“No,” Movira answered honestly.
“Ah… Then what are we going to eat?” Although this answer was exactly what Seraphina had expected, she still looked a bit dumbfounded.
Her own cooking skills could only manage something barely edible.
As for making something that looked, smelled, and tasted great, that was completely beyond her.
Seeing Seraphina’s slightly dejected expression, Movira felt a sudden urge to show off in front of her.
She cleared her throat. “Ahem, it’s just cooking, right? It looks pretty simple. Doesn’t seem hard at all. I’ll give it a try.”
However, it didn’t take long for practice to prove that Her Majesty the Demon King, who stood at the pinnacle of power, had zero talent for cooking.
Throughout the entire afternoon, the kitchen was filled with the smell of burnt food and the sounds of Movira frantically scrambling about.
Seraphina occasionally poked her head in to check, only to hear Movira repeatedly insisting, “This really isn’t that difficult.”
In the end, what made it to the table were several plates of “dishes” with highly suspicious colors and shapes that were almost impossible to describe.
Seraphina poked at them with her knife and fork, her face showing clear reluctance.
She speared a pitch-black piece. “Did you… just serve us charcoal?”
Movira’s face showed a hint of embarrassment, but she forced herself to stay calm. “Mm… As long as it’s edible!!”
“Let me handle it! Sister, you can just help me prepare the ingredients.”
Although Seraphina didn’t have much confidence in her own skills, compared to Movira she was practically a master chef!
Under Seraphina’s direction, Movira clumsily washed the vegetables and cut the meat.
In the end, through their joint effort, they managed to produce a simple—if somewhat ugly—dinner.
At least it was edible.
The taste was quite ordinary, but for Seraphina it was already pretty good.
Movira had no particular requirements when it came to food. She could have eaten that charcoal-like lump without complaint, but Seraphina still took it away.
As night fell, magic lamps lit up the manor, and it was time to rest.
The question of choosing rooms now stood before them.
This made Movira feel quite anxious.
Back at the academy the situation had been special because Dekalorin had deliberately not arranged a room for her.
But now there were so many rooms. Would Seraphina still agree to sleep together?
Seraphina was actually struggling with the same issue.
She looked at the several empty bedrooms and felt torn inside.
She did want her own private space, but the thought of sleeping alone in a strange, empty, and possibly cold room made her extremely uneasy—especially with her increasingly cold-sensitive body.
Without Movira beside her, she worried she wouldn’t even be able to warm the bed properly and would have trouble falling asleep.
She sneaked a glance at Movira, who appeared very calm.
In the end, Seraphina sighed inwardly.
She yielded to practical needs and that small, unacknowledged sense of dependence in her heart.
She lowered her head, her voice soft as she gently tugged at Movira’s sleeve. “Um… it’s still a bit cold at night. How about… we still sleep together?”
The reason she gave was simple and straightforward, as if she were also trying to convince herself.
Movira’s suspended heart finally settled.
This was exactly the outcome she wanted.
She tried hard to suppress the smile at the corner of her lips. “Okay.”
As the night grew deeper, Seraphina finished washing up and sat on the edge of the bed in her soft nightgown, slowly drying her hair with a towel.
Movira held a book she had picked up from the study, but whether she had actually read any of it was doubtful.
She kept glancing at Seraphina from time to time.
“Need me to help dry your hair?”
“Okay… sure.” Though her words carried a hint of hesitation, her body had already shifted closer to Movira.
Movira moved behind her.
Using magic power gathered at her fingertips, she gently brushed through Seraphina’s long hair.
The moisture evaporated quickly, leaving the strands fluffy, dry, and slightly warm.
“All done.”
Seraphina touched her hair and whispered, “Thank you, Sister.”
Once they lay down, Seraphina instinctively moved closer to Movira, but then seemed to feel she was being too forward and hesitated.
Movira smiled secretly to herself.
Since Seraphina was too embarrassed to initiate, she would take the lead!
She reached out an arm and gently wrapped it around Seraphina’s waist, pulling her into her embrace.
“Sleep now. Don’t overthink it,” she whispered softly, feeling the body in her arms quickly relax from its initial stiffness and obediently nestle closer.
Seraphina found a comfortable position, mumbled a sleepy “Good night,” and soon fell into deep slumber.
However, Movira had no desire to sleep.
Not only because she barely needed sleep anymore, but also because of her concerns about those mysterious totems.
At midnight, the magic node she had placed suddenly sent out a fluctuation, waking her from her light sleep.
She first glanced at the person in her arms.
Seeing that Seraphina was still sleeping peacefully, she prepared to get up and check.
Just as she tried to withdraw the arm that Seraphina was using as a pillow, even her slight movement was noticed.
Instead of letting go, Seraphina gripped her nightgown even tighter and let out a fuzzy, pleading murmur in her sleep. “Don’t… don’t go…”
Looking at Seraphina’s sleeping face, Movira’s heart instantly melted from this unconscious display of dependence.
She lay back down, gently patting Seraphina’s back with one hand, and whispered softly beside her ear, “Okay, I won’t leave. Go back to sleep.”
Under the gentle reassurance, Seraphina gradually calmed down again, and the hand clutching her clothes loosened.
After confirming she had fallen back into deep sleep, Movira closed her eyes.
Her consciousness followed the connection of her magic power and quickly arrived near the large rock.
In the darkness of night, two suspicious-looking men dressed in dark clothing were squatting beside the rock, conversing in low voices.
Movira heard their entire conversation clearly.
“Today I saw fresh carriage tracks at the manor gate. Could it be… that those two have already arrived?” One of the voices carried obvious nervousness and a trace of fear.
The other man was calmer but still spoke in a carefully lowered voice. “Impossible! If they had really returned, the royal family would have received word first and there would have been some news about people being sent to ‘pay their respects.’ But there hasn’t been anything. I think it’s just some advance servants or a steward who came to clean up beforehand.”
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