The King of Rize was a sturdy man with sleeked back white hair, and a beard that was well taken care of. Wrinkles on his face told of a handsome appearance in his youth, now bygone by the passage of time. He wore an elaborate red surcoat, decorated with strange patterns seemingly to represent an ancient language. Above his head, was a golden crown bejewelled with precious stones, and in his right hand, he held a golden sceptre, fitted on the top with a fiery, red orb.

We walked closer up to the end of the room, our footsteps echoing in the giant throne room.

There were lines of even more fearsome knights adorned in distinct silver armour, imprinted with the royal family’s sign on the chest plate. The Rize sign was imprinted on their shoulders. They were all standing motionlessly at both sides of the throne room, their heads looking straight ahead.

We finally reached the end of the room, now standing right before the steps that led to the elevated platform of the throne.

“Your Majesty!”

Botolf kneeled to his ground, one arm across his chest and his head bowed completely to the king.

I was about to do the same thing when Lily grabbed me by my collar, pulling me up hard.

“Do you not remember our Blood Pact?” Lily said between clenched teeth. “You’re to kneel to no one except me.”

“R-right…” I whispered back, feeling like I was out of breath. I was just overwhelmed by the sight of everything, especially the king right in front of my very eyes.

I couldn’t believe that I was actually standing in front of the King of Rize.

The king had a very dominating presence, and an awkward feeling came across me, as I stood there, waiting. It felt like I was being impolite by not kneeling.

“I have brought Lilionel here before you!” Botolf announced, his head still bowed. “Also known as The Witch!”

The king glanced down at Lily, interest lighting up in his eyes, but the rest of his face was like iron, cold and hard.

“Is it really you, Lilionel?” The king’s voice was deep and clear, immediately stealing all of the attention in the room as it echoed around the air. There was something about the way he talked that forced you to listen intently.

Lily bent down to place her cup of tea neatly on the ground, then stood up again. She raised her petite hands to her hood, pulling it back to reveal her azure hair, tinted by silver on the ends. Her lapis lazuli eyes stared directly at the king, meeting him eye to eye.

“Yes.” Lily spoke simply, and said no more.

“...”

Instantly, the atmosphere of the room was changing. Some of the knights standing on guard shifted in their armour, indicating that they may know who Lily was.

There was a sudden tension inside the room.

It seemed only the really high up people actually knew who Lily was.

Strange how I had read a poem about Lily from an unnamed book in my youth. Even then, I guess it didn’t really tell much about Lily’s identity.

The king got up from his throne, shocking me, and walked down the steps of the raised platform. His heavy steps echoing.

He reached Lily, standing in front of her. He was a lot bigger than Lily and judging from his size, he must had fought in the battlefield a lot in his earlier days.

“So, it is you after all.” The king said, staring down at Lily. “It’s been seven years since I saw you last.”

“Your memory doesn’t fail you.” Lily smiled. “I would had imagined you would had forgotten. Considering how busy you’ve been lately.”

Botolf shifted on the ground, hearing her last words. “The situation with Azrael and Lunthia…”

“It is under control.” The king nodded, then he glanced at me. “I’m surprised, Lilionel. You actually have a companion accompanying you for once. Who is this young man here?”

Lily glanced at me, waiting for me to talk. I thought she would answer for me.

I was nervous as hell, standing in front of the king’s presence. Every fibre of my being was telling me that I was out of place here.

“U-uh…” I coughed dryly, trying to find my voice. A sweat was dripping from my temple. “Kei… My name is Kei…”

“Ah, Kei.” The king looked me over. “I remember your father. He was a knight here at the kingdom.”

“…!”

I was astonished that the king knew who my father was, and that he could somehow figure this all out just from my name and appearance. I didn’t know much about what my father did at the kingdom, except that he was a knight for Rize.

I was left standing there speechless.

“That demon there.” The king’s eyes moved over to Zoel. “You haven’t killed it yet, Lilionel? This is another surprise.”

“No. I’ve decided not to.” Lily replied.

The king gazed over at Lily, pausing. His face never seemed to show any expression besides his unwavering stare. “This is not like you, Lilionel.”

Lily didn’t say anything.

