Chapter 64: Lilith, in her pure white dress, runs a road...

Perhaps it was the familiar and comforting scent of the blankets, or perhaps she was simply too tired, but Lilith slept very well last night. In her dream, she lay in her own bed at home, with her familiar Heinrich sitting beside her, telling her stories, and everything seemed normal. In the quiet of the night, she playfully snuggled into his arms, leaving a goodnight kiss on his cheek, the kind she used to say goodbye to her friends.

It wasn't until the bright sunlight streamed into the room through the gaps in the heavy curtains, stinging her eyes, that she realized it was all just a dream.

The maid named Hannah seemed to have been sitting at the bedside table and chair, watching over her all night. When she saw Lilith wake up, she immediately rang the bell by the door. After a while, another maid pushed a rack of new clothes, peppermint water for washing, her usual cosmetics, and a large bouquet of flowers into the room.

There were about four or five white dresses of different styles and materials on the hanger. They were all custom-made to the measurements Lilith used to take when she had clothes made, but after all this fuss, the dresses seemed a little too loose. The morning sun shone on the white fabric, reflecting a soft light.

Lilith immediately saw through the intentions of the person who sent these white dresses. Wasn't this just a way of forcing her to wear a wedding gown? How naive! She casually picked out a less extravagant dress from the rack, put it on with the help of a maid, and then, refusing to comb her hair or put on makeup, simply washed her face before demanding that they bring Heinrich to negotiate with her.

As it turned out, the maid, like Hannah, couldn't speak Italian and barely understood Lilith's broken German. She could only obey her mistress's orders and stay motionless in the room, never leaving her side. Seeing that communication was hopeless, Lilith had no choice but to go back to bed in her day dress and continue sleeping, covering her eyes with a pillow to block out the sun. After a while, she drifted off to sleep again.

"Aren't you getting up yet? It's almost lunchtime."

A deep, stern voice sounded in her ear, as if blaming her. Lilith rubbed her eyes and got up, seeing the masked face appear before her. Perhaps from crying last night, Heinrich had changed to a white Balta mask today.

"Who told you not to send a maid who speaks Italian? I said I was going out to find you, but she wouldn't let me! Didn't you only remember me at this hour?" Lilith retorted indignantly, deliberately getting up slowly.

“I’ve been watching you sleep for two hours now, and you still haven’t woken up.”

"How would I wake up if you didn't call me?" Lilith rolled her eyes. "What, is lunch ready? What are we having today? It can't be just white bread like last night, can it?"

"Of course not. Come downstairs with me."

Lilith was reluctantly led downstairs into the dining room, pondering how to change her stubborn fiancé's mind about marrying her. The table was simply set, and as soon as Lilith sat down, a maid brought her a platter of cheese and ham as an appetizer.

"Is it to your liking?"

"It's alright, barely edible." Actually, it was delicious. Lilith hadn't eaten anything this good in a very long time, and she was so excited she wanted to stuff it all into her mouth immediately. But she still had to maintain her composure and negotiate with the other party; she absolutely couldn't let this distract her from the other matter.

"Did you like the clothes I sent?" Seeing that Lilith didn't like the food he had prepared and seemed a little uneasy, the other person quickly changed the subject.

"Take a look at yourself and see if it fits. It's so big, and it keeps slipping down at the shoulders. Besides, I don't like white dresses. Send some black ones tomorrow."

"Okay... then, the flowers will be sent to your room..."

"Utterly tacky." Lilith rolled her eyes so hard they almost reached the sky. "Yellow, red, green, purple—just a bunch of bright colors, all vying for attention, no sense of hierarchy, it's absolutely hideous. Your taste really needs improvement. Sigh, instead of wasting time buying me flowers, you should save that money to renovate your shabby house. Good heavens, the paint is peeling off the walls. If you're really that short on cash, I suggest you accept my previous proposal—"

“The new house will be renovated soon,” Heinrich interrupted her. “I was planning to give it to you as a surprise… Sigh. Since you brought up your proposal, let’s renegotiate the terms now.”

"What? Are you willing to agree now?"

“I can make some concessions. First, I can agree to your wish to stay in Venice. Actually, there were two reasons why I insisted on taking you away yesterday. The first was that I was so angry and sad to see you so haggard, and I wanted to get you away from here as soon as possible. I admit that I didn't control my emotions well, and I apologize for that…”

"Enough with all this nonsense," Lilith said impatiently. "What's the second point?"

"The second reason is more practical. Although the war with the Duchy of Milan hasn't spread to the lagoon, disease has arrived first. I want to take you away before the plague fully spreads, also for safety reasons. However, if you insist on not leaving, I can respect your wishes and ensure you stockpile enough food at home to cope with any potential crisis. Also, regarding your bank..."

"How's my bank doing now?" Lilith frowned. So much time had passed and she hadn't received any news about the bank, Elena, Cecilia, or the others. She couldn't even imagine what the bank's current state was. Just surviving was a miracle; she'd have to wait until she regained her freedom before considering anything about the bank.

But she didn't believe Heinrich could give her any reliable information. She couldn't even be sure if the plague he spoke of really existed, or if it was just a way to force her to stay and comply with his lies.

“I will try my best to help you regain control of it.” Heinrich used a rather tactful approach, without revealing specifics. “You can continue running your bank, but in exchange for all these concessions, I still hope you will marry me…”

"Oh, so you still don't plan to let me go."

