Irresistible Touch

Chapter 18

Lilian:

When my mother found out that I had a crush on someone, she immediately told my father all about it. Then, I was brought to the living room and had all sorts of questions tossed my way.

"Lilian dearie, how old is that butler you spoke of? Where does he live?"

"My dear, are you sure he's going to come for you in two years? What if he's just a scammer?"

"Your father is right to be worried, you know? Are you able to contact him now?"

"Yes! That's right! That's very important. If you can't get in contact with him, then he could change his mind at any moment!"

...

Bombarded by all sorts of questions, I felt like my head was going to explode.

I had to squeeze everything out of every last brain cell for over an hour before I could answer all their questions satisfactorily.

Once I returned to my room and crawled under the covers, I was so tired that I did not want to move a muscle.

Sometimes, the love of one's parents can be too much, even to the point of suffocation.

Still, it was better than having them assume that William and I were together. I was really afraid that my parents would just put me out of the equation one day and discuss my wedding with William on their own. That would be scary.

Once that man and his fiancée left this town, I still needed to look for William and get a proper explanation from him. Even though whoever wanted me dead was laying low for now, it was better for me to handle the situation now than to have it haunt me for ages.

It was difficult living on tenterhooks all my life. This was torture.

More than my own safety, I was worried about the safety of my parents. My mother nearly got caught in the crossfire last time. What would I do if they went for my father next?

My father was getting on in age and he had a cumbersome leg. If he encountered any danger, then even running away would be difficult for him.

Just thinking about it made me very nervous.

The person who was trying to kill me was still yet to be found and William, who I suppose knew what was going on, would not tell me a single thing. That and the man I least wanted to see just happened to be in town, and thanks to him, I was given another fright by his fiancée.

Maybe Mercury was in retrograde. Otherwise, how could anyone explain all these compounding problems that were being piled on me recently?

Dear God, please bless your pious devotee. Save me from all these troubles and grant me a peaceful life soon.

Perhaps my prayers were heard because the next day, my mother told me that the Wolf King and his fiancée were leaving that afternoon.

I almost could not believe it. I asked hesitantly, "Truly? Mother, you never even went outside! How did you find out about this?"

My mother rolled her eyes and said proudly, "Honey, I didn't leave the house, but that doesn't mean I hadn't woken up early this morning to do the laundry. It was the neighbors who told me while I was hanging the laundry outside. You know, there's a lot of things you can hear without even going outside."

The corner of my mouth twitched.

Very well, then. Never underestimate the power of devout gossip. The town was only so large, the littlest happening could spread through the entire town in a single afternoon.

Just talk to your neighbors and you would never miss a single thing happening in town.

That damned man will finally be leaving with his fiancée in the afternoon, huh? That was wonderful news!

"By the way, sweetie, are you coming to the stand with me today?" my mother asked in anticipation.

I had wanted to stay home for another day. After all, they were only going to be leaving in the afternoon, so I could not guarantee that I would not bump into those people before then. However, when I saw the eagerness in my mother's eyes, I found it extremely difficult to refuse.

"Sure, I'll come with you today." I nodded.

In fact, I was not so sure about leaving my mother to set up the stand alone. She was far too defenseless. Diana had merely bought a few treats from her and given her a few simple compliments, and that was all it took for my mother to take her home.

It was a good thing that everyone knew each other in town. Even if someone did try and give her trouble, it was easy to know who it was. Otherwise, I was really worried that my mother would bump into some bad people one of these days.

Oh God, if you can hear my prayers, then please watch over me and make sure that I do not have to bump into Arthur or his fiancée no matter what, thank you!

My mother made a name for herself by selling her delicious pastries. She had just finished setting up the stand when familiar customers huddled over.

I sat and watched as my mother wrapped up the pastries for the customers while chatting with them.

I loved how enthusiastic and energetic my mother was at work. She was no longer sitting on her knees and crying helplessly at home like three years ago.

It was almost noon and we had good business today. Most of our pastries had already been sold off.

At this time of day, everyone had already gone off for lunch, so it was unlikely for us to be seeing any customers. So, my mother took out the lunch she had prepared and we ate together.

I had just taken a few bites when a familiar voice suddenly exploded in my ear. My hands shook and I almost dropped my fork onto the ground.

"Madam, I'll have one of each, please. To go."

It was Andrew, Arthur's miserable guard.

My mother immediately put her food down and wrapped up the pastries skillfully. My body stiffened and I slowly looked up.

Please, God. Do not let that man appear in front of me! Anyone but him!

Unfortunately, God was also on his lunch break as he did not hear my prayer. As soon as I looked up, I met with a pair of cold, deep, silver eyes.

Arthur was standing in front of the stand, staring me down while Andrew stood beside him, unblinking.

I knew I should not have come out today... I should have just stayed home for one more day.

This could no longer be blamed on the stars, I was the personification of bad luck.

I tried to act as naturally as possible and pretended not to know them. Slightly flustered, I helped my mom wrap up the pastries.

"Oh, dearie, I've already packed one of those. The customer said he wants one of each. Don't get the order wrong," my mother reminded me sternly.

My hand stiffened. I quickly put down what I was holding and to avoid making another mistake, I just took the boxes that my mother had already prepared and secured them with twine.

Come what may, I had decided not to lift my head no matter what happened. I would just keep my head low and act as if I did not even exist.

After my mother handed over the boxes to them and gave them their change, I was about to sneak a peek at them to see whether they were leaving yet only to hear Arthur's crisply cool voice. "Why is this young miss keeping her head down? Is there a gold coin on the floor?"

Gold coin my f*****g ass! You know damn well why I'm keeping my head down!

Did we not agree that we would act like strangers after the contract was over? What are you trying to play at now?

Damned bastard! How shameless!

I cursed him with all manners of swear words that I could muster in my head.

"My apologies, my daughter is just a bit shy, that's all." My mother was probably confused as to why I was acting like this too, but she tried to help me out with a random excuse.

Andrew reminded his king, "My liege, it's time for us to go."

After a few seconds, when I felt that cold shackling gaze lifting from my body, I slowly looked up.

Gone, he was finally gone! Good riddance, and thank you Andrew, my angel. I promise I will never speak ill of you ever again.

My mother suddenly grabbed my hand and said excitedly, "Did you hear that, dearie? He called him his liege! Oh God, is that the current wolf king? A fine man he is, did you see him?"

Heh, yeah... Real handsome… Must be the only thing that damned bastard had going for him, frankly.