The king breathed a heavy sigh, turning around and pacing back a few steps. His sceptre made a thudding noise hitting the ground with each step he took. “So then, what are you here for, Lilionel?” He asked. “I don’t imagine you just came here for a cup of tea.”

“The reward.” Lily glanced down into her cloak and pulled out the parchment she had from yesterday. “I’m here to collect the reward from your request.”

“The request says to kill the demon.” The king said, still walking slowly. “Not capture it.”

“You wanted the demon taken care of.” Lily said, her voice was showing a hint of annoyance. “I did my part. The demon’s under my control now.”

“But, not to the terms of our agreement.”

Lily clenched her teeth. “What does it matter to you anyway? I got rid of the demon from your city.”

“L-Lilionel—” Botolf sounded like he was about to say something about Lily’s manner of speech.

“Silence!” The king boomed at Botolf, and Botolf immediately went as quiet as a mouse.

The king was staring out through the giant window behind the throne, his back turned towards us. He was also silent, and all the eyes in the room was now staring at him, waiting for him to talk.

“There’s a war brewing, Lilionel. You, of all people, should know this.” The king spoke, his words seemingly to carry a grave importance.

“…”

“I can give you all the riches in the world, anything you desire at the whim of your words. Mountains of jewellery, land that etches past the horizon, wealth beyond anything you’ve ever imagined. None of this petty stuff that a silly request will grant you.” The king turned around. He was standing at the top of the steps, glaring down at Lily with a hard look. “All you have to do is join forces with me, Lilionel.”

“…” Lily paused. “So, it’s blackmail then.” She pulled a face that said she wasn’t liking the king’s words. “You won’t give me a single penny unless I do as you say.”

“Blackmail would entail that I unjustly use something against you.” The king said. “As of right now, I owe you nothing as you haven’t fulfilled the terms of our agreement.”

“…”

“If you’re after reward, I have already given you a way forward, Lilionel.” The king continued. “I’m not asking you to serve under me. I’m simply asking you to align our interests together, as equals.”

Botolf glanced up at Lily, trying to judge her expression. “That is a most gracious offer from His Majesty.” Botolf commented, speaking to Lily. “It is a very fair deal that His Majesty has never offered to another person before. I would think very carefully about accepting this deal.”

“And what if I don’t accept?” Lily said, speaking to the king. “Are you going to stop me from leaving?”

“No, I would never do something like that.” The king laughed in a hearty manner. “That will just end up bad for both of us. This offer is given to you under good faith. You are free to leave as you wish should you decline, and you are also welcome to stay under Rize territory as you have done so at the current moment.”

The king walked to his throne, sitting back down slowly. “I should warn you though… we have heard from our messengers that Azrael is planning to storm the borders of Rize in a few months’ time. It seems that they have prepared an army of great size and strength for this task.”

“…!”

I was shocked, hearing his words. Was the war really starting that soon?

“I have tried my best to set up some of our own forces to keep a distant watch of your area, but I can’t guarantee your safety, Lilionel.” The king said. “The borders are too unfavourable, too spread open, for me to allocate our entire army there. We plan to hold the main defence at the inner Rize territory where resources are plentiful and high-ground is ensured, should they come.”

“…”

“If you join forces with me, Lilionel. We should be able to easily push back any invasion of Rize territory.” The king said. “Not only that, we could be the ones on the attack, to invade both Azrael and Lunthia… With your power, and the support of the Rize kingdom behind you…”

The king paused, again drawing the undivided attention of the room. It felt like my ears were straining themselves to hear him speak, as though yearning for his words. That was the aura that he commanded.

The king stared into Lily’s eyes, unwavering.

“We could rule the world of Zenora.”

Silence followed his words, and the throne room went completely quiet. I was frozen, thinking about what he was saying.

God damn, the king was good at speaking. Even I was getting swayed by his words just from listening.

If we just agreed to help the Rize kingdom, we could have anything we ever wanted, and we also get to protect Rize!

I didn’t understand why Lily was hesitating.

There was a long drawn out silence in the throne room, as we waited for Lily’s answer.

I decided to try to encourage her to accept.

“L-Lily, you—”

“I refuse.” Lily stated, lifting her head up to look the king in the eye.

“…!”

I was shocked by her answer. I couldn’t see any negatives attached to the king’s offer. If she didn’t accept, then where were we going to stay if Rize was invaded?!

