No Matter What

"Lilith! Where are you?"

Sicily shouted as she walked in the corridors of the castle. She fluffed her skirt as she let out a sigh of frustration, irritated that she had been looking for Lilith for almost an hour now.

"You have to stop it with these hiding games—you hear!?" Sicily's calm demeanor is completely gone. "You're already 22, Lilith. Twenty two! Yet you do these games as if you're still a child!"

Sicily stomped her foot as she walked. The chamberlain went inside of her room, hoping to see that Lilith's there even though she knew that she won't find her there.

"Lilith! Please! You have to at least attend my classes! I'm already your private teacher, damn it!"

"Aaah..."

Behind the plant that's more than five feet and six inches tall, was a woman with blue hair that hid perfectly by crouching near its pot.

"It's rare for me to hear Sicily curse..."

She tried her best to stifle her laughter, peering over a large leaf to see if Sicily is around or not.

The woman behind the plant made sure that she was cautious enough to not get caught. As she tilted her head further to the left, tendrils of her blue hair dropped to her shoulder. She then tucked some of it behind her ear so they would be kept in place.

She was wearing her white, night gown still. She looked at the clock that was in this corridor. It indicated that it was 7:30 in the morning.

"Morning breakfast until 8 AM... then fixing myself up before my classes with Sicily... ngggh... boooring..."

The blue-haired girl talked to herself, now slowly rising from the floor as she fluffed the cloth of her off shoulder night gown.

"I need to get away from here," she added, further whispering to herself.

She then stood up when she was assured that Sicily was still looking for her in her room. The moment she turned, however, she bumped unto someone, making her wince as she tried her best to stifle her groan.

"Wh—you... ah!"

The moment she realized who was before her, she gave a slight bow, now conscious of how she looked right now.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for bumping into you, Eucraick!" she apologized. "I didn't notice that you were passing by. I was—"

"Running away from Sicily again... I suppose?" the king's adviser interrupted. The young lady now stood straight as she tucked more hair behind her ear, a slight blush appearing on her face for being caught in such a situation.

Well, she knew that even though Eucraick's remark indicated that he was used to the news of her running away from Sicily, she still felt shy about being caught right at this moment.

"Well, yes..."

Eucraick raised a brow. "So you're honest about it, huh, Lilith?"

The little girl who used to address to herself in third person, is now a 22-year-old young lady. Lilith bit her bottom lip for a second and then nodded, justifying herself.

"Yes... I can't lie. Sicily taught me that it's bad to lie," she replied, being honest. However, she thought what's the point of being honest when it's in a wrong situation such as this?

Just for the sake of keeping the conversation going?

Lilith knew that she's going to be scolded by Eucraick anyway since he is another person who had taken care of her during her stay here in the Kingdom of Gehenna since birth.

"If it's bad to lie—" Eucraick crossed his arms in front of his chest. "—why are you running away?"

"Nnngh..."

Lilith groaned, tipping her head up as she no longer care what she looked like before Eucraick, only wearing her white night gown, barefoot.

"I don't like Sicily's class..."

Eucraick found this unusual. He raised a brow and further asked about her lack of enthusiasm when she is always the eager student.

"Why suddenly?"

"I grew tired of it, I guess..." Lilith shrugged. "It's fun at the beginning, yes... I learn a lot from her and from you and the others, too, but... I want more like... go outside."

"Outside..."

Eucraick already knew where this is going. Her curiosity of the outside world grew immensely especially when the lesson about the human world was introduced to her three years ago.

Of course, as she grew, they would have to educate the young lady—even about the realm that is not theirs. They wouldn't want her to be ignorant especially that she is to live here in the Kingdom of Gehenna for such a long time.

The reason why Lilith couldn't leave the kingdom is because of her unique physical attributes. Even as she grew, she seemed to not have possess any powers such as shape shifting or other magical abilities that would alter her physical appearance.

There are potions to temporarily change her looks, yes... but it will be temporary and it won't last long. They have tried going to the human realm once for only two hours with an appropriate human disguise for Lilith with the use of a potion, but still.

It's not enough to make her explore the different parts of the world.

If she is going to enjoy, it would be better if she had a lot of time, right?

"You can't go outside. I forbid it."

With Eucraick talking about it and reiterating it again, Lilith pouted, not liking what she's hearing even though she has heard it a lot of times.

"But I heard that people find different colored hair normal now. Even different colored hair! They use hair dye and wear eye contacts."

"I know the ways of the humans," Eucraick said, letting out a sigh as he felt that Lilith is starting to get stubborn. "But yours are too natural. Even then, we won't risk it."

"But—"

"There you are, Lilith! I've been looking everywhere for you! You should go do your daily responsibilities before your lessons now!"

"Ugh!"

Lilith groaned aloud, hearing Sicily's voice. With Sicily's hand already touching Lilith's shoulder, the young lady rolled her eyes, harrumphing as she now gave up running away from her.

'If only Eucraick didn't come at this time...'

Sicily and Lilith now walked away. As they did, Eucraick watched the both of them as he remembered the last letter of Amon that he received just a few months ago.

The letter read:

I've found something about Lilith. Please no matter what, especially at this time, don't let her out of the kingdom.