Chapter Text
If Lilia was being honest, when he first saw Silver, he had very mixed feelings.
The child was the spitting image of the human who had killed Maleanor.
His closest friend.
His love.
His sister.
The Queen's daughter.
Their beloved princess.
A wife.
And above all else, a mother.
Yet the moment he held her for the first time, the moment those large colorful eyes looked up at him, the moment she grabbed onto his long hair as though it were the only thing keeping her alive, the moment she looked at him with that innocent gaze and laughed with that radiant smile—
Lilia knew he would never be able to hurt her.
He knew he would never be able to leave her behind.
And so he didn't.
Accidentally leaving his blessing upon her and turning her golden hair silver—something he had never regretted, not even once—Lilia took her with him.
Silver suited her far better than gold ever could.
No matter what happened, Silver would never resemble Him.
Never again would Lilia look at her and see that man's ghost staring back.
So he took her home.
He settled down in a small cottage on his lands and officially retired.
"Whether it be ten years, a hundred years, or a thousand years, when someone appears who loves you with all their heart, little Princess, you shall awaken once more and live the life your parents promised you."
That was the spell that had allowed Silver to survive.
A spell so powerful that it still clung to his daughter even now.
It was completely normal to find Silver asleep somewhere strange, surrounded by wild animals.
Lilia would be lying if he said he'd never been jealous of the attention and affection Silver lavished upon every woodland creature she met. Sometimes he'd been tempted to turn a few of them into pâté or some other meal.
But he knew Silver would never speak to him again if he did.
So he allowed her to refuse meat, despite personally failing to understand how anyone could dislike it.
He allowed her to spend entire days—and often nights—in the forest, even though he hated every second she wasn't at his side while he was home.
Lilia had also heard other parents complain about their children.
Too stubborn.
Too rebellious.
Too loud.
Too difficult.
Soon enough they'd start talking back, sneaking out, and breaking every rule placed before them.
Lilia never had that problem.
Silver was always calm.
She followed rules.
She never rebelled.
There were no secrets between them.
Whenever Silver asked something, Lilia never invented stories or comforting lies.
He simply told her the truth.
"Then why are our ears different? You're my dad."
She had asked the question after Lilia explained the differences between their races.
"Because I'm not your biological father," he replied casually, never looking up from the book he was reading in the living room.
"I found you when you were a baby. Since your parents had already passed away, I took you with me."
"Besides," he added with a grin, "how could I resist such a cute little thing?"
...
"Oh."
That was all Silver said.
Silence followed.
For a long while.
Just as Lilia was about to turn around and make sure everything was alright, he heard a quiet—
"Okay."
Then the sound of small footsteps disappearing toward her bedroom.
Perhaps the funniest phase came when Silver turned nine and suddenly decided she was "basically an adult."
Lilia had needed every ounce of self-control he possessed not to burst out laughing at the adorable declaration.
His little girl was simply too cute.
Watching Silver attempt to flee from Malleus had been endlessly entertaining.
The young dragon absolutely refused to accept her claim that she was "too old to be carried around and play childish games," especially when she still happily played with Sebek.
It was probably the only time Malleus had ever been jealous of Baul's grandson.
At least until Sebek convinced Silver that they should invite Malleus to play as well.
That single act permanently earned the green-haired boy a place among the young dragon's treasured hoard.
Another amusing habit was Silver running away or hiding whenever Lilia wanted to leave his mark on her before they went out.
Though admittedly, that one was also slightly irritating.
The fact that Silver didn't want everyone to know she belonged to Lilia and nobody else.
He understood that despite being raised among fae, she was still human and incapable of understanding certain things.
Then Silver began visiting the palace.
Soon she was spending most of her free time there, surrounded by cooks and servants who quickly fell in love with her.
"May our princess grow beautiful and kind, and may she be beloved by all."
That whas one of the fairy blessings bestowed upon his Silver.
And it didn't take long for Lilia to notice its effects.
Animals adored her.
The palace staff adored her.
Even the recruits training on palace grounds looked at her with obvious fondness whenever she stopped to watch their exercises or asked them to demonstrate the weapons they were using.
Lilia had frequently considered clawing their eyes out or cutting out their tongues.
How dare they look at his daughter.
How dare they laugh and claim she'd grow into a wonderful wife.
As though anyone could ever be good enough for his little girl.
As though anyone could care for her and love her the way he, Malleus, and Sebek did.
Malleus would never give her away.
Never allow someone to steal his most precious treasure.
And Lilia certainly wouldn't allow it either.
He would happily kill any fool arrogant enough to think himself worthy of Silver.
Which was why it came as such a surprise when Silver announced that she wanted to become a knight.
"So I can protect Dad and Malleus the same way you protect me!"
That had been her answer when he asked why.
Lilia agreed to include her in the training sessions he conducted with Sebek, fully convinced she'd give up after a week or so.
She never did.
Instead, Silver stubbornly completed every task placed before her.
Really, he should have expected it.
She'd been raised by him and Malleus.
Neither of them were known for giving up easily.
Lilia admired her determination.
He truly did.
At the same time, however, he knew Malleus would never agree to it.
Lilia saw the way the young dragon looked at her.
Like something fragile,
Something precious.
Something that belonged safely behind glass where no one could touch it.
For now, Malleus humored her dreams.
For now, he allowed her to pursue the future she had chosen for herself.
But Lilia had lived among the Draconias for far too long not to recognize that posessive gleam in his ward's eyes.
Lilia had mixed feelings about allowing Silver to attend Night Raven College.
Still, she'd spent an entire year finding loopholes while he and Malleus had attended school there.
Silver had always been good at finding cracks in rules and contracts.
It came naturally to her.
Likely because she had spent her entire life among fae.
Creatures incapable of lying, who instead learned to twist words until truth became nearly indistinguishable from deception.
It was no wonder Silver instinctively noticed every loophole and omission.
Such as the fact that although NRC was officially an all-boys school, nowhere did the rules forbid a transgender student from enrolling.
Honestly, sometimes his child was far too clever for her own good.
And so here he was.
Sitting beside Malleus and watching from afar as Silver chatted with several other first-years.
Even if he disliked it, Lilia knew she eventually needed relationships with people her own age.
Well...
Technically his age, for the next few years.
Several times already he'd had to stop either himself or Malleus from "correcting" certain students.
Thankfully, Silver seemed to have settled into her own routine remarkably quickly and had already gathered a small group around her.
That was good.
Even if some of them occasionally crossed boundaries, Silver seemed capable of handling it herself.
Though they certainly didn't seem capable of understanding that.
The Leech twin was tolerable enough.
His attention was clearly focused elsewhere.
Asim, however, was a threat.
The boy openly asked Silver about her future plans.
Invited her to spend breaks with him.
And had already proposed that she become one of his future partners in the three weeks they where at this school.
Lilia had barely stopped Malleus from killing the young heir on the spot.
Silver, innocent soul that she was, had simply refused.
She explained that she intended to dedicate her life to protecting Malleus as his knight.
The rejection had done absolutely nothing to cool the human's enthusiasm.
Still, at least Lilia could be reasonably certain Silver wouldn't suddenly accept a marriage proposal.
That did not, however, stop him from keeping a much closer eye on young Asim.
Or any of the other admirers foolish enough to set their sights on his child.