Chapter 81

Lilian was a bit annoyed. Was it because the Marquis didn’t come to greet her? Not really. After all, it wasn’t like that old guy had ever been overly concerned. Lately, he’d at least pretended to show some interest, but he wasn’t going to suddenly change overnight. So she didn’t really bother with that part.

The reason Lilian was annoyed was because of the incident that had happened that morning at the inn. Exhausted, she had collapsed and managed to crash until morning. But then the sunlight burst in through the window and the loud noises spoiled her beauty sleep.

“…What the heck?”

Rubbing her sleep-heavy eyes, Lilian got up and looked around. But Catherine, who was supposed to be right beside her, was nowhere to be found. Had she woken up first? But the voices coming from outside the door were too concerning.

“…! Can’t you just check for a moment?!”

“She hasn’t coughed yet, Young Lady.”

“Hah… Miss Catherine, I respect you as a knight.”

“Please lower your tone. I’m just a mere maid.”

“Forget that, just make sure my safety is confirmed.”

“Are you suspecting me?”

“….”

What kind of conversation is this? Lilian thought as she trudged toward the door and opened it. There stood a knight who looked at least two heads taller than Catherine, having a chat with her.

“Young Lady!”

“Young Lady, have you coughed?”

“Yeah. But…. What’s all the fuss?”

“It seems His Excellency the Marquis has released the knight order.”

“My father?”

Wow, less than a day has passed and he’s already unleashed the knights on the streets. Ridiculous! But remembering her father’s ever-cautious nature made Lilian just sigh. She then glanced up at the knight and saw…it was Sir Kaelan.

“Sir Kaelan.”

“Yes, Young Lady.”

“You’ve confirmed that I’m safe, right? You can go back with the other knights.”

“Bu…but…”

“Catherine is enough. You know that, right?”

“Umm.”

Sir Kaelan, who had clamped his mouth shut at her words, let out a small sigh. Given that Catherine could keep her safe better than the entire knight order of the House of Portus, it was quite understandable for him to react that way.

“Understood. I will report to His Excellency as well.”

“Okay.”

Yawn! Lilian let out a big yawn and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Apparently, she was more tired than she thought, as the urge to snooze was still strong.

“Catherine, I’m going back to sleep for a bit.”

“Yes. Ah, Sir Kaelan, could you call for a carriage?”

“Um. Understood.”

With that, Lilian closed the door of her room and slyly crawled back into bed. The bed was much harder than what she was used to, compared to the Marquis’s, but it was still comfortable enough. At least it served its purpose. Given that her furniture always came from the best of the best in the Marquis’s residence, that was quite a generous review.

By the way, Catherine had woken up and looked perfectly composed. Truly, Catherine was Catherine… Lilian thought before drifting off again, and she woke up three hours later. After getting up and having a mix of breakfast and lunch, Lilian realized something was off about their surroundings.

“…Aren’t we going down a strange road?”

“Plus, the carriage is shaking a lot. We’re not going fast, though…?”

“Ugh!?”

Feeling something strange, Catherine opened the window and popped outside. She climbed up on top of the carriage like she did when dealing with the coachman the night before, perching herself on the driver’s seat. The startled coachman glanced at her in confusion. But then… Catherine, looking quite familiar with the coachman’s face, shouted his name right away.

“Sir Kaelan.”

“Uh, long time no see, Miss Catherine.”

“It’s only been three hours.”

“…Sir Kaelan?”

“Yes, Young Lady. You can rest easy now.”

Why is that person suddenly out of the driver’s seat? Lilian thought blankly as she peeked out the window, spotting Sir Kaelan’s awkward face staring back at her and Catherine.

“First of all… I’ll drive the carriage.”

“Uh, sorry! I’ve never driven a carriage before. I thought I’d be fine since I have experience riding horses!”

“Horses and carriages are different.”

The natural voices of the two from the driver’s seat reached Lilian’s ears. She knew that Catherine was already popular within the mansion, but it seemed she was also friends with the knights. Considering that the knights knew about Catherine’s strength, it made sense in a way. After all, those warriors tended to admire strength over social class, gender, or age.

