MLHBMH 15

Chapter 15

It’s a Request

[Camilla Valliman.]

Of course. Her again.

Lily didn’t even bother to open the envelope. She set it down on the vanity table with a sigh.

It had already been three days since the Countess had first sent her a letter. Lily had made her refusal crystal clear at that meeting, and yet—Camilla Valliman kept sending letters, one after another, like a desperate woman begging for just one favor.

“After all, Lady Benjamin has no choice but to accept my request.”

If she was this desperate, why had she said such things to Lily’s face that day? Was it just arrogance—or did the Countess truly believe she had something to hold over her?

Maybe the answer was in the letter. But Lily didn’t open it. She was afraid that if she read even a line, she might waver—might change her mind about refusing to help.

“…”

So she ignored the letter and went back to preparing to go out.

But then, without even a knock, the door swung open. In the vanity mirror, she saw the uninvited intruder reflected clearly.

“Is it true?”

It was Frederick.

After three days away, that was the first thing he said? Lily put down her hairbrush and turned to face him.

“What exactly are you talking about?”

“That Countess Valliman came here to see you.”

The moment he mentioned her, Lily’s eyes flicked—just for an instant—to the unopened envelope on the vanity.

Too late, she realized her mistake. Frederick had caught it.

He strode forward, tore the envelope open without hesitation, and unfolded the letter.

Even if it wasn’t a pleasant letter, it was still hers—reading someone’s mail without permission was incredibly rude. Lily frowned and snatched the paper back from his hand.

“Reading another person’s letter without permission is very rude. As is barging into my room without knocking.”

She pointed it out calmly, but Frederick just let out a short laugh and shrugged.

“Ah, I see. My apologies. Unlike you, my lady, I wasn’t born a noble, so I never had the privilege of formal etiquette lessons.”

“…”

He was still using that? The same excuse he’d once given Samantha when she accused him of lacking manners because he was a commoner?

Even common sense didn’t require an education to know basic courtesy. His tone was so mockingly self-pitying that Lily could only give a hollow laugh.

But Frederick didn’t seem to care.

“So. The Countess came to ask for your help expanding her business into the Kingdom of Herta, didn’t she? To have you translate Gartaal documents?”

He’d only looked at the letter for—what? A minute? And yet he’d already absorbed all that. Lily could only click her tongue as she put the Countess’s letter into a vanity drawer.

“That’s right. But I’ve already refused.”

“Why did you refuse?”

“…Do you really not know why?”

“If I knew, would I be asking?”

How could anyone be so shameless?

Lily stared at him, incredulous—but Frederick had long since proven himself capable of astonishing depths of audacity. She forced herself to stay calm as she answered.

“Because the Countess Valliman is the woman you slept with. On the night of our wedding, no less.”

Even though it had been over a year, the memory still burned raw—like it had happened yesterday. The humiliation, the despair, the crushing of every dream and ounce of pride she’d had. Some wounds never faded.

“So tell me—how could I possibly help her?”

“It’s not as if she’s underpaying you. You’re rejecting it over that?”

Over that?

For a moment, Lily couldn’t even speak. She was too stunned by the sheer absurdity of his words.

Frederick, seemingly unfazed, pulled the letter back out of the drawer and started reading it again.

Even after she had just told him it was rude.

At that point, Lily could almost feel how little he thought of her—how little respect he had.

When he finished reading, he said,

“I’d already heard that the Valliman family was planning to expand their business, but I wasn’t sure how to make the right connection. This is perfect. Tell the Countess you’ll help her—but instead of money, ask for exclusive transport rights for my trading company.”

“…Are you serious?”

“Of course. I don’t joke about business.”

That was exactly the problem.

He wasn’t joking.

He was seriously asking her to work under the woman he had cheated with—for the sake of his profits.

Lily knew he lacked morals, but she hadn’t realized he was this utterly devoid of decency.

“Write to the Countess and accept her proposal, my lady.”

“No.”

Her answer was firm, immediate. Frederick’s brow furrowed deeply.

“Do you not understand what I’m saying?”

She stayed silent—but he took her silence as defiance and let out a long sigh. Then he launched into an explanation about just how profitable the distribution rights would be for his business.

Lily didn’t understand every detail—she’d never been involved in trade—but she could follow enough to know that the transport rights would bring in far more money than any simple payment.

“Do you understand now?”

“Yes. But I still won’t do it.”

Because he was the only one who stood to gain.

If she agreed, she wouldn’t earn a single coin—and she’d lose what little pride she had left.

“You understand, but you still refuse? That makes no sense. I can’t understand your reasoning at all.”

“You don’t have to.”

She didn’t understand his reasoning either—and had no intention of trying.

“Is it because your pride is hurt, helping the Countess?”

It wasn’t just pride. It was humiliation that cut to the bone, deeper than any insult could convey.

Lily didn’t answer.

He took her silence as a yes, of course.

“I told you before, you need to let go of your useless pride.”

“…This is useless pride to you?”

“Isn’t it? Pride doesn’t earn money. No one praises you for it. Why cling to it so stubbornly?”

Is that why you threw away your pride to play the lover of a married noblewoman?

The words burned on her tongue, but she bit them back.

The guilty ones were acting like victims—demanding her help as if she were being unreasonable.

“If you have nothing more to say, please leave. I have to get ready to go out.”

“So you’re really going to cling to this meaningless pride? That won’t be good for Grace Benjamin, either.”

The moment he mentioned her mother, Lily’s knuckles turned white around the hairbrush. Her face drained of color.

“Are you threatening me with my mother again?”

“Of course not. It’s not a threat—it’s a request.”

He smiled, that same infuriatingly smug expression on his face.

“If my business thrives, I can continue paying Grace Benjamin’s hospital bills. So I’m asking—please help me, for her sake.”

A request, he said. But it was blackmail, plain and simple.

He’d promised to cover her mother’s medical costs in exchange for the barony—and now he was using that promise as leverage.

It was despicable.

But the worst part was—she couldn’t argue with his logic.

“…I’ll think about it.”

Her voice was weak, defeated.

It wasn’t a yes—but it wasn’t a no, either.

Satisfied enough, Frederick nodded.

“Good. Think carefully, my lady.”

Was she really going to accept the Countess’s request?

The mere image of herself standing beside that woman made Lily squeeze her eyes shut.

Just imagining it made her sick.

“I don’t want to.”

But she’d have to convince Frederick somehow—and that was the problem.

Simply saying “I can’t” or “I won’t” wouldn’t work. He’d just scold her again for being “prideful.”

If she pushed too hard, he might even threaten to send her mother back to Whissen Kingdom, like before.

And she knew him well enough to know—it wouldn’t just be a threat. He would do it.

“What am I supposed to do…”

Her head thudded softly against the wall of the carriage as she sighed.

It wasn’t even really a dilemma—the answer was already clear.

For her mother’s sake, she would have to swallow her pride and accept the Countess’s proposal.

There was only one choice. Simple, but unbearably difficult.

“We’ve arrived, my lady.”

The coachman’s voice broke through her thoughts.

They were already in front of the bookstore.

Originally, she’d planned to visit the information guild or an employment office to find a new translation job with decent pay—but Frederick had ruined that plan. She no longer had any reason to go.

Still, she couldn’t stand being under the same roof as him any longer.

And she needed comfort.

For Lily, who had loved books since childhood, bookstores and libraries had always been places of peace.

Maybe I’ll buy a book while I’m here.

Just that small thought lightened her mood a little.

But as Lily stepped inside the bookstore, a dark shadow flickered across the alley opposite—and then quietly disappeared.