Chapter 53 - Up and Away

Of course, the entire country knew about Lilith. Of course.

Raymond let out a deep sigh and he sat back in his office chair. It could have been the guards, the doctor, or even the servants, who probably told their families before they were executed. But someone shared the news that Lilith was going to be the future Queen, and the response was everything he had imagined. Outrage. Especially from his mother.

“Raymond, you will not marry this girl! A servant. Are you out of your mind?! What made you do such a thing? How did this even come about? Tell me. Are you seduced so easily?” Nora loomed over him.

“It’s nothing like that mother. I got to know her and I realized that she was more important to me than I thought. So, I asked her to be in a relationship with me and she agreed.”

“Of course, she agreed. You’re the King. How can you be so dense as to do something so foolish.”

“There is nothing foolish about my feelings or relationship with Lilith.” Raymond gave her a serious look.

Nora rolled her eyes. “And what? Do you think you can actually marry this girl? Do you think the people will accept such a simple-minded servant to be their next Queen?”

“She is a lot smarter than you know. Lilith has helped me with my work before. On something that I never even thought about, she was able to resolve the matter in one go.” The King was starting to get annoyed with his mother. He was also beginning to get fearful. If Nora really did not like Lilith then she had the power to do something about it. She could get rid of Lilith behind his back. She could get even more hurt because of him.

Raymond’s stomach took a dive at that thought.

Nora looked at Raymond as if he had said something illegal. “What?!”

“Mother-”

“You let her help you.” Nora placed her hand over her heart. “How could you do something so- so- Raymond what did she help you with? What did she do?”

“Stop acting as if she has ruined anything. The accusatory tone in your voice is not needed, mother.”

“Then what did she do?” Nora rested a hand on her hip. “What could that servant be able to complete that you could not?”

“She was able to create the new labor laws,” Raymond stated. “There had been a problem with one of the officials refusing to sign into anything that I suggested, Mr. Downey-Briggs, and so Lilith came up with the forty-hour workweek solution. It got a very positive response from the people who needed to sign off on it and it was planned to go into effect later this year but I pushed it up so that the change could already begin to happen around the country.”

“The forty-hour workweek. You’re telling me that she came up with that.”

The King nodded. His gaze skirted past his mother and to the servants that were behind her. They had obviously heard what he had said. If they told other people that Lilith did that then she would be seen in a better light by the public. This had to be the first time that Raymond actually wanted rumors to be spread about Lilith.

“Don’t say such nonsense…”

“It’s the truth, mother. She came up with the idea so that I could have more time on my hands to go to my father's banquet.”

Nora chewed the inside of her cheek. “That still does not change anything.” Her tone was defusing.

“It should. Although I do not know a lot about Lilith. It is sure that she is educated.”
“Where did she come from?”

“Martease. It’s in the west.”

Nora hummed. “A foreigner with Crenese blood. Interesting. Well, this does not change the fact that she is a servant and that you can marry her. If that happens then other people will think that they can achieve that as well. We don’t need the people thinking that they can achieve that too.”

“Mother…”

“Anyway, I will see you later. I have to deal with Lucan now. He’s been giving me trouble as of late.”

And the former Queen left just like that. It was well past lunchtime and Raymond had not eaten yet. He was struggling to get used to Lilith's absence and it was showing clearly. Mrs. Potts was made to do all that Lilith did and although she was the person that did it for him in the past, it just did not feel right.

Mrs. Potts was late with his lunch and he did wonder why. He could feel a headache creeping around the side of his head and Raymond was shocked for a moment. He could not remember the last time he had gotten a headache. They seemed to disappear once Lilith came into his life. She changed all these things for him and now that she was not here it was painfully obvious how reliant he had become on her.

A month passed. And Lilith was still unconscious. Raymond had the doctor visit Lilith every few days to make sure that she was doing well. It seemed that most of her injuries healed themselves but she was still in a coma. It frightened Raymond to no end, knowing that her body could decide to give up and he would never know.

“Your Majesty!”

At the call, his office door was flung open. Laura, one of his cleaners, had appeared.
His eyebrow knotted at the unexpected intrusion. “Is there a reason you are making so much noise?”

“She’s awake, Your Majesty.”

“What?” he stood so suddenly that the chair behind him almost fell over. He was out the door in a flash with Laura right behind him.

“Apparently Mrs. Potts discovered her not too long ago but since Queen Mother was there, she could not go to you. Especially if it was news about Lilith.”

Raymond gritted his teeth. “That’s utter nonsense. And what do you mean discovered her?”

“Apparently, she had woken up and left the infirmary.”

Raymond whipped his head around to Laura. “What?” His tone was ice cold and it made the servant behind him flinch.

“Other servants had spotted her and said that she looked to be going in this direction and so they found Mrs. Potts and she went to Lilith.”

Why would she get up in the first place? Her body should be weak and in no shape to just move about. Dammit. Raymond should have been there. He had specifically placed guards around the room for her protection and they just let her go.

Once they finally made it to the infirmary, they found Lilith laying on a bed and Mrs. Potts sitting next to her.

“Your Majesty.” she greeted him as he approached.

Raymond walked around Mrs. Potts and stood next to the bed. His heart was hammering in his chest and his hands clenched and unclenched at his side. Lilith looked like she had been in a coma. Her skin was dry and pale and her face definitely lacked the radiance it once had. She looked unhealthy and it had only been a month. He was definitely going to fix that.
“Lilith,” he called her name and kneeled down next to the bed, grasping her hand. Doing what he had done for all those weeks. Only now, she could hold his hand back.

“Hi,” she gave him a small smile.

The door behind them closed and Raymond assumed that they were alone but he could not care enough to look away from Lilith.

“How are you feeling?” He gently stroked her fingers.

“I feel great.” She gave him a dry look.

Raymond frowned. “I'm being serious here. Are you in any pain?”

“My body is just sore. But other than that I’m fine. The medicine here is remarkable I would say. Better than I thought.”

“Well Of course it is.” Raymond got the best medicine to help Lilith heal. Medicine that would only be accessible to someone of his status. He was sure she would not like it if he told her so he would keep quiet. “I was very worried about you.”

Lilith hummed and gripped his hand harder. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. You did nothing wrong. It is I who should be apologizing to you. You got into this situation because of me.”

“Don’t be dumb Raymond. It was those servants. You had nothing to do with it.” Lilith brought his hand to her lips and kissed it. “I’m just glad that I’m here with you because I really wanted to see you.”

“Is that why you left here? That could have been dangerous.”

“It’s fine,” she murmured.

Raymond’s heart swelled and he could not help but smile down at Lilith. “You are still weak, so you should rest some more alright. I’ll have some food brought for you.”
“I have been sleeping for a month Raymond. I will be fine… but uh, tell me something.”

“Anything.” he urged.

“What are we going to do about your mother? And the public and well… us?”