“Let’s go, Kei.”

Lily turned around, her cloak swinging by her side. She walked to the doorway of the throne room from where we entered from, raising her hands to pull her hood back over her head.

“L-Lily…!” I glanced at Lily, then at the king. He was sitting calmly, undisturbed by Lily’s refusal. I glanced back at Lily, quickly running after her.

“If you ever change your mind.” The king’s powerful clear voice could be heard all over the throne room. “You are always welcome to come back.”

The knights standing by the doorway, opened the door, allowing us to leave the throne room.

I was walking with Lily as she made her way out from the path that we came in from.

“L-Lily, are you sure about rejecting his offer?” I said, shifting Zoel on my back as I walked. She was still unconscious, but the bleeding had stopped. “Rize is going to be invaded if you don’t help out!”

“And, so what?” Lily replied. “That’s none of our problem.”

“N-none of our problem?” I shook my head, astounded. “Lily, isn’t your castle at the borders of Rize territory?”

“He’s just bluffing.” Lily said. “No one is actually going to come invade where I live. I would kill them all if they did.”

“…”

I followed Lily, feeling unsure about her words.

We were back at the grand hall, walking down the stairway. Noah was standing near the main door of the Royal Palace, watching us. Every time I saw his night black armour, I was impressed by how good it looked.

“See ya.”

Noah said as we walked past him to exit the grand door. He was leaning on the wall at the side of the door.

I nodded at him, smiling faintly, but Lily ignored him.

We were now back at the front of the Royal Palace, and the knights standing outside gave us a glance, before looking back straight ahead, continuing their watch.

Gilbertus was standing with the knights, and he called out to us when he saw us.

“Hey, there you guys are again!”

Lily continued walking, ignoring him, but Gilbertus joined me by my side, as I walked next to Lily, following her path.

“You got to leave with the demon?” Gilbertus glanced at Zoel on my back, a stunned expression on his face. “What happened in there?”

“Uh…” I glanced over at Lily but she wasn’t saying anything. I didn’t want to be rude and just ignore Gilbertus like Lily was doing. “We couldn’t get the reward for catching Zoel, haha. Apparently, we had to kill her to collect the reward.”

“Zoel?” Gilbertus glanced at Zoel, then back at me. “Her? Hey, you have to be careful with what you’re saying. That’s a demon, not a regular girl.”

“Oh, right…” I shrugged, not really understanding what he’s saying. Then I glanced at the sword on the side of his hip. “Are you here to stop us…?”

Gilbertus shook his head. “We were instructed to allow you to leave no matter what. I can’t see why they would let you leave with a demon though…”

I laughed weakly. “Yeah, strange…”

“Who are you guys anyways?” Gilbertus asked, curiously. “I’ve never seen Botolf speak to someone like how he spoke to you guys.”

“Um… Kei.” Then I turned to Lily. “This is—”

“None of your business!” Lily snapped at Gilbertus and paced quicker to get away from Gilbertus. “Kei, don’t talk to him.” She muttered to me under her breath, before pacing ahead of us.

I followed Lily’s advice, shutting my mouth and quickly followed up to Lily’s pace.

Gilbertus seemed to have gotten the message, now slowing down to a stop, staring at our backs.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kei!” Gilbertus called out. “May we cross paths again!”

Gilbertus seemed pretty nice, so I felt bad for ignoring him, but I listened to Lily and just kept walking.

Lily glanced sideways at me when I caught up to her.

“Kei, listen… you should never tell other people about my name.” She said.

“Right, sorry about that…” I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. “Not even by the name Lily?”

“No.” She replied.

We kept walking in silence through the long path filled with beautiful scenery, leading to the front gates of the Royal Palace.

Now that I thought about it, it seemed like I was the only one that called Lily as Lily. Everyone else seemed to call her by Lilionel.

I tried to think about when she first introduced herself to me. Did she just make up that name on the spot?

…

Probably.

“H-hey, Lily?” I called out to her.

“Yes.”

“Why did you reject the king’s offer?”

“…”

“I mean he was promising you everything in the world. You could have gotten anything you ever wanted.”

“Kei…” Lily sighed, her breath coming out as a mist in the cold night air. “I was there when the Great War happened. Five hundred years ago.”

“…!”

