Looking at Lin Ling, who had completely shut down, Ivelia had no desire to let everyone watch them kiss. Seeing that Lin Ling had turned into a literal steam engine, she swept her up into a princess carry.
“Coo, quack? Coo, quack!” Lin Ling was already making strange, incomprehensible noises by this point.
“Niya, we'll head back first. I look forward to your cookies,” Ivelia said to Niya, who was also frozen in shock, before carrying Lin Ling away.
“Huh? What just happened? Oh! The Demon King said she looks forward to my cookies.”
Was Niya selectively forgetting what had just happened the moment she came to her senses?!
This astonishing level of acceptance almost shattered Danasuo's worldview.
Seeing Niya start packing up her things as if nothing had happened, Danasuo's jaw dropped to an exaggerated degree.
That night—
Lin Ling lay in her bed, the image of Ivelia from when she opened her eyes earlier today playing on a loop in her mind.
For some reason, she felt like the Demon King's eyes had reflected a trace of disappointment. And jealousy?
Was it because she had so carelessly given her first kiss to Sia? She really shouldn't have done that, but, but shouldn't she have been stopped? Why did the Demon King choose to...
At the thought of kissing Ivelia at dusk right under Niya's watchful eyes, steam began to rise from Lin Ling's head once more.
“Is this the legendary steam princess?”
Kavia stared at the screen, watching Lin Ling hug her blanket with an unusually flushed face. Even Kavia's mask seemed to carry a blush.
“Mmph! Mmph!” Behind Kavia, Marigal was tied up in golden ribbons by the Goddess, clutching a camera as she struggled desperately.
“Tonight, I must watch!” The Goddess's tone was absolute.
“Mari-chan, your days of blocking the screen are over.”
Kavia looked at Marigal, whose face was also unusually flushed, and wore a smug grin.
Lin Ling felt like her body temperature was high enough to boil water by now.
Right, that was it! If she went to that place, she should be able to calm down.
With that thought, Lin Ling quietly slipped out of her room and hurried away.
“I hope Cecil and Aliviel aren't hanging up there right now.”
At the top of the clock tower—
As the cold wind blew over her, Lin Ling finally felt the heat in her face slowly dissipate.
“Whew, don't think about it, don't think about it.” Lin Ling gazed at the sparse lights of the residential district in the distance and the faintly glowing Holy Light Stasis fields, hoping this would calm her racing mind.
And it actually worked. Looking at the distant lights and those moving magic light sources, her heart was instantly soothed.
The demons were changing for the better, and everyone's lives were improving. What could be more comforting than this?
While Lin Ling was soothing her racing heart, someone else was growing restless—
In her office, Ivelia tapped her fingers on her desk, watching the sand in the hourglass fall grain by grain.
The tapping grew faster and louder, until the purple sand in the hourglass completely ran out.
The moment she saw the sand run out, Ivelia stood up abruptly and left her office with hurried steps, as if embarking on an urgent mission.
However, when she reached Lin Ling's room and gently pushed the door open,
she found only the blanket carrying Lin Ling's scent left on the bed. The white fluffball, who would normally be fast asleep by this hour, was nowhere to be seen in her usual spot.
Seeing that Lin Ling was gone, Ivelia fully expanded her senses.
Only when she sensed Lin Ling's magic signature at Cecil's favorite spot did her tense aura finally ease.
Then, she quickly set off in Lin Ling's direction.
“Eh? What happened? Whew...”
Leticia felt a wave of powerful magic sweep past. She opened her eyes sleepily, saw a purple light quickly receding into the distance, and rolled over to go back to sleep. Meanwhile, Danasuo, having been jolted awake, was frantically stuffing her belongings into a white bag.
“I'm doomed, I'm doomed! I did something terrible today. S-Should I run away?!”
The way the Demon King had looked at Miss Saintess was completely off! That was clearly the gaze of someone looking at their lover! At the thought of the plan she had proposed, Danasuo shut her mouth and simply focused on packing her bags.
“Whew, I've calmed down enough. Time to head back and rest.”
Feeling the cold wind, Lin Ling felt her racing heart finally return to normal.
“A-Atchoo! Eek!”
A gust of wind blew, and Lin Ling sneezed from the chill.
It seemed the top of the clock tower was indeed a bit too cold.
Deciding she had been out long enough, Lin Ling planned to return to her room to seek the warmth of Mr. Blanket—even though by the time she woke up in the morning, Mr. Blanket, who protected Miss Saintess, would usually have turned into the Demon King lying right beside her.
But fear not, Mr. Blanket, Miss Saintess will never abandon you! P-Probably?
Lin Ling turned toward the clock tower stairs, only to find a figure standing there whom she shouldn't have seen until she opened her eyes in the morning...
“D-Demon King?!”
And why on earth was she holding a blanket?!
Does this mean she heard my sneeze just now?!
Ignoring Lin Ling, who had frozen in black-and-white shock, Ivelia gently draped the blanket over her shoulders.
“Next time you come up, make sure to dress warmly,” Ivelia said. While adjusting the blanket, as if worried she would catch a cold, she gently pulled Lin Ling into her embrace.
Whoa, what is going on?!
“H-Hey, what are you doing?!”
Ivelia paid no heed to Lin Ling's flustered babbling. Looking down at her bare feet, she pondered her options.
Then, as if making up her mind, she swept Lin Ling up into another princess carry. It was super effective!
The moment she was lifted off the ground, Lin Ling, who had only just recovered from her steam princess state, instantly overheated again.
“Remember to wear shoes next time you come up.”
There was a trace of gentle reproach in Ivelia's voice as she spoke.
Suddenly, Ivelia seemed to sense someone watching them. She glanced down at Lin Ling, who had completely given up resisting, and then cast a look toward a dark corner of the clock tower, a purple light flashing in her eyes.
With a flash of purple light, the two vanished from the clock tower.
“Ohhhhh! This is exactly what I wanted to see!!!”
In the pure white space, Kavia watched Lin Ling being princess carried, her voice brimming with excitement.
She even strolled over to the blindfolded Marigal.
“Mari-chan, now it's your turn to experience what it feels like to be left in the dark. Keeping it all to yourself is wrong!”
“Mmph! Mmph!” Hearing Kavia's voice, Marigal struggled violently, looking exactly like one of those tied-up side characters in a movie.
Meanwhile, on the screen, a figure holding a recording stone slowly emerged from the corner of the clock tower.
【Record】
Observation Location: Top floor of the Demon King's Castle clock tower.
The relationship between Lin Ling and Lady Ivelia has seemingly entered a stage that can no longer be explained by a simple master-servant, guardian-charge, or Saintess-Demon King dynamic.
Rate on N.U.
