When Li Ang returned to the residence under the cover of night, Lias was staring blankly at the stove fire.
The soup in the clay pot was bubbling, the white foam almost lifting the lid, and the rich aroma filled the air, yet she didn’t notice at all, her gaze unfocused as she looked into the void.
“Lias!”
Li Ang hurried forward to remind her.
“Ah!”
The girl snapped out of her daze, fumbling to turn off the fire, her eyes a little evasive.
Seeing Lias so absent-minded, Li Ang felt a bit strange.
“What’s wrong with you today? Are you not feeling well?”
He reached out to touch Lias’ forehead, wondering if demons could get sick too.
“I… I’m fine!”
Lias panicked and ran away, picking up the dish beside her and taking it to the dining table, leaving only a restless silhouette for Li Ang to see.
During dinner, Lias was nothing like her usual self—she didn’t pester Li Ang with question after question, but instead seemed weighed down with worries, barely eating before saying she wanted to return to her room.
Even at bedtime, for the first time ever, she didn’t insist on coming to sleep in his room.
At this point, Li Ang sensed the seriousness of the situation.
He frowned, thinking over whether he had angered Lias recently.
But he hadn’t.
Li Ang couldn’t figure it out, but he wasn’t about to just sit around and do nothing.
So he sat up from bed, pushed open the door, walked to the next room, and knocked gently.
“Wh-who is it?”
A slightly nervous voice came from inside the room.
Li Ang felt helpless when he heard her, “It’s just you and me here. Who else could it be?”
“Oh… Oh, then you can come in.”
After getting permission, Li Ang gently pushed open the door, and saw the red-haired girl sitting on the bed hugging her knees, the soft white glow outlining the curves of her slender legs.
“You’re here.”
Seeing Li Ang enter, the girl instinctively curled her round toes.
“Mm.”
Li Ang walked forward, sat by the bed, and looked at Lias, asking, “What’s wrong with you today? Something on your mind?”
“No… nothing.”
Lias turned her face away, unconsciously twisting a lock of her red hair with her fingers.
This clumsy attempt to hide the truth only confirmed Li Ang’s guess, but since she didn’t want to talk, he couldn’t press her.
But he could give the girl a little surprise.
The morning’s chat with His Majesty had reminded him of something: Lias was still bound to him by a slave contract.
According to imperial law, slaves had no right to marry.
So Li Ang looked at Lias and softly said, “Do you remember the slave contract we signed before?”
“Hm? I remember… what about it?”
Lias looked up, puzzled.
“How about we cancel that contract?”
Li Ang smiled as he spoke, looking at Lias with some anticipation.
He thought Lias would be happy, but…
The previously quiet red-haired girl froze when she heard Li Ang’s words, all color draining from her face.
She bit her lip tightly, and tears shimmered in her dark red eyes.
Lias suddenly shouted at Li Ang, “I don’t want to!”
The next second, she stood up and, with all her strength, pushed the bewildered Li Ang out of the room.
Then, choking up, she yelled at him, “Idiot Li Ang, I hate you! I hate you so much!”
Bang!
The door slammed shut, leaving only a flustered Li Ang standing outside.
He wanted to knock again, but when he thought of Lias’ expression just now, he let his hand drop.
He couldn’t figure out what had happened.
Inside the room.
Lias curled up in the cold corner, arms tightly hugging her knees, her face buried deep.
Fear wrapped around her heart like vines, making it hard to breathe.
Is Li Ang… abandoning her?
That thought ran wild in her mind like weeds.
She reached under her pillow and took out the thin contract paper, mumbling, “No… absolutely not…”
This was the only connection between her and Li Ang…
Without it, she’d be nothing but a demon.
At least… at least with this contract, she could stay by his side.
But… now Li Ang wanted to dissolve the contract.
Did he really want to marry that princess?
Was she just a burden to be thrown away?
Lias bit her lower lip hard, forcing herself not to cry.
But she didn’t want to leave… she didn’t want to see Li Ang with another woman.
The thought alone made her heart ache unbearably.
She buried her head between her knees, clutching the slave contract tightly, as if it were her only lifeline.
Whoosh!
A night breeze suddenly swept in.
With teary eyes, Lias looked up in surprise at the wide-open window.
Moonlight like water poured down.
A slim man was struggling to climb onto the windowsill.
Seeing Lias’ gaze, he teased between heavy breaths.
“Who bullied my Lias?”
The night wind fluttered his clothes, casting a long shadow on the floor that stretched all the way to her curled-up figure in the corner.
Only then did Lias react.
She wiped her tears and, a little worried, urged, “How did you climb up here? That’s dangerous, come down quickly before you fall.”
Li Ang raised an eyebrow, then sat on the windowsill, acting shameless.
“Then tell me why you’re upset, and I’ll come down.”
“I…”
Lias stubbornly said, “I’m not upset.”
“Not upset? Even little kitten succubus is about to cry into a little flower-faced succubus.”
Li Ang put on a wounded expression, clutching his chest in mock pain.
“Does that mean I’m not important to you at all?”
“No… it’s not that.”
Lias grew even more anxious and raised her voice, “It’s… it’s you who wants to leave me.”
Now it was Li Ang’s turn to be stunned, a little puzzled, “When did I say I was leaving you?”
Lias bit her lower lip, her voice aggrieved, “Aren’t you… going to marry another woman?”
“Another woman… you mean the Sixth Princess?”
Li Ang suddenly realized, “How do you know about that?”
Hearing Li Ang admit it, the succubus almost burst into tears, her lip nearly bleeding from her bite.
“You… you really don’t want me anymore…”
Li Ang immediately guessed that it was probably that blabbermouth Sophia who told her.
He jumped down from the windowsill, walked up to Lias, and gently wiped away her tears with his fingertip, helplessly saying, “When did I ever say I’d marry her?”
“Mm?”
Lias looked up with red, teary eyes, meeting the gentle gaze of the man in front of her.
“Dummy.”
Li Ang pinched Lias’ cheek, “His Majesty wanted to match me with the Sixth Princess, but of course I refused.”
“Ref… refused?”
Lias blinked, a little confused.
“Of course. Unless you want me to marry her?”
“No, I definitely don’t!”
Lias, like a kitten with her tail stepped on, yelled and threw herself at Li Ang, hugging his waist tightly.
“All right, all right, I won’t marry her.”
Li Ang steadied Lias’ shoulders, a smile in his voice.
“After all, I already have a little jealous jar at home, don’t I?”