Killian quietly lifted Lilith with the intentions of letting her continue her sleep on the way, although the effort was quite futile as Lilith immediately opened her eyes at the movement.
Lilith was born sensitive to even the smallest kind of movement no matter how careful the other party is.
Although earlier.. She clearly didn't feel his presence coming near her before she got lifted up.
Considering how she couldn't avoid getting pointed at with a sword earlier, it's either due to her sleepiness or his skill.
Taking her time before opening her eyes completely, a sharp and pale jaw welcomed Lilith's eyes as Killian slowly turned his head to look at her.
Maybe she should go back to sleeping quietly on a second thought .
What a sight.
It wasn't her first time getting princess carried, Theodore did that once in the past. But except Theodore, all the people who thought of laying their hands on her with obvious intentions got their hands removed at the same day.
So technically, this is the 2nd time. Quite funny how she keep remembering Theodore without any lingering feelings.
Lilith then threw the thought at the back of her head as she eyed Killian who has been looking at her.
"Would you like to sleep a little more?" Killian asked, not expecting to wake her up.
"No thank you, i would like to walk" Lilith said, refusing the offer.
Getting carried by a stranger is by no means, strange and uncomfortable. Plus, she's not disabled.
"ah" making a sound of realization, Lilith looked at Killian.
It was still quite dark, it's not even 2 hours since they've last eaten.
"Why are we walking? Shouldn't we sleep the night first?" Lilith asked right after Killian put her down.
"Getting out is our top priority" Killian said, heading to the location where he heard his subordinate's voices earlier.
They should be able to get out of the forest before sunrise if they can get out earlier.
Speaking of, it was currently the hunting season. An entertainment for nobles to kill and hunt preys and beasts.
Killian was supposed to hunt for today as the representative of the duke but when he felt the ominous aura earlier, he immediately readied himself for a dangerous beast roaming the forest.
There's currently two explanations for the ominous aura, 1 is that the girl before him is dangerous and 2 is there is an unknown beast inside the forest.
Although he couldn't feel any mana from Lilith so he immediately dropped that suspicion.
Either way, he couldn't let any danger roam around freely.
Lilith just agreed at Killian's words silently, pinching the side of Killian's clothes unconsciously again while walking. She's not that sleepy anyway, it was mainly to regain stamina.
Her main goal first is to figure out how to live as a human.
"Captaaiinnn!" A loud male voice echoed through the forest, making Lilith flinch.
It was an extremely irritating high pitch voice. Lilith would love nothing more but to shut it up while Killian just continued walking quietly into that direction.
Is that captain, Killian? Lilith thought as she looked at Killian.
So she was woken up because people was searching for him. It's not bad, they're gonna get out of here soon at least.
As Killian and Lilith soon arrived at their destination, they finally found the knights who where shouting earlier.
Seeing Killian, the knights immediately formed a row and saluted.
They've finally found the duke after almost half a day of searching before the other nobles can leave at lunchtime.
Not a sound of worry or anything of such was heard, it was only cold politeness and respect as Killian didn't spare the knights a glance, only commanding "Return".
"Yes sir" the knights answered in unison, finally standing straight before getting their horses.
The knights were quiet surprised to see a girl seemingly of 16 years of age appear beside the missing duke, but they knew at the very least that it wasn't their place to question the duke.
Lilith's eyes then went from the knight and into Killian, if not because of Killian acknowledging the knights, she would've thought they were enemies instead.
Does he always treat these knights coldly or he's just like that really?
While Lilith was having her own world, Killian already mounted a horse coming her way.
It was a huge black horse, totally Lilith's type of horse.
"They didn't expect another person so they didn't bring enough horses" Killian said, waking Lilith out of her stupor.
Seeing Killian, Lilith felt like some higher up is looking down her way majestically.
Shaking her head, Lilith asked "Yes?" while thinking 'What does that have to do with me'.
Killian only extended his hands towards her, asking for her hand.
As Lilith just blankly put her hands on top of Killian's, he sighed.
Unmounting the horse and supporting Lilith's waist, Killian put Lilith atop the horse swiftly, surprising her.
She doesn't know how to ride a horse, is Killian giving her his horse so she wouldn't walk?
But clearly, Lilith just over thought.
Just as Lilith thought of that, Killian also mounted the same horse, sitting behind her.
She seriously thought he was gonna walk instead.
