened in surprise. 

 

Was the situation so urgent that he didn’t even have time to take her himself, and had to call Silvano to come instead?

 

“And… it seems I’ll have to be away for a while, so you take responsibility and protect her.”

 

His following words filled her eyes with even greater confusion. 

 

He has to be away for a while? What on earth could have happened?

 

But she had no way of figuring out the full story of what was going on. Theodoro ended the call and immediately walked into the bathroom.

 

The sound of water came from the bathroom, as if he was preparing to go out right away. 

 

Only then did Liliana move her stiff body and get out of bed. 

 

Even with her lack of perception, she knew this wasn’t a situation where she could keep pretending to be asleep.

 

She gathered the underwear scattered on the floor and put them on. 

 

Seeing the messy state of the room brought back memories of the intense lovemaking, and a wave of complicated feelings washed over her… 

 

But she decided to push that aside for now.

 

Liliana quickly rinsed her mouth with water and then stared at the iron lamp placed on the bedside table. 

 

With no mirror nearby, she had no choice but to check her reflection in the lamp’s surface—however, she could.

 

‘What am I even doing right now…’

 

It wasn’t about looking good. Her only goal was to appear at least somewhat presentable. 

 

Repeating that thought to herself, she was in the middle of smoothing down her hair when—

 

Thud—

 

At the sound of the bathroom door opening, she flinched and spun around.

 

“…!”

 

It seemed she wasn’t the only one startled, as Theodoro, who was coming out while running a hand through his hair, had his eyes wide open in a rare display of surprise. 

 

He quickly composed his expression and let out a light chuckle.

 

“Finished pretending to be asleep?”

 

Her face flushed bright red, and she ducked her head deeply. 

 

A voice, trying to shrink away, escaped through the cascade of her wavy hair.

 

“I… I never pretended to be asleep…. I didn’t.”

 

“Didn’t, huh. If you’re going to do it, you should see it through. Why stop?”

 

“Ugh… That’s not it…. What’s going on all of a sudden?”

 

“Ahh.”

 

He paused for a moment while putting on his shirt. Then, as if it were nothing, he continued dressing and answered nonchalantly.

 

“It’s nothing.”

 

“You’re the one who shouldn’t lie.”

 

“You seem quite interested in my affairs for someone who had her back turned the whole time, Liliana?”

 

“Stop dodging the question…. What is it? It’s clearly not ‘nothing’.”

 

With a weary expression, Theodoro reluctantly added.

 

“…I heard the Bucio Family was attacked. It seems Gasparo has started to move, given the circumstances.”

 

“What…? So you’re planning to go all the way to Phelps City now?”

 

“I have to. Joseph Bucio and I are in a cooperative relationship now…. To prevent further damage and to assess the situation.”

 

Liliana’s face immediately took on a serious, somber cast.

 

“You know we can’t afford any problems for the Bucio Family right now, right?”

 

“I know. The assassination operation is right around the corner. That’s partly why I’m going.”

 

As he said, the date for the assassination of President Findel was now fast approaching. 

 

The Bucio Family, representing Phelps City, was also a key member participating in this assassination operation.

 

‘If this ends in the assassination failing…’

 

Liliana wet her parched lips with her tongue. She had to prevent that, no matter what. She had to stop the future from flowing in a completely unpredictable direction.

 

Even now, dealing with the alliance between Luciano and Gasparo was a headache, but if an even bigger variable appeared…

 

“Liliana.”

 

A hand suddenly lifted her chin, causing all her myriad thoughts to vanish into white nothingness.

 

“…Theo?”

 

The moment their gazes tangled in mid-air, the memory of last night, which she had briefly forgotten, surfaced, and her face flushed bright red. 

 

She tried to quickly turn her head away, but she couldn’t escape the gentle yet strong grip holding her chin.

 

“W-why all of a sudden-“

 

“You know it’s the worst, doing everything all night and then leaving the spot as soon as you open your eyes…”

 

Theodoro lightly traced her lips with his thumb.

 

“Huh…”

 

“It’s not like I particularly want to go either.”

 

“…”

 

“Don’t worry unnecessarily and wait for me. Nothing will happen. Okay?”

 

His fingertips had already moved past her lips and were softly stroking her cheek.

 

“Take care of yourself for the time being. Stay by that lunatic’s side. He’s the only one with any redeeming qualities worth trusting.”

 

Her body, reacting instinctively to his touch, trembled slightly, and Liliana had no idea what state of mind she was in when she nodded.

 

A weak, light laugh escaped her. 

 

With a final promise that he’d be back soon, he left the hotel room.

 

Theodoro and Liliana had no way of knowing then.

 

The business trip they believed would last a few days would stretch on for over ten days. 

 

That the man they thought was their only trustworthy ally would, in that very gap, extend a dark hand towards the vulnerable woman.

 

They truly couldn’t have known, even in their dreams.