For The Glory Of Sitia Empire

" what do you think you are doing, Maitea? "

Everly turned her head towards the stables' entrance. Lennox was leaning on the wall as he nonchalantly looked at her.

" stealing a horse. Lennox said he doesn't want to come, so I am going alone...with a pretty horse"

" pretty horse my ass. I never said I am not coming "

Everly's eyes lit for a second. She looked calm from on the surface, but Lennox knew very well that it was not the case inside her mind. Everly caressed one of the horses as she said in a low voice.

" so Lennox is still with me...."

" stop talking bullshit, let's go "

Lennox looked at the young girl hopping towards him with his usual emotionless face. He waited until she arrived close to him before turning back and exiting the stables.

' I ought to keep a distance from her before my olfactory cells explode '

The jasmine scent that surrounds Everly always overwhelmed him. Whenever she was around, Lennox would lose his sense of smell. Until he gets used to it, forget about food, he can't even smell corpses. Although in the beginning it wasn't strong, as days went by, each time they parted her scent would grow stronger when they met again.

What was more frustrating is that Lennox found her scent to be a bit...sweet and addictive.

You know, like drugs..... [ uselessly making excuses]

At some point, as they walked to the imperial knights' dormitory, Everly started to walk by Lennox's side instead of following behind him. He only noticed after she casually held his hand.

' here it comes, her hand fetish '

" your hand is cold "

" then let go "

" I don't want to "

The corner of Lennox's lips twitched for a second. He was already annoyed by her continuously holding his hand, and now she has gained some guts to refuse to release him bluntly.

" hmm. Maitea, I am curious about something "

" what is it "

" do you bath with flowers and perfumes instead of water? "

" no, the old granny says perfumes make me smell weird and she likes my natural scent. So granny only use baby soap, why? "

' baby soap?!! I remember Rachel stopped bathing me with it after I turned five. Why the fuck is she still using it?!!! '

*****

At the men's dormitory.

Lennox and Everly walked down the corridor of the high ranking individuals, heading to captain Oliver Hesse's chamber.

"...ah"

' hmm? What was that? '

Lennox's steps stopped by the faint sound of someone gasping. Everly followed his pace and also kept her silence.

"....ah! More "

Slap!

The second Lennox recognized the source of these gaspings, he quickly covered Everly's ears with both his hand, accidentally slapping her cheeks in the process. Lennox lowered his head as he took a deep breath, that surprise caught him off guard.

Everly, on the other hand, had her cheeks beet red and tears hanging at the corners of her eyes.

" w, why are y, you hurting Everly- waaaa "

The warm stream of tears soaked Lennox's hands. He really wanted to give the little girl a proper slap so she would stop wetting his hand, but, of course, he can't do that. Lennox put his forehead on Everly's to soothe a bit, he had seen Bernard do the same few times and decided to mimic him since he doesn't have much experience in dealing with spoiled little ancestor-girl.

' But why does she look shocked? '

He ignored the girl's unexpected reaction. He had to send her away as soon as possible.

" I am sorry, that must have hurt. I will buy you a ton of stuffed toys, so would you forgive me, Maitea? "

Lennox half-heartedly blurted whatever came to his mind. Luckily, Everly seemed to have been touched by his make-believe crap, as she stopped crying and had a slight blush that Lennox couldn't see because of her already red cheeks.

" Maitea will be nice and forgive you this once "

' good. now I need to send her away '

He paused before saying with fake excitement.

" hey, Maitea. Do you want to bring Kai with us? You like the pretty Kai, don't you? "

By the mention of Kai, Everly's instantly sparkled. She shook her tiny fists vigorously as she nodded her head.

" then let's go and call him over "

" YES! Let's call the pretty Kai! "

" Okay, turn around, cover your ears and run towards the women's dormitory. His room is on the third floor "

He watched as Everly stupidly followed his instructions and heading the females' building. Lennox waited until she crossed the gate and entered the building before turning back and continuing his way.

He stood right in front of Oliver's chamber's door, took a deep breath, then kicked the door open.

Oliver's chamber was, naturally, fancier than other knights' rooms, thanks to his father's title, Oliver received special treatment from his commander. However, at that moment, this fancy room was a perfect mess. There were empty bottles of alcohol on the table, many clothes were thrown randomly on the ground and most importantly, two naked people shockingly staring at the intruder.

The blonde man at the top had his eyes wide open, while the woman stealthily covered her face. It was obvious that they were...playing chess on top of each other until Lennox disturbed them.

Lennox pointed at the exit with his thumb as he said nonchalantly to Oliver.

" You have 15 minutes, put your fuck stick back in your pants, grab your sword and meet me outside. We are going to hunt down some witches "

He said that and left without waiting for Oliver's response nor closing the door.

"...that mother fucking prince "

*****

" you are the worst asshole I have ever seen in my life "

Oliver shared his honest thoughts as he walked towards Lennox while fixing his dishevelled clothes.

" you are overestimating your luck, Oliver. I might really kill you if I got pissed off enough "

" it's not luck that is keeping me alive, you need me that's why "

Lennox looked at the smirking man from up to down before scoffing internally. They were at the training grounds, waiting for Everly and Kai who were uselessly taking a long time to arrive.

Tap.

Bun-Bun popped out of nowhere and knelt behind his liege. Lennox asked without looking back.

" what was the old man doing? "