CHAPTER 5 – Courage

Lilia arrives at Count Osborne's residence and quickly makes her way to her best friend's room. She opens the door loudly and makes the one who is still hooded with sleep jump up in shock.

"Whaaaatttt!!!???"

Evelyn Osborne, still engulfed by her warm sheets and disarrayed hair, opened her tired eyes up like bloodshot. When she regains consciousness, she throws a cushion toward Lilia, and of course, as a capable knight, Lilia can catch it without a problem. But her expression was what made Evelyn more shocked.

"What… Lilia, what happened?" Evelyn asks her with full consideration, the blonde-haired girl approaches her in haste and tackles her hard until the girl falls backward to her fluffy bed. It was hard because the recently awakened girl knocked off her breath with that extreme hug. Lilia hugs the shorter girl tightly in silence while the girl tries to arrange and regain all of her consciousness and mind that have been in disarray when she sleeps and also figures out the reason why the princess of Escheat is in her bedroom with a delicate appearance but a desperate expression and tackles her to death.

"Lilia…" Evelyn looped her arms around Lilia's back and patted her, trying to calm her shaking body. She is much hooded with sleep still and can't stop yawning, but when she hears sobbing, her amethyst eyes were wide awake and alert.

"What happened??"

"The Duke scolds me..." Lilia answers between sobs.

"About the confession... hiks..." she adds.

"Oh gosh... What did he say?" Evelyn's voice is still much thinner as a result of her recent awakening.

"What a twenty-year-old girl knows about love... hiks..."

"Oh my... First, calm down, okay?" Evelyn signals to the maid, who stands in front of her room, to bring tea. The maid put the tea set down in silence and then quickly left the room. After some minutes, Lilia calmed down and positioned herself in a more comfortable position, resting her head on Evelyn's chest. She tries to divert her attention from herself, still very hurt from the prior incident.

"What kind of girl is still asleep at this time of day? that's why no one wants to court you, Evelyn," Lilia said, in a mocking tone.

"Tch, as if, thanks to a certain someone, I got my work piled up and just came back from the palace at dawn."

"Thankfully, your cousin is still out of his mind, so he gives me a day off. But then again, a certain someone disturbs my peaceful slumber after getting rejected," Evelyn answered with an unamused voice. She rolled her eyes when she sensed where her best friend's hand landed and what those hands were doing now.

"Can you stop touching my breast? You're harassing me!"

"No way, I know you like it, and I am very curious about how this thing seems to get bigger every time I see you," Lilia continued to tease her best friend, and much to her dismay, their childish-dirty conversation calmed her a bit.

"You, horny nympho, get off of me now," Evelyn pushes Lilia away and fixes her nightgown, which loosens up because of Lilia's sneaky fingers. Lilia chuckles, then get up from the bed, sitting on the couch with a loud sigh. Evelyn follows her, and she immediately brews some tea. She hands a cup to Lilia when she finishes. The girl gulped the tea thirstily.

"It was relaxing, thanks," all her exhausted mind flew away that instant.

"Give me detailed information about the encounter," Evelyn asks with a twinkle in her eyes and a smug face that makes Lilia roll her eyes.

"Don't wanna, still hurts," she said, her gaze fixed on the cup she was holding.

Evelyn observes the girl in front of her in silence. She sips her tea more calmly. She looks pleased, at least the tea can relax their tired bodies.

"So... Want to give up?"

"Like hell, no!!!"

"That's the spirit," Evelyn giggles, and Lilia follows. They spend the rest of the afternoon in Evelyn's room, then Lilia decides to go home.

The girl decides to approach the duke with some lame strategy like sending some luxury gift to him, some letters, and she would visit the residence when she has free time. Unfortunately, all of her efforts are futile. She is still stuck with the duke's drawback. The girl feels frustrated, yet she cannot just give up, she already made up her mind, and that's final.

Two weeks later, Lilia was summoned to the Crown Prince's palace. Lilia was carrying her two swords, in case she needed to mutilate Raphael right away. She gave a short salute to him, the atmosphere of his office was rather eerie and dark, and his menacing glare did not help to lift the atmosphere.

"Good to see you in such healthy shape, cousin," he said.

"My pleasure, your highness. What can I help you with?" Lilia throws a cold glare at him.

"It is about your crazy request from a few weeks ago. Can you reconsi--"

"No! It was final, you can't protest anything anymore."

"Tch, you didn't even allow me to finish what I would say."

"I know what you want to say, that's why I don't need to hear that."

"Sister, you know you're dear to me, right? I just want you to be happy, that's why... "

"Raphael, I just want you to do this easy wish. I don't want glory and wealth, and I don't want fame and status. I just want to marry someone that I have loved for the entirety of my life. Please, just this once, can you support your cousin's decision and wish?"

"Lilia, anything but that…" the Crown Prince pleaded with her, then he directed his protest towards a young girl standing beside him.

"Evelyn, why don't you stop her from making this stupid decision? You're her tamer right, you can push some consciousness into her brain," the Crown Prince directed his remark to the ginger-haired girl standing beside him with a sour face.

