Lina sat right across from her, eyes darting everywhere with nowhere safe to land, finally fixing on her own clasped hands.
The atmosphere felt a little awkward.
The carriage rolled smoothly through the east gate.
Seraphina tried to distract herself with thoughts, but although the abdominal pain had vanished, a certain “empty” feeling kept brushing against her awareness from time to time, reminding her that something was slowly leaving her body.
Outside the Demon King’s Castle was not the barren wasteland she had imagined.
A fairly level road wound into the distance, flanked by the Demon Realm’s unique, grotesquely shaped pitch-black trees.
The sky was somewhat overcast, yet the view was wide open.
For a moment, Seraphina—who had lived deep inside the palace for so long—felt her heart tighten.
No, it wasn’t overcast…
She was getting carsick…
Seraphina could swear she had never been carsick before, but this time…
Once the carriage reached full speed, the dizziness grew even worse.
These magical horses didn’t seem to be stepping on solid ground; they were leaping across some twisted plane.
Even though the jolting inside the carriage was very slight, to Seraphina it felt as if the whole compartment was bouncing up and down wildly.
Seraphina’s face visibly paled; the dignity she had forcibly propped up was once again shattered.
The food she hadn’t fully digested that morning began to protest fiercely.
Wave after wave of sour bile surged uncontrollably upward.
“Nngh…”
She bit down hard on her lower lip, clamped a hand over her mouth, and gripped the window-side armrest with the other, knuckles turning white from the strain.
For Lina, who had been dragged from place to place by her tragic fate and had ridden in even the most broken-down carts, this little bumping was practically a health treatment.
Yet she was shocked to discover that the usually invincible Seraphina now looked like a tiny sapling in a storm—fragile enough to break at any second.
“Urgh—!”
Seraphina couldn’t hold it in anymore. A suppressed dry heave escaped her, tears welling in her eyes.
She collapsed onto the soft cushion, eyes watery, filled with utter despair.
“Seraphina?”
Lina called her name for the first time. “Are you okay? Do you need me to do anything?”
“No… no need! Nngh… I’m just… a little dizzy, that’s all.”
Seraphina’s voice was so weak it was barely audible, yet she still tried to keep up appearances in front of Lina.
The scene before departure had already stripped away all her face; she absolutely could not lose composure again!
Seraphina barely managed to keep the surging acid from coming out, preserving the last shred of her dignity.
Lina watched the pitiful, trembling girl who was still struggling to sit upright and pretend nothing was wrong.
Remembering the fierce yet hollow threat earlier about not spreading rumors, and Movira’s “special attention”…
A complicated feeling welled up in her heart.
The hatred seemed to fade a little, replaced by a sense of absurdity and… an inexplicable trace of sympathy?
Was this really the same Princess Regent who overwhelmed the court ministers and schemed everything from the study?
She was clearly just a carsick-to-death, prideful yet fragile girl desperately clinging to her manners!
After a moment’s hesitation, Lina stood up and slowly moved to Seraphina’s side.
“You… are you okay…”
She pulled a water skin and a clean soft cloth from the small box she carried. “Drink some water; it might help.”
Lina herself was shocked that she was actually worried about this demon.
She had no proper explanation for it right now—whatever, just go with it!
Seraphina lifted her tear-filled face. Seeing Lina, she instantly felt both ashamed and angry.
She wanted to push her away but didn’t even have the strength to raise a hand.
This might be a good chance…
Lina thought to herself.
If she swung this little box right now, she could end Seraphina without any effort.
But her brain and muscles refused to let her.
In the end, her trembling fingers still nudged the water skin toward Seraphina’s lips.
“G-go… go away! I don’t need you pretending to be nice! Urgh…”
Lina sighed, automatically blocking out the remaining hatred in her heart.
She twisted open the water skin and carefully brought it to Seraphina’s mouth. “It’s just water, nothing else. If you don’t believe me, I’ll drink first to show you.”
Seraphina resisted for a second, but the burning in her throat was unbearable.
Eventually she followed Lina’s movements and took a few small sips.
The cool liquid slightly suppressed the nauseating dizziness.
Lina dipped the soft cloth in a little water and, with somewhat clumsy movements, wiped the sweat from Seraphina’s forehead.
The cold touch made Seraphina let out a comfortable little hum, unconsciously leaning toward the coolness.
Only after rubbing did she realize what she had done—yet Lina had still noticed the tiny motion.
In Lina’s eyes, Seraphina’s body instantly stiffened.
The ear tips that had just lost their blush instantly regained their crimson at astonishing speed.
“Cough cough!”
Lina pretended not to notice, trying to keep her tone calm. “You should lie down. They say focusing on a fixed point helps.”
She pointed at a carved pattern on the carriage wall.
While turning her head, she couldn’t help murmuring, “Just like a little girl…”
“Girl?!”
Though she hadn’t caught everything, Seraphina latched onto the word that mattered most to her. “I… urgh, I’m a man!”
“Huh?!”
There was no panic at being overheard—only pure shock at Seraphina’s rebuttal.
Lina looked Seraphina up and down again.
Aside from the chest not being very prominent, the body was no different from a girl’s!
And the voice was completely a maiden’s timbre—how was that possible!
“No matter what you think, I’m a man!”
The agitation made Seraphina’s barely recovered vision spin again.
Lina had no choice but to go along with her. “Alright, alright, alright. But right now your priority is to rest.”
Lina had no interest in debating this irrelevant gender issue.
She just needed to make sure Seraphina didn’t throw up in the carriage—that would be bad for both of them.
“Hmph, and… and you actually dared to secretly call me… Just wait until we get back, I’ll… I’ll throw you straight back in prison?!”
“Sure, but first survive until we’re back, then you can toss me in.”
Seraphina’s head was buzzing; she didn’t catch exactly what Lina said.
Relying on instinctual comfort, she decided the other girl had said something she wanted to hear!
After a long while, Seraphina finally squeezed out through gritted teeth, in a mosquito-like whisper, “…Also, thanks.”
Then she quickly buried her face in the pillow, leaving only a still-red ear tip and a slightly trembling back facing Lina.
So embarrassing! So embarrassing! Not only did I almost throw up from carsickness, the person I most wanted to intimidate saw the whole thing, and… I even got taken care of by her!