Chapter 42: Lilliths reaction
The following day, me and Finn stood in front of around fifteen knights sent personally by Father.
Or rather—
Former knights.
Because from today onward, they were laborers.
The men themselves looked deeply confused about the entire situation.
Most of them were massive, battle-hardened men wearing partial armor while staring awkwardly at the construction site around them.
Meanwhile Finn paced proudly in front of them with his hands behind his back like some kind of military commander.
"I demand respect in this work environment!"
The knights stared blankly.
"If any of you damage expensive equipment," Finn continued dramatically, "I will personally ensure Leon makes your lives miserable with maths ."
"...What?" one of the knights muttered.
I decided to let Finn enjoy himself.
After all—
He did technically save my life.
Eventually I stepped forward carrying several large sketches and construction plans.
"Alright," I began, "these are scaled-up bloomeries."
The men nodded slowly despite clearly not understanding anything.
I pointed toward several sections of the design.
"The airflow system needs remain consistent or the internal temperatures will collapse."
Blank stares.
"The charcoal ratio must remain balanced with the iron input."
More blank stares.
One knight slowly raised his hand.
"...What’s airflow?"
After another ten painful minutes, me and Finn silently accepted reality.
Trying explain metallurgy and industrial engineering to medieval knights was hopeless.
So instead—
We simplified everything down into basic instructions.
"Lift this."
"Place that there."
"No, NOT sideways."
Construction finally began properly after that.
And almost immediately—
Everything went wrong.
One group placed several support beams backward, causing an entire section collapse before completion.
Another knight somehow managed dropping half-molten material directly into a water trench which resulted in a violent explosion of steam that sent three grown men screaming backwards into the dirt.
At one point, Finn turned around just in time witness a knight attempting hammer glowing metal with the wooden side of a tool.
"...Why?"
"I panicked."
Another worker accidentally overloaded part of the charcoal pit, creating enough smoke nearly suffocate everyone nearby.
Then there was the wheel incident.
One of the larger knights misunderstood instructions and attempted moving an entire waterwheel section by himself.
The wheel rolled downhill.
Straight into part of the unfinished structure.
Destroying almost six hours of work instantly.
Finn looked genuinely close murdering someone after that.
Still—
Despite the disasters—
Progress slowly continued.
By sunset, one complete large-scale bloomery finally stood beside the river.
It was rough.
Ugly.
Uneven in places.
But it worked.
And seeing it standing there made something inside me genuinely excited.
Because this time—
We weren’t building survival tools anymore.
We were building industry.
The workers eventually celebrated alongside us around several campfires before returning toward the temporary barracks Father had prepared nearby.
Finn stretched tiredly before grabbing his coat.
"I’m heading back to the shack."
"You sure you don’t want stay at the manor?"
"I enjoy not sleeping in places worth more than my entire bloodline."
"That’s fair."
After saying goodbye, we headed separate ways.
By the time I returned to the manor, exhaustion had completely taken over my body.
The moment I reached my room, I practically collapsed onto the bed.
After lying there for several minutes, I eventually got back up and wandered toward the corner bookshelf hoping find something read.
But just as I grabbed one of the books—
BOOOOOOM.
The doors exploded open hard enough slam against the walls with enough force almost shattering them completely.
I immediately turned.
And froze.
Lillith stood in the doorway.
Long black hair.
Deep purple eyes.
And an expression that somehow looked both furious and relieved at the same time.
Then instantly—
She vanished.
No—
She moved too fast see properly.
A second later both her hands grabbed my face while she rapidly turned my head side to side inspecting me.
Her eyes scanned across my body desperately searching for injuries.
Since I was wearing long nightwear that covered most of my body, she couldn’t immediately see the prosthetic.
After several seconds of inspection, she suddenly pulled me tightly into her arms.
"I missed you."
I hugged her back weakly.
"...Me too."
The moment I returned the hug, her grip somehow tightened even more.
"Lillith."
No response.
"Lillith."
Still nothing.
"Please let go of me."
After several more seconds, she finally released me.
The moment she did—
I lost balance slightly and fell sideways into a nearby chair without properly using my left leg.
Lillith’s eyes narrowed slightly.
But before she could question it, she immediately started speaking again.
"The moment I heard war had been declared against Magneto, I tried coming back immediately."
Her expression darkened.
"But Father had already been summoned to the royal capital for the war council."
I blinked slightly.
"...War council?"
Lillith nodded.
"I got into a fight with him over it."
That somehow did not surprise me.
"But apparently," she continued coldly, "when two high-ranking mages destroy. several streets during an argument, it
causes big issues which papa later covers up as a terrorist attack by magneto"
That explained the newspaper.
I stared at her.
"You fought Duke Nightbane?"
"He started it."
"...Somehow I doubt that."
Lillith ignored me completely before stepping closer again.
"Then Father told me what happened at the border."
Her voice became quieter.
"The B-rank mage."
For the first time since entering the room—
She genuinely looked shaken.
"I should’ve been there."
Before I could answer, she suddenly smiled softly while touching my cheek.
"But I’m glad my Leo is perfectly fine."
Something about the way she said that made me nervous.
Very nervous.
I quickly decided changing the subject sounded like a wonderful idea.
"...It’s getting late."
Lillith’s eyes immediately brightened.
"Oh."
She stood perfectly still.
Then looked directly at me with massive hopeful eyes.
"...Yes it is."
I immediately sighed.
"I still prefer sleeping alone."
"I don’t care."
"...Right."
After several seconds, I finally gave up.
