Chapter 64: Questions

  The rest of the late morning Lily was doing some administrative work with the nobles inside the mayor’s chamber. Luckily, they’d already handled quite a bit yesterday, back when she’d stood there as the Princess and laid out the first plans for how the city should be structured. Because of that, her main priority now was answering open questions and pushing even more responsibility onto Gideon and the others, since she’d urged them to speed everything up and had openly told them that she expected trouble in the near future.

  Contrary to what Lily had expected, the nobles didn’t panic or grow nervous. Instead, they reacted as if they’d already anticipated something like this. In hindsight, that made sense, since Lily had just conquered a major city from an already existing kingdom, and a reaction was inevitable. Also, they were only slightly surprised when she stated that she expected the Ecclesia Regnum to be the first faction to attack. That, however, triggered an unexpected response from Nathanel Veyth, who seemed to take it as an even greater incentive to take responsibility for strengthening the city’s defenses.

  Lily tasked him with getting an overview of Tiara’s actual forces for the day, though she wasn’t entirely sure how that would turn out. After her open claim, some of the city guard had sworn loyalty to her outright, and after she’d beaten up the other half together with Thirra, they’d sworn a more reluctant kind of loyalty as well. There were also the adventurers and the mage guild to consider, though they could’ve already left the city overnight, since Lily might not have been their preferred version of a new city ruler.

  She figured she’d be smarter once she finally had a proper overview. In the end, she needed to weed out internal problems first if she wanted to defend the city against outside forces.

  After everyone had enough to do for the day, Lily excused herself together with Tessa and left the town hall.

  With a tired sigh, Lily looked at the girl walking beside her and asked, “And did you learn something? I know this stuff’s really boring, and it’s probably not what you expected when I took you as my apprentice.”

  Tessa, who’d stood beside Lily the entire morning, looked at least a bit fitter now. She was no longer the groggy mess Lily had woken up and dragged to Tiara earlier. Her posture was steadier, and her steps had more confidence to them.

  “Ehm… I think so…?” Tessa said, uncertain.

  Lily laughed softly. “Sorry. I don’t think you need to learn politics for now, but it’ll help you later. No, tell me what you observed while we were talking about the administrative stuff.”

  The Government Square around them was already busy. Despite the change in power, Tiara continued as usual. Important looking people hurried across the square, pointedly ignoring the elf and the girl walking through it. Even more guards than in the morning were moving through the area, and at least they were still doing their jobs, which meant Lily could probably count them among her forces. And civilians passed through the streets without hesitation, going about their daily routines as if nothing had changed.

  They walked a few more steps before Lily stopped, and Tessa looked up at her. “Observed? You mean… like what they did?”

  Before she answered, Lily looked down into Tessa’s eyes. Sunlight reflected in them, catching their deep ruby color. They weren’t the flat, lifeless red of a gemstone locked behind glass. They were alive, layered with depth, darker at the edges and brighter toward the center, as if light were struggling to escape from something buried far beneath.

  They’re… fascinating.

  “I mean everything,” Lily said. “Just tell me what you noticed. Or did you sleep through the last few hours?”

  Tessa blushed slightly. “Of course not…”

  She broke the eye contact and looked down at her feet, thinking for a moment. Then she looked back up and began to speak.

  She knew the names of every noble. What they were wearing, how they looked in general, their accents, their eye colors, and more. She described how they smelled, how they behaved in different situations, and who reacted to what during the discussion.

  “And also,” Tessa added hesitantly, “the man. Nathanel Veyth was looking toward me far more than the others. I think he was interested in me…”

  She stopped abruptly. Everything she’d said seemed to hit her at once, and she realized just how much of her surroundings she’d memorized without noticing. When she focused on it, she could vividly relive the entire situation again.

  Lily just grinned. “Well, my apprentice, that wasn’t bad at all. I wasn’t sure if this would also be true for you, but vampire races normally have heightened perception. And it seems yours are on a much higher level than I’d expected. So, you’ve got no excuse in the future if you can’t memorize rune patterns.”

  Tessa blushed again. “I wouldn’t…”

  Lily waved a hand and cut her off. “I was joking. Again.”

  She sighed, the grin fading as her expression shifted into something more thoughtful, and a little more worried.

  “Since we’re here in Tiara, we’ve got a few more things to do,” Lily said. “You told me yesterday that you were living with your mother here, and that you’d been having trouble focusing on details of your… old life. I don’t want to just cut you off from your former life, even if you choose to walk with me in the future. So, since your condition’s much better than yesterday, can you remember more about it now?”

  She paused briefly before adding, “Because our next step should be a visit to your home.”

  The blush vanished from Tessa’s face. Her expression turned serious, and her shoulders stiffened slightly.

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  “Yes,” she said slowly. “It’s easier today to remember, but…”

  “But?” Lily asked.

  Tessa hesitated, fingers curling lightly into the fabric of her coat. “But I… I don’t know. It’s not really necessary that you sacrifice time to come with me. I can go alone, wrap things up, pick up a few things, and then come back.”

  She hurried on, words spilling out faster. “My mom will be delighted if she hears that I got a unique class, so there shouldn’t be any problem…”

  That’s not the full truth, Lily realized.

  There was something off. Not fear exactly, but avoidance. And the way Tessa spoke about visiting her home felt like she was trying to gently push Lily away from it.

  Lily still had that persistent feeling in her chest, that told her she was responsible now for the girl. So, she smiled.

  “Ahhh, no problem at all,” Lily said lightly. “You know what the best part of being in charge is?”

  Tessa looked up, surprised. “What?”

  “You get to manage your time however you want.”

  She grinned at her apprentice and acted as if she hadn't noticed anything unusual at all.

