It was evening when they returned to the room from the experimental field.
Lin Ling sat on the edge of the bed.
Her hands were trembling slightly.
It wasn't because of fear.
Nor was it because of magic backlash.
It was because—
On the wooden tray in front of her, there was actually a piece of soft bread.
Soft.
It was truly soft.
Lin Ling looked down at it.
The bread lay there quietly.
The crust was no longer like a city wall.
The edges were no longer like stones.
It could even be pressed down slightly with a finger.
Lin Ling reached out a finger and poked it cautiously.
“...”
The bread dented.
Then it slowly sprang back.
Lin Ling’s pupils shook.
“Niya.”
Niya, standing to the side, immediately straightened up.
“H-Here!”
Lin Ling’s voice trembled.
“It moved.”
Niya was stunned for a moment.
“Eh?”
Lin Ling pointed at the bread, her expression as solemn as if she were witnessing a great miracle.
“After I pressed it down, it actually sprang back.”
Niya: “...”
Lin Ling took a deep breath.
“Is this...”
“The legendary soft bread?”
Looking at her expression that seemed on the verge of tears, Niya suddenly didn't know what to say.
It was clearly just a piece of ordinary soft bread.
On the human side, it might be something very common.
But in the Demon King’s Castle, this was already a rare food item.
Niya nodded gently.
“Yes.”
“It’s soft bread.”
Lin Ling held the bread with both hands.
She didn't eat it immediately.
Instead, she closed her eyes first, as if performing some kind of ritual.
“Thank you, Lord Demon King.”
“Thank you, experimental field.”
“Thank you, that seedling leaf that worked so hard to lift itself.”
“Thank you, my teeth that were almost sent to the afterlife by black bread.”
Niya: “...”
She couldn't help but whisper:
“Miss Saintess, do you have to do this before every meal?”
Lin Ling opened her eyes, her face full of sincerity.
“Of course not.”
“It’s just that today is special.”
“This is the first time since I came to the Demon King’s Castle that I feel like I’m being fed like a normal living being.”
Niya: “...”
It seemed pitiful.
But also somehow a little funny.
Lin Ling finally opened her mouth and took a cautious bite.
The next second.
Her entire body froze.
Niya watched her nervously.
“W-What’s wrong?”
Lin Ling didn't answer.
She just slowly lowered her head, looking at the bread in her hand.
Then her eyes turned red, bit by bit.
Niya panicked.
“Miss Saintess?!”
Lin Ling swallowed that bite of bread, her voice trembling slightly.
“Niya.”
“Yes?”
“It didn’t attack me.”
Niya: “...”
Lin Ling held the bread, moved as if she had finally encountered a kind world.
“When I bit down, my teeth didn't face a counter-attack.”
“There was no sensation of sand or stones in my mouth.”
“It’s even... a little bit sweet.”
She sniffled.
“So bread can actually be non-lethal.”
Niya finally couldn't help it and lowered her head, letting out a laugh.
Lin Ling immediately looked up.
“What are you laughing at?!”
Niya waved her hands hurriedly.
“N-Nothing.”
“I just think Miss Saintess really likes soft bread.”
Lin Ling corrected her solemnly.
“It’s not that I like soft bread.”
“It’s that I like life and safety.”
She took another bite.
This time, her expression was clearly much more relaxed.
Her entire being was like a small animal that had finally been successfully petted, her shoulders relaxing.
“I survived...”
“I finally survived...”
Niya sat beside her, watching her eat the piece of soft bread bite by bite.
The light in the room was quiet.
Outside the window were still the black fields.
In those fields, magic as thick as mist still flowed.
But Lin Ling looked a bit more spirited today than she had yesterday.
Niya thought of the seedling in the experimental field that had lifted its leaf again.
Then she looked at Lin Ling, who was holding the soft bread and was so moved she was almost crying.
For some reason, she suddenly felt.
Maybe things really would get better.
Even if it was just a little bit.
...
Meanwhile.
On the other side of the Demon King’s Castle.
In Ivelia’s room, the light was very dim.
A bowl of very thin minced meat soup sat on the table.
Calling it minced meat soup was generous; it was mostly broth with very little meat.
A few tiny scraps of meat floated on the surface, so thin they were almost invisible.
Beside it was a piece of hard bread.
It was slightly better than the ones Lin Ling had eaten before.
But only slightly.
Ivelia sat at the table.
Her long black dress draped beside the chair.
She looked down at the hard bread, her expression as calm as ever.
A soft knock came from the door.
“Come in.”
The door was pushed open.
Aliviel walked in.
Seeing the items on the table, her steps paused slightly.
“Lord Demon King.”
Ivelia didn't look up.
“Did she eat?”
Aliviel naturally knew who this “she” referred to.
