Chapter 31
Crystal Palace
Lily arrived with Cecil Hobert at a magnificent glass greenhouse, about a two-hour journey from Londinium along the outskirts.
For her first outing, Lily wore the finest dress she had, complete with a hat adorned with real silk ribbons and a shawl. Compared to Cecil’s attire, however, she might as well have been a country mouse.
The moment they entered the fortress made of thin glass shards, a warm air unlike the outside brushed against her cheeks.
The previous world seemed to collapse the moment she stepped inside the exhibition hall. Even setting aside personal feelings toward Belmore, she had to admit the structure’s grandeur.
On one side, a Ferris wheel slowly turned, while colorful international flags and streamers fluttered in the breeze. In front, a podium had been set up for the Prime Minister’s speech.
“You can wander now. I’ll greet the guests alongside my father. Enjoy your rare free time, but don’t forget to be back here by five.”
Among the crowd gathered near the podium was Christopher.
He sat on a chair arranged to the side, sipping tea as he waited for the speech.
When the Prime Minister arrived, the crowd murmured and watched him.
Yet Christopher’s gaze was fixed on a woman in deep green. His eyes followed her movements closely.
She, however, seemed unaware of his attention, never looking back.
He wanted to stop her and see her face. Turning to Rufus, he said without looking at him:
“I’ll only greet the Prime Minister. You return to the city first.”
Rufus opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it and nodded.
Lily felt like a bird freed from a small cage. At first, she walked with small steps, but soon moved almost as if she were running, flitting from place to place.
“Are you interested in typewriters?”
A young woman spoke to Lily as she paused at a typewriter display.
“Oh, no. I’m just curious.”
“These are the latest models. We also repair typewriters,” the woman said, offering a business card. Lily accepted it awkwardly.
“Miss Typewriter?”
“My real name is Gina Tolkachev, but everyone calls me that,” she replied confidently. Perhaps she had invented the nickname to conceal her foreign-sounding name.
“If you ever want one, feel free to visit our shop.”
After exploring the typewriters, Lily bought ice cream with her very first own money and sat in front of the crystal fountain.
Perhaps due to the legend that it grants love, the nymph in the fountain already held a jar full of coins. Lily fumbled in her pocket, tossing a penny—but missed.
Clink—
She tried again, and this time it fell close to the jar.
Through the streams of water cascading from the marble fountain, a man’s figure appeared.
“Hello.”
Christopher, dressed immaculately in a crisp suit, greeted her first. Lily’s round eyes blinked and quickly looked away, embarrassed.
Realizing it only revealed her shyness further, she hastily responded:
“Hello.”
Christopher smirked. Her lively eyes and faint, elusive smile were endlessly charming.
“You actually returned my greeting.”
“There’s no way to kiss with so many people around.”
Just then, sunlight struck between them, creating a small rainbow over the fountain.
Lily paused, mesmerized, staring at the rainbow. Everything here was so beautiful, she found herself lost in it repeatedly.
He appeared completely unbothered by her teasing or distractions, instead extending his hand toward her.
“This fountain might make you the richest in Londinium. Mind lending me a coin?”
After a moment of hesitation, Lily took a penny from her leather wallet.
“Too precious to toss a gold coin.”
“If it grants a wish, a florin is not too much,” she said, placing the coin in his hand. He dropped it into the jar in one swift motion.
“I don’t believe in that stuff.”
“Then why did you throw it?”
“Just in case you ran out of coins.”
Lily felt a strange warmth at his words. Sunlight reflected on the ivory-colored fountain, and the mist from the falling water touched her cheeks.
“I have plenty of money,” she said.
He smiled, pulling his lips slightly in amusement, as if observing something trivial.
“So, you spend your hard-earned money recklessly. Shouldn’t you learn how to use it properly?”
“I at least know how to save it.”
“The foolish people I know would throw coins into a fountain instead of a bank.”
He was usually a man who rarely smiled. His laughter always had a purpose, a theatrical quality.
This laugh was different. It shattered softly with the sound of the fountain’s water.
“Then starting today, you’re one of the foolish ones too.”
“That’s the rudest thing I’ve ever heard,” she said, though he still smiled, as if they had been close for a long time.
Lily realized belatedly that she had stared at his face far too long.
“I have to go.”
“I never held you back.”
Her cheeks felt sunburned by the late afternoon light. Talking to him made her feel irresistibly drawn in. He was a man who knew how to handle women.
Soon it would be time to meet Miss Cecil. Lily turned sharply and ran toward the clock tower.
As she ran, she only noticed the emptiness when she arrived at the clock tower and frantically checked her pockets.
Her wallet was gone.
She had thought the leather strap might be loose, but she had no idea where she lost it.
There was no way to get another train ticket back to Londinium.
Even knowing it was gone, she rifled through her pockets, hoping she hadn’t searched properly.
Where could it have fallen?
She had it when looking at the typewriters—she put the business card in there.
The fountain—most likely.
It was almost five, and the crowd had thinned, though Lily didn’t notice, her mind focused solely on finding the wallet.
“Looking for this?”
At the end of the path she retraced, he stood there, his shadow covering her.
He didn’t seem to have been waiting, but appeared composed, as if he had expected her return.
“Give it.”
Lily snatched her dirty leather wallet, with a strap partly detached, from his hand. She felt embarrassed at how worn it was.
“Shouldn’t a ‘thank you’ come first? I may be out of copper coins, but I’m not a thief.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Christopher struggled to suppress a smile. The lovely girl had reclaimed her wallet, her expression serious again.
“Trying to hear a proper ‘thank you,’ and you just missed the last train to Londinium.”
Christopher closed the lid of his pocket watch. Lily, flustered, clutched her wallet and looked around. Few people remained inside the exhibition hall.
“All carriages to Londinium are probably fully booked.”
“No! If I don’t return today, I’ll be kicked out of the hotel.”
Lily walked briskly toward the exit. Seeing this, he strode after her and stopped her.
“You don’t mean to walk there, do you?”
“I’ll walk. Someone will be waiting at the station.”
“You can’t make it on foot.”
He pointed to a car parked outside the exhibition hall—the same type she had seen once in front of a hat shop.
He pulled a key from his coat pocket and started the engine.
He extended his hand to help her into the high vehicle.
“This your car?”
“Strictly speaking, no.”
“Then why are you giving me a ride?”
Lily wondered if it was some scheme. She was in the suburbs, and he was a man—also the first man she had noticed in the outside world.
“You were the one who said we might be kicked out.”
“Then just to the train station, please.”
He scoffed, as if reading her mind.
“Do you think the young lady who abandoned you here will really wait at the station?”
Christopher frowned.
He already knew Cecil Hobert had been taking her around, so there was no need to intervene in her maid’s matters personally; reports sufficed.
“Who gets a ride is my decision. I don’t want to take two fools in a car without knowing how much fuel it has.”
He drove, speaking indifferently.
Naturally, the car veered away from the train station.
The monotonous pasture scenery flashed past, followed by gray, gloomy buildings dusted with coal ash.
Lily clutched her seatbelt in silence, tense as the car rolled. He glanced at her and said:
“Just like a horse, except it doesn’t eat grass or drink water.”
It was certainly less bumpy than a carriage, and the leather seat was soft. Still, Lily gripped the belt tightly, silent.
“It’ll take an hour. Hope the fuel doesn’t run out in the meantime.”
As if cursed, the car soon stopped in the suburbs of Avery. Lily, startled by the sudden halt, looked around anxiously.
