[indent][hr][center][img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjcyLjAwYjdlMC5UR2xzYVdVZ1JHbHZibTVsLjAA/velocity-demo.regular.png[/img][/center]
[hr][indent]

Never in her life had she ever been so glad to be inside again. Letting out a sigh of relief, Lilie made sure to leave her shoes at the entrance, her exhaustion creeping up on her. Sleep. She needed sleep. Her body was yelling at her to go to bed, hands rubbing her eyes as she stifled a yawn. She felt stressed out, as if the evening's events were just slowly piling on. Seeing the princess and all the guards up close had shot her nerves, and she was just glad nothing went down.

Until Mariette came, that is.

Lilie wasn't quite expecting the vampire to reprimand her. Her words ended up affecting the girl a lot more than she wanted to admit. 'Subpar'--what was that supposed to mean? She didn't ask for any of this, she didn't ask to be paired up with a noble! How was she supposed to know what was right and wrong? The princess had said to leave. What, was Mariette actually planning on staying? Was she actually crazy? If Mariette wanted to get herself killed, then that was on her. Lilie didn't want to go out there in the first place! So what, she was supposed to follow her crazy vampire's orders from her insane family? No wonder Mariette didn't expect Lilie to like her, at least that much made sense.

The cherry on top of the entire experience was the single tear rolling down Mariette's cheek. At first, Lilie assumed she had finally snapped and was going crazy. It looked like blood, albeit the color seemed darker. But it was definitely blood, no water like how humans had, and a stark contrast to Mariette's porcelain skin. The sight probably shouldn't have come off as much, but it was rather jarring to see first hand, especially as the vampire didn't even flinch. Why would she? Vampires crying blood must have been something typical that Lilie didn't know about. It was creepy, a visual reminder of how different their races were. 

Lilie took a step back away from Mariette, trying to compose herself once again until she unintentionally hit the wall. An overreaction, probably, but she was freaked out. [color=deepskyblue]"I'm sorry, I didn't know,"[/color] She managed to mumble out an apology, forcing herself to say [i]something[/i], lest she get reprimanded for getting scared, too. [color=deepskyblue]"But I'm not exactly a full-fledged mage, either. I didn't have my weapon, I don't know any magic, and my affinity--"[/color] She cut herself off, visibly annoyed as she shook her head. Now that she was actually saying it out loud, she realized she had some traction, speaking with more confidence. [color=deepskyblue]"If you wanted a confrontation with [i]royalty[/i], it would have ended badly, anyway, unless you wanted to use me as a human shield."[/color]

Despite being dismissed, Lilie stayed put, crossing her arms as she stared at Mariette. [color=deepskyblue]"You wanted me to be honest with you, so there it is,"[/color] She informed her.

[/indent][hr][/indent]
[sub][right][@MsMorningStar][/right][/sub]