Chapter 52

Lilith stood waiting when they came back from the goblings' very short first outing, a treat in her arms.

She handed the each of the goblings one small goblin skull bowl filled with winterberries coated in honey as a snack.

The four disciples didn't adore her for no reason and thanked her profusely.

Swiftly, they poured their whole portions into their mouth, scared that if they weren't quick enough one of the others would steal theirs.

All four disciples did the same thing.

They kept the whole load in their mouths without chewing to enjoy the sweet treat as long as they could, looking like a pack of green hamsters with their bulging cheeks.

When they noticed their siblings had had the same idea as them and there was nothing left over to steal, they shot each other dangerous looks.

But they all were happy about their foresight, not one had chewed early in worry for this outcome.

Realizing the futility of eyeing each other, they turned back to Lilith, their faces changing to pictures of pure innocence.

The many antics of his disciples were mostly humorous for Divine.

They were growing up well.

A little while ago, they would have just attacked each other and tried to dig the treats out of each other’s mouths.

Watching them develop was something he enjoyed even though they already were more than enough trouble.

Divine looked with excitement and dread to their future.

The goblings’ innocent eyes repeatedly strayed to the last two portions in Lilith's hands, and of course, their intentions didn’t escape Lilith’s notice.

She gave them reproachful looks.

To go up against her heavy gaze, the goblings took out their ultimate weapon, the puppy-eyes.

Their puppy-eyes usually worked wonders on Lilith.

"Not these. Not this time. They are for me and Master Divine." Lilith told them with fond exasperation.

With visible reluctance, the disciples stopped crowding her and ran off to spend their plenteous energy, except for the round fourth disciple Oni, who still didn't give up.

Oni still had some hope left and kept staring the bowls, licking his lips and sucking on the rests in his mouth the entire time.

Maybe master didn't want one right now, he thought.

So, Oni’s eyes wandered to him.

Oni could be a little creepy sometimes. Divine sighed internally and just ignored his disciple.

Lilith stepped closer to Divine.

Oni spectated, waiting for the right moment to ask and get his hands on a second bowl.

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"Master Divine, can we talk? I want to ask about something." Lilith was abnormally nervous.

She didn’t want to mention her servant to Master Divine, fearing his anger, or even worse, his annoyance, but now that she was capable, Lilith wanted to punish those who took from her.

For a long moment, Divine only silently looked at her.

Divine could guess what this was about.

Again, he sighed internally, and his facial muscles didn’t even twitch.

If the goblins and his whole situation taught him something, it was the patience of an angel.

The atmosphere turned a little awkward when he still didn’t say anything.

Lilith had even started to get a little restless, even though she was used to Divine’s occasional long silences.

Now, even Oni picked up on the uncomfortable strangeness in the air.

Oni hesitated only for an additional moment before he resolutely changed his mind and gave up on the attempt to get more treats.

He quickly fled the scene.

As he was walking away with fast steps, especially for his short legs, Oni didn’t even turn around to throw a longing glance at the sweet temptation in Lilith's hand.

"Master Divine?" Lilith asked again, pulling Divine away from watching his little fat disciple getting away and destroying his hope she would just give up if he didn’t answer.

"All right. Let's go and sit down." Divine led the way and sat down at his place at the head of the table.

Lilith presented him his dessert first.

Afterwards she sat down with her own portion, right next to him instead of going to her usual place at the other end of the table.

Lilith opened her mouth to talk but closed it again.

Now that she got Master Divine alone, she didn’t know how to begin.

“Let’s enjoy the snack first and talk after.” Divine poured a little in his mouth and hummed appreciatively as he chewed. “Not bad. Not bad at all. When I looked at it, I didn’t think you warmed up the winterberries. But it tastes very good. Your cooking skill is getting better and better.”

“Yes! I noticed if I imbue my Fire into the pot and cook with that, I have more control and it tastes better.” Lilith excitedly told him, not without a hint of pride.

“You found that out yourself? Good work. Well done.” Divine gave her more well-earned compliments.

That also answered how Lilith managed to make almost every meal taste better than the last, because she was still improving her use of the Qi pot.

