Chapter 41: Why are you here again?

“Um, Master…” Lilian spoke cautiously, trying to sound pitiful.

She hoped this would stir some sympathy in Elenora’s heart.

“Hm?” Elenora was a little puzzled; she didn’t understand why Lilian had suddenly changed like this.

“Aren’t you going to punish me?”

Lilian’s reminder made Elenora recall what she had said when scolding Lilian earlier.

Although she felt a bit shy upon waking up and seeing Lilian in the bedroom, even wanting Lilian to leave, she had decided yesterday to enjoy her relationship with Lilian, so letting her see wasn’t a big deal…

Besides, how could she possibly punish Lilian? Really, Lilian was foolish for taking those words to heart.

But… punishment could still be an option.

Elenora walked up to Lilian, her gaze quickly sweeping over Lilian’s lips.

“Th-then I’ll punish you… with a hug.”

“Oh… oh?” Lilian obediently gave Elenora a hug.

Elenora’s face flushed slightly red.

Originally, she had wanted to say that Lilian should kiss her on the cheek.

But when the words were about to come out, she couldn’t help but change her mind.

She was a little too shy…

No matter how you looked at it, a kiss was…

Wah—

Elenora didn’t dare to think any further and suddenly jumped out of Lilian’s embrace.

She cleared her throat twice to cover her embarrassment.

“Ahem ahem, alright, sit down quickly and let’s get started. Today, we’ll review yesterday’s 【Flame】 Rune.”

Lilian obediently sat on the wool carpet, and then her soft, warm body pressed against Elenora.

Although they had often hugged recently, Lilian’s body stiffened for a moment.

For this kind of close contact where she wasn’t in control, she instinctively felt uneasy.

That said, yesterday wasn’t as close, right?

They had a lesson yesterday, but Elenora only got close to her, not pressed against her like now.

Lilian could feel the tender softness on Elenora’s back; she could even feel Elenora’s heartbeat!

Elenora had taken the initiative this time, and Lilian didn’t have much reason to object.

As for saying directly, “You’re too close, could you move away,” Lilian wasn’t an idiot — that would only hurt their feelings.

So Lilian had to endure the discomfort—well, actually, it wasn’t much discomfort…

Before long, Lilian grew accustomed to the feeling.

“Yesterday, I only taught you how the magic energy flows in the 【Flame】 Rune; I haven’t taught you how to actually use it…” Elenora’s voice came from behind her, the ending trembling slightly.

Instead of holding Lilian’s hands like yesterday, Elenora wrapped her arms around her.

Lilian felt a gentle magical energy entering her body, guiding her own mana to flow along the path they had learned yesterday.

Maybe because it was related to the 【Flame】 Rune, Lilian felt her body warming pleasantly.

“Do you feel it?”

“Yeah, warm and comfortable.”

Elenora’s face flushed instantly.

Fortunately, Lilian was facing away and didn’t see it.

This silly Lilian—Elenora was asking her about the flow of mana, and what was she responding with?

The flow of magic energy was a delicate matter; Lilian sharply noticed Elenora’s magic was a bit unstable.

“What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing.” Elenora stammered from behind, and Lilian wanted to turn her head to see if something was wrong.

“Just focus on feeling the magic!” Lilian was about to look back when Elenora’s somewhat stern voice shouted.

“Oh…” Whether it was her imagination or not, Lilian felt Elenora’s heartbeat quicken behind her.

Elenora guided Lilian through several more cycles before finally getting to the main point.

“Imagination is an important part of spellcasting. Now, gather your magic energy to your fingertips, and imagine a small flame there.”

Following Elenora’s instructions, a wisp of flame appeared at Lilian’s fingertip, flickering gently.

Success!

Lilian opened her eyes and looked at her fingertip.

Perhaps from excitement, the flame suddenly flared high, then with a bang, it exploded into a fireball the size of a human head, shooting straight toward Elenora’s dressing table!

Oh no!

Just like a freshman in a lab seeing sodium explode in hydrochloric acid for the first time, Lilian had no idea how to handle it.

‘Disaster.’

Elenora reacted instinctively; a beam of magic energy shot toward the fireball, and the entire fireball vanished instantly.

Lilian felt her body go limp, her mind fuzzy, and her magic energy seemed weak and sluggish.

She lay in Elenora’s arms, weakly saying, “I’m sorry, I made a mistake.”

This was truly her fault; Lilian had nothing to argue about and didn’t mind any punishment.

Hungry for a meal… she would accept it.

Elenora didn’t seem to care much about the incident; she just looked at Lilian with some concern.

“Are you okay? How do you feel?”

“A little dizzy…” Lilian mumbled.

“Dizziness is normal. Your state just now was very close to Sorcerer Spellcasting, where you use your emotions to stir up a large amount of magic energy to increase your spell’s power.”

“You’ve only just started learning magic; your mana isn’t stable yet. Such a sudden, rapid output of power will definitely cause discomfort.”

Elenora placed her hand on Lilian’s forehead, cool to the touch, and a warm flow entered Lilian’s head, instantly making her feel much better.

“Remember from now on, you must be sure of your spellcasting method. Mage Spellcasting is what I taught you—imagine, then release. Sorcerer Spellcasting uses emotion to strengthen your spells.”

“But Sorcerer Spellcasting is very dangerous. Once you’re more familiar with your mana, I’ll teach you.”

Elenora’s pace quickened as she seemed to slip into teaching mode.

“Mm-hmm.” Lilian nodded.

After speaking in one breath for a while, Elenora finally felt her heartbeat slow.

The dazed Lilian was just too adorable; Elenora even wanted to kiss her!

But we’re just friends!

Thinking that way would be wrong!

She could only use teaching to cover her feelings and control herself.

Elenora felt she had indulged herself too much.

Since deciding yesterday to temporarily enjoy her relationship with Lilian, her desire to go further had only grown.

Not just friends, not just master and servant…

But she still had plans to make Lilian dislike her.

Although that plan was postponed many times, Elenora would never forget.

She was a Demon Queen! She absolutely couldn’t lose control! Absolutely!

Elenora patted her cheeks for courage under Lilian’s confused gaze.

Knock knock—

The familiar knock came at the door.

It was the familiar young maid, Erin.

Erin wore a somewhat awkward smile.

“Miss, Lilian, the Princess has come again…”

“She said she’s bringing a dress for Lilian. They’re already waiting in the reception hall.”