A few days later

The house arrest had yet to finish, or maybe the Empress simply forgot it. He heard from the servants that the Empress is struggling to deal with the officials. So the chances of her forgetting to lift the ban were high. Still, Lucas was very bored. Although he could help Lilian with the paperwork if he wanted to, he was not a member of the Ageha family. There is always a risk of seeing confidential documents.

If it was anything very important, Lilian would show him anyway, but recently things are too peaceful. His gaze fell on Lilian, who was busy doing paperwork. He doesn’t understand how she can stay at a desk for so long.

Isn’t she bored?

“Sister!” A small girl rushed towards them at lightning speed.

Lucas blinked when he saw the young girl. Huh? Wasn’t she supposed to stay locked up a bit longer?

Lilian sighed deeply. “Who let you out?”

“It was my first brother.”

Lucas flinched when he heard those words. That guy is surely planning something; otherwise, it would be unnatural for that guy to do something like this.

“He probably wants me to owe him a favor. He must have known that I was trying to get Natalia out.” Lilian must have read his thoughts.

This is a problem with sharing a blood oath with another person. They end up being able to read the other party’s thoughts whenever they want. Then again, Lilian normally respects his privacy, so he forgets about it.

“Natalia, did your brother say anything?”

Lucas immediately noticed that she referred to that man as a stranger. The child, too, seemed to realize but just went along with it.

“He said he ordered some dresses for us to use for my birthday.”

At that comment, Lucas sighed deeply. Of course, that guy has to do the one thing Lilian hates the most. Then again, he is this type of person. If it is a gift from that guy, this is usually the time when Lilian would ask him to check it out for her. Lucas turned to leave, but Lilian stopped him.

“Lucas, stay.”

Huh?

“I see, then why don’t you go ahead of me? Take a look first.”

Lucas blinked, surprised. Wait, is she still angry at him? It is unlike her to give such tasks to anybody else. What is this? He feels slightly jealous.

Natalia’s eyes brightened. “I will find a pretty dress for you, sister!”

“I trust your good judgment.”

The moment the little girl left, Lilian threw the nearest object. Due to her strength, the item broke immediately.

“That guy, how dare he treat me like an ornament again?”

The last time he did this, he admitted that he gave those gifts to dress her like an ornament. If she attends the gathering with stuff he bought her, it will show he controls her. If she dresses lavishly, she will look like a spoilt brat.

“I don’t know why he bothers, and everybody knows what kind of person you are.”

They all know how frightening Lilian is. But some nobles still try to objectify her as a pretty vase.

Lilian continued to throw things, but Lucas went over and stopped her when she picked up a vase. Unfortunately she already

“That’s enough; what use is there losing your temper over this? Calm yourself, Lilian. You know if you do this, you will only behave the way he wants.”

At that comment, Lilian sighed and averted her gaze from him. “I know, but I get frustrated.”

“Should we sneak out?”

“Huh?”

“You need a break, staying in this place for too long.”

“If we go to the city-”

“Who said we are going to the city?”

…..

Two hours later.

He does not take her to another Kingdom on the safe side but ten cities away. Lucas’ gaze fell on the girl who was happily looking at the stalls. Quite some time has passed since he last saw her smile like that; there is something refreshing about it.

He made sure they both wore cloaks that could hide any distinct features. But even then, he could not mask Lilian’s strong presence. Thankfully nobody has noticed.

Others say she is the symbol for the word evil, but Lucas thought so otherwise. If she was not born with such a strange ability or had such violent nightmares, she would just be a normal girl.

“Lucas, look at this stall; they are selling such odd things.”

Lucas walked over to where she was and bent down. He blinked, surprised at the ornaments. Items with high magical property, merchants from the magician city?

Now that he thought about it, he used to help his grandfather a lot when he was younger. That old man ran a small workshop, and yet due to his skills as a craftsman, many rich customers came to their store. That was back before he became the most powerful magician before he discovered his abilities.

He picked up one of the ornaments and placed it on Lillian’s hair. It was the shape of a pegasus. “We will take this one.”

To his surprise, Lilian laughed. “Were you jealous of Natalia? When I said she could pick out my dress?”

Lucas looked away when she said those words. “It isn’t like that. But normally, you would ask me to check that stuff for you.”

Even more so since the gift game from that guy, normally she would ask him because he is strong enough to counter anything.

“Wouldn’t it fuel the rumors more if you did that?”

Gah- she knew about them?

“Normally, I turn a blind eye to gossip, but I never seem to miss any news regarding you. I wonder why.”

Lucas froze when he heard those words. Huh? Wait what? What did she just say there?

“Then I will get something for you too.”

“You don’t have t-” Lucas paused when he saw the small bag in her hands. That was way too fast, and he didn’t even see when she got her money out.

Lilian laughed again, and Lucas felt an odd tingling in his heart. Huh? What is this unnatural heartbeat? Also, what is with her? Why is she acting so carefree today? Sure Lilian lets her guard down around him, but this is the first time she is doing so much of it.

Lucas looked at her cautiously. He knew her so well, but this is the first time she has ever done something like this before?

He was about to say something when they heard a woman’s shriek.

“Can somebody stop him? Please its a thief-”

In the next second, Lilian was no longer beside him, Lucas cursed, but it was over rather quickly. Lilian managed to get there in time and restrained the thief.

The thief struggles, but Lilian is holding him tightly. She twisted one of the man’s arms behind him. The fight would have ended easily if the thief was not injured badly already. The smell of blood fills the air.

“Your-” The thief seemed surprised as he looked at Lilian’s face directly.

He broke free from Lilian’s grip and slashes upwards with his knife.

Lilian hissed in pain, and he felt the color drain from his face.

Lucas rushed forward and wrapped his cloak around Lilian. He raises his hand, and a large wave of magic appears in his hands. “Begone.” In the next second, the thief crumpled to the ground.

It seemed like somebody already called the guards since a stream of knights wearing official uniforms came by. Lucas simply pointed to the guy on the floor, and he turned to find the woman, but she was no longer there.

He frowned. Wait a moment, where did that person go? How is it possible that she escaped so quickly in a short amount of time? Sure, people motivated by fear will unnaturally move faster, but just now, she could not chase the thief.

Lucas intended to scan the surroundings more, but Lilian tugged on his shirt. “Let’s go.”

Right, it would be bad if one of the guards recognized her.