The dishes she had gradually come to crave, even depend on, had never been the work of the castle’s maids.
They might imitate the motions, but they didn’t understand the soul of it, how a cook pours their very will into the flame and lets the flame carry it into the food!
Food untouched by true fire is soulless!
So those maids could never reproduce authentic human cooking.
It was Lina…
The realization struck like the first ray of dawn after an endless night, a light Seraphina would chase with every ounce of her being.
She ran to the study.
The door was thick; sound barely leaked through… or so she told herself.
She sucked in a deep breath and flung it open.
Afternoon sunlight poured through the stained-glass windows, bathing the room in gold. The faint scent of ink lingered, mingled with the ghost of fresh tea.
Inside, Ailinuo was asking Lina about sorting documents.
Lina stood sideways to the door, expression calm as ever, as though nothing had happened. She pointed to a scroll and explained something to Ailinuo in a low voice.
Both turned at the sudden creak of the hinges.
Ailinuo, unaware of the morning’s storm, beamed brightly. “Your Highness, you’re back!”
Lina simply looked at Seraphina. The anguish from earlier was gone from her eyes, but there was no obvious warmth either.
Perhaps she had never been the type to show affection easily.
She was like a deep, still lake, quiet, yet the very fact that she was standing here was a wordless declaration.
She hadn’t left.
Seraphina remained in the doorway, chest rising and falling from the sprint.
Sunlight, books two girls…
A tangled rush of emotions flooded her: relief, guilt, and something warm she dared not name.
In the past half-month, every quiet act, the help in the carriage, the bandaging at the outpost, the day-after-day care, had woven their fates together.
A thousand things crowded words jammed in her throat. In the end, all she managed was a soft:
“I’m back.”
There wasn’t much paperwork that afternoon, so Seraphina did what she always did: lay on the reclining chair in the courtyard and let time drift.
“I thought you were really going to leave…”
She gazed at the cloudless sky and spoke softly to the figure standing beside her.
“Leave?”
Lina’s eyes were full of helpless defiance.
“Where could I possibly go? Kneel in front of a pile of white bones and beg forgiveness? That’s the kind of thing hypocritical nuns do. It’s meaningless.”
She turned and met Seraphina’s gaze head-on, sharp as a drawn blade.
“I’d rather stay here and watch where your future leads, whether you rot and fall, or… whatever. When the time I decide comes, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”
The last sentence caught Seraphina off guard, yet upon reflection it felt utterly natural.
But as long as Lina stayed, her attitude didn’t matter.
“We use mirrors to adjust our hats and history to guide our steps, but to truly know ourselves, we need other people.”
Right now, Lina was that mirror.
“I don’t need you to do anything special. Just keep your heart pure… and keep being that mirror…”
Seraphina looked toward the horizon, voice so soft it was almost a murmur to herself.
“I will prove to you, my love and my zeal will grow as ever…”
A breeze swept through the courtyard, stirring Lina’s silver-gray skirt like the last wandering cloud of the afternoon.
It drifted toward the horizon, drawing Seraphina’s gaze until the sky blushed with twilight.
Dinner ended. Seraphina lightly touched Ailinuo’s wrist and whispered, “Come walk with me.”
She led Ailinuo through winding corridors into the largest central courtyard of the Demon King’s Castle.
Night had fallen; the moon hung high, spilling cold, clear light.
Ailinuo stayed half a step behind, cheeks still flushed. Chances to speak with Seraphina alone were rare, yet this was already her second.
“Ailinuo.” Seraphina stopped, fingertip brushing a flower petal. “In your eyes, what am I? What is the Demon King’s Castle?”
The question was too abstract; Ailinuo blinked, then answered from the heart.
“Your Highness is the symbol of wisdom in the Demon Realm, the light that leads the future. The Demon King’s Castle is the center of power.”
Her reply carried the innocence and adoration of a young girl.
Seraphina nodded faintly. It was a valid answer, sincere, if naive.
“Behind every dazzling surface lurk shadows no one sees.”
“Like these strange flowers, beautiful and bewitching under moonlight, yet their roots may be coiled around ancient bones, and their fragrance might exist only to lure prey.”
She turned to face Ailinuo, facing the girl who had worshipped her without reservation from the very beginning. In the moon’s glow, her violet eyes looked impossibly deep.
“You wish to learn at my side. I admire your courage and resolve. But understand this: the closer one stands to the heart of power, the closer one stands to countless secrets.”
“Some things you may see, some things you may hear, but you need not dig deeper, nor try to understand everything. It is enough to hold on to the beauty you see on the surface. The naked truth… you are not ready for it yet.”
Ailinuo’s heart tightened; she caught the warning threaded through the words. Was Her Highness telling her not to pry into things she should not know?
“I understand, Your Highness,” she answered, lowering her head respectfully. “I will remember your teachings and never overstep my bounds.”
Seeing the girl’s obedient demeanor, Seraphina felt a small weight lift from her chest.
Ailinuo right now was like a blank canvas waiting for the painter’s brush, whether it would become majestic mountains and rivers or quiet pastoral fields, the strokes would last a lifetime.
If possible, Seraphina wanted to paint this canvas into a vast, open sky, ethereal and boundless, neither violent nor conservative…
Just then, a sudden chill wind swept through the courtyard. Flowers swayed, leaves rustled, and even the shadows seemed to deepen.
“It’s getting cold. Let’s go back.”
Seraphina’s voice was lower than before. Without lingering, she turned and walked toward the castle.