"W-Where are we?" Lilith looked at her surroundings in a dumbfounded manner.
"We are in the Thousand Beast Domain," Chiffon answered. "Come with me."
Chiffon pulled Lilith along as they walked towards the Villa in the distance.
Along the way, Lilith saw several Beasts looking in their direction. The weakest among these beasts were Rank B, and Lilith could tell that all of them were looking at her with curiosity.
Soon two birds flew down from the sky. Lilith knew who these birds were because they had seen them not long ago. They were none other than Chiffon's Beast Companions, B1 and B2.
The two dumb birds reduced their size until both of them were the sizes of sparrows. They then landed on Chiffon's left and right shoulders, and started to chat with her about random things.
A moment later, a little golden piglet came running from the Villa and stopped beside Chiffon's feet.
Chiffon happily picked up the little piglet and patted its head. The latter gave a soft grunt as it closed its eyes. Clearly, it was enjoying the pink-haired girl's attention.
After a few minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the Villa, where Charmaine, and a few Elves greeted them with a smile.
"Lady Chiffon, would you like to have some snacks?" Charmaine asked. "We just cooked a few pancakes and they are still warm."
Chiffon felt conflicted after hearing Charmaine's words. As someone who bore the Sin of Gluttony, eating was second nature to her. However, William had told her through telepathy that they should hide in the Thousand Beast Domain, while he helped the Diabolical Hell Ape secure the golden fruit from its competitors.
William added that he would call out to them after the threat had passed, so Chiffon didn't know whether she should accept Charmaine's offer, or wait for William's news.
"Thank you, Charmaine," Chiffon replied. "I'm just waiting for Will to summon us back outside."
Lilith, on the other hand, eyed Charmaine and the other Elves with curiosity. She was quite curious about the type of clothes that they were wearing because she had never seen clothes like that before.
Charmaine and the Elves were wearing frilly made costumes, which highlighted their natural beauty. Although she didn't understand the current situation, the Elves' servile attitude made her feel that they were working under William.
'Are they perhaps the Elves he captured during the war in the Central Continent?' Lilith thought. This was the only explanation that she could think of. She was also surprised that William had this many ladies serving under him.
Suddenly, a question popped up inside Lilith's head. She then approached Charmaine and decided to ask her a question, in order to confirm her guess.
"Are all of you William's concubines?" Lilith asked. 'Is this the reason why he's not interested in visiting our Empire?'
When the elves heard Lilith's question, all of them blushed and looked at the Amazon with "I wish that were true" expressions on their faces.
Charmaine gave Lilith a bitter smile as she shook her head. "We're not Sir William's concubines. However, I'm sure that if he asked any of us if we wanted to warm his bed, all of us would definitely say yes. It's quite unfortunate that our Lord deeply cherishes Lady Chiffon and his other wives, so we are not given the opportunity to serve him to our fullest."
Lilith frowned when she heard this. She then gave Chiffon a side-long glance before shifting her attention back to Charmaine.
"Your name is Charmaine right? Do you know someone named Pearl?" Lilith asked. After becoming part of Princess Eowyn's group, she managed to befriend Pearl. Charmaine's older sister had mentioned in passing that William had taken her sister custody, and her goal was to set her free.
Lilith didn't understand what Pearl meant when she told her that William had taken her sister in custody. But, after seeing the beautiful Elf in front of her, she finally understood what "taken in custody" meant.
After hearing her sister's name, Charmaine showed a sad expression on her face. Because of the sudden change in her mood, Lilith thought that the Elves were being forced to stay in the Thousand Beast Domain regardless of their will.
This discovery made her look at William in a new light, but the Elf's next words made her feel that her assumptions were wrong.
"We did terrible things during the war in the Southern Continent," Charmaine replied. "I, and the others, wanted to atone for our sins by serving Lord William for a few years. Even if we served Sir William for a lifetime, it will not be enough to repay the mercy that he has given us.
"My sister doesn't understand this and is making things difficult for our Lord. In fact, Sir William intends to set us free after a few years. It is quite unfortunate that my sister wanted to resort to violence in order to drag me back to the Silvermoon Continent."
Lilith frowned because Pearl had also mentioned that her sister's character was very different from the one she knew. She even suspected that William had brainwashed her, and the rest of the Elves.
After hearing Charmaine's answer, Lilith came to the same conclusion. Elves were a proud and arrogant race. They would not act servile to someone, especially if that person was a Half-Elf.
For them, Half-Elves were a disgrace. Whenever they saw one, most Elves would ridicule them for tainting their pure bloodline. This was why most Half-Elves don't mingle themselves with Elves because the latter would do their best to make the Half-Elves feel inferior.
Lilith knew that it was not her place to say who was right or wrong. She didn't have a friendly relationship with the Elves, so she didn't really care about their circumstances. However, since she was able to meet Charmaine, she thought that Pearl would owe her a favor if she played her cards right.
"Do you want me to pass a message to your sister?" Lilith inquired. "Of course, that will have to wait until we arrive at the Academy. But, if you ever want to say something to your sister, I can help you out and pass your message to her."
Charmaine thought for a moment before looking at Lilith with a serious expression on her face.
"Please, tell her to wait for a few more years," Charmaine replied. "I promise to return with her to the Silvermoon Continent after my atonement period is over."
Lilith nodded. Whether Charmaine had been brainwashed or not, it was none of her concern. The victors in a war had the right to treat the defeated as slaves. This was the rule of conquest in the Central Continent, so she didn't find any of this uncommon.
The Amazon Princess then walked towards Charmaine and whispered something in her ears.
"Have there been any instances where he's shown signs that he wanted to do it with you?" Lilith whispered. She was dying to know if William was a lustful person. If the answer was yes, this would allow her to formulate a plan on how to entice the Half-Elf into bedding her sisters.
Lilith's whisper made Charmaine's face turned beet red.
"No," Charmaine answered. There was even a trace of disappointment in her voice, which made Lilith widen her eyes in shock.
'So, he's not a lustful person,' Lilith mused. 'At least he's not like those men who only think with their lower half.'
For some reason, Lilith felt both sad, and relieved at the same time after hearing Charmaine's answer. A part of her wanted William to be the man she hoped him to be. The other half wanted the Half-Elf to be different from the rest. A man who had principles and would not treat women as a tool to sate his lust.
Now she finally understood why William would politely reject the subtle advances that the girls in their class would give him from time to time.
This also explained why the Half-Elf wasn't interested in her offer to give birth to his babies.
Of course, Lilith wasn't aware that Princess Sidonie had already done this in the past.. If the Amazon Princess only knew that the lustful beauty had already taken the initiative to ask for William's babies, Lilith's would definitely have asked the beautiful Princess for advice on how to secure the Half-Elf's seed for the betterment of the Amazon Empire.