Lilith was incredibly thankful about his recognition and praise, and laughed happily.

Then she began eating, too.

Master Divine was right, it really was tasty, and she enjoyed her sweet creation on her tongue.

But what she liked best about her cooking was that Master Divine and the disciples enjoyed it.

The silence that followed while they were eating their snack was pleasantly companionable this time, and not awkward and stifling.

The awkwardness only returned afterwards as soon as Divine gave her leave to start talking.

Lilith still didn’t know how to ease into this conversation, so she just came out with it.

“Master Divine, do you remember my servant?” The only thing Lilith received in response was a slight nod from Divine. “Did he come to the cavern eight sleeping times ago? Because he has been missing since then and I can’t find him. I want to find out what happened. Please, Master.”

There were many possible ways for Divine to answer that.

His first instinct was to deny any involvement or even knowledge about the fact that her servant was dead.

But on second thought, why bother?

The possibility of Lilith or anyone else turning against him would always be there, no matter what, and he would always have to stay alert and cautious, but that didn’t mean he had to pretend, even in his own territory with his own servants.

If Lilith really turned against him because of that random goblin, it would be a shame, but he would just have to kill her and raise a new head minion.

“That goblin really came to the cavern at that time. He got eaten by Venus.” Divine told her neutrally, watching Lilith closely for her reaction.

At first, Lilith was stunned and confused.

She really hadn’t considered that beforehand.

She had thought it could have been one of the minions or the humans but…

Lilith looked at the beautiful and nice-smelling plant with fear in her eyes.

She had seen Venus drag the dead into her blossom and how only bones came back out again, but she hadn’t thought the plant would attack the living.

At least not without someone controlling her, especially since Venus had never eaten anyone of the cavern’s inhabitants.

Lilith looked up into Divine’s face and it dawned on her.

A fluttery feeling spread in her belly.

She had to make sure…

“D-did you make use of Venus to kill my servant?” Lilith asked with a slight stutter, her eyes wide.

Divine only hesitated for a second and then nodded.

“Yes. I told that goblin he would die if he stepped into my cavern and I kept my word.” Divine was ready in case Lilith reacted a little too strong to that.

He was a little peeved with himself because he even offered an explanation. To become a proper overlord he still had some way to go.

Lilith’s first reaction was disbelief.

Then a smile of pure happiness spread across her scarred face.

That was not how Divine pictured this to go.

Her reaction was unexpected and quite alarming.

“Master Divine!” Lilith’s voice rose in excitement. “Usually, you aren’t this strict and much more indifferent. Could it be that you disliked my servant for some reason?” She asked leadingly.

Divine looked like he tasted something sour, so Lilith knew she was onto something.

The feeling in her belly turned from a light fluttering of some butterflies into the wingbeats of a horde of dragons.

“Could it be that you don’t like it if I have a servant, Master?” Lilith asked teasingly, emboldened by Divine’s reaction.

“Does Master want Lilith all to himself?” Lilith scooted closer to him.

Additionally, she leaned forward, so she could show a little cleavage.

Unfortunately for her, Divine didn’t want her right now.

He liked pretty faces and he already had something relatively good, currently.

But maybe it was time to admit to himself that he would prefer it, if no one else laid their dirty hands on Lilith, who had always, or at least most of the time, served and took care of him so well.

And truth be told, he wouldn’t hate it if Lilith developed into a beautiful goblin fairy.

While Divine was busy thinking, Lilith was staring fixedly at his face, her eyes sparkling.

Unconsciously, she leaned in closer and closer.

Sadly, before there was no more distance between them, Divine poked her forehead with one finger and pushed her back.

“Hmph! Don’t get cocky! And don’t go around making trouble for me! Understood?!” Divine gave her a chilling look that made her weak in the knees and other things.

“Yes.” Lilith mumbled softly, rubbing her forehead.

With great anticipation for the future, she watched Divine stand up and walk to his cave.

Not even the thought of that detestable human woman could ruin Lilith’s happiness.

This day, the day Lilith realized that she had a chance with Divine, would forever remain a treasure in her memory.

And to think she had dreaded this conversation beforehand.