Meanwhile, Lin Ling, who was watching the bedroom door get flung open, froze for a moment.
Then, she looked down at her hand, which was still being held by Leticia.
And then she looked up at Ivelia standing in the doorway.
The silence in the room was absolutely terrifying.
In the next second, as if she had been burned, Lin Ling hurriedly pulled her hand out of Leticia's grasp.
“Um, well, this is...”
She sat on the edge of the bed, her hands gesturing wildly in the air.
“Demon King, it's really not what it looks like.”
“You understand, right?”
“Do you... do you understand?”
Ivelia did not answer.
She simply stood in the doorway, her dark red eyes quietly staring at Lin Ling.
Then, as if teleporting.
She appeared right by the bedside.
Lin Ling's pupils shrank.
“Gah!”
“That's terrifying!”
Almost instinctively, she scrambled toward the other side of the bed.
Her movements were so fast that she didn't look like someone who had just spent the entire afternoon training.
Leticia tried to reach out beside her, but she found her body frozen in place by some invisible force.
She frowned slightly and tried to mobilize her mana.
There was still no response.
Ivelia's gaze did not even shift away from Lin Ling.
Meanwhile, Lin Ling had already dove headfirst into the blanket.
She rolled herself up in the blanket, leaving only a tuft of her platinum blonde hair exposed.
“You can't see me.”
“You can't see me.”
“Hiding in the blanket makes me invincible.”
She muttered quietly to herself.
In the next instant.
Ivelia hoisted her up, blanket and all, onto her shoulder.
Lin Ling: “?”
Lin Ling: “Gah?!”
The blanket that was supposed to protect her had now become the perfect binding tool.
She was rolled up like a white cocoon, draped over Ivelia's shoulder, and could only weakly stick out one hand.
“Why!”
“Hiding in the blanket is supposed to make me invincible!”
These were the last words Lin Ling left behind before she was carried out of the room.
Then, a dark red teleportation array lit up.
Ivelia and the wrapped-up Saintess disappeared from the room together.
Leticia stood where she was.
The invisible binding slowly dissipated.
She looked at the empty side of the bed, then at the closed bedroom door, and fell silent for a moment.
Finally, she gently lowered her head and looked at the hand she had just used to hold Lin Ling's.
The light in her eyes wavered slightly.
It was hard to tell what she was thinking.
...
Meanwhile, in the hallway.
Two figures were standing not far away.
Baroque and Cecil watched everything that had just transpired in silence.
After a moment, Baroque slowly spoke:
“Hey, Cecil.”
“Are we really not going to get in trouble for this?”
Cecil stroked his chin, a smile still on his face.
But no matter how one looked at it, that smile seemed a bit forced.
“Hehe.”
“Baroque, I think we should prepare ourselves to be hung upside down from the clock tower.”
A vein throbbed on Baroque's temple.
“Why me too?”
Cecil glanced at him.
“Because you saw it.”
Baroque: “...”
It made perfect sense.
But he didn't want to admit it.
...
On the other side.
In Ivelia's room.
The dark red magic array lit up and quickly faded.
Lin Ling was gently placed onto the bed.
Although the movement was very gentle, the blanket wrapping her had already come halfway undone from all the tossing.
As a result, Lin Ling rolled right out of the blanket.
Her face was slightly flushed.
Her long, platinum blonde hair was a bit messy.
Even her Saintess vestments had become somewhat askew from the commotion.
Lin Ling sat on the bed, dazed for two seconds.
Then, she immediately hugged the unraveled blanket as if holding onto her final shield.
“Um, Demon King.”
She looked up cautiously.
“It really isn't what you think.”
Ivelia stood by the bed with her back to her.
The lighting in the room was somewhat dim.
But compared to the rest of the Demon King's Castle, this place clearly felt much more lived-in.
A few books lay on the table.
A small pot containing a glowing plant sat by the window.
On the bedside cabinet, a small, delicate pink teacup had been intentionally placed in the corner.
Lin Ling blinked.
This room... doesn't seem like a temporary guest room?!
“It was just a friendly exchange between girls.”
She continued to explain.
“Yes, a friendly exchange.”
“Right?”
Although she didn't know why she felt the need to explain.
But her instincts told her that if she didn't, she might encounter some unspeakable terror.
Ivelia finally spoke.
“You sleep here tonight.”
Lin Ling was taken aback.
“Sleep here?”
She subconsciously looked around.
