The Villainess Will Not Bring Dishonor To Her Family

87 - The March - Part 5

Asher Baker's Point of View

The first time I met Lily-sama I saw nothing but a flawless hero. Something pulled out of legends of old... bright and sparkly... however there exists nothing as a flawless hero. Heroes in legends always have flaws, be it lust, nativity, arrogance, distrust, alcohol problems or so on. For Lily-sama it was loneliness. Not lust, but loneliness. It wasn't something I understood properly back then, because it was something more complicated than a normal child would know.

I first realized Lily-sama's weakness during the siege where she spoke to her brother. The scene was awkward, like an adult teaching a child rather than two children talking... but her brother moved away. He couldn't accept the cold and cruel words she spoke and he left her standing there alone... and Lily stared into the distance while left behind... as if she was waiting for someone to appear at her side... and then she turned as if she remembered she was alone.

I decided to be there. I decided to be someone by her side that wouldn't leave her.

But she didn't accept me.

Neither did she reject me.

She never even considered it.

She merely turned away nervously and refused to recognize my existence by her side. She didn't look down on me.

Still, I wanted to be by her side and make sure she would never stand alone... 

---*---

When I met her again for the first time she hadn't changed. She was admirable and bright and... still tried to stand alone. Even Magdalin-sama was kept at a certain distance, only, Magdalin-sama seemed to accept it... no, I think she was overprotective of Lily-sama...

At first I just tried to make her recognize me, but I quickly saw that things were... a bit different than I had first expected. It wasn't just me she kept at a distance and refused to recognize.

It was not just the knights either.

She looks people in the eyes, but she doesn't want them to get close. Furthermore, she avoids things she doesn't feel comfortable with. It took me a short while after we met again before I finally understood that Lily-sama was likely suffering from combat fatigue.

However, how do you deal with that? If you don't fully know the reason for why someone is acting like that, do you confront them directly, indirectly, or do you wait for them to come to you? Should you trigger it or should you protect her from everything that reminds her of the things she hate?

I wanted to take the middle path. To let her slowly get used to accepting people close. Magdalin-sama wanted to protect her. 

From what I understood from Magdalin-sama, the Tepet heir was the same as Magdalin-sama. As a war veteran at this age he probably recognized it the same way I did. Though, likely a while earlier.

---*---

Today has been an incredibly day.

When I heard that Lily-sama had refused to come out, I thought that she was simply mentally exhausted from her chronic nightmares. Magdalin, however, insisted that the Tepet heir had said something.

I doubted it. He may be stressed, but House Tepet would never provocate someone with combat fatigue. It was against everything their house did.

Still, no matter what happened I am happy. For the first time she acknowledge someone at her side. Not just me, but she even acknowledged Vitis at her side, even if she felt uncomfortable with him. It wasn't a miracle that fixed everything. She was incredibly uncomfortable, I even think she looked a bit paler than usual, but she still went through with it.