As soon as Catherine took the reins, the carriage stabilized almost instantaneously. The bumpy ride smoothed out, and the road began to get familiar again. Sure, the path Sir Kaelan had taken wasn’t completely off-course, but it wasn’t exactly the best road for driving a carriage.

“By the way, are you back for good?”

“No, I just returned because the Academy is on break.”

“Ah, so you’ll go back in the second semester?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, I thought Apatem Academy would be something special, but it seems pretty much the same as anywhere else.”

“Well, life is pretty similar everywhere, isn’t it?”

“You’re right about that. Hahaha!”

At Sir Kaelan’s hearty laughter, Lilian’s eyes narrowed slightly. Sure, Catherine hadn’t shown any interest in men until now, but Sir Kaelan was decent-looking and came from a good family. Plus, given that he admired Catherine’s strength, there was a more than human-like fondness there. Of course, whether that would develop into romantic feelings was an entirely different story.

“I wish Miss Catherine would stay for good.”

“When you graduate, you’ll be back, right?”

“Doesn’t that mean I’ll be there for three years? Oh wait, now it’s two and a half years, right?”

With those somewhat loaded words, even if there was no chemistry between the two, Lilian couldn’t help but feel a bit miffed. Was it jealousy or possessiveness? Honestly, for Lilian, both felt like unfamiliar emotions, making them hard to distinguish.

While she let out a small sigh, they arrived at the mansion, and soon enough, Lilian confronted the Marquis of Portus.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, not really.”

“…Looks like something is bothering you.”

“There wasn’t anything, by the way Father, about this matter…”

“Hmm.”

“Please investigate with the possibility of it being the Demon race in mind.”

“The Demon race?”

The Marquis of Portus looked at Lilian as if to say, “What on earth are you talking about?” So, Lilian quietly explained the events that had happened yesterday. How she had slain a demon at the church where there was an inverted cross hung on display. And how the horses of the carriage had freaked out like they were on a weird potion.

“Hmmm… If you say so, I understand.”

Even after hearing all her explanations, his expression wasn’t fully convinced, but the Marquis nodded readily. After all, it wasn’t too difficult a request. Satisfied by the Marquis’s nodding agreement, Lilian left his room, and once the door was slowly closed behind her, she let out a quiet sigh.

Considering how quickly the plot was progressing, the most necessary thing was declaring the existence of the Demon race. Hardly anyone would dismiss a declaration from someone as high-ranking as the Marquis of Portus. By announcing the existence of demons, the Church would push themselves to hand the Sacred Sword to someone deserving, and taking Catherine to that Church would be the end of it.

While the original story had completely flipped, if they didn’t stop the demons and defeat the Demon King, there wouldn’t be a brighter future in store. Of course, Catherine appeared to be much stronger than the original Prince anyway. She would probably become even more formidable once she received the Sacred Sword. Plus, if Yulia got involved, it would be nearly impossible to stop them.

…Just thinking about Catherine and Yulia being inseparable all day made her blood boil, but still, she couldn’t just go into a hideous fit of jealousy and destroy the world. It was just a temporary loan. Catherine would eventually return to her. Holding onto that thought for comfort, Lilian quietly made her way to her room.

To put it bluntly, she wanted to confess her feelings to Catherine right now and pin her down. Who do you belong to? she’d want to ask. But considering that there was no guarantee Catherine would just let herself be pinned down, and also that her feelings weren’t fully sorted out yet, it felt a bit daunting to act on it.

“Miss. You should wash up first.”

“Oh, Susan.”

While she was lost in thought, Susan, the maid, who was the only one who could talk to Lilian aside from Catherine, caught her wrist as Lilian was heading to her room. Ignoring Lilian’s mumbles about wanting to talk to Catherine first, Susan started pulling her to the bath. Knowing that Susan was Catherine’s teacher, Lilian didn’t resist and followed her obediently.