Lily

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Alexander tapped on the door to Lily's room, and after a few moments, the maid on duty opened the door and let him enter.

The room was even more spacious than Alexander's and was decorated with dozens of ornaments and plushies. Several war trophies adorned the wall, gifts he had brought back for her from his somewhat limited campaigns.

A large white canopy bed sat next to the back wall, made from beautifully carved wood and furnished with light pink drapes.

Lily was lying in the middle of that bed, wearing a finely crafted silk nightgown. She had been reading a novel under the light of a magic tool before her brother arrived.

The bed was so mismatched with her small size that one could almost mistake her for a doll.

"Ah! Alex! You're here. I was wondering what had taken you so long."

Lily rushed to the edge of the bed. Her voice was still slightly choked up from earlier; she had been waiting for him anxiously.

The two had always been close; they had lost their mothers at a young age and thus felt a closer kinship with each other than the rest of the family.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms, softly stroking her back.

"Father had me stay in his office for a while; he had some things to discuss. I'm sorry that I kept you waiting."

She shook her head and quickly replied.

"No! It's okay; I'm just glad you came tonight. Lately, you've been playing with your maids all night instead of visiting me!"

She cutely puffed out her cheeks, pouting at the fact that her brother had been paying more attention to his servants than her.

Alexander cringed a little inside. He was sure this sheltered princess didn't know exactly what he was doing, but in retrospect, he still should have hidden it better.

What would his beloved little sister think of him once she figured out what he was doing this whole time? He soon discarded the nightmarish thought and just enjoyed her embrace.

After holding her for a while, she pulled back from the embrace and looked into his eyes.

"How did it go with Papa? Are you still leaving?" Her voice was a little shaky. How much she worried for him was cute, but it was no longer necessary.

"I had a good talk with him; it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. You don't need to worry about me anymore; I sorted it all out with him."

He ruffled her hair affectionately as he tried to assuage her worries.

She might be naïve, but she wasn't stupid. She easily saw through his attempt at dodging the crux of the issue.

"Brother... You're going to stay at home then, right?" Although she had asked a question, it sounded more like a desperate plea to him. Not getting an answer and seeing the complicated expression on his face, she continued.

"Are you going to leave me alone, too? Like grandpa?" Seeing that she was about to start tearing up again, he acted quickly and pulled her into his warm embrace once again.

"Shhh... It's okay; this is something that Grandfather wanted me to do. He wouldn't give me a task he thought was too difficult for me. And I won't be alone; I'll have Marcus and Maxima with me."

He scooped her up and tucked her under the covers before joining her on the bed and letting her use his arm as a pillow. Some time passed, and after calming down, Lily spoke again.

"When do you have to leave?" If her father was still insisting that he leave for war, she would have fought for her brother to stay with all her might. Even going so far as to starve herself in a hunger strike if he was forced out against his will.

But if the man himself wanted to go, there was not much she could do besides spend as much time with him as possible and give Alex someone to return to.

"As soon as possible, I will begin preparing the men to move out once I have my blessings."

It was the first time she had seen him be so resolute on something; he reminded her of Alexander from before their grandfather died.

Lily realized that she didn't know too much about her grandfather; she had only known him as the kind old man who brought her gifts occasionally.

Wanting to learn more about his warrior side and distract herself from tomorrow's worries, she made a request.

"Will you tell me some stories about your time with Grandpa? I'd really like to know more about your adventures together."

He wasn't sure if most of those stories were fit to become bedtime stories for a young princess like her. But he decided to tell her one anyway, although it was slightly embellished and a bit more flowery than things actually were.

"How about I tell you about my first campaign? Grandfather gathered his most trusted men and began an expedition into the Beastlands. I was only fifteen at the time, so I was expecting to observe rather than participate, but to my surprise, once we had crossed into enemy territory, he had transferred the majority of the army over to my control."

Lily was hanging off my every word, eager to know about her brother's feats of heroism.

He explained how, prior to this offensive, he only had theoretical knowledge about leadership and warfare. Leading an army in person differed significantly from the war games he had played with his grandfather. He could not micromanage every aspect of his forces and instead needed competent individuals underneath him.

"He had taken this opportunity to teach me everything he knew, from how to delegate tasks to the importance of logistics. He truly wanted me to be able to stand on my own two feet. Even when I struggled or began to second-guess myself, he would only offer guidance if I asked him directly, and he would never outright tell me what to do. Only ever taking control when things could truly get dangerous."

He told her about their righteous crusade across the land; they had attacked during the winter when the beasts least expected it. After all, heavy cavalry was humanity's most potent fighting force, and their effectiveness was limited in such deep snow.

Who would have expected them to forsake their advantage and attack on foot? The terrain was equally disadvantageous to the beastmen. The snow significantly hindered their mobility enough for the archers to whittle their numbers down before their hastily created armies could even reach the human forces.

