The Villainess Will Not Bring Dishonor To Her Family

162 - Brothers

Lily's Point of View

We step out from the meeting room, leaving the princess and Lady Tepet to finish up any remaining matters.

To be quite honest, my discomfort around the Princess increases the more I know about her ability.

I was always quite fond of magic, and I never had any problems about using it for surveillance or information gathering... but the magic in my former life used for this was far more flawed. You would often get imprecise or unrelated information, as you simply wouldn't know the correct questions to ask. When you don't know the correct questions to ask, you miss a lot of things that could be crucial. Thus using it for spying on people was... limited. Quite far from the way princess Emilia has used her magic, to gain such detailed information on both the royal affairs and House Tepet's private matters.

To be honest, I find her ability disgusting.

To know that the ghosts stalk you every moment of the day and night with or without your permission makes my skin crawl... it takes away every little bit of time I have to be myself and express myself in private.

Those ghosts become nothing more than immoral and rude spies.

...of course, I am not ignorant to the power their knowledge brings. If not for that power, then Emilia wouldn't have proof of the royal corruption, knowledge of the underground tax system or the final condemning 'evidence' against House Salender... nor would she have been able to arrange everything for the battle in the throne room.

Yet, my stomach knots up with frustration at the thought of having been watched while I cried pitifully, when I made that indecent joke at Lionel... or when I was flustered as he called me cute. Even when he ended up saying, that he thought his love for me was the reason he had turned on Alstair.

Those are things I want nobody else to know. It only makes it worse that these things have likely been told to a child, who is still too young to fully comprehend the consequences of her actions.

...Even so, I suppose I need to focus on the matter at hand rather than my own pride. I made the matter of Asher's possible heritage quite clear during the meeting just now, but Asher didn't seem to be paying attention. I even tried to force him into the conversation by snapping at him to fill up the tea cup, but the moment he was done with the task, he stopped listening again. Of course, I may be wrong about all of this, but if I am not, then it may end up as a part of the peace negotiations.

I glance to Asher and Magdalin as they head with me to the north wing, where our rooms have been arranged for us. Asher still seems somewhat spaced out.

"Asher... did you pay attention to the conversation in the meeting room?"

I want to ensure that he's not just acting calm. He didn't look affected at all during the meeting, so he might not have realized it might have been about him.

Unexpectedly Asher gives a nod of confirmation, though followed with a bitter look.

"Yes I did, my Lady."

His eyes shift to me, but I don't see any conflict in his eyes. How could he not be conflicted over this?

"I suppose I realized about the same time as you. However, I don't intend on changing the path of life I have decided on and fought for. No matter whether or not I happen to be the missing Prince, I have no intention of becoming nobility."