Lilith tried hard to convince herself, attempting to replace the overly intimate word "admiration" with the more distant "respect."
But before she could fully cement that conviction, another thought surfaced unbidden.
But... that guy said... he'd been paying attention to me all along. What does that mean?
Could he... really have been... watching me all this time, just like he said? How else would he know about the things I did in secret?
At that thought, Lilith felt her cheeks begin to burn uncontrollably again, and her heart skipped into a faster rhythm.
She instinctively squirmed a little beneath the soft bedding, as though that could dispel the inexplicable heat and fluttering in her chest.
C-could it be... that he actually... likes me more than my sister?!
Is that why he went out of his way to pay attention to me and learn so much about me? Is that why he deliberately said those things this morning-to... get my attention?
The thought made her hold her breath, all her blood seemingly rushing to her head.
But a moment later, reason forcibly crushed that absurd conjecture.
N-no! If he likes me, why would he say something like, "Just like you, I admire Princess Vivian too"? Isn't that a contradiction?
Could it be... that his real target is still my sister? Was he only approaching me and saying those things to use me as a stepping stone to get close to her again?!
At that thought, anger at being toyed with surged up, mingled with hurt.
*But... if he only wanted to use me to get close to my sister, he wouldn't have needed to expose that in public, would he? What would he gain from it? It would only make me want even less to speak to him, and make it