The Beast God nodded, and this was good news for Vira, because Vira knew the Beast God would choose a fate friendly to her.
In other words, Vira really could get Truth’s help, and that was the best possible outcome for her.
Yet for some reason, Vira also vaguely sensed the Beast God’s reluctance, guilt, and conflicted emotions.
Though a mere Envoy like her couldn’t comprehend the thoughts of a Twelfth-Rank Deity, deities had feelings too, and as long as there were feelings, Vira could vaguely pick up on things……
It was strange, very strange, but she couldn’t put her finger on what exactly was off… She suddenly had a bold thought: the Beast God had been completely played by this Second-rank Priestess!
But how could a dignified deity be played by a little priestling?
Forget it, no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t match the Beast God’s ability to peer into fate once.
Rather than burning herself out like this, she might as well just trust the Beast God!
So Vira turned her gaze back to Truth and said seriously:
“Fine, I agree to your terms… Meow.”
“Not bad at all.” Truth revealed unguarded delight, then zero-delay reached out and stroked Vira’s fluffy purple hair, and then her hand went straight for Vira’s chin, gently scratching it.
The whole motion was fluid and seamless, showing absolutely no restraint.
This move startled Vira so much that her entire body trembled. Her expression was filled with shock and confusion, and a faint blush gradually crept across her cheeks.
She hastily retreated a few steps, covering her face, and growled through clenched teeth:
“Y-you… what are you doing? Why did you just reach out and touch me?!”
“Hm?” Truth’s cheerful smile suddenly froze:
“Where’s your ‘meow’?”
“Ah, th-that… s-sorry, I’m not used to it yet… Meow.” Vira lowered her head and paused, but she wasn’t thrown off by Truth’s diversion and pressed on:
“What were you just doing… Meow?”
“Petting a cat, of course.” Truth said.
“Petting… a cat?” Hearing those two words, Vira’s confused expression gradually turned to indignation. “Was this little priestess treating her like some kind of lowly feline?!”
“What do you take me for, meow! I’m the Empress of the Northern Empire, meow! If anyone else did this to me, I would have already— wait… no!”
Suddenly, Vira recalled in her mind the second condition Truth had proposed, which was that in Truth’s presence, she could only be a cat! In other words, in front of Truth, whether she was the Empress of the Northern Empire, the power-holder of the Northern Family, or an Envoy of the Beast God, all those special identities were invalid. Before Truth, she could only be a cat…
“Oh, so you’re an Empress after all.” Truth was very satisfied with Vira’s shocked expression, then crooked her finger at Vira and said:
“Come over here on your own and let me have a good pet.”
“Tsk…” Vira’s gaze instantly sharpened, her fur slightly bristling all over, and she stared at Truth with a hint of a hiss building up. Damn it, she’d actually been outmaneuvered by this little priestess!
But at least this little priestess hadn’t made her sign some kind of contract or anything, otherwise she really wouldn’t have been able to back out.
But if she did back out, then the information about the Wishing Pool would…
“Not coming over? What a shame, meow.” Seeing Vira unmoved, Truth spread her hands and said with regret:
“Kittens really are more fun when they’re small. Big cats are just rebellious, meow. Called over and still won’t come. I was thinking that if you came over, I’d tell you the general location of the Wishing Pool in the Sky Flower Sea.”
“What?!” Vira’s expression stiffened. How infuriating! This little priestess was blatantly using the Wishing Pool information to threaten her! And she had no way to deal with her…
Since she was little, the only people who had ever touched her head or scratched her chin were her mother and her lover.
After becoming Empress, she’d basically stopped doing such things, since she had to maintain a dignified image to intimidate the other families.
So her dignity absolutely could not be compromised!
But… her dignity in the face of the Empire’s future…
Thinking this far, Vira fell into endless inner turmoil.
“Looks like building a good relationship with the big cat is out of the question today.”
Truth turned to look at the Beast God: “Beast God, you can send me back now. It seems Vira is unwilling to accept my help, meow.”
“Very well.” The Beast God finally turned back around and prepared to sever the connection with Truth’s Mind Projection.
But just then, Vira spoke up:
“Wait… Meow!”
As if she had made some kind of decision, in full view of Truth and the Beast God, Vira took heavy steps and slowly came back before Truth.
