"What brings you here, Your Majesty?"
Looking at Lilin going down on one of her knees and giving her a proper salute as she looked at her with a steady and unmoving gaze, Lilith felt like she was hit by a sucker punch deep into her guts. Her reaction was overwhelming and shattered any hopes she had while coming here.
To be honest, she didn't know exactly what she had expected when she took this road and decided to have a new discussion with her daughter. She didn't know what she should have expected when she tried to mend their relationship like this.
She had been so much afraid. Afraid of being rejected, insulted, or even mocked by her own flesh and blood. One of the few people left in this world who was more precious to her than anything else. That was the main reason why she kidnapped Camelia.
A cowardly way to protect her heart from the sense of loss and pain that she knew she would feel while facing her daughter.
'Maybe I shouldn't have come here, after all.'
She thought as such and nearly took a step back but she could feel Camelia's fiery aura flare up behind her and heard her soft whisper enter her ear.
[You made me come all the way here against my will. I swear in the name of all the goddesses that I will strike you down if you falter at this moment.]
There were no sweet words of encouragement but surprisingly, those words were enough for her to calm herself down and get her bearings straight.
They were in an official setting and in front of the soldiers of the Kingdom.
Wasn't it normal for Lilin to show proper respect and keep decorum in such a setting?
Thinking in such a coping way to calm her aching heart, she calmly nodded at the greetings and looked at all the Knights gathered in this place.
"It had come to my attention that the subjugation of the bandits as well as the training of the Black Knight are going rather splendidly. So, I just came here to observe the accuracy of those words. It seems that they were indeed accurate."
All the knights puffed out their chests and straightened their backs in pride in lieu of the words Lilith conveyed to them.
They had slowly started to become more loyal to Lilin, but this didn't mean that their respect for the royal family simply vanished all of a sudden.
As a true legend, Lilith was a source of inspiration for all of them and they were happy to be praised by their idol.
Lilith nodded her head as she looked at the scene. Even though she had not really paid attention to the current political situation of the Kingdom, she knew that war was approaching Lustburg at a ruthless pace and she liked what she was seeing currently.
Those knights already had a bloody aura worthy of true soldiers surrounding their very beings. They just lacked the experience of a large-scale war.
Experience that they would soon sadly obtain.
She cleared her throat and looked at the knights that seemed to have stars in their eyes as they gazed at her visage, waiting for her next words with rapt attention.
"Very well, you all are hereby dismissed. I need to talk alone with-"
"Your Majesty, if I may, we were just about to capture one of the last bases of the bandits. I believe any discussion can be done after I bring victory for our cause."
Another heavy silence fell and the knights were lost about what they should do in this situation.
Lilith was the supreme commander of the army. But Lilin was the direct commander of their infantry.
It was for those reasons that it was said that a boat could not have two captains.
Thankfully, the standoff between them did not last for long.
Just as it seemed like the tension would explode, both Lilith and Lilin looked in the same direction.
At first, the soldiers were confused at the sudden shift of their attention, but soon they were also able to hear the galloping sounds of the horses pulling a caravan in the distance.
"Who is trespassing!? Introduce yourself!"
One of the knights taking the role of the guard bellowed at the incoming caravan, causing it to stop briefly in its tracks.
One man clad in black armor jumped out of the caravan and came their way with steady steps.
Anyone else would have been intimated by the presence that the man wielded with his existence alone, but, while the aura Sol passively emanated was dangerous, they had been training for years and had been baptized in blood recently.
As long as Sol didn't explicitly try to crush them with his aura. Everything was good.
Taking off his helmet, Sol grinned at the man who stopped him,
"I am Sol Dragona Luxuria."
"Forgive me for my conduct."
The man paled and he immediately went down to his knees in salutation of his lord to which Sol simply waved his hand.
"You did your job. Why should I be angry?"
A guard had to act like a guard. It was Sol's fault for having his helmet on and being unrecognizable.
He patted him on the back. "Now at ease."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The knights couldn't believe what they were seeing.
The entire royal family gathered in one place.
This was one of the greatest Taboo in terms of organization for any powerful family.
After all, if something happened here, there was a high chance that the entire royal family could be lost.
The only reason they weren't outright freaking out was that they knew very well that none of the three were people who would care about petty dangers.
If someone could seriously threaten the three at the same time, it seemed more like the soldiers were the ones that would need protection for a while in this whole mess.
"Why do you think the three of them are here?"
One squire asked in quiet whispers, only to be smacked across the back of his head.
"If you have time to speculate then move."
The knights moved and left the premise as they prepared themselves for the sortie that was to come.
In the end, now alone, the three groups gazed at each other.
"Well, I am happy to see you guys are well."
Sol smiled. He knew that this was going to be a pain. But he needed to act his part.
"Well, shall we have a little heart-to-heart?"
He looked at Medea who established a large barrier around them.
Sol had already given the raccoon girl and the bunny girl as well as the supplies to the knights.
He didn't really care about what would happen. If they were really in need of rations he could simply fly at full speed and recuperate what was needed.
So now, he had to see if his help was needed for healing the wounded hearts of the two poor young women.
I wonder if I should take classes in psychology?'
The topics might be less developed than on Earth, but they could still help him in such cases.
Adjusting himself, he looked at the mother and daughter pair that were nearly identical in appearance but so different in personality.
He knew the grievance between them and they had never been truly able to work on it, till now.
But now it was the occasion to start healing the festering wounds of long past and bring an end to the misery that scarred them throughout their lives.
