Chapter 66 The Truth Behind the Mask: Heinrich, who are you really? ...

Lilith looked at him with great surprise and asked with a puzzled expression, "You can row a gondola?"

“Someone taught me before.” Heinrich saw that it was completely dark, took out a flint and lit the candle in the glass lampshade, skillfully hung the lamp on the bow of the boat, and then went back to the stern to pick up the oars. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you fall into the water.”

Have you ever fallen into the water before?

"yes."

"So, can you ride a horse too?"

"Of course I can ride a horse. Otherwise, why would I have come all the way from Frankfurt to find you? If you really don't trust my rowing skills, you can row, or we can walk."

Lilith boarded the boat with some skepticism. Heinrich loosened the ropes tied to the dock and steered the small boat in an unknown direction. A cool night breeze caressed her cheeks, and she comfortably rested her head on the cushions of the sofa. The familiar touch made her vaguely realize that this seemed to be the very boat she used to live on.

No, it's not the same ship, because the leather on the sofa is obviously newer, but the color scheme, the decorative reliefs, and the materials are exactly the same as my old ship.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence… After all, there are only two or three gondola workshops in Venice, and the boats they make are all pretty much the same… Lilith curled up on the sofa, looking sullenly at the distant scenery. Venice, shrouded in the pandemic, was like a ghost town. After nightfall, the windows of the houses on the shore were dark, as if the sky and the sea had closed their eyes, letting the night return to a primitive and silent darkness. The raven's oar gently glided across the deep water, carrying Lilith to a strange and unknown world.

The alleyways and waterways in the dark resembled a maze. The gondola twisted and turned several times through the crisscrossing waterways before Lilith finally spotted a bright, warm yellow light in the distance. Gradually, a small white building came into view, its windows emitting a warm, dreamlike glow. Lilith rubbed her eyes, unable to believe her eyes, for this house was almost identical to her burned-down home, without any difference.

Heinrich moored the small boat at the shore, took Lilith's hand, and led her through the gate. Before her eyes came thick black crepe curtains, fresh flowers, and exquisitely patterned wallpaper—if Lilith hadn't been wearing her fishy-smelling maid's uniform, she would have almost thought she was waking from a dream, that the devastating fire had never happened. She was still the mistress of this house, still "Lilith the loan shark," Tata would rush to greet her at the door's opening, Ivanka would prepare delicious meals, and Heinrich, Heinrich…

Lilith's gaze fell on the empty wall at the top of the stairs, where her fiancé's portrait had once hung. It was that hateful portrait that had killed Heinrich, the Heinrich she loved, the Heinrich who belonged only to her, not... this Heinrich.

"How do you know what my house looks like?" Lilith stared at him blankly, a crazy and absurd conjecture forming in her mind. She even thought that she herself might be crazy to have such a thought, and that it was utterly ridiculous.

“I asked Ivanka, about your maid,” her fiancé explained casually, standing somewhat awkwardly by the door, deliberately keeping a considerable distance from Lilith. His voice grew softer and softer, almost inaudible. “Happy birthday, Lilith. This is a gift for you. I hope you will be free, happy, and joyful in the new year.”

"Happy birthday? How did you know my birthday?" Lilith suddenly realized that today was September 29th, which really was her birthday.

“Because you were once my fiancée, of course I would remember your birthday.” Heinrich turned his head away shyly. “I even prepared a birthday cake for you.”

He led Lilith into the restaurant. She sat down naturally at her assigned seat and watched as he placed a small cake decorated with cherries in front of her.

“I was planning to take you back to Germany to eat this. You have a sweet tooth, so I’ll definitely love this combination of cherries, cherry liqueur, and cream… I made this myself after buying the ingredients and recipe, and I hope you like it.”

He wouldn't be trying to poison her as revenge, would he? Probably not. If he wanted her dead, he'd have plenty of opportunities to do so. But just to be safe, she cut a piece of her food, placed it on a clean plate, and offered it to him, inviting him to eat with her.

