"I've let you alone for one day." Lily rolled her eyes as a greeting. "One day, and you've come back with a stray dragon. You're quite something, Konrad Halstadt."
It might have been the first time she called him by that name, but he couldn't exactly celebrate.
"Shh, I told the tribesmen that she's another captive I've found." Konrad pulled her to the side.
He didn't even hope to fool the demoness, but it would've been nice if she hadn't let everyone else know. It wasn't hard to guess how she found out, though.
All his haremettes could read his mind with impunity.
Except Eyna. Eyna was the best. He loved her.
Lily raised an eyebrow—she must have read those thoughts, too.
Served her well.
Meanwhile, Maple bowed until her forehead almost touched the ground.
No horns in sight, she went through all that trouble to hide her dragon-ness, and for what?
"Please forgive me, your demonic highness, for intruding on your sphere of influence." Her voice was low, but serious. Konrad thought she was being sarcastic, but no. "I owe my life to—"
"Yes, yes, I know," Lily sighed, waving her off.
Was she actually that powerful? A three-hundred-year-old dragon was bowing to her like that?
"I'm still young, considering," Maple whispered, straightening her back. And she promised not to read his mind. "Do you even have an idea how old the greater demon is?"
She was old? Well, Konrad was almost seventy, if he counted both his lives. She was with him in the previous one, too, so—a hundred? Or even more than the dragon?
The freckled ginger cleared her throat, tapping her feet on the ground.
"It's rude to talk about a girl's age, wyrm," she said, crossing her arms. And she looked the youngest out of their trio present. Now, Konrad was curious.
"How old are you?" he asked, trying the direct approach.
It was a mistake. Lily's glare almost burned a hole in his forehead.
"I'd say she's older than everyone in this camp combined," Maple whispered.
Konrad didn't even know how many people had gathered here. He wanted to ask, but—
"Weren't you hungry?" Lily snapped, waving the dragon off before she could give him another hint. "Go, enjoy the feast. Eat all you want—I'm going to talk to my Konny boy in private."
Sensitive topic? How did he never think about this before?
"Thank you, your highness." The dragon's eyes lit up, dropping the topic right away. "I'm starving. I don't remember the last time I—I could eat everything by myself."
Lily smirked.
"Well then, don't be shy and do that. Go."
Konrad couldn't follow.
"Hey, there are hundreds of hungry warriors here, don't let her eat everything," he protested.
The ginger's next wave silenced him, her voice much louder.
"Come on, a dragon enjoys priority over the common folk. Let her eat her fill."
That was quite a turnaround after the initial greeting. And that smirk? She was up to something. He wanted to follow Maple—starving himself—but Lily yanked him back.
It didn't matter if she was half his size; her strength was inhumane.
"Not so fast, Konny baby," she murmured, her grin widening. She waited until the dragon was out of earshot. "I want to show you something first—and that meal's all poisoned."
"W-what?" Konrad's eyes widened.
Lily was already dragging him the other way, giggling the entire time.
"The next batch of food will be ready soon, you won't stay hungry, don't worry," she said.
But that wasn't the issue.
"If you're mad at me for taking her home, let's talk it out," he tried to negotiate, but her grip wouldn't let up. "It's a bit harsh to poison her right away—it's not her fault, that—"
"Oh, come on," she chuckled. "She'll take a big, long nap. At least the food won't go to waste."
Then, they reached the healer's tent.
She pulled the flaps to the side, and Konrad's jaw hit the floor.
Chaotic rows upon rows of mercenaries, lying in full armor, all tied up—sleeping.
"What on—" he caught himself, lowering his voice to a whisper. "What on Earth did you do?"
More chuckling, Lily's voice bright and loud in this odd situation.
"You're no longer on Earth, sweetheart," she noted, then waved at the sleeping soldiers. "Don't worry, they won't wake up. I didn't laze around while you were out, darling."
Two nicknames in a row? And hundreds of soldiers.
"Wha—How? Why?" His brain gave up at that point.
"I told you." Lily shrugged. "The feast—I had the food poisoned, then let them eat it."
Yeah, poison. That made sense. Or did it?
"B-but who are they?"
Lily let out a deep, long sigh, like she was talking to a toddler who asked stupid questions.
Not like it was normal to find an army of sleeping mercenaries returning from a raid. But before she could give him an explanation, someone else did.
"Otto Ostfeld hired them to force you into hiding—then burn all the villages nearby."
Sister Stella.
Konrad's first instinct was to draw his sword, but Lily's snorting made him stop.
"See, I'm not mad about you bringing a stray home, because I've got one, too," she claimed.
"One?" he scoffed, looking at the sleeping soldiers. "More like five hundred."
"It's closer to six," the executioner offered, though she seemed rather uncomfortable, too. "And I'm sorry for the terrible things I have done to you."
That was it. She bowed, like a simple apology could've made up for his torture.
Well, it wasn't like that he was mad. Confused and tired instead.
"How did this even happen?" he asked, rubbing his temple. A headache was coming.
"Lady Liliana spotted one of our scouts, then found me in the woods," Stella offered. Not what Konrad meant, but he took it. "She had me pretend to have captured her, and then—"
"So you're friends now?" he interrupted, scowling at the ginger.
She shrugged. "She had a change of heart, and I promised the spirits not to get in her way."
"—She led them all into a trap, and fed them poisoned meals," the executioner finished her story. What did the spirits even have to do with the Inquisitor's lapdog?
"They attacked while we were away?" Was the more important question.
That could even mean they had a traitor amongst them, and—
"Coincidence," Lily claimed, because, of course, he didn't have to say anything out loud for her to answer. "And that is how you know that there are no traitors here. I would know."
Okay, that did make sense. Not for Stella, though.
She furrowed her brows, missing half of the conversation that never happened.
"So what are we going to do with them?" Konrad asked, the ginger shrugging.
"Apart from a few sorcerers they had, they're not a threat," she said. "We can hold them captive, but then feeding them would be a pain. I can get rid of them if you want me to—"
"Rejected," he was quick to reply. "If you went this far to keep them alive, why kill them now?"
Lily smirked, as if he said exactly what she wanted to hear.
She was scary. And beautiful. Scary beautiful.
But at this point, what could the Inquisitor even throw at them?
Thanks to her machinations, Halaima might've been ripe for the taking.