I awkwardly stood there while Lilith continued hugging like she had absolutely no intention of letting go anyti soon.
I had no idea how to deal with this girl anymore.
Eventually, after several monts, she finally loosened her grip slightly and looked up at .
"...I haven’t seen you for months," she muttered quietly. "So you have to make it up to ."
I sighed softly.
"...Fine."
Lilith’s eyes imdiately sharpened with interest.
"Tomorrow," I continued carefully, "I’ll take you with ."
The mont those words left my mouth—
Her entire expression brightened.
"...Really?"
Honestly, the speed at which her mood changed was terrifying.
"Yeah," I answered cautiously. "But you can’t complain the entire ti."
"I won’t."
That was definitely a lie.
Still—
Seeing her suddenly look so excited made feel slightly guilty for ignoring her so much lately.
Lilith stepped even closer.
"Promise?"
"...Promise."
A faint smile spread across her face.
One that honestly looked far too happy for such a simple thing.
I awkwardly scratched the back of my head before glancing toward the window.
It was already late.
And after spending the entire day working on blast furnace designs, my brain felt half dead.
"I’m going to sleep," I muttered while pulling off my coat.
Lilith imdiately nodded.
" too."
"...Okay?"
I turned around briefly to place so books on the desk.
Then—
A few seconds later—
I noticed movent behind .
I looked back toward the bed.
And froze.
Lilith had already climbed beneath the blankets.
Comfortably.
Like she belonged there.
I stared at her blankly.
"...What are you doing?"
Lilith looked up at innocently while adjusting the pillow.
"Sleeping."
"...In my bed."
"Yes."
"...Where exactly do I sleep then?"
Without hesitation, Lilith casually patted the empty space beside her.
"Right beside ."
My brain imdiately stopped functioning.
"...Excuse ?"
Lilith tilted her head slightly like I was the weird one here.
"There’s enough room."
"That is not the issue!"
Why was she saying this so casually?!
I pointed toward the door dramatically.
"Lilith. Get out of my bed."
"No."
"...No?"
She pulled the blanket slightly higher while staring at calmly.
"I’m comfortable."
"That’s my problem?."
"I don’t see how."
I stared at her in disbelief.
anwhile, Lilith simply hugged my pillow tighter and rested comfortably against it.
The betrayal hurt deeply.
"That’s also my pillow."
"Mhm."
"Lilith."
"Yes?."
"This is insane."
"You promised to spend ti with tomorrow."
"That has nothing to do with this!"
She ignored completely before burying part of her face into the pillow.
I watched in horror as she breathed in deeply.
Then smiled.
"...It slls like you."
My soul nearly left my body.
"Nope."
I imdiately turned around.
Absolutely not.
There was no universe where I was surviving this situation with my sanity intact.
Lilith noticed heading toward the door and blinked slightly.
"...Where are you going?"
"Guest room."
"You’re leaving!?"
"Yes!"
She looked genuinely annoyed now.
"But this is your room."
"Exactly!"
"Then sleep here!."
"No!"
I opened the door imdiately before this conversation sohow beca even worse.
Behind , Lilith clicked her tongue softly in annoyance.
"Tch."
I pretended not to hear it.
Then, with the dignity I still barely possessed intact—
I fled the room.
————
Several minutes later, the manor hallways had gone completely quiet.
anwhile—
Back inside my room—
Lilith remained curled comfortably beneath the blankets.
A small satisfied smile rested on her face while she hugged the pillow tightly against her chest.
The room slled faintly like Leon.
Which honestly made this significantly better.
Still—
A tiny pout ford on her lips.
"...Coward."
She buried her face deeper into the pillow while breathing in slowly again.
Honestly, she had imagined this going differently.
In her head, Leon was supposed to get flustered before eventually giving in and sleeping beside her.
Instead—
He ran away.
Rude.
Very rude.
Lilith rolled slightly beneath the blankets before hugging the pillow tighter.
"...At least the bed is warm."
After several monts, the annoyance on her face slowly faded.
A soft smile replaced it instead.
Tomorrow—
Leon was finally going to show her what he’d been hiding all these months.
And for so reason—
That thought made her incredibly excited.
—————
Knocking echoed loudly through the guest room door.
"Leo."
More knocking followed.
"Wake up."
I groaned and buried my face deeper into the pillow.
Why was she awake this early?
"Leon."
The knocking beca more aggressive.
"If you don’t wake up, I’m coming in."
Half asleep, I muttered back toward the door.
"...The door’s locked."
Then I imdiately closed my eyes again.
Surely that solved the problem.
A few peaceful seconds passed.
Then suddenly—
A heavy weight slamd directly onto .
"GAH—"
My eyes snapped open in panic.
Lilith was lying directly on top of .
Her arms rested against my chest while her long black hair spilled across the blanket around us.
I stared at her in complete horror.
anwhile—
She simply smiled calmly down at .
My brain slowly rebooted.
Then I imdiately looked toward the door.
Still closed.
Still locked.
I froze.
"...How did you get in here?"
Lilith’s smile widened slightly.
She said absolutely nothing.
That sohow made it worse.
"...Lilith."
Still smiling.
Honestly—
That was terrifying.
I slowly sat up while trying to process the fact she had sohow bypassed a locked door.
"...You’re scary."
"I know."
She sounded weirdly proud of that.
After finally escaping the room and getting dressed, I stepped into the hallway with Lilith walking happily beside like she hadn’t just materialized inside a locked room like so sleep paralysis demon.
"You took too long," she complained imdiately.
"It’s still early."
"And?"
I sighed softly.
"...You’re impossible."
Lilith smiled proudly at that for so reason.
————
Snow crunched beneath our boots as we walked through the forest together.
The cold winter air drifted through the trees while early morning light illuminated the snowy landscape around us.
Lilith walked unusually close beside the entire ti.
Not that I was going to comnt on it.
Eventually, after nearly an hour of walking, the clearing finally ca into view.
And the mont Lilith saw it—
She froze.
The workshop stood proudly within the snowy clearing while smoke rose into the sky from the active furnaces.
The waterwheels beside the river slowly turned while connected bellows continuously pumped air into the two bloories.
Orange flas glowed from vents near the furnaces while piles of ore, charcoal, and tal tools surrounded the area.
It looked insane.
Especially for sothing built by two thirteen-year-olds in the middle of the woods.
Lilith stared silently at everything.
"...What is this?"
"A workshop."
"That does not answer my question."
She slowly walked further into the clearing while looking around carefully.
Her deep purple eyes scanned over everything with visible confusion and curiosity.
The bloories.
The moving bellows.
The stacks of refined steel bars.
The strange tools.
Then her gaze landed on the nitrate bed.
She stopped.
"...Why is there a giant pile of manure and straw?"
I coughed awkwardly.
"...Science."
Lilith slowly looked back toward .
"...You built a giant pile of manure for science?"
"When you say it like that it sounds weird."
"It is weird."
Fair enough.
Still, despite her confusion, I could tell she was genuinely impressed by the workshop itself.
She lightly touched one of the steel bars resting near the forge before glancing back toward the moving waterwheel.
"...You made all of this?"
"Mostly."
Her eyes widened slightly.
Seeing her look genuinely amazed felt oddly satisfying.
Just as I was about to explain the bloories—
The workshop door suddenly creaked open.
Finn stepped outside rubbing his eyes tiredly while half awake.
His hair looked completely disheveled while his coat hung loosely over one shoulder.
Clearly—
He had just woken up.
"...Leon," he muttered sleepily. "Why are you here so ear—"
Then he noticed Lilith.
He blinked slowly.
"...Oh."
Unfortunately—
Lilith reacted first.
The atmosphere instantly changed.
Dark purple mana erupted around her body violently.
Pressure slamd into the clearing like a physical force.
Finn’s expression instantly warped in terror before his body crashed violently onto the snow-covered ground.
The air itself felt heavier.
Oppressive.
Terrifying.
Finn couldn’t even scream.
His entire body trembled violently against the ground as the pressure forced him flat.
Even breathing looked difficult.
Lilith stared down at him coldly.
"Who are you?"
Her voice had completely changed.
Gone was the playful girl from yesterday.
Now—
She sounded dangerous.
"What are you doing here?" she asked sharply.
Finn’s mouth opened slightly, but no sound ca out.
The pressure was too intense.
"What are you-"
That snapped out of my shock.
"Lilith!"
She paused slightly.
I imdiately stepped forward angrily.
"He’s my friend!"
The purple mana around her flickered slightly.
"Let him go!"
For a brief mont—
The entire clearing went silent except for the sound of the furnaces burning nearby.
Then finally—
The crushing pressure vanished instantly.
Finn collapsed fully into the snow coughing violently while gasping for air.
Lilith looked down at him coldly for several seconds before speaking.
"...Your friend?"
"YES," I snapped imdiately. "My friend."
Finn weakly raised a shaking hand from the snow.
"...H-hello..."
Lilith ignored him completely and instead looked back toward .
"...You never ntioned him."
"Well obviously," I replied in frustration. "I didn’t expect you to try killing him five seconds after eting him."
"I wasn’t going to kill him."
Finn imdiately coughed harder from the ground.
He didn’t seem convinced in the slightest .
Lilith stepped closer toward while glancing back at Finn suspiciously.
"...Why is he here?"
"He works with ."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"...Works with you?"
"Yes."
Lilith slowly looked around the workshop again.
The bloories.
The steel.
The waterwheels.
Then back toward Finn laying half dead in the snow.
A long silence followed.
Reviews
All reviews (0)