________
Killian and Lilith only rode the horse for a while before seeing several camps with noble Insignias on a row within the forest.
Although it would have taken them quiet long if they had decided to walk instead.
"We're still far from the capital but you don't have to worry about that" Killian said, unmounting the horse and assisting the short Lilith in coming down.
"After watching the nobles present their preys, we can immediately leave before lunch to drop you by the nearest town" Killian added, explaining the situation to her.
He assumed that while Lilith might look foreign, there's no way she travelled alone that far into Leruvia so she must be a foreigner living in the nearest town.
But Capital? Town? It's obvious that Lilith would choose to head to the Capital instead of the nearest town. She also still doesn't know what country this was.
"Ah, actually i was lost on the way inside the forest because i was travelling alone to head into the capital, not into the town" Lilith said, lying without blinking making Killian look at her.
"Is that so?" Killian coldly asked, scanning her face.
A while passed before Killian finally broke the silence and agreed to take her to the Capital with him. Having another person tag along isn't that big of a deal.
Lilith was quite amazed by the fact that Killian easily agreed to bring her along, she would probably remember this and repay his favor.
Leading Lilith to one of the tents, Killian dismissed the knights following them before deciding to interrogate Lilith.
The sun was just starting to rise so none of the nobles were up yet.
"Do you have any relatives in the Capital perhaps my lady?" Killian asked, sitting on a chair paired with a table having stacks of paper atop.
That's a lot of work right there. Lilith would've probably escaped if ever she was forced to work like that.
"None, im actually..." Thinking of a plausible reason, Lilith immediately thought of the witch that cursed her and said "searching for someone in the capital".
Although she's not yet sure of where she is and where the witch is, Lilith was planning to visit the Empire of Cereza first. An empire with vast lands and power over 5 Kingdoms.
A suitable place for power greedy witches as that empire also has the capital that has the most connection towards the black market.
But it wouldn't be bad to visit an unknown capital first before that.
Killian just nodded silently and let her take a bath, ordering a servant to get some clothes of Lilith's size before continuing his work.
The old fashioned dress she wore was already dusty and dirty after all the running and sitting she did back in the forest.
As the servant was just about to lead Lilith to take a little bath, Lilith turned around pretending to take something from her pocket and what appeared in her hand was a key. A valuable key.
She then put it atop Killian's table, making him look at her again.
"This, you might not know what this key is but this is a valuable thing. I actually have no use of it but, im sure the church would love that thing to death so much" Lilith said, saying the last part sarcastically.
Killian just looked at the key inlaid with diamonds. How can a foreign girl dressed in rags have such a valuable thing with her?
No matter how suspicious it was, Killian has no say in other people's things. Plus, he clearly knew about this key. The church would really love it.
"It was really just a small thing to let you tag along but nevertheless, i will accept this goodwill of yours lady Regina" Killian said, picking up the key and storing it in his space.
Lilith's eyes flash with surprise before she felt like she was bribing Killian instead of repaying a favor. It was quiet a surprise that aside from the sword, he's also skilled with magic.
"I don't like owing favors, thank you" Lilith said turning around feeling relieved. Now she wouldn't be bothered by tagging along with her payment.
After Lilith left, Killian was no longer in the mood to work and instead summarize everything that happened.
Meeting a strange girl in the woods instead of a beast, a dangerous aura and now the key to the Sierra Inueya Gate.
The church wouldn't even blink an eye or care about being bankrupt just to get the key on his hands.
But the fact that a valuable thing such as this was handed to him without much care.. Could this be an imitation?
No, it looks too real and the energy coming from it was something no one can imitate.
Seeing this key also cleared all his suspicions about Lilith. All the keys the church currently have is of spiritual and one time use only.
Killian wasn't one of those people who blindly have faith towards the goddess nor one of those people who would treat this key as a national treasure. In fact, Killian never liked the church but he sure knows the story about it.
The goddess, enraged by someone from the church who thoughtlessly opened the Gate destroyed the key. No one knew what exactly happened inside the Inueya Gate and the pope was also enraged, directly executing the sinner for disrespect without trial.
Until now, the church never got the chance to meet or even hear about the goddess after that incident, making the power the church hold decrease significantly.
When before, they can be praised and held at a position only below the emperor, now the respect other people had towards them is just for appearances sake.
The key he received is probably the only physical copy that exists now.
Just how did Lilith came into possession of this key?