Meliya left. But Luc was still unable to process the shock her words had brought.
The Duchess had asked her many abrupt questions afterward. One moment about her relationships, the next about her companions. In the end, she had even mentioned the Demon King Succession War.
Luc did not understand why she was asking these things. But from the fact that the Duchess knew about the Demon King Succession War, she inferred that something had already happened to her companions.
So she kept silent. Yet the Duchess seemed to have seen straight through her thoughts, leaving with the Sage wearing a thoroughly satisfied expression.
Even if Aoke and Vlad had died, they would never have revealed information to humans. Then could it have been Selene? No, she would not have done such a thing either.
Luc had not spent very long with those companions, but she believed she understood their personalities well enough. Their pride would never have allowed them to yield to human coercion or temptation.
That left only one possibility: the Sage had used a memory reading Spell on one of them.
It was a Spell that only a small number of High Demonkind could use. Given its difficulty, Luc believed that among humans, only the Sage could possibly perform it.
The process was also cruel. The caster had to directly touch the target’s brain.
Luc had heard that during the War, humans who possessed important intelligence and were unfortunate enough to be captured by the Demon Race all died after this Spell was used on them.
If it were used on High Demonkind instead, the outcome would likely be no different.
If it were only for information, she could have had the Sage use that Spell on me. Yet she seemed to have no such intention.
She not only knew the relationship between that man and me, she even knew the name of the flower Mother liked, something even I did not know.
She is keeping me alive… could it really be only to maintain stability?
Luc felt utterly confused. In the three days since she had been placed under house arrest in this room, she had not once lain on the bed, nor had she eaten a single meal delivered from outside.
It was not about dignity. In her understanding, the Duchess was being courteous only because she wanted to obtain something from her before executing her.
Luc had no intention of letting her succeed, so she refused to accept the mercy and kindness offered to her as a prisoner.
But now it was deep into the night. After long hours of fruitless thought, she felt both sleepy and hungry.
Her gaze first fell upon the table where the meal tray had been placed. Then she realized that before leaving, the Duchess had taken away the untouched food.
So she could only look toward the large bed in the center of the room. The bed. A soft bed. In the unlit room, the down filled mattress appeared dark red, like congealed blood.
Only then did Luc suddenly realize that from the arrangement of the furniture to the placement of the decorations, this room was seven or eight parts similar to her quarters in the Demon King’s Castle.
That inexplicable familiarity lowered her guard. As if bewitched by the softness of the mattress, she climbed onto the bed, her mind heavy with drowsiness.
‘I will just sleep for a little while… truly just a little while. Forgive me… Mother.’
Even High Demonkind must eat and rest like humans. And for some reason, Luc’s needs in this regard were more pressing than those of her kin.
High Demonkind could go without sleep for an entire week, or without food for a whole month. But Luc could not do that.
Without eating, she could last at most one or two weeks. As for going without sleep, like now, three days already pushed her to the limit.
Because of this, she had often been mocked by her kind and by those companions.
She still remembered that before crossing the Border Mountains into the Human Realm, the path she chose happened to be struck by relentless blizzards day and night.
She walked for a week through the storm, seeing no living creature besides herself.
In the end, exhausted, she collapsed upon the snowfields of Nolan in the Human Realm, within the territory belonging to the Blood Demon Noble Vlad.
To help her recover, Vlad had specially summoned the human chefs of his domain to prepare a grand feast for her.
The feast was enough for ten people. He had intended to mock Luc with it. Yet she devoured every dish and even drank every last drop of soup.
“Tsk, tsk… look at you, eating like a starving ghost. It has only been a week without food, has it not? Rather than a member of the Demon Race, you look more like a Human. If you truly were the King’s daughter, he would probably leap out of his grave in anger.”
Vlad’s cheerful teasing seemed to echo in her ears. As she worried about his safety, she recalled the especially delicious dishes from that banquet and slowly drifted into sleep.
“Mmm… snow lotus stewed chicken… lobster sandwich… Nolan stew…”
For some reason, she slept exceptionally well. The feast Vlad had given her that day appeared even clearer in her dream.
She saw Aoke sitting beside her, eating heartily. She even saw Vlad respectfully escorting Mother to the seat of honor and offering her a toast.
She had never seen Mother smile so happily. Overjoyed, she reached toward the platter before her, ready to tear off a turkey leg and stuff it into her mouth—
“Hey.”
Someone suddenly called out to her. Turning her head, she saw that it was the Shadow Demon Selene seated on her other side.
Amid the lively atmosphere, only she waved her Fan with a sour expression.
“Are you not eating, Selene?”
Luc asked foolishly, only to be struck squarely on the head by the Fan.
“Ow!”
She was yanked out of her dream. Opening her eyes, she saw a white haired girl standing beside her bed.
“Se, Selene? Why are you here? Were you captured as well?”
Her red eyes, faintly gleaming in the night, revealed her identity as a member of the Demon Race. Luc recognized this as Selene’s true form without disguise.
She wore a maid uniform from the Duke’s Household, but unlike Luc, there was no silver collar around her neck.
“It is impressive that you can sleep so soundly in a place like this. Have you forgotten where you are?”
“I, I have not. I was only resting for a while…”
“Aoke and Vlad are dead. Come with me. We are leaving.”
Selene no longer carried the Fan she liked to use when pretending to be a Princess. After saying this, she did not look at Luc again and walked straight to the door.
“…Dead?”
The news left Luc reeling. But seeing Selene already turning the handle, she snapped out of it and hurriedly warned her:
“There are guards outside!”
Selene opened the door. She stepped into the dim corridor. Yet Luc heard none of the fighting or alarms she had expected.
“Are you coming or not? If not, stay here alone. The Lord is waiting for me.”
In the heavy silence, Selene’s impatient, indifferent voice came from outside. Confused, Luc climbed out of bed and followed her out, trembling.
She trailed behind Selene cautiously, slowing her steps as much as possible. Soon, however, she realized there was no need.
The entire Duchess’s Main Hall seemed devoid of people. Only when they left the Main Hall and reached the main road did Selene finally turn back and hand her a scarf.
“Here. Use this to cover that thing around your neck. We may run into people next. And bring your face closer.”
Luc did as she was told, only to receive a light slap across the face. Afterward, she felt as if a thin film had settled over her features.
“This is…”
“Imitation. It can only cover your face. Because of the collar around your neck, a full body Imitation cannot take effect on you. But if you follow me obediently, there will be no problem.”
Selene continued forward, and Luc could only obey. They walked along the road for over ten minutes.
On the way, they encountered only a few workers maintaining road facilities at night and a Sage’s Clone.
Finally, they turned into a cluster of buildings hidden among greenery, like something within a forest.
They entered a garden. Deep among the flowers stood a Pavilion for visitors to rest. As they approached, the Moon slipped free from the clouds, and pale light poured down.
Seated within the Pavilion was a silver haired, red eyed maid. Resting in her arms was another girl in a maid uniform, with a long black ponytail.
The girl lying in her arms was asleep. She held a comb, carefully brushing the girl’s hair.
“Oh, you have arrived.”
Seeing them approach, Feiyin paused her grooming of Lian’s hair and greeted them with a smile.