A thick blackness engulfed the world, the Moon Pearl rising overhead. It was already nine o’clock deep into the night.
Tonight was deathly silent as usual—both for the moon hanging high in the dark sky and for the Demon King’s Castle bathed in its pale light.
The night seeped into every corner of the world.
People lit candles not to drive away the darkness but to paint the blackness with the colors they wished to see.
Night could not be chased away, no matter how beautiful the moon hanging in the sky or how carefully the flickering candlelight danced.
Yet, whenever one stared into the black filled with sighs, the loneliness and unease it brought still lingered, seeping into one’s heart like poison, little by little.
Moezhi often lay on the eaves, gazing up at the moon.
She understood that feeling well, but what she had never expected was to experience, through another’s eyes, that bone-deep infiltration of night.
Those iron cages called eyes seemed just large enough to hold her.
The deep, lightless pupils crawled over every inch of Moezhi’s skin like the night itself, as if countless hands were trying to pry open her pale flesh, burrowing inside her body, staining her internal organs with that profound darkness.
The fear and anxiety it brought pierced her body like needles, breaking apart her fragile form.
Her heart began to race, her breathing grew rapid.
Just being stared at like this made her brain instinctively want to run away.
But her body only twitched restlessly, and the hands around her waist tightened further.
The blackness in those eyes deepened even more…
She was pressed firmly down in the seat by her captor, the smooth thighs beneath her skirt pressed tightly against hers like snake scales.
Two hands cupped Moezhi’s cheeks, looking down into those dark green eyes.
The metallic scent of blood constantly irritated Moezhi’s nerves, releasing primal fear into her eyes.
She had no idea what expression she wore now—was it humiliation?
Fear?
Perhaps she was even crying.
But the trembling of her body made it clear that her expression must be quite something…
“My beloved, do you know why I am so angry?” she asked in a low voice, anger flickering in her gaze.
“B-because earlier I accidentally called you a tyrant…”
Moezhi averted her eyes, not daring to meet them.
She swallowed hard.
After witnessing what had just happened, she truly hadn’t controlled her emotions well and had blurted out what was on her mind.
But she hadn’t expected such a strong reaction.
In the past, when she had been sharp-tongued with her, she would always respond with laughter and indifference.
So why today?
“Is there more?”
More?
Could it be that she had upset her twice?
She remembered the words she had spoken before leaving…
With a hopeful tone, she whispered back, “Also… I want to go back to see my sister…”
“Bang!”
The armrest of the chair suddenly shattered beneath her grip, and seeing this, she knew her guess was right.
“So my beloved already knows, huh~”
She smiled gently at Moezhi, but the anger in her eyes only grew fiercer.
“I suppose you don’t want to live with me because of that sister.”
She deliberately emphasized the word ‘sister’, her tone as fierce as if she wanted to swallow it whole.
Moezhi felt something was wrong and hurriedly tried to explain, but the more flustered she became, the more convinced Landis was of her suspicion.
“So in your eyes, that sister is far more important than me.”
“She’s my family. I promised her father I would take care of her…”
“Is that so…”
She snorted lightly, then climbed off Moezhi and sat on the table opposite her.
“Didn’t you say you wanted me to heal your severed hand? Let’s set the time for tomorrow. Bring her to me—I want to see this sister of yours that you think about so much.”
She lifted her bare, pale jade toe and pressed it firmly against Moezhi’s lips, leaving no room for refusal.
“No objections, right, my beloved?”
Moezhi had wanted to stall a bit, hoping Landis would calm down before going, but faced with this irresistible gesture, making her angrier would only make things worse.
Besides, her mouth was already blocked, so refusing was impossible.
Thinking this, Moezhi nodded.
The jade toe pressed into her mouth was then pulled away.
“Cough, cough…”
She covered her throat and coughed hard.
The feeling of having that thing shoved into her mouth was truly unpleasant.
Though apart from the taste of the wooden floor, there was nothing particularly strange or foul, the humiliation was what hurt most.
She hurried to find something to rinse her mouth with, but just as her gaze landed on a glass of red wine on the table, Landis snatched it away.
“Looking for this, my beloved? Then let me feed you.”
With that, she downed the wine in one gulp.
Her lower body transformed into a long, thick snake tail, tightly coiling around Moezhi.
“I-I didn’t say I wanted to drink it! Let me go!”
Landis seemed to ignore her words.
Her eyes no longer held their usual laziness and mockery, instead displaying the cold, oppressive glare of a cold-blooded predator.
The snake tail pulled Moezhi close in front of her.
Landis cupped Moezhi’s face and leaned down to kiss her straightforwardly.
Her wine-dark purple hair cascaded down, caressing Moezhi’s tender cheeks like a gentle caress as Landis bent lower and lower.
Her throat moved as the wine was slowly poured into Moezhi’s mouth, flowing down her esophagus drop by drop into her stomach.
“Pop~”
Lips parted.
Landis wiped the wine dripping from the corner of her mouth, clicking her tongue.
Her eyes remained filled with anger as she looked at Moezhi.
Moezhi had originally intended to use the wine to wash away Landis’s lingering scent in her mouth, but instead, the scent only deepened.
The wine, infused with Landis’s presence, flowed into her body and stained her internal organs.
Now it could not be washed away no matter what.
“It’s getting late. Don’t make your sister wait too long. After all, family is family—you miss one less when you see another.”
She said with a meaningful smile.
Moezhi said nothing, embarrassed, lifting her skirt and waddling toward the door.
She still wasn’t used to these high heels.
By the time she reached the door, she tripped and fell, then blushed and stood up, pretending nothing had happened as she hurried out.
Landis sat alone in the hall, watching that clumsy figure disappear, her dim eyes lost in thought.
After a long while, she slowly whispered, “Sister… huh.”
That annoying title—how long had it been since she last heard her sister say it?
Now, hearing it from her again, it no longer referred to herself.
She clicked her tongue, stood up, and walked barefoot back to her room.
“Truly boring.”