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The day had come to an end.

Lesiah had explained everything she needed to before departing. With that, Leniah officially assumed her new role as the empress of the Macedonian Empire. While she spent most of her day snacking and playing with dolls, she had at least learned to do so on the highest seat in the empire known as the throne. The rest of her responsibilities naturally fell on Marlin, her advisor.

While Professor Marlin appeared to lack grand ambitions, Lilith left Green Emperor behind as precautionary measure.

One reason was to ensure that any potential riots after the ascension could be dealt with, and the other was to keep an eye on Professor Marlin.

After all, power could corrupt even the most virtuous of men. There was no telling if Professor Marlin would become a new threat to the empire once he tasted the freedom that came with power.

Lilith gave Professor Marlin only a single chance. If he crossed the line in any way, the Green Emperor was allowed to take matters into his own hands.

Of course, this was also explicitly conveyed to Professor Marlin, though he appeared to have little concern for it.

All his attention was on the staff quarters Lesiah had promised him.

The palace only had trained maids as servants. There were no male servants or eunuchs.

Therefore, living in the staff quarters was no different than living in a paradise… for a gentleman like Professor Marlin.

In order to make Professor Marlin accept the role of being Leniah’s advisor, Lesiah had no choice but to agree to his insolent request.

However, there was just one thing… Lilith and Lesiah had mutually agreed to deliberately hide from him.

Creak—

The door behind her opened with a creak. Lilith turned her head around and saw Professor Marlin, who was struggling to push open the door and enter the room with a large pile of documents in one hand.

He was seated in a wheelchair, visibly bruised and battered.

Lilith was not surprised by his appearance at all. “What’s the matter, Marlin? You look like you had an underwhelming night in your paradise,” she teased.

A look of anger crossed Professor Marlin’s face.

“Why didn’t you tell me in advance that the maids were well trained with their fists? Did you deliberately hide that from me to make a fool out of me?!”

Lilith nodded with a grin. “Yeah, I did. It was more fun that way, wasn’t it?”

Professor Marlin was rendered speechless by her response.

“But damn, I didn’t think you’d actually have the guts to do it, Marlin. I thought you were just joking about it.”

“Hmph, I’d rather castrate myself than cower in fear after witnessing the scene I’ve always dreamed of,” Professor Marlin remarked with a straight face, like a seasoned general who just returned from a battlefield, wounded but still exuding a powerful aura.

Lilith was definitely impressed. “That’s admirable. Just a reminder though, if you do that again tonight you may get killed for real. After all, Lesiah gave the maids permission to defend themselves.”

“Heh.”

Professor Marlin chuckled disdainfully and pushed his black-rimmed glasses up his nose. “You’ve underestimated me. What’s there to fear about death? For a saint-level expert like me, there’s no greater humiliation than being defeated by weaker prey.”

Professor Marlin clenched his fists and said firmly, “I guess I’ll have to start training again after so long and work hard until I’m strong enough to conquer them. Come to think of it… it’s not so bad to get beaten up by them hehehe.”

Lilith sighed when she heard him and shook her head. This man was beyond help.

In any case, he could do whatever he wanted. He did not know the existence of the head of maidservants, who was the superior of these maids. As long as she was there, Professor Marlin had no chance in taking advantage of the maids through brute force.

He was merely chasing a carrot that was out of his reach.

After Professor Marlin had left, the door at the far end of the room opened slowly and Lesiah came out.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah.” Lesiah nodded, her eyes slightly red. “This is the first time I realized that goodbye is the hardest word to say.”

“Indeed. No one wants to part ways with someone important if they can help it.” Lilith shrugged, then curiously asked, “What did you say to Miss Sheila?”

“Nothing. I only gave her a few words and a farewell gift.”
“Really?”
“O-Of course. There’s no reason for me to lie to you,” Lesiah replied and averted her gaze.
“You’re acting kind of suspicious…”

Lesiah had this weird look on her face…

“No way. You must be imagining things.”

For some reason, her cheeks immediately turned a little red. Lilith could tell that it was not due to guilt from lying but more like…

Shyness.

“Is that so? I’ll stop pressing since you don’t want to share it.”

Lesiah immediately breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Lilith.

In any case, Lilith knew she had plenty of opportunities to interrogate her anyway, like when they were on the bed late at night or something.

A meaningful smile crept onto Lilith’s lips before she changed the subject.

“So, Lesiah, are you ready?”

Lesiah, who was now composed, smiled and nodded to her. “You bet.”

“Well then, our adventure has officially begun!” Lilith announced excitedly as she pointed into the distance.

“All right~” Lesiah raised her fist in the air, sharing the same level of enthusiasm as Lilith.

“Onward to our destination, the Great Celestial Rite!”
“All right~”
“Let’s find out who’s the culprit behind this and beat the crap out of them!”
“All right!”

Looking at Lilith bubbling with excitement, Lesiah could not help but feel a flutter in her heart. This was the first adventure she could go on without any worries.

She no longer had to put her empire or subjects before herself. She could finally indulge in her own adventure and take a proper look at the world.

Most importantly, she could experience this with Lilith… Just the two of them alone…

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

At St. Caroline Academy, Lesiah looked at the two women in front of her who appeared to be close to Lilith. They were apparently going to join their adventure.

“Lilith, who are these two women?” Lesiah asked coldly.

The two women standing before her were none other than Thea and Brea. Lilith was puzzled by the hostility Lesiah was showing to both of them, especially since they had just met for the first time.

“I can understand if Cornelia is joining us, but why are both of them too?”

Lesiah’s gaze shifted between the two before returning to Lilith, clearly intent on getting an answer.

Lilith scratched her cheek awkwardly and tried laughing it off. “I can’t help it. They’ve been issued a card too and it’ll be dangerous to leave them behind.”

“They’ve been issued cards too? That means these two women are also close to you?”

“I… suppose so.” After all, they were roommates in the same dormitory. As soon as Lilith said that, a chill ran down her spine. It was a warm day, but Lilith could feel the cold bitter wind of winter.

Meanwhile, Lesiah’s smile grew wider and wider.