"My apologies, your highness, but Evelyn is the first person who encourages me to do so," Lilia smirked victoriously before Evelyn could answer or deny Raphael's question.

"Why are you throwing your mistake at me?" The poor girl snaps at Lilia with an unamused face.

"But you really support her, Evelyn?" Raphael asks her again.

"Yes, likely " Evelyn averted her gaze somewhere, avoiding Raphael's suffocating but helpless gaze.

"What...? Princess, can you do something?" Raphael asks Alicia now, he is so desperate that he even asks his fiancé to try to stop Lilia before she goes any further with her decision.

"I'm afraid I can't change Lilia's decision, she looks very determined." Alicia sips her tea with a smirk hidden behind the celadon cup. Lilia notices that, and her shoulder shakes for a moment. Raphael let out a desperate sigh. He touched his forehead, which seemed to have been hit by an intense, invisible slap multiple times.

"Then, are you successful in convincing the Duke to marry you?"

"Progressing…"

"How far?"

"Stuck…"

"Stuck?"

"Her Ladyship was in a stalemate, cannot go forward or backward," Evelyn answered with a mocking smile. Lilia clicked her tongue. She sighs and stares at Raphael once again, pleading.

"Brother, Raphael, with the deepest respect, I plead with you, your highness, to encourage me and give me your blessing," she said, kneeling in front of Raphael with all the sincerity she could squeeze out of her heart.

"Lilia... "

"But can you consider this once again?"

"You want me to rethink this many hundreds of times, but my answer is still the same. Raphael, it's Duke Oldenburg I want to marry, not his first son nor Luke," Lilia said with an unwavering gaze. Raphael shows his discomfort, then steals a glance at the short woman standing beside him, but when he just opens his mouth, he stops.

"No, impossible," the short girl cut him off even before he voiced his plea. Raphael held his head down and sighed loudly.

"Okay, I yield, please give me some space first. Princess... do accompany my cousin for a while, won't you?" Raphael said, dismissing Lilia and asking Alicia to keep her company for some time.

After Lilia and Alicia leave the room, he leans back in his chair and feels exhausted.

"Evelyn, why are you encouraging her crazy feelings? You know it's beyond madness."

"I can't prevent someone from falling in love."

"But at least you can..."

"I can't," she cut off Raphael, showing how angry she was with his nagging. Ever since the grand incident in the early autumn, Raphael has never failed to disrupt her regarding Lilia's issue.

"Fuck, this is decreasing 10 years of my life span," the mighty crown prince exhaled loudly. He bent his head and rested it on his palms. His face looks tired, and his messy hair makes it worse.

"Good things then," the young lady said cunningly.

"What..." Raphael growled horribly, he threw a menacing glare at Eve from the corner of his eyes. The girl jinxed herself in surprise and chuckled.

"I will make tea; please revise this document in the meantime."

Evelyn left the room and left Raphael alone with his messy thoughts. He laughed sarcastically. He was certain that if his cousin succeeded in luring the duke to marry her, this marriage would be the most controversial event since the empire was built.

~~~

Arriving at the crown princess' residence, Lilia plopped herself onto the couch. Alicia sat across from her in silence while the maid prepared the tea.

"Lilia... at least you should know that his highness is just worrying about you."

"I'm not a child anymore, I can manage things by myself and make decisions by myself too... I mean, he even bestowed me with the position of captain and even sent me to war by myself."

"He's afraid you're misjudging something."

"I'm not, he should ask me if the one I choose is that prickly young master."

"That never failed to amaze me, your hatred towards the young lord always amused me." Alicia chuckled at the fact that Lilia despises her eldest brother to the point that she hardly even mentions his name since they enrolled at the academy and always ignores him on any occasion.

"Bond to happen, truly… why would I be pleased with someone that incompetent in protecting his own sister?" Lilia spewed out her rude insults, expressing her hatred for Oldenburg's young master. Alicia just sighs helplessly.

"Cia... did you not get upset or uncomfortable with this..? He is also your father..."

"Well, at first I do feel surprised, but let's just say that I have the guts to think that you would end up this way."

"You know?"

"Maybe I'm not an expert like Evelyn in reading people, but I'm not that ignorant. Your eyes tell everything, Lilia," Alicia said, staring at her with a meaningful gaze, her face smiling softly.

"Licia…. What do you mean my eyes tell everything?"

"Every time you meet Father, your eyes are the same as when you saw sweets, swords, and blood," she said with a mildly teasing tone, emphasizing the word "blood" on purpose.

"Not the blood, please..!" Lilia groaned as she heard Alicia taunting her.

"Then, Licia, can I assume that you approve of my feelings towards the Duke?" She asked warily, Alicia just simply smiled, but Lilia could catch the meaning from the silent answer. Lilia smiles happily, and she gives Alicia a quick peck on the cheek.

"I'll excuse myself then. I need to boost my mood, so I'll go to the training ground. Have a pleasant day, your highness, the crown princess."

"Good day, future mom," Alicia bid her goodbye while sipping her tea, slightly laughing, and she felt much excited about what would happen shortly.