There was not much sound outside, and she had no idea how much time had passed.
When Seraphina came back to herself, she discovered that she had already been placed on a large bed.
The bedding was warm and comfortable, softer than any bed she had slept on in the human world.
Asking those Flame Demons who spent their days with the sky as their blanket and the earth as their bed to prepare a room that was both rugged and yet revealed a solid sense of beauty had clearly been difficult for them.
“Alright, go to sleep quickly. We still have to travel back to the Demon King’s Castle tomorrow.”
Movira was already lying beside her and had pulled the quilt over both of them. She seemed rather unwilling to stay here.
Time quickly arrived at the next morning. When Seraphina opened her eyes, Movira was already fully dressed, and several steaming breakfast items had been placed in the center of the room.
“Come eat something. We’ll be setting out soon.”
So soon… Seraphina felt that these past two days had been nothing but traveling or being on the way to travel.
After washing up, she sat down at the table. Having grown accustomed to the food of the human world after staying there for so long, she did not experience any kind of “withdrawal reaction” toward the Demon Realm breakfast in front of her.
Soft bread and thick grain porridge—these foods tasted no different from those in the human world. Seraphina only realized it halfway through eating.
“This… is this still the Demon Realm?” She pointed at the food in front of her and asked Movira.
At first Movira thought Seraphina was still half-asleep, but when she followed the direction of Seraphina’s finger, she understood.
“Yes, we are currently in the Flame Demons’ territory. You’re talking about the food? Hmm… I don’t know either. Perhaps only after returning to the Demon King’s Castle will we know what has happened these past nine months.”
When Seraphina and Movira finished breakfast and opened the door, Erasia was already standing outside like a wooden post.
She had changed out of the splendid attire from yesterday and put back on that signature maid uniform—a long grayish-white dress.
“Good morning, Your Majesty, Your Highness.”
Erasia bowed in greeting, her voice calm. Along with her movement, the used tableware inside the room was pulled by invisible threads, lightly flew up, and finally arranged themselves neatly behind her.
This powerful control of magic left Seraphina amazed. Yet her gaze was quickly drawn to another figure leaning against the corridor wall not far away. It was… Saint Eustacia.
Although the other party’s appearance was quite different from the one Seraphina was familiar with, if one looked carefully, some clues could still be seen. Combined with guesswork, one could naturally figure out her identity.
But the Saint Eustacia of this moment was completely different from her usual solemn image. On top of that, she was actually wearing an outfit of the exact same style as Erasia’s—although this maid uniform was identical to Erasia’s in both details and overall tone, on her it was filled with a sense of dissonance.
Those eyes suppressed humiliation and anger that no disguise could hide.
She had her arms crossed, her lips tightly closed, and only swept a sidelong glance toward them.
Movira’s gaze lingered on Saint Eustacia for a moment before immediately revealing a teasing smile.
“My, my. I never expected that the famous Saintess, Saint Eustacia, would one day put on this outfit and become one of my maids!”
These words made Saint Eustacia’s face even darker, and the arms she held crossed tightened further. As if trying to regain some face, she said coldly to Erasia, “Once I recover my strength, the first thing I’ll do is twist your neck off! And you too, Movira—you won’t escape either!”
Seraphina looked at Saint Eustacia’s awkward appearance. Even though the other was angry and throwing a temper, she still couldn’t help finding it extremely funny.
That naturally cold and aloof temperament of hers was completely incompatible with the gentleness a maid should have. She looked more like… a block of tofu covered in thorns.
Faced with Saint Eustacia’s threats, Erasia showed no fear, even though she completely could not defeat a Saint Eustacia who had recovered her strength. She opened her mouth to explain, “The clothes Lady Saintess carried with her all bore overly obvious Church styles. In the Demon Realm, that is a very dangerous aura. In addition, Lady Saintess’s figure is similar to mine, so I changed her into this set.”
“You did well, Erasia!” Movira looked at her with approval, then turned back to examine Saint Eustacia’s current outfit, even deliberately nodding again and again.
“It really ‘suits’ you quite well! Speaking of which… do you have no other clothes left? No other clothes at all? Then I’m truly sorry, Saint Eustacia. You wouldn’t want to…”
Saint Eustacia finally glared hard at Movira and said through gritted teeth, “Can we set out now?!”
“The carriage is already prepared and can depart at any time. Additionally, as per your request, the Flame Demon lord will not see you off.” Erasia said.
“Then let’s set out.” Movira nodded, clearly very satisfied with the two of them, and casually took Seraphina’s hand. “The sooner we return, the sooner we can adapt to… the new identity and environment, right? Maid Saint Eustacia?”
They walked toward the outside. Saint Eustacia took a deep breath, turned around expressionlessly, and that stiff back silently spoke of “humiliation.”
Outside, a carriage far larger than any in the human world had already been waiting for a long time. After boarding this vehicle, the expected jolting sensation did not occur. Instead, it was unusually stable. Even Seraphina’s dizziness lessened quite a bit. She couldn’t help but feel curious and slightly pulled aside the curtain of the carriage window.
The carriage was traveling on an unusually wide and flat road. The surface was grayish-black, as if paved with some special kind of stone, solid and smooth.
What surprised her the most was that on this main road, traffic flowed continuously without end!
One after another, practical cargo wagons loaded with various goods—some carrying bundles of plant stalks, some sealed boxes of ore, and others rice and grain—moved in an orderly fashion toward the Flame Demon territory.
Even though the dizziness caused by the carriage’s movement still existed, the busy yet orderly scene before her eyes filled Seraphina with immense novelty.
“Movira, look quickly!” Seraphina pointed out the window. “Those wagons—what are they going to the Flame Demons’ side for?”
Movira followed her gaze and looked at the endless stream of wagons. Her eyes also showed surprise. “I understand even less about this. Perhaps it’s because of the new policies? In any case, everything will have to wait until we return to the Demon King’s Castle and see Lina before we know the answer.”
Although she said that, her gaze fell more often on Seraphina’s surprised and smiling face. Seeing this scene satisfied Movira far more than anything outside.
Seraphina continued looking out the window. This road was so wide that it seemed a little beyond imagination!
Even when their enormous vehicle passed at high speed, those cargo wagons could calmly move aside without affecting their own speed.