Chapter 94: Why Was Lily Kissing Zenith?

Once Asher dragged Ivan’s unconscious body out of my sight, I took a seat on a nearby bench.

My hand was still bloodied as I pulled out a healing potion and gulped it down, letting it do its work. Along with it, I took out a bandage and wrapped it around it to stop the bleeding.

There was still plenty of time before my meeting with Seles, so I decided to meditate for now. I mean, there wasn’t much else to do anyway. I could have gone back to the dorm and cleaned up a bit before the meeting but that felt unproductive.

I made myself comfortable on the bench and closed my eyes, focusing on my soul world. Immediately, my consciousness sank into the same tranquil sea of blue mana.

The grey sun of Regression was the same as before but there was one particular change with the blue sun that represented the Eye of Usurper.

A faint trail now orbited around it, carrying an unstable golden speck that was barely visible to the naked eye.

It had been there ever since I placed the Mark of Usurper on Seles and learned about the condition to engrave her true name and it was continuing to grow more and more every single day.

The only explanation I could think of was that it was some sort of manifestation of Seles’s True Name, slowly unraveling as I earned her trust.

Though I couldn’t know for sure.

It was barely visible before but now it had grown into a tiny golden dot despite the distance between us and only now did I understand why the description of Eye of Usurper mentioned there being a time limit to fulfill the condition.

Looking at that unstable dot squirming with golden energy, it was obvious that it could explode the moment it reached a certain size.

Still, I didn’t bother dwelling on depressing thoughts for now and instead focused on my meditation.

With every breath, the sea of mana stirred and with every exhale, it calmed once more.

I continued following the process while circulating mana throughout my body, making sure it nourished me as well.

Soon enough, the chime of my bracelet snapped me out of my meditation as I opened my eyes to see a new message waiting for me.

[Seles: Where are you?]

The message was from Seles.

Only then did I look at the time.

Oh... shit. I am late.

It was already five minutes past our meeting time.

I immediately got up from the bench and hurried towards the meeting spot. Thankfully I was close to the spot and arrived within a few minutes only to see Seles standing beside the fountain in the centre of the Academy’s campus.

She wore a simple white linen blouse with soft, slightly puffed sleeves, paired with a long, flowing light pink skirt that swayed gracefully in the wind.

A slim brown leather belt rested around her waist, while a delicate silver pendant and matching earrings completed the outfit. Her orange hair was loosely braided and tied with a pale pink ribbon.

Every student walking past the fountain couldn’t help but stare at her with their mouths hanging open because honestly she looked effortlessly elegant in that outfit, a far cry from how I looked.

I was wearing nothing more than a simple white linen shirt paired with black trousers and leather shoes. Not to mention, my hand was still bandaged and stained with blood.

Not that I cared much about appearances but seeing her so well prepared, I couldn’t help but feel a little like a barbarian standing before a princess.

As soon as her violet eyes landed on me, she waved excitedly before walking over with a bright smile.

"Hey, Zenith!"

The gazes of the students around us, which had been fixed on her in amazement, instantly shifted towards me with envy and hostility, as if I had committed some great crime against humanity.

I didn’t care and returned her smile.

"Hey, Seles. Sorry for being late," I muttered. "I ran into a bit of a situation." I said politely.

Her gaze immediately shifted towards my bandaged hand and without saying another word, she reached out and gently took hold of it.

"What happened? Is someone bullying you?"

She asked with a pout, barely breaking the persona she had grown so accustomed to wearing.

I gently pulled my hand back.

"Ahh, it’s nothing. I had a small fall on the way here. I already drank a healing potion, so it should be fine in a little while."

I smiled before gesturing ahead.

"Shall we head to the café?"

She didn’t look convinced but didn’t pursue it either and nodded.

"Sure."

***

As we started walking through the busy streets, she continued chatting with me, telling me about everything she had been doing recently.

I simply nodded along, occasionally adding a few comments of my own so I wouldn’t seem completely out of it.

But my attention was focused on something else entirely.

Because... despite their best efforts to remain hidden, I could already sense two different people trailing behind us from opposite directions.

One of them was an idiotic bastard.

I could already guess why he was here.

Aurelion.

He had probably seen Seles dressing up to go out and decided to follow her because, beneath that stupidly optimistic personality, he was an absurdly overprotective brother.

Even in my previous life, he somehow managed to third-wheel every time I was with Seles. So, I wasn’t particularly surprised.

But the other person surprised me far more.

Wearing a simple light blue dress with a scarf wrapped around the lower half of her face as if trying to hide her identity was a blonde girl with crimson eyes.

Lily.

And the moment I recognized her, only one thought crossed my mind.

What the hell is she doing here?

And how did she know... I would be going out with Seles today?

And more than that...

I could only hope she wasn’t misunderstanding what was going on.

But feeling her cold stare and knowing that overthinking spirit, Rwar, that somehow seemed far more impossible.

***

Meanwhile, following after them in what she believed to be a perfectly stealthy outfit, Lily couldn’t help but wonder how she had even ended up in this situation.

She definitely wasn’t stalking that weirdo or that annoying princess. It had been a complete coincidence.

She had simply been returning from her meeting with the other members of the organisation within the academy... when she happened to spot them by complete coincidence.

[You know, Lily... at this point, just accept that you feel something because of whatever magic that boy cast on you and move on. It has already been two hours since your meeting ended and you have been following that boy ever since.]

Rwar’s voice echoed through her mind.

[Not to mention... your outfit makes you look even more suspicious. I’m fairly certain that boy has already noticed you, just like I noticed those other creeps following them as well.]

’Stop it, Rwar. Why would I even follow that weirdo? And I don’t feel anything for him. I simply find him too suspicious.’

She defended herself.

’You know how weird and annoying he is. I am just making sure he doesn’t know anything about me... or my mission.’

[Whatever you say, girl. But you still haven’t told me about the dream you had today. You did mention that the boy appeared in it.]

Rwar sounded genuinely suspicious.

[I am telling you, he must have cast some kind of foreign magic on you for you to have dreams like that.]

Meanwhile, a faint blush spread across Lily’s face.

’N-No... it was nothing. And who even said he appeared in my dream? It didn’t have anything to do with him.’

[You were calling his name in your sleep, you know.]

Lily didn’t say another word.

How was she supposed to tell Rwar about that stupid dream?

She didn’t even know why she had dreamed something like that.

In it, she had been inside some deep castle where Zenith was chained to a bed...

...while she was kissing him.

Deeply.

And he was calling her his wife.

Just remembering it made her face grow even hotter.

Why had he been tied up in her dream?

Why was she the one kissing him so... deeply?

And more importantly...

Why was he calling her his wife like that?

She couldn’t understand it, so all she felt was embarrassment.

’’In any case, that dream isn’t important. Help me listen to their conversation, Rwar.’ Lily said, fanning her flushed face. ’And who the hell is that other creep following them?’

[That other guy is... the princess’s brother.]

Rwar replied in the same flat tone.

[And as for helping you eavesdrop on their conversation, I am not doing it. You are on your own, Lily. Go ask one of your other summons because I am going to sleep now.]

’You can’t do this, Rwar... You know the others don’t even listen to me with my current strength.’

But she didn’t get any response.

Rwar had already gone to sleep in the spirit realm, leaving Lily with no choice but to continue following them in silence.

I will find out what you know about me, weirdo.

...And what kind of magic you’re using to make me dream about such lewd things.

***

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