My New Love That Isn’t Fated - Episode 21

Lilia said goodbye to Owen and Harvey with a polite farewell.
Narvira waved enthusiastically. “Let’s meet again, Lilia!” she said over and over.

That simple gesture reminded Lilia of her younger siblings—ones she hadn’t seen in a while.

She realized she wanted to see them again. Her relationship with them wasn’t bad.
But unlike Harvey, Lilia still couldn’t fully come to terms with everything.

Perhaps Harvey and Owen had once had a rift between them—just like Lilia and her siblings. Or maybe even deeper.

But now, none of that was visible. That was probably thanks to Harvey’s personality.
He had, without a doubt, forgiven it all.

He had accepted their mother’s death, accepted his circumstances, and somehow, it looked like his heart had found the freedom to soar—like a bird in the sky.

How you choose to live is up to you.

Until now, Lilia had been avoiding it. She’d been searching for her own way of life, but she had never truly faced Elad.

Maybe it was fear.
Elad reminded her a bit of her father.

As long as you didn’t resist him, things were calm. But the moment you pushed back, he would crush you without mercy—just like her father.

There was one time, just once, that Lilia had talked back to him.
She was still a teenager then, before she had enrolled in the Royal Academy.

At home, Lilia had always acted quiet and obedient. But she was still a teenager, easily affected by everything. After her debutante ball, she had been devastated by the whispers she heard.

“That’s her… the one from the rumors.”
“She’s the daughter from the Earl of Tillys’s first marriage. But they say the first wife ran off with another man.”
“Poor girl.”
“She might not even be the Earl’s real daughter. She doesn’t look anything like him. I feel bad for the Earl too—raising a child that might not even be his.”
“They should’ve just put her in an orphanage.”
“The Earl’s a merchant, isn’t he? He probably thinks of his daughter as just another asset. Maybe he believes she’ll fetch a high price if polished enough.”
“That explains the stench of money. I wonder who she’ll be sold to. Any noble who buys her is bound to be scum.”

Girls just a little older than Lilia and some noblewomen had hidden their mouths behind fans, whispering. But they weren’t really whispering.
They were speaking loud enough for others to hear, pretending it was secret gossip.

At a debutante ball, noble children were always accompanied by both parents.
But Lilia’s stepmother wasn’t there. Her father was busy greeting noblemen tied to his business.

Lilia had been left all alone in the castle’s grand hall.

People only watched from a distance, whispering. No one came to speak to her.

There wasn’t anyone there that Lilia felt she could approach.
So she stood straight and still in the corner of the hall.

Just standing there, every breath made her heart feel colder.
Cold sweat ran down her back. She wanted to disappear.

On the carriage ride home, she sat across from her father.

“Lilia, you humiliated me. There were princes and influential noble heirs at that event. And yet, you didn’t even go greet them? You know your reputation is already poor. Don’t you realize how much harder you have to work because of that?”
“…Father.”
“What is it?”
“Isn’t it your fault that Mother left? Didn’t she suffer because you loved another woman? My reputation isn’t entirely my own doing.”
“Are you talking back to me? After I gave you a home and raised you?”
“I never asked to be born…!”
“Silence!”

Her father scowled at her, his brow furrowed in anger.
He struck her hard across the face, and Lilia curled up on the seat.
Her father said nothing more.
From that day on, Lilia never talked back to him again.

Just seeing his face or hearing his voice made the fear come rushing back.

Lilia had thrown herself into her studies—partly to forget that fear.
It was all she had. The only things given to her were books and study tools.

The better her grades, the better her father’s mood.
That was the only way she could gain any recognition.

She entered the Royal Capital University and became an adult.
She believed everything would be okay now that she was grown.

That childhood pain and those memories wouldn’t torment her anymore—or so she told herself.
But the truth was, she was still scared.

Fear still kept her from standing up to Elad.

“It can’t go on like this. No one will be happy.”

Back at home, after Irma and the others had left, Lilia whispered to herself.

Would Elad be home tonight? Probably not.
She had planned to leave once she received her wages from the Tenegro Library.

But that wasn’t the right answer.

She needed to talk to him. She had made up her mind.
Elad must want to welcome Louise into the household peacefully, too.

Lilia pulled out ink and paper and wrote her name on the separation form she had picked up from city hall.

Then she sat on the living room sofa, killing time in a daze.

Memories of her time with Elad were everywhere in this house.
The smell of alcohol. The pain of being held against her will.
The bouquet of roses he shyly handed her.
His invitation to go see a play at the Royal Capital Theater together.
Tiny fragments of happiness.

All of it was becoming the past for her.

Irma and the others had all sensed something today.
They looked like they wanted to say something.

But no one said a word until the end.

Irma only said, “I’ll stay with you tonight, ma’am.”

But Lilia turned her down. Irma had her own life to live.

Lilia felt sorry toward the Griez family staff.
But Elad should be with someone he truly loves.
That way, maybe his heart would finally be at peace. Maybe he’d stop drowning in alcohol.

She had to move forward.

Before she realized it, the clock struck midnight.

A loud bang echoed from the front door, like someone kicking it.

“Lilia! Open up! Hurry, Lilia!”

It was Elad’s voice.

Lilia jumped to her feet and ran to the front door.