"I don't need it," he refused.

Why?

“This mask isn’t like the Balta mask, which you can wear while eating. My face is too horrible; if you saw a face like that, you definitely wouldn’t be able to eat.”

"I'm not that judgmental about people's appearances..."

"You're just very superficial. Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it. Actually, it's not you who's superficial, it's me. I'm the one who doesn't want to face that terrifying face. Let's not talk about this anymore, please just pretend you didn't hear anything. Try it."

“Okay. Thank you.” Lilith swallowed hard, scooped a large spoonful of cream into her mouth. The hand-whipped cream was rich and sweet, and the aroma of vanilla pods and cherry liqueur blended perfectly with the soft cake base—it was absolutely delicious. Lilith smiled contentedly.

"It's surprisingly delicious! Thank you, Heinrich. I thought Germans only knew how to make things like minced pork. Heinrich, have you ever eaten pork hedgehog?"

“I ate it.” He recalled the times he used to play with Lilith while feeding the geese in Zurich. Back then, they could get along easily like friends. But now… he had destroyed it all himself, and there was no going back.

"Do you like to eat it? I'd like to try it."

"We don't have that here... but don't worry if you're not full, there's plenty of food stored here. If you think it's necessary, I can send some to Cecilia. But my cooking skills aren't that great; I wish Ivanka were here..."

“Cecilia?” Lilith raised an eyebrow. Seeing the other person address her confidante so casually, that absurd thought resurfaced uncontrollably in her mind. “How do you know Cecilia?”

“William told me that he worked for you, so I know all the key members of the Knarro Bank. I just happened to get the news that her ship is arriving today.”

"All the members?" Lilith pressed on impatiently. "In that case, you must have heard of Heinrich, right? What does William think of him? Oh right... William was even recruited by him..."

"He didn't mention him much."

“Really? That’s a real shame. He was one of my most capable subordinates. It’s a pity he stayed home all the time during his time in Zurich, otherwise you would have definitely run into him at that ball.” Lilith asked, carefully observing the other person’s reaction. But the mask was completely concealed, and she couldn’t glean anything from it.

"Let's not talk about that now..." Heinrich awkwardly changed the subject, "Would you like to go upstairs and take a look?"

Lilith had no choice but to hold onto the stair railing and climb the stairs to her room on the top floor. She gently pushed open the door; inside, familiar incense burned. On the desk lay brand-new parchment-bound account books, letter paper, and notebooks. On the dressing table, an exquisite jewelry box held her emerald necklace and ruby ​​ring, along with some other jewels. She opened the wardrobe; it was filled with black dresses—her favorite black dresses. But what surprised her most was the rabbit doll sitting quietly on the edge of the bed.

Lilith was so shocked by the sight before her that she was speechless, frozen in place. This was too strange, how could this be? Even with Ivanka's guidance, according to him, Ivanka was still recovering in the sanatorium, so how could she have time to instruct on these details of the decoration, and how could she have replicated the doll that Heinrich had sewn for him one-to-one?

The most outrageous thing is, why would her fiancé give so much to his nominal wife, whom he had only met once, without asking for anything in return?

"...Why did you do all this?"

"Because I love you. No... I didn't do this to persuade you to marry me. I've thought it through in the time since you left, and I shouldn't..."

"Heinrich, why do you love me? What do you think love is? Is it marriage? Physical contact? Or unconditional giving?"

“I don’t know. I only recently realized that marriage might not be the answer to love… But I do crave physical intimacy, I crave having you… Yet I also want to see you happy and joyful. When I see you angry, sad, or helpless, my heart aches terribly, which is why I want to protect you. But I’ve realized that you don’t actually want my protection, do you? So I won’t bother you anymore. This is the last time I’ll appear in front of you…” As he spoke, he couldn’t help but sob again.