They continued the onslaught ever deeper, scattering tribes and freeing slaves. Some would even come to be Alexander's staunchest supporters.

"Of course, we eventually reached our goal, the Omni-Wolf village, home of one of the kingdom's most dangerous enemies. They are a rare species of wolfman that can harness all four of the basic elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. The most skilled among them could even temporarily take the primal form of their ancestors and shift into a massive wolf capable of causing immense damage."

He was finally reaching the story's climax, and Lily looked up at him expectantly with stars in her eyes, waiting patiently to hear the rest.

"Despite their great power, they were in many ways simple beings. They were the least xenophobic of the beastmen, as they cared not so much about race as about power. This trait led them to be among the most influential and well-regarded of the higher tribes."

Alexander continued his story, becoming more animated as he neared the ending.

"The beginning of the fight between Grandfather and their chief was something I'll never forget. The beast was over 4 meters tall, with black fur and a wicked gaze that could pierce the soul. The flames it released from its mouth were like miniature suns, and the gales that flowed from its body could flatten the largest trees."

Lily looked at him with awe as she imagined a wolf that could incinerate entire armies.

"What happened next?" She urged him to continue.

He let out a sigh and thought back to the day that nearly cost him everything.

"The wolfman chief fought Grandfather head-on and was evenly matched. The clash of mana had turned the surrounding land into a blasted wasteland. Dozens of skirmishes were taking place simultaneously, and while I wish I could have watched more of their legendary duel, I was currently fighting the chieftain's daughter in a desperate battle of our own. She was a beautiful wolfess, a bit taller than me, and her silvery hair seemed to glow under the moonlight. While she could also use all four elements, it didn't help her in our duel."

He thought back to the raw and animalistic way she had fought and how she had nearly won despite that.

"The reason was that she couldn't properly control them yet and that I was too overconfident. It nearly cost me dearly, and it was very foolish of me to try and take such a strong opponent like her one-on-one. It was the closest fight I've ever had, and by the time I finally subdued her, I was covered in terrible wounds and sure that I had lost an eye."

He rubbed the area above his right eye. The healers were able to save his eyeball, but the damage had left the area around it significantly scarred, a constant reminder of that fateful day.

"Once the battle was over, Grandfather had lost a significant amount of his power but ultimately emerged victorious. With the chief dead and his daughter incapacitated, the wolves could no longer fight and surrendered to us. As you can see, despite the great amount of blood that was shed that day, it ultimately ended with our victory. In his last campaign, Grandfather had both removed a major enemy of the kingdom and given me several powerful allies."

Lily had looked at him with sparkling eyes the entire time he told the story, but once it was finished, the excitement quickly drained out of her expression, and she spoke in a questioning voice.

"Alex, what happened to the chieftain's daughter?"

I answered reflexively, forgetting to omit some details from the naïve little princess.

"Since I was the one to defeat her, she was given to me by Grandfather as a war trophy."

Lily tilted her head, not quite understanding.

"Gave her to you? I don't get it; why would he give you such a troublesome gift?"

He had expected this question but hadn't yet thought of an answer. Lily was mostly confined to her own wing of the castle and had never crossed paths with her.

She was clearly curious about the mysterious wolfgirl, and he couldn't just tell her outright that her beloved grandfather had basically given his grandson a sex slave.

"I'll tell you when you're older." Alexander decided to leave it to his future self.

"I'm already an adult, though?" She said puzzlingly.

"..." Alexander had no rebuttal, so he blatantly deflected the question.

"Anyway, it's getting late. Let's get some sleep. We have to be up early tomorrow."

She pouted, not wanting to let him off that easy, but after a while, she eventually let it go, and he was able to tuck her into bed. Alexander gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead and soon left her room under the ever-watchful eyes of her maids.

***

Alexander lay on his bed, staring at the clock and waiting for Victoria to answer his call. He had sent a maid to summon her to his chambers, which was a blatant invitation to come to his bed at this hour.

Victoria was a very attractive woman, and she had served as his maid for so long that she had become almost like an older sister to him. He wasn't blind to her affection for him, and he knew she would gladly offer herself to him whenever he wanted.

But as of yet, he had never laid hands on her. It wasn't as if she was forbidden to him or that he had no fondness for her; he just didn't want to trample on her feelings with such petty emotions as lust.

Alexander had long admired Victoria's beauty, but he had always remained faithful to the feelings of affection and respect that he felt for her.

However, now that he was about to leave for the battlefield and was freed from his depressive state, it felt like a fire had been lit under him. He decided that tonight, he would finally act on his feelings.

She would not be able to follow him out east, and he wanted to make sure that they both remembered each other in a special way before he left.

As the clock neared midnight, he began to feel anxious. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, he heard a light tap at his bedroom door.

"Enter."