Chapter 55: We are all friends
From a distant hill, Liliane von Winter paused, her violet eyes fixed on the comical scene below—a white-haired maid being chased across the plain by Aurora, who wielded a twig like a drill sergeant, barking “tactical advice.”
Liliane pressed her temple lightly, sighing almost inaudibly. “That idiot…”
Seraphina, at her side, caught the complex flicker in Liliane’s expression—a mix of exasperation, headache, and something softer, not quite anger. She smiled knowingly.
“I heard Lady Liliane took on a commoner from the countryside as her personal maid this year,” Seraphina said, her voice gentle and poised, hands clasped before her. Her gaze drifted to Ailiya. “At first, I thought it was just a rumor spun by gossips.”
Liliane, a star-like figure at St. Freya, was always surrounded by whispers. Even the mighty Winter family wasn’t immune to the kingdom’s undercurrents of speculation and criticism.
Seraphina continued, watching Ailiya’s clumsy yet lively antics. “I won’t ask why you made that choice—though I’m curious. I trust you have your reasons.”
She paused, tilting her head, her honey-colored eyes studying Liliane’s flawless profile with pure curiosity. “But… I do have a question. You care about that maid, don’t you, Lady Liliane?”
Liliane stiffened briefly, turning to meet Seraphina’s gaze with icy calm. “Why would you think that?”
“You always seem unapproachable,” Seraphina replied, undeterred by the cold stare, maintaining her composed courtesy. “Only when speaking with someone like Clara, your long-time maid, does that sharp edge soften slightly.”
Her eyes returned to Ailiya. “And then… there’s Ailiya. When you’re with her, you’re always watching her, your gaze following her every move.”
Her voice was soft but precise, like a feather brushing Liliane’s unguarded heart. “You show more emotion—sighing like just now, or indulging her little moments of pride. It’s… different from the always-calm, always-perfect Lady Liliane I’ve heard about.”
Liliane fell silent.
After a moment, she lifted a hand, tucking a stray silver lock behind her ear, resuming her untouchable demeanor. “I am who I am,” she said coldly, firmly. “My will doesn’t bend for anyone.”
Seraphina bowed slightly, apologetic. “I overstepped. Please don’t take offense, Lady Liliane.”
She lifted her skirt and descended the hill to resume their hunt, leaving Liliane standing alone.
Liliane glanced back at Ailiya, now squaring off with another tricorn, then pinched her own expressionless cheek lightly. Without a word, she turned and followed Seraphina’s path.
“You’re not supposed to brute-force it!” Aurora scolded, sketching a wobbly magic circle on the ground with her twig, lecturing a dejected Ailiya. “Tricorns are weak to earth magic! Use Earthen Grasp to immobilize it first, then attack. It saves energy and preserves the valuable horn!”
“That sounds hard!” Ailiya whined, clutching her wand. “If I knew other spells, would I need your lessons?”
“That’s why you’re learning!” Aurora jabbed her back with the twig, pushing her forward. “Stop whining and try!”
Ailiya stumbled, reluctantly facing a new tricorn. She took a deep breath, recalling Aurora’s incantation and mana flow, aiming her wand at the ground.
Her face reddened with effort, but the earth only quivered faintly, not even a blade of grass stirring.
“Hiss-roar!” The tricorn took her attempt as a taunt, charging furiously.
“Here we go again!” Ailiya shrieked, sprinting away as the beast’s gleaming horns closed in.
Just as the tricorn’s horn neared her backside, Aurora sighed, raising her wand to intervene. But a crisp, haughty voice rang out nearby.
“Terra Spiculum!” (Earth Spike)
The ground before the tricorn erupted, sharp earthen spikes shooting up, caging the charging beast in an instant.
A clean Wind Blade followed, slicing the tricorn’s vulnerable neck.
Ailiya skidded to a halt, panting, and looked back. Isabella stood nearby, one hand on her hip, the other still posed from casting, her golden curls swaying in the breeze, a smug grin on her face.
“Hmph, struggling with a mere common beast?” Isabella tilted her chin up. “Go back to the academy and master basic magic first. Compared to me, you’re worlds apart!”
She laughed, expecting awe and praise.
Instead, no one paid her any mind.
Ailiya and Aurora were already crouched by the dead tricorn, eagerly debating how to extract its intact horn.
Isabella’s smile froze. She clenched her fists, trembling with fury, and shouted, “Hey! That’s my kill!”
“Oh, we’re all friends, right? What’s yours is mine, and mine’s still mine!” Ailiya replied without looking up, sawing at the horn with a small knife.
“Who’s friends with you?!” Isabella’s face flushed red.
Aurora nudged Ailiya, whispering, “She’s a count’s daughter. Stop teasing her.”
Ailiya looked up, blinking innocently with her round eyes. “I’m not teasing…”
She set down the knife, stood, and faced the fuming Isabella, her voice earnest. “We’re friends, right?”
Her clear gaze held no mockery, only genuine sincerity.
Isabella froze, her anger and pride crumbling under that honest look. She opened her mouth but found no words, turning away with a sharp, “Hmph!”
“No answer? I’ll take that as a yes!” Ailiya declared, then crouched back down, gleefully resuming her work on the valuable horn, her eyes sparkling with unmasked greed.