“Where do you sleep at night……?”
The temperature in the room gradually warmed due to the lit fireplace, and Seraphina couldn’t help but think about where Lina would go.
“I live with them.”
Hearing this, Seraphina couldn’t help but frown slightly. She looked around the small room; apart from the narrow bed, there was indeed no other place to sleep.
Letting Lina live with those demon knights…… For some reason, this thought made her feel a wave of discomfort.
“You’ll sleep here.” Seraphina suddenly spoke, her voice sounding a few degrees stiffer than expected, pointing to the open space beside the bed. “Make a bed on the floor, sleep here.”
Lina abruptly looked up, surprise flashing in her emerald eyes. “What? Sleep here?” Thinking of Seraphina’s relationship with Movira, she instinctively wanted to refuse this proposal.
“This…… This doesn’t conform to the rules.”
“Here, I am the rules.” Seraphina interrupted her, deliberately making her tone a bit colder. “Take a blanket with you when you leave.”
Saying that, she shifted her body toward the foot of the bed, rummaged through the storage box under it, pulled out another spare cloak and a quilt, and stuffed them all into Lina’s arms.
“Or would you rather share the barracks with those big men? Remember, you are my maid; you have no right to choose! They are soldiers, not my people; I don’t care about them.”
The implication was……
Lina held the sudden “gift,” her expression complicated as she looked at the floor, at the spot Seraphina had just pointed to.
She indeed didn’t want to live with those people, but sharing a room with this Princess Regent was also not what she wished, especially thinking of Movira’s intimate actions toward Seraphina during the day……
It undoubtedly declared Movira’s absolute ownership over this Princess Regent, something she couldn’t step into even half a step.
“The bed is too small; it can’t fit two people.” Seraphina seemed to see through her thoughts, her tone carrying a hint of self-mockery. “Rest assured, I have no interest in you.”
She paused again, almost as if talking to herself: “At least…… I think not the kind you’re imagining……”
Lina held the fabrics, reminding herself that this was probably the best choice for now.
So she silently nodded, retrieved the luggage she had left in the barracks, and began to set up a simple bed on the floor.
In her movements, she accidentally noticed that the spot Seraphina had her lay was the closest to the fireplace, the warmest place.
And Seraphina also took this time to casually deal with a few bites of the hard-to-swallow dinner.
“You, have you eaten dinner?”
Seeing nearly half the food still on the plate, Seraphina asked softly.
“Mhm, ate some.” Lina, still setting up the bed, clearly hadn’t noticed Seraphina’s actions, thinking it was just a bit of concern for her, after all, the other had asked her the same before.
“Still hungry?”
“Not really.”
At this point, Lina realized Seraphina’s meaning, looked up at the remaining food, and roughly guessed what the other was about to say next.
“Then, then you eat those; I can’t finish them.”
Her body had shrunk, and her appetite had also decreased a lot. Thinking back to the past, this amount of food wouldn’t even be enough to fill the gaps between the knight’s teeth……
A piece of the bread on the table had been eaten, and as for that bowl of meat soup, only a small half had been consumed.
Before Lina could respond, she turned her head and saw that Seraphina had already burrowed into the quilt, giving her only a view of her back.
“I’m a bit tired; sleeping first.”
Lina first extinguished the lamp made of magic crystals. Under the flickering light of the fireplace flames, she quietly began to “clean up” the remaining meal.
Lying quietly on the bed, Lina began to recall the events of the past few days. Clearly just two or three days, yet she had actually changed her view of a demon……
This was practically a miracle! Perhaps, just for this moment?
As expected, when Lina thought of everything the demons had done to humans, a surge of hatred rose again, but this was aimed at the entire Demon Realm, while Seraphina……
According to what she said, within this year, the Demon Realm indeed hadn’t launched large-scale invasions against humans. She was also genuinely suppressing the war desires at the morning assemblies.
Turning to look at Seraphina’s back, she gradually became lost in thought, her heart extremely complicated……
In the cold wind of the latter half of the night, Seraphina felt a familiar warmth, like Movira’s……
The next morning, Seraphina woke up in a wave of warmth, without the stiffness of an unfamiliar environment, nor the invasion of cold wind.
She didn’t know where this warmth came from.
Turning to look at the floor beside the bed, Lina’s figure was already gone.
The subtle emptiness in her body seemed even stronger than yesterday, as if constantly reminding her that some irreversible process was still continuing.
The chill of the border outpost was mercilessly seeping through the stone cracks, making her subconsciously wrap the quilt tighter around herself.
But today she inevitably had to get up; she couldn’t stay in bed all day. After folding the bedding and placing it at the head of the bed, she did some simple washing. The conditions here were poor; she didn’t demand the same as in the Demon King’s Castle.
Just then, the door was gently knocked. “Your Highness.”
It was Bask’s voice, sounding more respectful and sincere than when they first met yesterday. “The messenger dispatched by His Majesty the Demon King has arrived; there is something to personally hand to you.”
Seraphina’s heart suddenly jumped; an ominous premonition surged like icy tide water. She steadied herself. “Let him in.”
A dusty, armored knight wearing the Demon King’s personal guard entered; he wasn’t much different from the knights who had followed her here yesterday.
In his hands, he held a box emanating a familiar chill. On the lid was engraved Movira’s emblem: a violet wrapped in thorns.
Why violet? Because Seraphina’s eyes were violet-colored……
“Princess Regent Your Highness.” The messenger knelt on one knee, raising the box above his head.
“By His Majesty’s order, this item is delivered. His Majesty instructs you not to delay body conditioning due to duties.”
Seraphina’s gaze fixed dead on that box; her fingertips instantly turned cold. Just as she had anticipated, it was medicine!
That eerie aura seemed to already pierce through the box, drilling into her nostrils, stirring the memories of the drug residues in her body, causing a wave of nausea.
“……Put it down.” She heard her own voice very dry.
“Yes.” The messenger placed the box on the table, saluted, and then withdrew.
The room was left with only Seraphina and that ice-cold box. Holding a trace of unrealistic fantasy, she walked over, her fingertips trembling as she opened the box……
Inside, that vial of potion lay quietly on the soft black velvet cushion. Beside it was a small piece of parchment, bearing Movira’s slightly teasing handwriting: