Chapter 279: Angry Lily

Few minutes earlier...

The leaves of the trees fluttered as a figure suddenly descended from the sky, reaching the deep forest of the Greyveil.

Her slender bare feet touched the cold, grassy ground first, before her long silver hair slowly flowed down like a river of streaming stars.

"Finally done with today’s work," Lily sighed, a hint of tiredness in her voice. As her ethereal figure, draped in moonlight-kissed white robes, moved through the dark forest with slow steps, the animals nearby began gathering around her like moths drawn to light.

A gentle smile formed on her lips, her silver eyes narrowing in warmth as she patted the crystal foxes on their heads or brushed her hand along the backs of the Medicorns.

Some licked her hands while others tugged at her robe, asking for more warmth.

She spent a few minutes with them, the smile never leaving her lips. "We only met yesterday, yet you all are acting like you are seeing me after months," she chuckled, letting them caress her. Coming to the Greyveil forest every night after finishing her academic duties had become a daily habit. After all, these animals were all she had to talk to freely, not as the Legendary Principal of Arcane Academy but as the young dragoness she was.

Or at least that was the case until a month ago. Before she met a boy who talked to her freely, didn’t get flustered by her overwhelming presence, and even teased her, something she had never experienced before.

He offered to become her friend and was bold enough to say that if things worked out between them, they would take one step further in their relationship.

"All lies!" Lily muttered, her pupils transforming into snowflakes as a bone-chilling aura spread around her, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet. The beasts around her immediately scattered in fear.

"I never believed it when I read those light novels written by Agni. But just as those books showed, all men are nothing but manipulative liars!"

She stomped forward, her fists clenched at her sides, her brows knitted together. Her pace only slowed when she reached the fog swaying close to the ground. Or more accurately, the vapours rising from the hot spring a few feet ahead of her.

"That Lucas brat ran away as soon as he finished his physical training without even informing me," Lily muttered, veins bulging on the back of her hand. "Let him come next time. I will surely discipline him."

Her eyes lowered as she sighed, "Even my disciples, who have known me for over fifty years, avoid me. What was I expecting from a man I met only thrice?"

She stopped at the edge of the hot spring. Her hands moved to her waist, where she untied her cloth belt. The silken robe slipped from her shoulders and slid down her body, pooling at her bare feet. What remained was pure white skin that seemed to drink in the moonlight and return it with an even more ethereal glow than the moon itself.

Her hands moved to her back to unstrap the last piece of fabric covering her full curves. She hesitated for a moment. Perhaps he might come. Naturally, she didn’t want to flash him.

She shook her head, a hint of anger and sadness clear on her face. He had already forgotten about her.

With a click, the last piece of fabric slipped off, revealing curves that didn’t even shift once the cloth came down, as if it had never been supporting them to begin with.

While her bra was falling to the ground on one side, the surface of the water bulged upward on the other as a head emerged, breaking through.

For a moment, both figures froze as Lily’s silver eyes fell upon the crimson eyes of the figure in the pond.

Vlad’s breath caught in his throat, his jaw slowly dropping.

"H-hii," he waved at her with an awkward grin, his eyes shifting back and forth between her face and below.

Lily’s milky skin began turning pink, a blush spreading across her face and reaching her ears.

"Aaaah!!"

---

"Can I turn around?" Vlad asked from the water, facing the other side.

"Why are you here?" Lily demanded in a sharp voice.

Vlad raised an eyebrow. Just by her tone, he could tell that she was angry. ’Is she embarrassed by what just happened?’ he wondered.

"I came to take a bath in the hot spring," he answered with a shrug.

No response came from the other side. Perhaps he really shouldn’t mess around when she already sounded angry.

"Of course, I’m here to meet you," he answered, pushing the damp strands of hair away from his face.

He was about to turn his head to talk face to face when Lily muttered, "Keep your head straight!"

She was still standing beside the hot spring, covered only in her undergarments, her arms crossed below her chest and her gaze so sharp that Vlad felt as if a hole were being pierced into the back of his neck.

"So you finally remembered to meet me?"

"What does that mean?" Vlad answered her question with a question of his own. "I never forgot you to begin with."

"Stop lying!" Lily’s voice came out louder than she intended. "I will not be fooled by you again."

Now Vlad was even more confused. Out of all the women he was acquainted with, she was the most mature, even more than his Mom, whom he had pampered the most after Chloe.

What could have caused her to throw a tantrum for no apparent reason when he hadn’t even done anything wrong? Was she angry because he hadn’t visited her for a whole month? Perhaps she hadn’t received his letter before he left for the Dark Continent.

He began turning around again as he asked, "Lily, did you—"

"Face ahead!" she cut him off mid-sentence.

He released a sigh and turned his face ahead again. "Lily, did you not receive the letter I left?"

"I did."

"Then you must be aware that I wasn’t in the Academy for the past few days," he explained, giving her the reason he couldn’t come to visit.

"Yes, and I’m also aware that you returned to the academy three days ago," Lirien added, her tone accusing. "And I also know that you have already met ’all’ of your ’close friends’. I must be at the bottom of your list, right?"

The corner of Vlad’s brow rose in suspicion. After a brief silence, he asked, "Lily... What’s your relationship with the Principal?"