No matter how she looked at it, this room didn't seem like it was prepared for a temporary guest.
A dark-colored robe hung next to the wardrobe.
The pages of the books on the desk still had bookmarks in them.
There was even a neatly folded shawl resting by the bedside.
Someone clearly lived here long-term.
Ivelia seemed to answer the question in her mind.
“This is my room.”
Lin Ling: “...”
She looked down at the bed she was sitting on.
Then she looked up at Ivelia's back.
Finally, her gaze accidentally swept across the pink furniture in the room, which, although deliberately hidden, was still hard to ignore.
A pink cushion, a pink teacup, a pink accent pillow.
Even the edge of the blanket by the bed had a very faint pink floral pattern.
Lin Ling fell silent for a moment.
But in the end, she still failed to control her mouth.
“I didn't expect the Demon King to actually have a bit of a girly side.”
As soon as those words left her mouth.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became dead silent.
Lin Ling blinked.
She suddenly realized that she seemed to have said something that would trigger a death flag.
Ivelia slowly turned her head.
Her movements were somewhat mechanical.
But her gaze was absolutely terrifying.
Lin Ling clutched her blanket and stiffly shrank back.
“I—I didn't say anything just now.”
“It was the blanket.”
“Mr. Blanket isn't in a good state today and is experiencing auditory hallucinations.”
Ivelia looked at her.
She paid no attention to this utterly unconvincing attempt to shift the blame.
She suddenly spoke:
“Lin Ling.”
“Present.”
Lin Ling sat up straight as a board.
Ivelia took a step closer, one by one.
“The hand of the Saintess of the Holy See.”
Her voice was very calm.
“Is it soft?”
Lin Ling: “...”
What kind of question was this?
Was this even a question she could answer?
If she said it was soft, she would die.
If she said it wasn't soft, that also seemed a bit weird.
If she said she didn't know, it would sound too fake.
Lin Ling felt like she was facing the most difficult multiple-choice question of her life.
“Well...”
Her eyes began to wander.
“Should I answer that?”
Ivelia had already walked up to the bedside.
Lin Ling felt as if non-existent cold sweat was pouring down her head.
“Actually, maybe it's a bit soft?”
The moment the words left her mouth, she immediately regretted them.
“No, wait!”
“No, I don't know!”
“I was too nervous at the time, so I didn't pay attention to that kind of detail at all!”
Ivelia leaned down.
Lin Ling instinctively closed her eyes.
But the anticipated terror did not descend.
She only felt a slight sensation of lightness by her ear.
Ivelia reached out and removed her earring.
The earring of Kavia's Disguise was now held in Ivelia's palm.
Lin Ling slowly opened one eye.
Then she opened the other.
Ivelia had already retreated to the doorway.
“Sleep here tonight,”
she said.
Lin Ling stared at her blankly.
“Demon King?”
Ivelia did not look back.
“That room isn't safe.”
With that, she closed the door.
Click.
Lin Ling was left all alone in the room.
She hugged her blanket and sat on the Demon King's bed, completely dazed for quite a while.
Then, Lin Ling let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.
“Phew.”
“Scared the life out of me.”
She looked down at her empty earlobe.
“But why did she take my earring?”
She thought about it for a while.
But she couldn't figure it out.
However, since it was the Demon King who took it, she must have her own reasons.
Like inspecting it.
Or maybe preventing Kavia from suddenly pulling another "big surprise."
Lin Ling nodded.
“Yep.”
“The Demon King has her own reasons.”
“So...”
She looked at the bed.
“Time to sleep!”
Having decided, she naturally chose the very blanket that had just been used as a binding tool.
She rolled herself up inside.
Soon, a Saintess cocoon with platinum blonde hair sticking out appeared on the bed.
Lying in the blanket, Lin Ling stared at the neatly folded pink blanket next to her.
She said in all seriousness:
“Mr. Blanket.”
“Even though you failed to protect Miss Saintess just now.”
“Miss Saintess still chose you.”
“What incredible magnanimity.”
With that, she closed her eyes.
A faint trace of Ivelia's scent still lingered in the room.
It was like a blend of the night, magic stone lamps, and a very quiet warmth.
Lin Ling had wanted to keep complaining a bit more.
But she was simply too exhausted today.
The fatigue from the mana training combined with the recent commotion caused sleepiness to slowly wash over her.
She curled up in the blanket, her breathing gradually growing lighter.
It didn't take long for the Saintess cocoon to quietly fall asleep.
Rate on N.U.
