Positive little sun, magical girl, I am awesome

"Ugh..." Lilith lay on the edge of the bed and retched for the third time into the copper basin in Ram's hand.

The doctor that Melissa had sent for had not yet arrived. Lilith estimated that she had a concussion, even though she was wearing protective gear. This cheap father's impression of her was worse than she had imagined. She sighed silently, and it seemed that she had to re-evaluate her living environment. If the violence continued or escalated, she would have to find a way to leave here.

Alas, this is not a safe place to stay, Lilith thought sadly.

Melissa held her hand all this time, gently stroking her back. "This is all my fault, Lilith." Her eyes were filled with tears, ashamed and self-blaming. "I thought he was willing to take you back because he finally figured it out and thought you could repair your relationship... I didn't expect him to be so, so..." Melissa seemed unable to find a suitable adjective to describe what her husband did. She felt very embarrassed in front of her daughter, unwilling to admit that she didn't seem to understand the person next to her.

"It's not your fault, Mother." Lilith shook her hand weakly. "Fortunately, he only did this to me."

"And I didn't know you were pregnant, and I let you play with me. Father is worried about your safety, I can understand..."

Melissa felt even more guilty. She looked at the pale girl in front of her, who looked like a fragile piece of porcelain, and was completely different from the energetic girl she was at the training ground a few days ago. She touched her little face distressedly and said firmly, "It won't happen again."

Lilith looked up at her in confusion.

"There will never be another chance for him to hurt you." Melissa emphasized it again with a firm look on her face.

After the doctor came to examine and prescribe medicine, Melissa told Lilith to rest well in the room, and walked out of the girl's boudoir with Ram. The two of them looked at each other with complicated expressions.

"Mr. Flair is still in the restaurant, probably waiting for you." A maid who had been waiting at the door came over and whispered in Melissa's ear.

Melissa looked extremely unhappy. She took a few deep breaths and turned to walk downstairs.

In the empty restaurant, there was only one person sitting at the long table. The servants had heard about the accident that had just happened on the training ground through word of mouth. They knew that a storm might be coming, so they all quietly huddled in the corner, trying to reduce their presence as much as possible. They were afraid that they would offend the two masters and be punished. Hoffman even hid away under the pretext of dealing with tax issues, and did not stand by James' side like a servile servant as usual.

Melissa walked in wearing knight boots. The incident happened so suddenly that she didn't even have time to change out of her training clothes. If it were before, she would have bowed and apologized to her husband with a smile. But now, she was wearing armor, holding her sword at her waist, looking down at her silent husband. She asked coldly, "I need an explanation, James. If you don't accept her, why did you take her back?"

"We don't need to fight over her, Melissa." James took a deep breath and pinched his eyes tiredly. "She is not worth your time and energy. Our Leila needs your care more..."

"I have been taught how to manage my time as a noble since I was a child. I don't need to learn it again now." Melissa interrupted him impatiently. "There are many people who care about Leila, including me. And this child has no mother to protect her. Now it seems..." Melissa twitched her lips sarcastically, "probably no father either."

James tightened his grip on the dinner knife he had been fiddling with.

"I just want to give some love to a child who grew up alone. Even if we have no blood relationship, I am willing to do this. This is the normal feeling that ordinary people will have when facing a cute child." Melissa did not wait for him to say anything and continued. "But what about you? I heard from Hoffman that the child was chosen by the Church of Light and is likely to be selected as a priest. Aren't you afraid that the God of Light will be angry at your disrespect for her if you treat her like this?!"

"It is because I sincerely fear the God of Light that I don't want that person... to join the Church of Light." James bit his cheek and swallowed back the more unpleasant words. He tried to persuade Melissa peacefully, "She is a mother-eater, born with unforgivable sins. How can such a person join the Church of Light just because she has some talents? The pastor of Shelley Town must have made a mistake, or she used some tricks! If she joins the church and it is discovered that there are people with original sin among the believers, Melissa, are you sure our family can bear the responsibility of the Church of Light? Leila is still so young..."

"It's ridiculous to blame a woman's difficult childbirth on a child. Wasn't it you who made Mrs. Shelley pregnant?"

Melissa sneered and interrupted him. "So you brought her back just to stop her from joining the Church of Light? What should she do? Have you considered her future? The way you treat her at home now, I believe it will spread throughout Tanding County in less than a month. She is despised by her own father. Can she still find a fiancé who is of the same status and age and respects her?"

"I plan to recruit some from your knights or my mercenaries..."

"Are you crazy?" Melissa interrupted him angrily again, "No matter what, she is a noble lady, the daughter legally recognized by me, Count Melissa Taylor. You actually want to marry her off to a mercenary at will!" Melissa's lips trembled with anger, "My knight, how old are your mercenaries? Lilith is only twelve years old!"

James stood up from the long table, walked to Melissa, and tried to hold her shaking hand. "Mei, calm down first, you have to take care of yourself. I was a little excited today when I saw her pointing the sword at you. I apologize to you..."

Melissa pulled her hand back and put it back on the sword. "I'm not the one you need to apologize to. I didn't think I needed to explain such a simple truth."

James pursed his lips and looked at Melissa quietly without replying.

"Very good." Melissa could see that this self-proclaimed gentleman was not willing to apologize to his disgusted daughter. "As Lilith's mother, her education and future are my responsibilities. I have failed in the past ten years, and I will take responsibility for her future life. I just hope that from now on, you will stop interfering in this child's affairs and stay away from her." She stared into James' eyes, "I need your promise."

"..." James looked into Melissa's eyes and realized that she was serious. He knew that if he didn't agree, his strong wife would not give up. So he sighed and said, "As you wish, Melissa."

Melissa immediately leaned on her sword and turned away, not wanting to stay even a second longer, leaving James and the servants hiding in the corner and exchanging glances secretly.

The head maid immediately followed and accompanied the mistress to the cloakroom to change her equipment.

Melissa's bedroom was at the end of the corridor on the second floor. Ram accompanied her in silence as they walked along the long corridor. The sunlight shone through the windows, flickering on their faces. Suddenly, Melissa stopped. "Ram, I need you to write an invitation for me now." Ram stopped and listened quietly. "I need to send it out by raven today. I hope this guest can make it to my birthday party."

"Yes, ma'am." Ram didn't ask any more questions and immediately went to prepare ink and writing paper.