“Holly has repaid your life debt. Don’t try to use her anymore.”

Uttering so, Cahill pulled her into a tight embrace, fearing she might be taken away.

Holly, in an attempt to reassure him, lightly tapped his arms that were around her before she looked at Lyla and said.

“I’m sorry, Lyla.”

As Lyla squinted her eyes upon sensing the firmness in her voice at the refusal, Holly conveyed her honest feelings, uncomfortable with her reaction.

“I’m not disregarding elven laws, but for me, lighting a fire is not a sin. I don’t want others to suffer consequences because of it.”

The reason she revealed to Lyla that Seria had lit the fire was because it was an incident that occurred at Lyla’s house.

On the other hand, even after she finished speaking, Lyla continued to stare at her. Although she wished Lyla would look away, Holly kept her mouth shut.

Eventually, Lyla let out a sigh mixed with resignation.

“Is that so? Well, I guess there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Lyla’s gaze towards her turned colder than before. Although she thought it was unavoidable, Holly couldn’t shake off the bitter feeling.

Lyla, shifting her gaze away from her, stared at Chase and Seria alternately.

“So, were you two enjoying an affair in the secret space?”

Holly sighed at her words.

While contemplating the speculations of an affair between her husband and a long-time friend, she couldn’t sense any particular emotions from Lyla.

‘More than that, were they having an affair?’

To Holly, Chase appeared to love Lyla deeply, and he seemed uncomfortable with Seria, Lyla’s friend. Moreover, Seria was trying to become the concubine of the elder’s son.

Seeing Seria and Chase, who couldn’t say anything with tense expressions, Lyla spoke up.

“So, by using the secret passage, you disrupted my life, and what you wanted was my life?”

“Disrupted your life?”

Holly blurted out, surprised by the question. Lyla, who had been silently observing her, nodded slightly.

“Since you helped me, I’ll answer.”

Lyla lifted the cup on the desk and wetted her lips.

“From right after returning from my journey until now, almost two years have passed, right? During that time, I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep.”

Holly noticed the visibly exhausted look on her face as Lyla continued, “The rumor that I’m a crazy woman spread because every dawn, I would wander around every corner of the house in my nightwear. Saying that when someone speaks, I’ll respond.”

“Calling someone crazy just for that…”

Holly mumbled in disbelief. There were indeed people in Centuria who couldn’t sleep peacefully and roamed around.

Lyla smiled slightly and continued.

“After answering, I would go back on my way as if nothing happened. When such incidents repeated several times, workers began gossiping that I was possessed by a ghost.”

Lyla spoke as if it were something very strange to talk while sleepwalking.

‘Lyla thinks it’s the work of the two in the secret space.’

Holly thought of the possibility that something had happened in the secret space, and finally, the sand she had brought into her bag came to mind.

“Does this have anything to do with it?”

As she placed the handkerchief containing the sand on the desk, Lyla inspected the sand on the handkerchief with her eyes and picked up some with her fingers. She smelled the scent of the black ash on her fingers.

“It’s been a while, this herb.”

With Lyla’s murmuring, Chase and Seria looked embarrassed.

“When I was young, I accidentally set fire to the place where this herb grew when I was wandering around lost.”

Lyla raised her head and looked at the two.

“Was it your doing that the workers disappeared?”

The two avoided her gaze. She didn’t need to hear the answer.

“Or did they find out about the secret passage? Or did they notice the relationship between you two?”

The two of them kept their mouths shut as if they had made a promise. Even in the study, they avoided making eye contact, leaving Holly still unable to believe that the two were involved in a relationship.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now.”

Lyla shook the bell on the desk to call Albert. Soon, Albert opened the study door and entered.

“Did you call, Master?”

“Expel Seria and Chase from this house. Make sure I never see them again.”

As Lyla indirectly conveyed her decision, Chase’s face contorted as if he might burst into tears. Meanwhile, Albert, who alternately glanced at Lyla and the two about to be expelled, soon glimmered in his eyes.

“Understood.”

“I really hate you! You, like me, were born without parents, but just because you were born into a traditional family, you get treated well!”

As Albert tried to escort them out of the study, Seria twisted her body and screamed.

“I wanted to take everything! Your husband, your position!”

Alarmed by her words, Albert released Seria’s arm that he was holding and quickly closed the door to the study. It was to prevent other workers inside the house from hearing the commotion.

Even though Seria was thrown to the ground by him, she didn’t stop screaming.

“If you die and your husband remarrys, I can also enter this house…!”

“No! Never!”

Chase, who had treated Seria as if she didn’t exist the entire time, now refuted her words. He rushed towards Lyla with a face turned pale.

Lyla looked at him with an inscrutable expression.

“I’m sorry! This won’t happen again!”

He knelt in front of Lyla, his knees hitting the floor. Even Seria, who had been screaming like crazy, was shocked into silence.

“Though don’t misunderstand. There is nothing like real infidelity. I did it all for the sake of our relationship…”

Listening to his words, Lyla frowned and looked at Chase with an expression that she didn’t understand.

Holly couldn’t say anything as it wasn’t her place to intervene, but her bewildered gaze was inevitably directed at Chase.

‘Was it for the sake of a harmonious marital relationship? Or did he make Lyla into a crazy woman?’

As she let out an absurd laughter, unable to contain herself, Cahill, who was beside her, looked down at her.

“…I thought you would rely on me if you were having a hard time.”

For the first time since entering the study, Lyla looked at Chase as if she were really seeing him. It was not a gaze with a good meaning.

“Are you tormenting the one you love for such unreasonable reasons?”

Unable to contain herself, Holly finally uttered a word. Cahill, who had been looking at her, had a serious expression on his face.

Since Seria and Chase were chased away by Albert, silence filled the study. In the suffocating atmosphere, Holly rapidly rolled her eyes, unable to bear it. While Cahill looked like he was deep in thought, Lyla, the biggest victim of the recent incident, seemed outwardly peaceful.

“…Lyla, are you okay?”

“Holly. Do you know that whenever we meet again, you keep asking me if I’m okay?”

When a smile appeared on Lyla’s lips, Holly felt relieved.

“Since you helped me, I should give you something in return.”

Lyla seemed to consider it natural to give back something equivalent when receiving help.

‘Maybe it wasn’t just about helping me back in Centuria.’

The thought sent shivers down Holly’s spine.

“But that was the value of my life….”

Holly felt sorry for the uncomfortable situation she had to witness, even with the seemingly indifferent Lyla.

“What you saved was my life. It can’t be repaid with just that.”

She was able to see that Lyla didn’t consider their lives to carry the same weight.

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