Irresistible Touch

Chapter 2

Lilian:

Just as I walked out the door, Arthur's personal guard, Andrew, stopped me.

"The king has ordered me to send you home. The carriage is this way, follow me," a cold voice commanded, no different from that of his owner. Moreover, the undisguised contempt in his eyes was very obvious as he looked my way.

I could understand why he scorned me, though. After all, to him, I was just a cheap w***e, happy to exchange my body for money.

That did not matter, however. I was the one who chose this path after all, and I was prepared to see it through even if I had to do so on my hands and knees.

Thank the Goddess, that grueling nightmare was now over.

"That won't be necessary, thank you." I gave him a polite nod and left.

The thought of not having to return to this place after today, living the life of an obedient pet to be called upon, made even my steps feel light.

My home was in a town far away from this castle.

Other than me, my family consisted of a frail old father and a gentle mother.

So as not to make them sad, I never told them the truth. I just made up a white lie about what I was going to do.

I told them that I had met a rich old lady who took pity on me and offered to help me pay off my debts. However, I had to go to her house and act as a maid for three years. I would not be allowed home during that period, nor would I be able to contact my family at all.

Even though I knew that it was a bad lie, and it took a lot of convincing to get them to believe me, I could tell that they were still skeptical.

I did not feel any fear when I made the decision to sell myself and lie to my parents, but somehow, I became nervous on the trip home.

“Don't worry, Lilian, you can do it! As long as you don’t tell them anything, they will never find out what happened! Just think about it, at least that Wolf King was generous enough. Not only did he give you enough money to clear all your debts, but there's even enough money for the whole family to live without any worries for a long time to come,” I thought to myself.

That was worth being happy about, right?

I squeezed my hands together, feeling my rapid heartbeat through my veins, constantly psyching myself up for my reunion with my parents.

I stood near my home for a long time, waiting for my heart to settle down before slowly walking toward the place I had left behind for three long years.

Standing still, I knocked on the door.

Soon, the door was opened and my mother appeared, her hair greyer than I remembered.

There was disbelief on her face when she saw me, then she covered her mouth and cried.

"Oh, sweetheart... you're home, you're finally home!"

"Mother..." The emotions that had been brewing within me for three years had finally come to a peak. I broke out into tears.

My mother and I held each other tight as we both turned into sobbing messes at the doorway.

The noise must have woken up my father, for he ended up hobbling over on his cane to see what the commotion was about.

"Lilian, my dear! You've returned! Oh, thank God, you've finally returned!"

"Father..." The tears that barely slowed down came gushing like an open tap again, especially after seeing his lame right foot.

I was the reason his leg was broken.

Back then, the loan sharks tried to capture me for my beauty and sell me off to pay the debts, but my father lunged defiantly at them to try and stop them, but his leg was crushed by those bastards amidst the struggle.

As far as I can remember, my father had always been a soft-spoken man. It was the very first time I had seen such an outburst from him.

He was a good father, however, the best father in the world.

"Don't hang around the doorway now that you're home, dear. Come inside! The neighbors are going to catch you two crying and they'll be wondering if something bad's happened." Even though my father tried to be the voice of reason, there were also tears welling up in his eyes, and his body was trembling, unable to hold back his excitement.

After dinner, I took the card out of my bag and handed it to my father. "Father, I'll go with you to the moneylenders tomorrow so that we can settle the debt."

My father's eyes widened in surprise. "You made that much in three years? Didn't you say you were hired as a maid?"

I explained with a straight face, "The old woman was really generous, and she was also very satisfied with my service, so she gave me a bonus."

My mother was moved. "Bless her heart... may God watch over that kind and generous woman."

My father, however, did not seem convinced. So, I interjected before he could voice his doubts. "Father, that woman is really, really, extremely wealthy, even more wealthy than you could ever imagine! Our debt may seem astronomical to us, but it's just loose change to her."

That was not a complete lie. Truly, this amount of money was hardly anything to the wolf king.

"Very well... praise be to that kind woman. May God watch over her." Seeing how earnest I seemed, my father decided to let the matter go.

Early the next morning, I went with my father to settle the debt. When he discovered that there was still money left in the card, his eyes widened in astonishment again.

"I always thought that the rich were stingy, but now it seems like I was wrong after all."

I gave him an innocent smile.

On the way home, I met William, the strongest Beta in our town and, at the same time, my childhood friend.

"Hey, William, it's been a while," I greeted him with a big smile.

William was surprised to see me, but then he showed a familiar smile and asked, "Lilian! It's been forever since I've seen you. When did you return?"

"Last night."

"Then, when are you leaving? Ah, I mean... will you be leaving again?"

"No, not anymore. My family's debt has been settled so I'll be staying with Mother and Father again, for good this time." I squeezed my father's arm purposefully.

My father instantly understood what I meant and patted my shoulder with a warm smile.

William seemed ecstatic to hear my answer. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but then he closed it again. This happened a few times as if there was something he wanted to say but could not.

I raised my brow at him. "If there's anything you want to say, William, you can just come straight out with it. We grew up together, what's there that we can't share with each other?"

"I-it's nothing, really! Anyway, I have to go. See you around!" After that, he turned and left. Even though William tried to pretend that nothing was wrong, I could tell that there was a strange look in his eyes.

Confused by his inexplicable behavior, I turned to look at my father in surprise. "Father, what's the matter with him?"

Rather than answering, my father just laughed as if he was amused by the situation. Then, he winked at me playfully and said, "He's probably just shy."

Shy? What did he mean by that?

I wanted to ask for an explanation, but my father kept silent and told me that I would find out soon enough.

Oh, for goodness' sake, how was I supposed to understand if they told me nothing?