The Villainess Will Not Bring Dishonor To Her Family

121 - Between The Lines - Part 1

If they want to hunt House Salender down that bad, I'll give them the opportunity. I'll give Reynold and Curtis a warning about checking out for poisons carefully for a while. It didn't take much to make my father agree. There is so much more value in protecting the northern areas, and since Crinia decided to come from our side it is only fair that they're lead right back to House Salender's territory. It'll probably keep Gilbert and his parents busy for a while.

As a final part of work for the day we prepared a speech to inform the knights and soldiers of the enemy alliance in a gentler way that seeing the enemy banners appear on the battlefield without any warning. Some of the soldiers had probably already recognized the copper like skin of Princess Catarina and were spreading rumors. Our current job was to make sure that this didn't spread panic.

Honestly, facing only Headal is... nigh impossible. We do not have anywhere near enough troops to make a work schedule long enough to let people rest, and I have no doubt that Headal strike forces will move through the mountains while the main army distracts us here. The sheer difference in numbers puts us at an enormous disadvantage. Still, we need to hold them off and make sure they do not get to set foot on our land or hurt the citizens. Even if Alstair and the king are corrupt beyond measure, we still have our loyalty to the country itself and to the people under our protection. No enemy shall trample that, not even a coalition of all the countries that surround us.

—-*—-

Asher's Point Of View

The Tepet heir, Lionel Tepet, decided to give his life for my lady yesterday. While it certainly seemed to some as though it was merely based on logic, the Tep- Lionel Tepet is a bit more emotional than that. I'm certain that there was a bit more to it than that, for when Lily-sama passed out he had clutched her close. Also, it seems as though he knows milady's secret as well, and that the two of them are close enough to argue casually over pointless things.

When milady came up to me and asked if the cat ear headband was really cute, it was pretty clear that someone else had called it cute. If said person had been a girl or someone of a social rank below her, then she likely would not have cared, and the only other one with guts enough to say something like that to her is the same person that said she was light when she wanted to be called heavy: Lionel Tepet. In other words, Lionel Tepet had been calling her cute, and milady was shocked over this to the point she asked me for reference. It may not have been what was asked by her directly, but when a girl stands in front of you with hints of a blush still on her cheeks and an uncertain body-language and asks something like that, then nothing else could've happened. Though, Lady Lily does not want to be seen as cute, it seems like it did affect her a bit. 

All in all, the two of them seem to get along.

—-*—-

When I got to Lady Lily's room a maid stood patiently outside spacing out. I'm surprised that they still have a maid as her, which looks like a minor noble, but if she is brave enough then one cannot complain. Still, the maid stood outside. Now, I have multiple options for guarding my lady in this situation. First of all, I can stand outside. This won't let me keep an eye on any on her though, and Lionel was looking rather paranoid when he gave me directions to the room.

Secondly, I could step inside and close the door behind me. If Lily had been a man, this would have been the optimal solution. However, she is a woman. A man in the same room as a sleeping woman is not acceptable, and it will not be found so if the Tepet heir returns.

Thus, I open the door a bit and stand in the middle of the door, peering in at Lily who unexpectedly doesn't seem to care at all. She's sleeping heavily, and only lets out a soft tired groan once in a while. Vitis does come by at one point looking pale and ragged. He doesn't speak as much as he just walks up to me and peeks into the room briefly to check up on our Lady. He puts a hand on my shoulder and looks into my eyes with a saying expression.