They are... too close. Malleus tries not to think about it, but it is harder than he'd anticipated. Why does Lilia have to be so unashamedly clingy?

"You keep speaking as though I am a child." Malleus sounds more than a little petulant when he points this out, struggling with nostalgia and something he certainly should not be feeling. "I am grown now," mostly, "And it is my turn to look out for you."

He's... made this up in his head, sort of, but should a ruler not look out for his subjects? Even if Lilia's job is to look after him, Malleus feels as though he owes it to the man who has known him his whole life, and whom he cares for very much. He would feel just as protective of Sebek and Silver, but. Well, it's also different.

Ahem.