Chapter 2: The Guest and the Unwelcome Visitor
Lily, trying to avoid the crowd lined up at the hotel, turned and made her way toward the convent. In a narrow alley, she spotted a familiar cat.
Around the cat’s neck, a metal tag glinted with the words Saint Margarita.
“Purbol, don’t chase birds—catch mice instead.”
Perhaps the cat only understood half of what she said. It set the bird down as if expecting praise and sat primly on its haunches. It was a pure white racing pigeon, an expensive bird kept as a hobby by the nobility.
“Purbol… oh no. What have you done?”
Lily groaned and reached to pick up the bird, but the cat was quicker.
Defiantly, Purbol grabbed the pigeon in its mouth and bolted toward the hotel. Lily rolled up her skirts like a child and chased after it.
If the hotel found out Purbol had killed the bird, they wouldn’t stay quiet. Even thinking about the bill that would come made her stomach sour.
The cat teased her by lightly leaping onto a wall, then disappeared inside the hotel with a single meow.
“Purbol, come back!”
Stomping her feet in frustration, Lily shut her eyes and crawled between the garden trees separating the convent from the hotel.
The shaded space between the trees was damp. Her apron and tights were already dirty, but now was not the time to care about that.
The hotel grounds felt like a fresh little forest—neatly trimmed lawns, blooming bulbs, a small lake with swans. It was a world completely different from the barren convent.
“Purbol! Wait!”
Lily glanced around anxiously, following the plump, long tail in a flurry.
She finally found Purbol behind an enormous greenhouse display, filled with exotic plants, fan palms, and containers full of seeds.
“Purbol…”
She opened her mouth to call the cat louder, then froze. A stranger was there, petting the cat.
Lily had never seen a man as handsome as this.
His face looked sculpted from forehead to nose, delicate as if carved. The shadows in his deep eyes gave him a cold expression, but when he smiled slightly, his face transformed entirely.
For a moment, Lily admired him like a work of art, shivering with guilt as if she were committing a sin.
Then the man, who had been shaking a duke’s feather back and forth, stopped smiling.
He was staring at her. Suspicion shadowed his face.
“How did you get in here?”
Rising to his full height, his broad shoulders made him look like a polo or rowing athlete.
He approached Lily as if she were a thief, commanding the space like the greenhouse’s owner.
“My cat came in,” she said.
“This cat?”
He didn’t seem to believe her. Lily, as if to prove it, called Purbol.
“Purbol, come here.”
But Purbol ignored her, meowing between the man’s legs.
The man’s expression grew colder. In desperation, Lily set down her notebook and clapped her hands.
“A cat that doesn’t recognize its owner,” he muttered.
When his patience had nearly run out, the cat dramatically jumped into Lily’s arms.
Relieved, Lily turned her gaze away from the man watching her. She had never felt such an uncomfortable stare before.
Yet the man’s voice, soft yet commanding, called her again.
“If you leave like this, you’ll definitely run away,” he said, picking up the notebook Lily had dropped.
“I’m not running away.”
Scraps of newspaper clippings fluttered from the notebook. He didn’t miss the tiny letters.
“Belmore Hotel opening, art exhibition owned by the Belmore family… the greedy Belmores?”
He even painstakingly read the crumpled pieces of paper Lily held.
“Are you a stalker of the Belmore family, ma’am?”
Lily shook her reddened face.
“I… I was just keeping them for the convent.”
“Ah, good. Even if the world has gone corrupt, if a nun lies, I might stop believing in God entirely.”
It seemed he had known Lily’s lie from the start—that she lived at the convent, that she wasn’t staying here.
“The Belmore family will try to push the convent into the countryside. We can’t just sit back and do nothing, can we?”
He stepped closer, and Lily caught the faint scent of cigar smoke and cologne.
She hesitated but kept talking. Excessive embarrassment often leads to brazen boldness. After all, she hadn’t committed a crime and had no reason to cower.
“The convent will file a lawsuit. We’ll write letters to the Queen and the Prime Minister. We won’t let the Belmores have their way.”
