The Villainess Will Not Bring Dishonor To Her Family

147 - The Meeting of Wind and Water - Part 3

Eric Celeste's Point Of View

Lily is still seething with anger, and her attempts of covering it up aren't covering it fully. Even if she hides it you can still feel the tension around her. The way her breathing and walking is forced makes it seem artificial. To be quite honest it is unsettling.

I am not comfortable with going into a meeting with Lily in this state even though I know she usually does well even under pressure.

As we walk to the great hall her hands end up clenching regularly, and her fiery stare is stiffly in front of her. At this point I have no idea what angered her, nor what could soothe her obvious fury.

'Are you alright? We can postpone the meeting if you need it,' had I offered her a way out of the situation she might charge into it rashly instead due to her overwhelming arrogance with these things.

"Perhaps it is better to postpone the meeting until people have settled down. Iris and Magdalin seemed quite upset."

This is the best way I can think of to give her a way out without having her be troublesome. Her answer? A dry, "once the meeting is over I will talk with them before I leave. I do not intend to stay overnight."

I will admit that I was not expecting this. My brows end up furrowing. I was expecting her to stay for at least a couple of days to discuss battle plans against Zocria.

"You will leave again so soon? You've spent a long time on the road, the knights will need rest."

I'm against her leaving so quickly, but Lily doesn't seem to care for my discomfort.

"Let them rest. When they've rested you can choose whether they should go back to the Tepet lands. My first priority is in the capital to deal with politics, after that I'll return to the front line."

She says out the last phrase with an incredibly vicious sneer, signifying her usual contempt for politics.

"I trust you with Zocria, but Headal has some troublesome individuals that need to be dealt with."

Her lips curl into a frown at those words like a hound out for blood. By her standards I thought she would be elated at the thought of a worthy opponent, so this anger means that someone did something... unpleasant.

On a slightly different topic... I understand that Lily probably got injured and that she needed another set of clothes, but did Lionel really have to choose clothes not only in the Tepet colors but also with his own personal coat of arms embroidered into the fabric?

If this is anything like placing a conquering flag on her then I'll need to have a very long conversation with the idiot about appropriate behavior.

I'm ripped from my train of thought as Lily freezes in place.

"Did you change your mind?" I ask without thinking any further. At least not until I saw her silhouette shrink and the anger dissipate.

He hand clenches over the embroidered coat of arms while her gaze flickers to the ground. Her mask cracks for a moment as her brows furrow. Those hardened eyes of her go soften in pain and... sorrow.

"Are you alright?"

As though she remembers she had frozen, she walks past me without a word, hiding her expressions from me.

"I am fine... I just remembered something," she says out carefully, but her hand is still clenched over the embroidery of Lionel's coat of arms.

Lionel, what did you do to make her remember you with such an expression?

"Is Lionel alright?"