“Lilith, I…” The masked man suddenly stood up excitedly, “I really want to live with you, I like you very, very much…”

“But I don’t like you! Can’t you understand what I’m saying? You’re driving me crazy!” Lily shouted, finally losing her temper. “I just don’t like you. And even if I did, I wouldn’t marry anyone. I don’t like that kind of relationship! I want freedom. I’m willing to pay a high price for it, like money, like labor, even my life.”

Lilith suddenly raised a knife to her throat, startling Heinrich so much he nearly fainted. He painfully raised his trembling right hand, clutched his forehead, and let out a long sigh.

"Okay, I understand. Please put the knife down, please, don't scare me."

“I won’t let you go unless you promise to let me go right now,” Lilith said resolutely, staring intently into the eyes behind Heinrich’s mask. Suddenly, she felt an irresistible force swiftly seize her wrists, the knife was snatched away, and her hands were locked behind her back, rendering her completely immobile. Then, she felt ropes being tied around her wrists.

“I didn’t want to do this to you.” Heinrich’s voice was filled with sorrow. He stood up and walked to Lilith’s side. “But since you’re unwilling to communicate properly, I have no choice but to resort to this method.”

"Shameless! Disgusting! Beast!"

"How dare you say that to me?" Heinrich sighed helplessly, bent down, and carefully scooped a spoonful of pumpkin cream soup into Lilith's mouth, "Don't be afraid. I'll let you go after you finish eating. But since you can't use your hands right now, let me feed you."

Lilith put the hot soup from the silver spoon into her mouth, then sprayed it onto Heinrich's face without hesitation. The orange-yellow liquid instantly stained the white mask.

"Never mind." Heinrich closed his eyes, feeling a splitting headache. "If she doesn't want to eat, then she shouldn't. Hannah, take her back."

“I will never compromise.” Despite being hungry, Lilith refused to back down and shouted at him resolutely, “No matter how good your offer is, I will never marry you. Absolutely not.”

Heinrich said nothing and turned to leave. Immediately afterward, Lilith felt someone grab her arm and lift her up in an extremely awkward manner. She staggered to her feet and turned around to see the maid named Hannah glaring angrily at her, continuing to pull her upstairs by the arm. She struggled to shake off Hannah's hand and told her in broken German that she could walk on her own.

Suddenly, Lilith saw a familiar figure walking towards her on the stairs—it was William. She then realized that William was Heinrich's younger brother, the second son of the Schmidl family.

“William!” she called to him.

William quickly turned around. He was startled to see Lilith, who was so thin she was almost unrecognizable. The sound of his brother's incessant weeping last night and Lilith's current state with her hands tied gave him a rough idea of ​​what kind of relationship his brother and sister-in-law had. So he could only frown with worry and walk up to Lilith.

“Sister-in-law,” William said sheepishly, lowering his head.

"How dare you!" Lilith snapped without hesitation. "I'm your boss. It's only been a month, and you've already forgotten that?"

“I haven’t forgotten.” William blinked sheepishly.

“Speaking to you will surely get rid of this annoying guy who’s following me around,” Lilith said to William, glancing at Hannah.

“Alright.” William had no choice but to relay the message to Hannah in German, asking her to leave for the time being. After Hannah left, he spoke again, “I’m sorry, although I am your subordinate, I am also my brother’s brother. Even though my brother clarified to me last night that you were not involved in Father’s death, I still cannot stand on your side…”

“My brother’s brother,” Lilith murmured, “but William, aren’t you resentful?”

"What?"

"You're so outstanding. In just a few months working at the Knarro Bank, you've mastered the most advanced accounting knowledge in the entire city of Venice, becoming one of the most valuable core members. I've witnessed your growth firsthand and have always held you in high regard." The red-haired woman's green eyes flashed with a sharp light. "But the Schmidl family only has one son to inherit the title of viscount. Are you really willing to be subordinate to your brother, to be 'your brother's younger brother' for the rest of your life? You clearly have the ability to become the true head of the family."

“My God,” William suddenly understood what Lilith meant and was startled, “Please don’t say such things anymore. My brother and I have a very good relationship, and I would never do anything as rebellious as Uncle Helmut.”

“Alright.” Lilith turned her head away awkwardly, somewhat envious of Heinrich for having such a good brother. “Then just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

“Actually, I think there’s some misunderstanding between you and my brother…” William frowned deeply, worried about his brother and sister-in-law’s future relationship, but he had to keep his mouth shut as his brother had instructed, and couldn’t tell her that Heinrich was the same Heinrich who had accompanied Lilith.

"What misunderstanding? I think the biggest misunderstanding is that I simply don't understand why he's so obsessed with a murderer who tried to kill him."

"I don't know either... but my brother was really a very, very good person. To me, he was a very responsible and good older brother. When we were little, my younger siblings and I were playing around and accidentally broke a vase at home. My brother would always step forward and say that he had accidentally knocked it over, and take the punishment for us. Another time, when my brother and I went to the knight training corps for training, he almost got blinded by a hidden arrow because he stood up for his companion who was being bullied by a nobleman."

"So fond of playing the hero," Lilith scoffed. "Then is that why he has a scar on his face?"

“The scar on my brother’s face is because of you…” William suddenly lowered his head with a very serious expression and began pacing anxiously back and forth in the corridor. “He didn’t have to suffer like this… but because of you… No, I can’t say it… But, let me think of how to phrase it…”

When he turned around, he found that Lilith had already disappeared in a flash.

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Author's Note: I recently made some meme images, and I'm still posting them on XHS and Weibo. Feel free to check them out!!

I've received the 600. Thank you again to all the teachers who supported me!

The next update will be on Friday! My account will be unavailable soon! Very soon! You know what I mean! Hopefully, I can get a better ranking; if I do, I'll add more updates!