“There was a king that made me a similar offer…” She paused. “Do you know what happened when we started winning the war?”

“No…”

“People in our army started killing each other.” Lily said. We walked out the gates of the Royal Palace, the knights opening the gates as they saw us. “There was a struggle for power inside our own army… Greed was the thing that kept them going… and it quickly became the very thing that consumed them.”

“…”

“Nobody ever wins a war, Kei.” Lily said. “Especially, not one for greed.”

“Right…”

“It’s just a waste of time.” She paused as though thinking, then smiled at me. “Let’s just hope they all die, killing each other.”

“…”

“By the way, where’s your armour?”

It took us three days before we arrived back at Lily’s castle. I stepped out of the carriage, feeling the sunlight hitting my face. Two large bumps were on the top of my head, starting to heal. I had gotten a beating from Lily for breaking and losing the armour that she paid for with all her money.

Thankfully, that was three days ago, so the pain wasn’t too bad.

Lily’s castle was situated in a plain field of land surrounded by wavy hills. It was just along the borders of Rize territory. Nothing that looked remotely close to civilisation could be spotted anywhere near us. Her castle was a large ominous structure, completely dark, contrasting the light green surroundings of the environment. The design was chaotic, spiralling towers stretching out at weird angles, and it looked as though it had burst out from the ground.

It was obviously nowhere near as big or as impressive as the Royal Palace, but it was still a sight to see.

Zoel was still unconscious throughout the whole journey, much to my surprise. Her wounds were healing at a very slow rate. Lily must had hurt her really bad.

I lifted Zoel’s body from the carriage, taking her inside the castle. I was carrying her in my arms, across my chest. She wasn’t too heavy, and I was used to carrying heavy things at the village.

Her face winced as I picked her up, but her eyes stayed closed.

I was surprised, seeing a reaction on her face. Zoel had been completely non-responsive during the journey.

“H-hey… are you awake?” I asked.

I looked down at her face. She was breathing softly, her strawberry lips pursing out to me. Her black hair fell past the sides of her face, strands going past her long, dark eyelashes.

My face went red, looking down at her, and I shook my head, walking inside the grand door of the castle, and stepping into the grand hall. My footsteps echoed due to the emptiness of the place.

“Lily?”

I called out, but no response.

She had disappeared inside the castle ahead of me, while I was placed in charge of carrying her stuff inside.

I didn’t know why the hell she took so much stuff with her to Rize, considering that I didn’t see her use much, if any, of the stuff inside her bags.

I sighed, walking up the steps of the grand hall with Zoel in my arms. I turned into the hallway, walking to the guest room that Lily had told me to give to Zoel.

Pushing past the oak door into the guest room, I peered inside to see a very olden styled room. Polished wood made up most of the material inside the room, a bookshelf was set at the side, and a large bed was fitted at the centre of the room, its head pushed up against the wall. The room was quite large, much like most of the rooms in the rest of the castle.

Of course, it wasn’t as large as the room that I woke up in the first time at the castle as that was Lily’s room. Strange that Lily let me sleep on her bed.

I laid Zoel gently down on the bed, thinking about the Great War. It seemed inevitable that another one was on its way. Was Lily really just going to do nothing during the war? And were we really going to be safe here at Lily’s castle? And, just how old exactly was Lily?!

So many questions crowded my mind that I blanked out for a second. I stared down at Zoel’s face after laying her down.

Then, suddenly, I realised her burning red eyes had been open the whole time, staring up at me.

“Ah—!!”

I yelped, falling backwards on my bottom. I hit the ground, then winced, rubbing my back.

“A-are you okay?” Zoel jumped up from the bed, her voice worried.

“Yeah… I’m fine…” I said.

Hold on.

Zoel was awake?!

This was bad.

Lily was nowhere to be found and I was alone here with her.

She could kill me easily by herself!

I glanced up at her, my heart panicking, and found her scrambling off the bed.

“Eh!” I let out a cry, seeing her make her way towards me. “P-please, don’t kill me!” I shuffled backwards, my back eventually hitting against the wall. “I was just trying to help you!”

Zoel walked closer towards me until she was right in front of me. She kneeled down on the ground so that we were eye to eye.

She was blushing madly, her strawberry lips moving.

“I…”

She breathed out heavily.

“I love you!”