Lily’s confident words drew a mocking smile from him.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Facing the Belmores? That convent was built on their land, wasn’t it?”
His tone was as matter-of-fact as explaining 1 plus 1 to a child.
“No need for long words—you’ll have to give up the convent.”
“Why do you think that? You don’t even know how cruel the Belmores are! Do you think you are the Belmores?”
He checked his pocket watch, sighed softly, and Lily crossed her arms, staring him down like an interrogator.
Their standoff didn’t last long.
Suddenly, loud footsteps and a hysterical male voice echoed through the greenhouse.
“The master told me to leave the greenhouse door open! Why is it closed?”
Peering between the huge palm trees, it was the hotel manager’s voice.
“And that thief cat! Just wait, I’ll make sure you never do this again—legs and all…”
Both their gazes fell on Purbol. Judging by the voice, it was clear that both Lily and the cat would face consequences if caught.
Swallowing nervously, Lily quickly shoved the man behind the display.
“What are you—”
“Stay still, please!”
Lily ended up pressed atop him because she hadn’t let go of his coat.
Her bangs brushed his forehead, but there was no time for that now.
“I heard something over here.”
The manager’s angry voice was nearing the display.
Holding her breath, Lily couldn’t help but let out a quiet exhale.
A shiver ran down the man’s spine.
“Do you know how ridiculous this looks?”
“Quiet! We’ll get caught!”
“Nun, you too…”
Lily tugged his shirt until her hands went white. His body grew hot instantly.
“Shh!”
Startled when her hand brushed his mouth, he froze. Lily was about to tell him to stay still when she noticed a pair of shoes blocking their path and quickly covered her mouth.
“Who’s there? This is Lord Belmore’s private greenhouse.”
Hearing “Lord Belmore’s private greenhouse,” he sighed, his warm breath brushing against Lily’s face.
He gently removed her hands from his shirt and rose from the floor, still keeping Lily perched atop him.
Before she could come up with an excuse, he spoke in a remarkably calm voice:
“I didn’t know this was a place I shouldn’t enter.”
“Huh?”
More shocked than Lily, the manager had forgotten all manners and gaped. He had seen many nobles secretly mingling with maids but never imagined Lord Belmore doing the same.
“I’ll be leaving soon.”
Lord Belmore acted like a skilled actor playing another person. The manager, not oblivious, nodded politely, even closing the greenhouse door behind them.
An awkward silence fell between the two. His chest peeked through his shirt; her hair was disheveled. They looked like scandalous lovers trying to resume the appearance of a proper gentleman and lady.
Lily brushed the dirt from her apron. One never knew who might come in next. He watched her face closely.
“Thank you. I didn’t expect you to hide me.”
Instead of answering, he stared at her as if she were a rabbit.
“You look ridiculous.”
He handed her a handkerchief.
Only then did Lily realize she had been wiping her face with dirty hands. The silk handkerchief was perfectly folded and smelled nice.
“T-Thank you. Is it gone now?”
The handkerchief was far more luxurious than anything she had known before. Until now, she only knew the handkerchiefs Uncle Oliver kept in his pocket alongside coins, nails, or peppermint candy.
“Let’s go. If we stay longer, we’ll really be late.”
He walked behind her. Though they exited the greenhouse at different paces, Lily had no idea where to go.
“This way. A hotel guest who doesn’t even know the way out.”
When Lily hesitated, he went ahead.
The hotel was crowded, carriages lined up outside. Lily had never noticed this view from the garden trees.
People kept getting in and out of lavish carriages.
Amidst the chaos, Lily looked out of place, clutching the cat and notebook under her arm.
He could have mocked her for being a nun.
She tried to pull down the stiff sleeves of her checkered wool dress, but they rolled back up in vain.
Finally tearing her gaze from the worldly scene, Lily looked around for the man—but he had already disappeared.
It felt as if she had been under a spell.
She tucked the handkerchief into her apron and left the hotel, followed proudly by the plump, round-faced cat.