  “Come on,” Lily said. “Let’s go to your home. I’ll apologize to your mom for stealing her daughter away as my apprentice.”

  And for everything else, she added silently. Whether she likes it or not.

  She looked at Tessa expectantly.

  After a small sigh, the girl nodded. “I… I live this way,” she said, then turned and started down one of the roads leading away from the Government Square.

  ???

  The streets of Tiara felt familiar to Tessa, yet in a strangely distant way they also felt foreign at the same time. It was not only the streets that were strange. Ever since yesterday, everything had become strange. Walking through paths she had crossed countless times before now felt like doing it for the first time in her life.

  The buildings looked different. Their colors were more vibrant, and every shade held more depth than she remembered. Even the people looked different. She could see that they were alive. Not just feel it, but actually see it. The blood moved beneath their skin in slow, steady rhythms, tracing paths she somehow understood without knowing how. Once she noticed it, she could not stop noticing it.

  So, this is how I see the world now…

  It felt like she had stepped into a new world yesterday, one that had always existed but had been hidden from her until now. At least the fear was less than before. The crushing panic and the heavy guilt she had carried when she finally went to bed in the Princess’s mansion had dulled. They were still there, sitting quietly in her chest, but they no longer overwhelmed her with every step.

  And that was probably because of who was walking beside her. The Princess was there. Or Lady Greenwood. Or Lilithia Nocturne. Tessa didn’t know which name she should be thinking when she looked at her. It still felt hard to simply call her Lilithia, even if that was what she wanted.

  She also felt a strange sense of belonging toward her, mixed with a kind of gratitude that made her chest feel warm in an unfamiliar way. The Princess had somehow given her the feeling that she mattered, that someone truly cared about her. But the feeling was complicated, because even though Tessa could think more clearly now, confusion still lingered, and the fear refused to disappear completely.

  The first time she had seen Lady Greenwood, she had been fascinated. A beautiful, exotic elf. Tessa had seen many interesting people at the inn over the years, merchants, adventurers, even nobles, but something about the elf had drawn her attention immediately. And she had felt horrible when she’d called the Church on her. But at the time, it had felt natural. You didn’t disobey the Church. No one did. It was an unwritten law of the world. If you went against them, the goddess would judge you. That was what everyone believed. That was what Tessa had believed too.

  Then she had come back with the cake, intending to excuse herself before the elf, because she knew what she had done had been wrong. And the image she had held of the exotic beauty had shattered. Standing in an ocean of blood. Laughing. Covered in gore. That moment had been the first time Tessa had felt true, primal fear in her life. And that was despite having been in dangerous situations before. This had been different. It was not the fear of dying. It was the fear of realizing that something far beyond her understanding existed, and that it was looking right at her.

  It was like seeing behind the mask for the first time, she thought, while trying to process all the new impressions around her.

  Only later had she learned that it hadn’t even been the only mask.

  The elf had also been a demon princess. Lilithia Nocturne. When she had first appeared clad in fearsome armor with a skull-shaped helmet, Tessa had assumed she truly came from hell. Later, when she had seen her real self, she had struggled to believe that something so beautiful could also be so… deadly.

  She glanced up at the woman walking beside her.

  The blond hair. The calm steps. The mesmerizing green eyes. All of it felt real. But the other form had been real too.

  So, who are you really? Tessa wondered. Who took me as her apprentice?

  Was there another persona behind the kindness? Was she some kind of goddess who could change on a whim? Tessa had never heard of anyone who could simply change their body and race completely. That shouldn’t even be possible. The soul was bound to the anchor in the body. At least, that was what she had learned at school.

  After walking for a while longer, the street beneath their feet began to change. The clean cobblestone road slowly turned into a dusty path. They were leaving the inner districts now and moving toward the outer parts of the city. The poorer ones.

  Tessa felt immediately the shift in the air. The mix of familiarity and unease that settled into her stomach.

  As they came closer to her home, her thoughts were still spiraling around the Princess. Somehow, she was sure that the demon princess was the true form of the woman beside her. She could not explain it, but she felt it deep inside. And if that was true, then what about the rest?

  The kindness. The patience. The gentle words that had calmed her down yesterday.

  She had always tried to believe in people. She had always tried to see the good in them. And that was exactly why this thought frightened her so much. She was afraid that one day she might learn that her new, kind master was nothing more than the monster she had seen standing in the blood-soaked lobby of the inn. And even worse, she was afraid that staying at her side would turn Tessa into the same kind of monster.

  The excitement she felt about her unique class dimmed slightly at the thought. A unique class was something people across the world would kill for. And yet the system had recognized her as [Evil]. Tessa had always believed in the good of the world, in doing the right thing, and now she was terrified that she might be destined to do evil simply because it was in her nature.

  It didn’t help that she had killed her own boss in a blood frenzy right after her awakening of course. Even if the Princess had calmed her down afterward, that truth didn’t disappear.

  The buildings around them grew smaller. Stone walls gave way to wooden houses and simple huts. Tessa slowed her pace without realizing it, her heart beating faster as the feeling of familiarity deepened.

  Then she saw her house. Her steps slowed even more, almost coming to a stop. A new fear stirred deep inside her, one she hadn’t dared to face until now. What if the gods had marked her as [Evil] not because of her class, not because she was undead, but because it had always been who she truly was? What if that darkness had been buried inside her all along, waiting for the chance to surface?

  She glanced at the elf walking beside her once more.

  “We are here…” she said quietly.

  She stepped forward and reached for the door, hoping desperately that her mother wasn’t at home. Because more than anything else, she didn’t want the Princess to see that maybe, just maybe, Tessa herself was a monster too. And because the feelings she had toward her mother were more than conflicted.