'Huh? When did he...?' Lilith was surprised by how fast Orion suddenly appeared before her and without her even hearing his footsteps, but before she could comprehend what was going on, she noticed his vivid crimson-red eyes which were clearly different from the cerulean blue eyes she was used to seeing.
Due to this, Lilith couldn't hold back her curiosity as she summoned the courage to ask her young master a question that immediately came to mind.
"Young master, have you awoken your dragon bloodline?"
The moment she asked this question, her heart began to beat faster than ever as she witnessed her beloved young master smile at her before replying to her question with a nod.
Seeing this, Lilith instantly covered her mouth to hide the huge smile she now had on her face.
She was so happy and relieved to hear that Orion had finally awakened his dragon bloodline after everyone had lost all hope.
However, she had always believed that he would one day awaken his bloodline and prove all of his enemies wrong for doubting that he could ever awaken his bloodline.
"Come, there's something I want you to..." Orion began to say as he grabbed a hold of her hand and gently pulled her towards the chair he was sitting in before he noticed her presence.
However, Lilith meekly tried to stop him, drawing his attention to her.
"Yo-young master, wait."
"Huh? Why? What's wrong?" Orion asked, but Lilith couldn't reply. Her cheeks and ears were visibly red, but her eyes were completely focused on his hand, which was holding hers.
It was the first time he had ever held her hand and she didn't know how to react.
"Y-your h-hand," she stammered, barely summoning the courage to speak.
"My hand? What's wrong with my hand?" He asked with a smile on his face, firmly holding onto her hand.
He could already guess why she was acting so shy, but he decided to pretend as though he had no idea, with the hope of finding out just how long he could keep teasing his beautiful maid.
"T-there's nothing wrong with your hand, but you shouldn't be holding mine," she replied, trying not to look into his eyes.
"Why?"
"Because, because..."
"Because you were training in the woods?"
"Huh?!" Lilith exclaimed, raising her head to meet Orion's gaze because what Orion said wasn't the real reason why she didn't want him to hold her hand, but she was quite surprised to find out that he knew where she had come from.
"How did you....." She tried to ask how he knew, but Orion replied before she could finish her question.
"Your boot."
"Huh?" Lilith looked towards her boot and noticed the mud clinging to its soles. She also realized that her boots were sturdy leather that was mostly suitable for traveling through wooded areas rather than working in the castle.
She couldn't change her clothes and boots the moment she returned from the woods because when she arrived back at the castle, she passed through Orion's bedroom on her way to her room.
However, upon arriving in front of Orion's bedroom door, she sensed that there was no one in the room.
It's become a habit of Lilith to always stand in front of her master's bedroom to check up on him through her heightened sense as a demon which allowed her to know what Orion would be doing at that point in time.
His breathing pattern while he was asleep was always different from when he was awake, but this time around, she couldn't hear anything.
With a worried look on her face, she entered his room and saw that he wasn't there.
She immediately began searching the castle and finally noticed him walking into the library which was when she sneaked in behind him to find out what he could possibly want from the library.
"Also, your clothes." Orion pointed to the spot, which also allowed him to know that she had stepped out of the palace.
Lilith glanced towards the hem of her maid dress, which had jagged edges, suggesting that she might have had a struggle with some of the beasts she fought in the woods.
Aside from these two valid points that he made, Orion also noticed her breathing pattern the moment she stepped into the library, which was slightly heavier than usual, even though she tried very hard to steady her breathing.
Although Orion didn't know when she sneaked into the library with him because he was a bit too focused on what he was doing, he had still been able to detect a strange breathing pattern in the library, coupled with the strong smell of wild beast blood.
This allowed him to know that there was someone else in the library and when he turned around to find Lilith hiding behind a bookshelf, he recognized her the moment his gaze met hers.
"But why do you need to train in the woods?"
"I-I wanted to become stronger."
"You're already one of the strongest knights in the kingdom. You are as strong as the captain of the royal guard and only my stepmother is stronger than you, but how did you still end up with bruises and with your clothes torn at the side?"
The woods were mostly filled with 1 and 2-star beasts and these beasts could easily be taken down by Lilith who was a Second Order Knight and Mage
So she shouldn't have had her clothes torn while fighting a beast in the woods.
"I-I gathered a group of 2-star beasts and fought against them," Lilith replied with her eyes glued to the ground.
"What?!"
Although it was easy for a Second Order Knight or Mage to handle a 1-star beast on his or her own, it was extremely difficult for them to fight against a single 2-star beast, not to mention a group of five to ten 2-star beasts.
Lilith knew Orion wasn't happy with the way she risked her life fighting against a group of 2-star beasts but she couldn't help the excitement she was currently feeling right now.
It was the first time her beloved master had ever scolded her or talked to her for more than fifteen seconds and she couldn't help but wish that this could go on a little longer.
Everyone knows going against a group of 2-star beasts on your own was similar to asking for a death wish, hence why Orion wasn't happy with the way she willingly risked her life, and because he was surprised at how she had a few bruises on her body, it made him wonder how many beasts she had fought against and so he asked.
"How many 2-star beasts did you gather to fight against?"
"T-twenty."
"What?!!"
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A/N:- We're currently ranked 11th from 30th, you guys are amazing.