It had been two days since that snow filled day…
After Ambrosia decided to help them out, the gears started to shift faster than they had ever done before. Sol was finally nearing the end of his goal.
The first thing that happened was the witches kidnapping Pandora and storing her inside Medea’s world. Ambrosia, alongside Medea, used their full powers over the aspect of time to accelerate the time spent inside the monochrome witch’s world.
They deduced that they would need a few months to understand everything they needed about the succubi’s physique.
As such, Lilin also followed suit as she was the perfect result of Neptune's crazy experiments.
They needed to map the biological structure of their bodies and find the difference to perfectly analyze all the traits and functionings of Lilith’s body.
The ones who took charge of this were Hathor, Persephone, and Isis. The three had the greatest understanding of biology and the aspects of life and death.
There as well Ambrosia helped by sharing her knowledge about the discovery already made on the Succubi.
This was an extensive project but they had no other choice other than to push through.
Even Kali offered her help as her understanding of the aspect of destruction could give insight into how to use Nirvana to bring everything together after deconstructing Lilith’s body and then building it up from scratch.
Freya was not spared either from this scenario. The current time acceleration that the mother-daughter duo had enacted was putting incredibly high pressure on the pocket space she had created for Medea so she was forced to constantly use her powers so that the space wouldn’t just collapse on top of them.
Lilith was of course unable to enter that domain as with the sudden time increase, she would simply die faster with her body decaying into nothingness.
So she was forced to stay out and observe as they all worked hard to keep her alive.
The more she watched, the more complicated she felt inside.
'Why…? Just why are they doing all this for me?'
She realized that she could not understand their motives or the thought process behind their current demeanor.
When Sol had told her that he would heal and save her no matter what, all she had seen was the struggle of a young boy who refused to accept reality.
She had long since given up on all hopes about her health and life. After all, if even that madman of a man, Neptune, could not heal her, what could Sol do?
'Did I still look at him like a helpless child?'
Lilith was feeling utterly lost and as such, she did the only thing she could do in this situation.
She went to see her one and only friend. As well as her longtime rival.
But as soon as she took one step, she could see Milia appear not far from her.
"How can I help you, Your Majesty?"
"Huh?"
"His Highness is currently busy practicing in his dimension. He ordered me to take care of you in the meantime."
Lilith nodded in acknowledgment. She knew that Milia had never seen her as the true monarch. But at least she had never shown her disrespect in any shape or form. That was enough for her.
"Warn the Gatekeeper. I want to go to the church."
"The church?"
Milia's voice showed the surprise she felt. After all, Lilith had never directly visited the church during all those years she had observed her as the leader of the Crown’s Shadow.
But still, as an experienced maid, she managed to get a hold of her expression as fast as it came.
"Very well, Your Majesty. The Gatekeeper will be ready."
Milia bowed and Lilith gave her a look of surprise.
"You are not going to keep tabs on me?"
Milia was not surprised that Lilith knew she was being followed. In fact, the opposite would have worried her instead.
But she was not flustered. They had never intended to hide it in the first place.
"His Highness told me that you can do whatever you wish to do. He will not intervene further and stop you from making your choice."
"Oh?"
Lilith was surprised. Not only because of those words, as Sol had been adamant in keeping her under observation, but also because she felt hurt hearing them.
It felt like he had decided to finally give up on her.
This startled her deeply. She felt like a defective weapon that was about to be thrown away.
She furrowed her brows and shook her head to bury those thoughts.
"I see. Tell him to not worry. I will never take my own life. I won’t go back on my promise."
If she died, it would be either because of her body or while fighting a battle that was worthy of her demise. Never for anything else.
She thought as such as she walked away.
Now alone in the hallway, Milia muttered under her breath…
"I hope you won't disappoint him, Your Majesty."
She truly did not care whether Lilith died or not.
But she hoped that she would live. After all, this would make Sol happy. And she could do anything for his happiness.
———
When Lilith used the teleportation portal and entered the church, all the nuns stopped in their tracks and opened their eyes wide in bewilderment.
'What is the Queen doing here?'
This question flashed through each and every one of their minds.
After all, it was common knowledge that the Queen had never visited the cathedral for years already and that she would not do so until something big happened.
"Your Majesty!"
They all bowed in respect. The goddess they worshipped may be above, but the queen was right at their doorsteps.
They had no reason to show her disrespect.
"You can rise."
Lilith waved her hand and looked at the highest-ranked nun present.
"Go call Ca… *Ahem* Tell the Supreme Daughter that I wish to meet her."
Lilith slowed down and used a more respectful title for her friend.
No matter how much she bickered regularly with Camelia, there was a clear distinction between private and public conduct.
This was why, when the two of them found themselves alone in a guest room, her aloof expression fell as she took a seat opposite her friend and chortled in amusement.
"So, what have you been up to nowadays? Outside of copulating with my nephew of course."
"Heh…"
Camelia sneered. She knew that this was going to be an interesting day.
———
(AN: Welp. This is my birthday today. Hehe. 26 years old now. Time sure flies. I remember I started writing around 2019 under a different alias. Then in August 2020, I started writing my first fanfic as Hikaru Genji. Called Crazy Girls. Then I started with SHK in September 2020. Now here I am. Basically 2 years and a half now still writing and even hoping to live off my work and dream.
It isn't easy. Writing every day is tiring and sometimes I just wish I could sleep and do nothing. It became even more tiring since I am writing two stories now. But it's work and work needs to be done.
Really, thanks to all of you who supported me in one way or another. It's thanks to you that I can live my dream. A short chapter today because I plan to eat out and take some fresh air on my special day, so yeah. I wish you guys all a good day also I am waiting for my gifts XD. I wonder what I will receive.)
(EN: Happy Birthday, my friend. I hope you find it in yourself to not work me to the bones. And many many happy returns of the day. Now stop being a NEET and go out and touch some grass…)
