Chapter 34 - More Money Than You Can Ever Imagine

Rage filled Raymond the instant he saw the woman trip, Lilith. He didn't even know who she was and he did not care. How dare she do something like this at such an important event. And to someone who was doing absolutely nothing wrong.

She scowled at Lilith as she stared down at her. She glanced down at her dress and stomped her heel on the floor. At this point, the entire room was focused on the little incident.

"Such impudence." the woman hissed. "How are you going to pay for this? A servant like you is no good when it comes to actually doing something important."

Raymond took a deep breath and shifted his gaze to Lilith. She was looking up at the woman. Unmoving and unspeaking. He could see that she was on the floor where there were millions of glass shards. She could have been hurt by one of them.

"You ruined my dress and yet you-"

"I can pay for your dress." Lilith suddenly said.

The woman was stupified. Raymond was confused. He actually did not expect her to speak back. He did not want her to take such an unfair berating but was it really best for her to speak out? He knew that some people were ruthless towards servants who spoke at the wrong times.

Recovering from her shock the woman laughed. It was gentle, cold, mocking. Her little posse behind her looked at each other and snickered. "You? Pay for my dress? With what money?"

Was this really necessary? For this all to happen to Lilith. All she did was try to take some wine for the King. The jealousy of a woman was a powerful thing. And must it really be done here? It was quite inappropriate to do something like this on such an important day. But she guessed that was what made it even more effective in getting Lilith in trouble. She would be labeled as the one who ruined the celebrations and her punishment would be harsh.

"I have more money than you can ever imagine," Lilith said softly and slowly pulled herself off of the floor. "What cheap dress would be worth much anyway?" she mumbled to herself.

"Cheap!" the woman reeled back in disgust. "You-"

"You are making a scene. I think it best you behave yourself. If you are someone of a high status then you should act like it." Lilith examined her right arm, making note of all the little pieces of glass that were in and on it. It stung but it was not too bad. The real pain would come from getting them out. "I'll pay for your dress. Should that be enough to satisfy you?"

Raymond was now the one to be stupified. He guessed he should have expected her to stand up for herself since she did have an argument with him. She really seemed to fear no one. Unbelievable.

Before things could get any worse, Raymond stepped in. He had momentarily forgotten that he should have acted to diffuse the situation. Especially since Lilith was his servant.

"Are you alright?" he asked Lilith, approaching her.

"Your Majesty, thank-"

"I was not speaking to you." he glared at the woman, cutting her off.

"But-"

"Guards," Raymond called. The men were posted around the room and immediately responded to his call. "Escort this woman... and her friends out of the castle. They and their families are all forbidden from entering the castle."

"Your Majesty. I beg for your mercy. This servant girl was the one who stained my dress with the wine she carried." the woman babbled on.

Raymond got to Lilith's side and she gave him a smile of thanks. But how could he not come to her aid? She had helped him so much in the past few months. Even if Lilith really did trip and cause the mess, he still would have done the same things. The woman made a scene in the ball and that was highly inappropriate. If his father was the one in his place, her punishment would be a lot worse.

"You opened your mouth. That was where you went wrong. And if you think that I am a fool to have not noticed that you were the one to make her trip, then you are wrong. I do not know what kind of childish gain you were to get from this, but your behavior is borderline ridiculous. You should be embarrassed and ashamed of yourself." Raymond scowled at her.

Lilith smirked a bit, letting out a little laugh. Raymond looked down at her and she sobered up quickly.

"Get them out of here," he instructed the guards before he spoke to Lilith. "Come with me."

Without waiting for her answer, he walked away, out the doors of the ballroom and down the hallway. Lilith scrambled to follow behind him but not before being petty and winking at the woman as she was held by the guards.

Raymond was silent as they walked down a couple of hallways together. The castle was mostly empty seeing as most people were in the ballroom, but there were guards posted around and some patrolling. Other than that, they were alone. It was around five in the afternoon and Lilith was more than exhausted from the day's events.

"So how was it?" Lilith suddenly turned to him.

Raymond raised an eyebrow. "How was what?"

"Your first order as the King. 'They and their families are all forbidden from entering the castle.'" Lilith imitated him with a deep voice.

He gave her a look and shook his head. "That was not my first order as the King."

"Really? Then what was?" she peered up at him, curiosity filling those big eyes of her.

"Hmm, guess."

Lilith pouted a bit but thought anyway. "I get all the leftover food?"

Raymond let out what sounded like a scoff and laugh mixed together. Lilith's mouth hurt with how much she smiled. She made him laugh. "I guess it really is all about food for you."

"Well, I have no other guesses. Maybe it was for the future of this country or something. I'm sure your first command as King was a noble one."

The King hummed at her sentence. Yes, it was a noble one.

They walked in silence for a bit before a thought popped into his head. "The dress... would you really have been able to pay for it. Or did you just say that to get under her skin?"

"Both." her eyes twinkled with mischief. "I totally said it to annoy her but I could have paid for the dress if it really came down to it. Remember I sold the purple dress and got a lot of money for it. I could have paid for her cheap dress if she wanted it done so badly. Or I should have done her a favor and actually bought something that looked good." Lilith rolled her eyes, the mischief dissipating into annoyance.

Raymond was silent as he processed what Lilith had said and then he smiled. She was too amusing for him not to smile. With the way she acted, he would have wanted to see how far her conversation with the woman would have gotten if he had not stepped in.

"And your arm? Are you in pain?"

Lilith's smile fell a bit. "It does sting, but that's about it. Honestly, getting the shards extracted scare me so much. Maybe I should just accept these glass pieces as a part of me now."

So childish.

Raymond walked Lilith to the doctor of the castle. It was definitely not normal for a mere servant to be treated by them but he wanted Lilith to be left in the right hands. He explained what he needed to be done and the doctor did not ask any questions and got right to it.

"I have to return to the ball," he told Lilith as she got seated to be treated.

"You did not have to walk me all the way here. Thank you, Your Majesty."

Raymond liked the way she said 'Your Majesty', but he definitely preferred 'Your Grace'.