"Fine."
Lillith immediately celebrated before turning around happily and walking toward the bed.
I slowly stood up from the chair.
Then—
Tap.
The moment the slipper on my prosthetic leg touched the floor—
Lillith froze.
Completely.
The room suddenly felt cold.
Slowly—
She turned around.
Her expression had become utterly emotionless.
"...Leo."
My entire body stiffened.
She slowly walked toward me.
"You foot doesn’t normally produce that pitch when it touches the floor."
I stared at her in horror as she walked over.
How did she even notice that?
Lillith crouched slowly before studying my left leg carefully.
Then without warning—
She grabbed the bottom of the trousers and lifted the fabric covering the leg.
The wooden leg became visible instantly.
The room went silent.
And somehow—
Her eyes became even darker.
Even emptier.
Slowly she stood back up.
Then gently cupped both my cheeks with her hands.
Her voice was soft.
Calm.
Terrifying.
"...Who do I need to kill?"
My survival instincts activated immediately.
"They’re already dead!"
Lillith blinked once.
"Finn shot them!"
A long silence followed.
Then she sighed softly.
For a brief moment, I thought the situation had calmed down.
Then she pulled my head directly against her chest while gently caressing the back of my hair.
"That’s unfortunate."
My spine froze.
Then softly—
Almost lovingly—
She started asking questions.
"What was their name?"
"...I don’t know."
"Did they a wife?"
"I don’t know."
"Husband ? Children? Family? Friends?"
"I DON’T KNOW!"
"Where did they live?"
"I REALLY DON’T KNOW!"
My voice sounded genuinely terrified at this point.
Meanwhile Lillith simply continued gently stroking my hair while holding me tightly against her.
"...It’s alright."
Her voice remained soft.
Gentle.
Possessive.
"I won’t ever leave you alone again."
My survival instincts somehow got even worse.
"You won’t have to worry about a single thing for the rest of eternity."
Lillith gently guided me toward the bed.
Honestly, after everything that had happened today, I was too mentally exhausted resist anymore.
She carefully pushed me down onto the mattress before pulling the blankets over me with surprising gentleness.
Then she tucked me in.
I blinked at her blankly.
"...Lillith."
She ignored me completely.
Instead she calmly walked toward the corner of the room before grabbing one of the wooden chairs resting beside the bookshelf.
She dragged it across the floor before placing it directly in front of the bed.
Then she sat down.
Crossing one leg over the other, she rested her elbow against her thigh while supporting her face with one hand.
And smiled at me.
At a very crooked angle.
"...What are you doing?"
"Watching you."
"That’s somehow worse when you say it that casually."
She continued smiling.
I stared at her for several seconds before speaking again.
"...Don’t you need to sleep?"
Lillith tilted her head slightly.
"Not really."
"What do you mean not really?"
"I only actually need sleep around once a week."
I stared at her in complete shock.
"...What?"
"It’s a special technique, related to my high mana capacity."
"What about all those times you slept with me in the capital"
She smiled even more as she raised her hand and said.
"You caught me"
That question somehow raised even more questions and left me worse of then before.
I slowly rubbed my face.
"So you’re really planning to stare at me all night?"
Her smile somehow became even happier.
"Yes."
I immediately turned around and closed my eyes.
There was no point arguing anymore.
I already knew that.
Still—
Actually trying to sleep while knowing Lillith was sitting behind me silently watching my unconscious body felt deeply unnatural.
The pressure behind me was unbearable.
Ten minutes passed.
Eventually curiosity got the better of me.
I slowly turned my head slightly.
Lillith was still there.
Still smiling.
Still staring directly at me.
The moment our eyes met, I immediately turned back around again.
Thirty minutes passed.
I looked back again.
Still staring.
"...Are you tired yet?" she asked softly.
"No."
Another hour passed.
I turned around once more.
Lillith had not moved even slightly.
Her deep purple eyes remained locked onto me while the same smile stayed across her face the entire time.
"...Lillith."
"Yes?"
"I need sleep."
"You are sleeping."
"I mean properly I need be at the construction site tomorrow."
That finally caused her smile to fade slightly.
"...Why?"
"Because we’re building a large-scale steel production site."
Lillith stared silently for a moment before speaking softly.
"But didn’t I say you wouldn’t have worry about a single thing for the rest of eternity?"
Something about the way she said eternity made my instincts activate again.
Then after a brief pause, she casually continued:
"If the construction site is bothering you, I can destroy it."
I felt my soul leave my body.
"Please don’t."
She looked mildly disappointed.
My mind desperately searched for solutions.
Then suddenly—
"...Can you get me some water?"
Lillith immediately hesitated.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"...You’re trying to escape."
"No I’m not."
"You are."
"I literally just want water."
She remained suspicious for several seconds.
"The kitchens only down the hallway," I added quickly. "You’ll only be gone for a minute."
After another long pause, Lillith slowly stood up.
Then she walked closer to me before placing one hand beneath my shirt directly against my chest.
Purple mana flowed softly into my body.
I immediately stiffened.
"...What did you just do?"
She ignored the question completely.
"You better not even be out of bed by the time I return."
Then—
She vanished from the room.
The moment the door closed—
I exploded into motion.
I jumped out of bed before immediately rushing toward the door and locking it.
Then I spun around toward the windows.
I normally kept them open because I preferred the cold night air.
Not tonight.
I slammed them shut immediately before locking those too.
Only after securing every possible entrance did I finally return toward the bed.
Then for the first time all night—
I peacefully drifted asleep.
