The Villainess Will Not Bring Dishonor To Her Family

76 - Distance

Claire Talwen's Point Of View

I always thought of Lily Celeste as a very dignified girl.

At first she was just Augustus-sama's sister. I even thought she was quite cold as well, but the more I look, the more I am sure she is simply shy.

I know she compete with Gilbert-sama once in a while and has Magdalin-sama at her side, but other than that she doesn't seem to have any close friends. Despite how much she stands out in the crowd, I wonder how she can not make friends with everyone. Perhaps she's too intimidating to talk too, by the way her eyes sharpen coldly when she studies you... or maybe people are awestruck by her dignity and how she carries herself.

I... admit... I didn't look at her too closely before the kidnapping either...

I was supposed to protect her, but instead I ended up being protected by her. She'd stepped in front of me and in that instant the air around her had changed. The calm and beautiful lady was replaced by a fairy of ice. Her pale blue hair seemed to glitter with frost crystals as it swayed, and her beautiful eyes suddenly shimmered a beautiful gold among the blue.

Without hesitance, and without fear she charged in while I could only stand dumbstruck at the hesitance I had shown. I had considered going with them to protect her, but she didn't let me, and nor did she take my hand and guide me... and yet... I was drawn along with her towards the door.

All I could think of was to protect her as she rescued Soleil. He looked as though he burst to tears in shame at his weakness... and yet... my blood boiled and my heart felt singed with pain as a knife dug into her small and frail back. My body moved on its own from there... in anger... in desperation... but I never ended up killing anyone... Lily broke in and killed the man... and as she did... her eyes were cold... her skin had broken into a cold sweat in pain, he struggled against her blade... blood splattered and sprayed on her... but she never looked afraid.

She even found the key to the cuffs as if she expected it to be there.

After that I've been trying to talk to her, and then I began to realize something I never had before. She was incredibly elusive whenever I decided to approach her. She was fast and had a fast but elegant stride that was hard to keep up with.

From that point on she started moving around all over campus and disappear somewhere I could never find her... so I decided to ask Gilbert-sama about it... because... there was another reason I wanted to talk with her now... you see, ever since the kidnapping she... has been looking a bit paler... but not just that, she's begun to disappear and become even more distant than before. She's become unapproachable, even for Asher-kun.

Ah! Asher is my childhood friend, and we made a promise to stay by Augustus-sama's side when we grew up. Of course I was surprised to hear that he swore his loyalty to Lily-sama instead! I mean, Lily-sama is definitely amazing and cute, but to know that his loyalty to Augustus-sama was swayed after their first meeting... made me rather angry with him... but when I asked why he did it he just stared at me surprised and just smiled while messing up my hair! He never answered either. It's not fair!... Either way, he got close to Lily-sama.

I still doubt his motives. Lily-sama is more fragile than she acts, and that fragility is why I decided to help her. Right now she looks like she needs help, so I will do my best to do whatever I can do.

---*---

"Gilbert-sama," I start out softly during my daily extra lesson with Gilbert. After the kidnapping he started teaching me how to recognize poisons... I'm really bad at it too... he even jokingly told me to watch Lily-sama whenever she drinks something.