After our meeting was over, I had Jeanne bring over Kaili and Lily so that we could have lunch together.
In the dining room where we waited, Lia and I sat on opposite ends of the long table. Lia was eager to see the skill of my chefs while I was confident that she wouldn't be disappointed.
As we passed the time with small talk regarding food, three people eventually joined us in the dining room.
When we saw Lily leading Kaili by the hand with bright smiles on both of their faces, Lia and I raised an eyebrow.
"Well well, aren't you two friendly." said Lia.
"Don't be jealous, Queen." Lily cheekily replied.
I was once again surprised by this playful response, but this time it seemed I was the only one.
'Was there something wrong with my eyes because I don't remember her being so she upbeat when we first met?'
Question marks appeared in my mind but this didn't seem like the right time to get some answers. More importantly, I was glad to see that Kaili wasn't as tense.
I already knew that she wasn't being fully honest with her expressions when she was normally around us, but I understood that this was something that needed time to resolve.
It didn't take long for lunch to be served and since there were children, I had Jeanne pick up the food instead of making the undead do it.
Though the colour of the food was suspicious from my perspective as a former human, if it looked like chicken, it normally tasted the same.
"Mmm, it tastes good."
"It's not bad."
Lily gave her honest opinion but no matter how I looked at it, Lia sounded like she was just playing hard to get.
'Well at least she likes it.'
After lunch, it was time to part. It wouldn't be long before I met Lia again, but Lily's next visit was unknown. I didn't think much of this fact, but I had to start considering a playdate once I saw Kaili's reaction to Lily's departure.
"Do you have to leave?"
"Oh, Kaili. We'll meet again you know."
"Mmm."
While having her head pat by the gently smiling Lily, Kaili reluctantly pulled back her hand from her sleeve, but she still looked up at her like a begging puppy. The two looked to be around the same age, but this scene would surely cement Lily as the older sister.
I would have never imagined this expression on her face, but strangely, it fit her well. Maybe even more than her usual cheerful attitude.
Looking at the little girl who was able to drag this side out of Kaili, I had to be respectful.
"What a terrifying child."
"I know right. If she keeps growing up like this, my Lily will surely follow in my footsteps and leave many broken hearts behind her," added Lia who had appeared beside me before I knew it.
"She doesn't need to follow in those footsteps."
"Oh, are you worried about your Kaili? Then you don't have to be. I won't make Lily break her heart, just like I won't break yours."
Lia wrapped herself around my arm, making me uselessly excited because of the suggestive softness from her chest.
You would think I would get used to this after having Jeanne by my side for a decade, but the truth was that in this world, I was still a virgin.
Still, these were the only times I would think about something silly like that.
"How are you going to break my heart when you don't have it in the first place?"
"Oh well, you know, I could, open you up to a whole new world."
As one of her hands brushed across my chest and reached for my face, my mouth suddenly went dry and I was stuck in place.
If anyone asked then no, I wasn't looking forward to anything. This was just a natural reaction. Completely natural.
"Ehem. Don't you have business to attend to, Miss Queen of Night City?"
At the perfect (?) timing, Jeanne interrupted with a frown. She smacked away Lia's hand from my face and pulled me away from her with my other arm.
"Jealous already? Oh my, will this servant be able to handle it when her master finally gets a spouse?"
"That's none of your business."
Jeanne replied with a grim expression to Lia's light-hearted joke.
I purposefully distanced myself from any thoughts of love, mostly because I didn't think this was the right time. But regardless of whether Jeanne's feelings were actually like that or not, I definitely wasn't interested in opening up that box.
We were master and familiar. I would protect her and so would she. That was enough.
"Stop there for today Lia. You shouldn't stay here longer than necessary."
I wasn't making stuff up, since we might have already been put under surveillance.
"Sticking up for Kiki, huh? Fine, I'll let her off with this for today."
Lia shrugged her shoulders and walked to Lily's side before lifting her up into her arms.
"See you tomorrow for your lesson."
After blowing a kiss my way, Lia teleported back to her city. I didn't know what item she used to accomplish this and I didn't ask either. Both of us still had things to hide.
In addition to our preparations to face off against the Demon King's faction, I also had to take lessons on how to act like a noble.
Due to my sincere request, the lessons were held in Night City instead of my castle. I wouldn't find it surprising if my identity was exposed to the Demon King's faction and the movements of Lia and I were being watched, so rather than my place I preferred Lia's since I was sure she would have made sufficient safety measures.
And well, there might have been another reason.
'After all, I wouldn't be able to handle the embarrassment if one of the undead or one of my familiars saw me failing and started sending me 'gentle' looks.'
And so, I settled with having only Lia be present for my potential shame.
"Name of the first Demon King to rebel against the vampire and skeleton factions."
"Rosenburg."
"The Lands burns and the Sky trembles-"
"While my sorrow will forever curse this world. A famous quote by the creator of Soul Magic, Aincrin Val Haizer."
"What magic was created by the Third Demon King of Greed?"
"Phantasm Magic."
"...Good job."
"If I did well then why don't you look happy?"
"Because you've already stopped making mistakes for me to tease you about."
"Can't you stop placing your personal fun first?"
"But I'm not placing it first. It's just above your mental health."
I stared incredulously at the sighing woman in front of me and shook my head. We were inside a small library she had in her tower so no one would bother us here, in other words, we were alone.
Thankfully, there was no teacher profession in Lambda that required a specific dress code, so I didn't have to suffer through her wearing a skimpy teacher outfit and purposefully stretching out her words to excite me.
And, this may or may not have been a dream I had when we first started class. Dreams were rare for me so I might have had strange expectations at the beginning, but that was gone now.
However, even though she wore a silky red scholarly robe that properly covered her up, her charm was not hindered in the slightest.
A week into our lessons and I was making great progress. I thought it would be difficult to learn things I wasn't used to in just a month, but I had underestimated my own abilities.
Not only was my memory good enough to save a perfect copy of any book I read, I could pick up things like mannerisms just by watching Lia and trying it out a few times.
Doing it as naturally as she could was still a problem but that was something practice could solve.
"So, what's next?"
Lia kept her unsatisfied expression for a little longer, but the change in her expression didn't look pleasant to me either.
It was a bright smile on a face that said she found a way to have fun with me.
"How about dancing?"
"... Wasn't that tomorrow?"
"It was, but since you're making such good progress, it should be fine. Right?"
Dancing, the only thing I still had trouble with. I could memorise the movements, but 'moving my body to the beat' was on the same level of ambiguity as telling me to make good art.
But, saying no would give her more fuel to tease me with.
"Fine."
"Good good. Don't worry, I'll make sure to guide you all the way."
As Lia licked her lips while saying this, I grimaced at the second reason why dancing was so hard. Lia would always find some excuse to feel me up and I couldn't refuse because 'it was part of the lesson'.
For me, dancing class might as well have been training because I had to work hard to suppress my instinctive desires.
'Okay, today's the day. I'll definitely get it right this time.'
Long story short, I had another page added to my special victims report.