Lilith suddenly walked up to him, grabbed his arms tightly, and looked up at him earnestly, asking, "Heinrich, who exactly are you?"

"I……"

Lilith tiptoed and suddenly reached out to rip off his mask—beside the half of his face, which was disfigured like a monster, was a blue eye that she knew all too well, and a conspicuous scar lay quietly on his eyebrow.

The world suddenly fell into a suffocating silence. Lilith held her breath, unable to believe that her ridiculous idea had been proven true. Her mind was a jumbled mess, or rather, a complete blank. She had no idea whether this was a bizarre dream or a reality even more absurd than a dream. But if it was a dream, she somewhat wished that it would never end.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry...Lilith...I'm sorry...I didn't tell you..." Heinrich knelt down in front of Lilith with a thud, bursting into a heart-wrenching wail, his cries filled with guilt, remorse, bitterness, and sorrow. He carefully raised his head, humbly meeting Lilith's eyes before looking away, seeing two lines of clear tears streaming down her face.

“I’m sorry… I did so many things against your will… I hid my identity to stay by your side… I secretly hindered your career for revenge… I forced you to marry me after I found you… Lilith, I was wrong. You can take your revenge on me however you want, you can even kill me… I treated you like this… I don’t deserve to live at all…”

Lilith slowly bent down and sat on the ground, her gaze empty and sorrowful as she looked at the artwork she had ruined, at the face burned while saving her, at the person who had almost died time and time again because of her, who had become twisted and broken because of her.

She slowly reached out a hand and gently stroked the uneven skin on Heinrich's injured right cheek, tracing the lingering scabs and soft flesh. Suddenly, she cupped his face in her hands, gently pressing her lips to his and placing a brief but powerful kiss on his.

"Heinrich, don't speak."

She couldn't hear a word he said. The joy of regaining what she had lost, the intense, unbearable pain, and the indescribable sense of loss all mingled and filled her heart. She didn't know why she had lost her mind like this; she just threw herself into his arms like a madwoman, holding him tightly, inhaling his familiar scent, and leaving soft, fleeting kisses on his lips. She had never longed for another person's warmth so much.

"Heinrich, I'm so glad you didn't leave me. I miss you so much."

“Lilith…” Heinrich froze, unsure whether he should reach out and hug her back. Lilith’s reaction surprised him greatly, and he didn’t know what to do.

"Heinrich, kiss me."

"But……"

“No buts, no exceptions. Didn’t you say you crave physical contact? Heinrich, kiss me before the dream ends.” Lilith raised her head again, inviting him in a seductive tone to fall into a bottomless sweet dream with her, to sink into the abyss of desire to heal everything. “Now I want you to kiss me.”

His response was an intense and forceful deep kiss; he plunged his tongue into her mouth, swirling it wildly, as if trying to devour her. As the kiss continued, he used his hand to shield Lilith's head, pulling her flat on the carpet, then pressed himself against her and continued kissing her. He was so aroused by the suggestive sounds emanating from her that he could no longer resist, and shyly whispered in her ear if she could continue.

"Be gentle, don't hurt me." Lilith's face was already covered in tears, and Heinrich didn't know how he would know in a moment whether he had hurt her.

"Really? You really want to... Should we turn around? Or should I put on a mask? I'm afraid this face will scare you, darling..."

“You became like this because of me. I want to look at your face, look into your eyes.” Lilith reached out and stroked his cheek again, wiping away his tears. “Heinrich, I want you. Don’t speak, just do what you want to do.”

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Author's Note: Haha, finally the censorship is gone! Hahahaha, more updates tomorrow!!

And I've finally figured out what my next book will be about, so I've started a pre-order and am asking for your favorites [pity]. It's a story set in a Western fantasy world where the vampire Lilith is tormented by two demons, one big and one small, Heinrich, who slice her up. The author has developed feelings for these two characters and will write about them again in the next book, but it will be a lighthearted, melodramatic, and romantic story!