Her expression was tense, looking extremely restrained.
“Oh~” Truth looked up and studied Vira’s expression with even greater anticipation.
Heh heh, this was exactly what she wanted—that humiliated frustration of someone who couldn’t lower herself but had no other choice! How delightful.
Big cats certainly had their benefits too, so Truth decided to praise Vira:
“As expected of an Empress of a nation. Playing along with me a little for the future of your country is no big deal, right? Sister Vira.”
Vira didn’t answer. Then Truth extended one finger pointing downward and said in a slightly forceful tone:
“Sit down.”
After a moment of silence, Vira’s legs parted slightly, and she knelt gracefully with perfect poise before Truth.
Her expression remained haughty, and then she slowly closed her eyes.
Truth, somewhat excited, walked a full circle around Vira, looking her over from side to side like admiring a newly purchased figurine.
Then she lightly pinched Vira’s well-maintained cheeks. All Vira could do was endure it silently:
“Now… can you tell me the location of the Wishing Pool… Meow?”
“Sure. Then you’d better prick up your ears and listen carefully.” Truth said while reaching for Vira’s tall, fluffy cat ears.
The moment she touched the soft fuzz on Vira’s ears, the latter’s entire body gave a startled jolt, though she made no sound—her face just turned even redder.
Just like a little cat, a big cat’s ears were also extremely sensitive.
…
After learning that piece of information, Truth then moved directly behind Vira.
This move further lowered Vira’s sense of security, because she had no idea what Truth was planning to do behind her back.
The next second, to her astonishment, Truth’s left hand passed over Vira’s neck and reached her chin, then gently began to scratch it…
“Mmn…” Vira instinctively lifted her neck slightly, her body stiff.
But it wasn’t over. Truth’s right hand went straight for Vira’s ear and began kneading it.
Under the stimulation of both hands, Vira clenched her teeth tightly and couldn’t help but grip the hem of her clothes with both hands:
“Ugh, endure… I have to endure right now…”
Then Truth’s third wave of attack came. Her mouth gradually approached Vira’s left ear, pressing close, and she released warm breath while speaking slowly, word by word:
“I’ll tell you now… the location of the Wishing Pool… is in a flat open area in the southern central region of the Sky Flower Sea. You can… use the Sky Forest as a reference… and then use…”
Truth deliberately spoke very slowly, and every word she uttered released a warm breath that made Vira extremely sensitive.
This caused Vira’s whole body to tremble continuously, her eyes gradually glazing over, her lips slightly parted, as if she was about to lose control and make a sound…
And all of this was witnessed by the Beast God.
Hold on, my little cat…
As a deity, the Beast God naturally knew how important face was to someone in power.
Once authority was lost, those above would basically be unable to keep those below in check, and being overthrown was only a matter of time.
So the Beast God truly sympathized with Vira at this moment.
But in front of the Blood Demon, He was utterly powerless and could only watch it toy with Vira as it pleased…
Yet the silver lining in all this misfortune was that the Beast God had successfully avoided the fate where Vira became mortal enemies with the Blood Demon.
He had glimpsed just how brutal the Blood Demon’s combat style was.
So compared to an all-out war between the Blood Demon and the entire Northern Empire, and Vira getting her heart ripped out, letting Vira be bullied a bit now seemed rather acceptable… The Beast God comforted Himself with that thought.
“Mm-meow!” Suddenly, Vira’s shy, breathy cry rang throughout the entire Icebound Hall.
Under Truth’s triple stimulation, she finally couldn’t hold it in and let out a sound.
Her whole body curled up and fell backward, lying against Truth’s chest.
Yet even so, Truth didn’t stop her hand movements or the words coming from her mouth.
She deliberately made the Wishing Pool’s exact location sound extremely complicated, forcing Vira to compel herself to listen to every word carefully, terrified of missing a single detail.
At the same time, the Beast God was astonished to realize that in the hundred-plus years He had accompanied Vira, He had never once seen her like this.
In His impression, Vira was an Empress who was stern to outsiders but showed gentle smiles only to her own family—cold on the outside, warm within. But today…
Under this demon’s wanton teasing, the Beast God witnessed a side of Vira that He had never known before…