“She did.”
She paused.
Her mouth looked like it wanted to smile, yet also seemed a bit helpless.
“And she was very moved.”
“She said the soft bread didn't attack her.”
Ivelia fell silent for a moment.
“...That sounds like something she would say.”
Aliviel looked at the hard bread on the table.
The smile on her face slowly faded.
“But Lord Demon King.”
“That was your bread for today.”
Ivelia reached out, picked up the hard bread, and snapped it apart.
The hard bread made a crisp, dry sound.
She didn't speak, simply placing one of the small pieces into the soup.
Letting it slowly soak and soften.
Aliviel’s fingers tightened slightly.
“You shouldn't have done that.”
The room fell silent for a moment.
Ivelia said calmly:
“She consumed magic today.”
Aliviel said in a low voice:
“But your rations weren't much to begin with.”
Ivelia didn't argue.
Because it was the truth.
There wasn't much food in the Demon King’s Castle.
This wasn't a line used to play for sympathy.
It was a real problem facing all demons.
The soldiers had to patrol.
The people in the fields had to work.
Those responsible for transport, guarding, and repairing the sealing barriers also needed strength.
Young demons especially could not go without food.
So lately, the Demon King’s own meals had been reduced again and again.
A bit of minced meat soup every day.
A piece of soft bread.
This was almost all she could set aside as the Demon King.
And today.
That piece of soft bread had been sent to Lin Ling.
Aliviel stood where she was, no longer smiling.
After a while, footsteps came from outside again.
This time, it was Baroque, Phelan, and Cecil who entered.
As soon as Baroque entered, his gaze fell on the bowl of minced meat soup and the hard bread on the table.
His brow immediately furrowed.
“Lord Demon King.”
Ivelia looked up.
“What is it?”
Baroque said in a deep voice:
“You gave your own bread to that Hero?”
“Yes.”
The answer was very calm.
No concealment.
Baroque’s expression instantly darkened even more.
“She only did one experiment.”
“And she hasn't truly solved the problem yet.”
Aliviel glanced at him.
“Baroque.”
Baroque did not back down.
“I am speaking the truth.”
“That land still hasn't recovered.”
“The magic is still flowing back.”
“She only made a single seedling lift one leaf.”
Phelan stood to the side, his voice calm.
“But that is a result that all previous methods failed to achieve.”
Baroque fell silent for a moment.
Cecil leaned against the doorframe, the smile unusually absent from his face.
He looked at the hard bread in front of Ivelia and sighed softly.
“Even so, it shouldn't have been taken from Lord Demon King’s rations.”
“Just give her my portion.”
Aliviel also spoke up.
“Mine as well.”
Baroque said heavily:
“And mine.”
Phelan said flatly:
“I don’t need much.”
Ivelia finally put down the hard bread in her hand.
“Enough.”
The voice wasn't loud.
Yet it caused the room to fall silent instantly.
She raised her eyes.
Her dark red gaze swept over the people in front of her.
“You all have things to do tomorrow.”
Baroque frowned.
“We can hold out.”
“It’s not a matter of holding out or not.”
Ivelia’s voice remained calm.
“Baroque, you are responsible for city defense and training.”
“Aliviel, you must continue to scout the humans’ movements.”
“Phelan, you are to record the changes in the experimental field.”
“Cecil, you must handle the patrols and dispatch within the city.”
She looked at them.
“Every one of you needs to keep the demons running.”
No one spoke.
Ivelia continued:
“If I eat one less piece of bread, the Demon King’s Castle will not stop.”
“But if you lack strength, it will affect many more people.”
Baroque’s fist slowly tightened.
His voice dropped lower.
“But you are the Demon King.”
“It is precisely because I am the Demon King.”
Ivelia looked at the bowl of minced meat soup on the table.
The broth was no longer hot.
The hard bread soaking in the soup had slowly softened a bit.
She reached out and picked up the piece of softened bread.
“So I know what is more important right now.”
Aliviel said in a low voice:
“Lin Ling is hiding something.”
Ivelia didn't deny it.
“Yes.”
Phelan also spoke:
“Her stats are abnormal.”
“The appraisal results are completely inconsistent with her actual ability to withstand magic.”
Cecil let out a light laugh.
“A Pet Miss with only 21 MP absorbs the magic from the land into her body and only says she feels a bit stuffed.”
“She’s practically wearing her abnormality on her sleeve.”
Baroque snorted coldly.
“Which is why we should be even more vigilant.”
“I know.”
Ivelia took a bite of the softened hard bread.
Only after she swallowed did she continue:
“She is hiding things.”
“She is not as weak as we see.”
“Perhaps she possesses power we cannot understand.”
“Perhaps she does not fully trust the demons.”
“I know all of this.”
No one in the room interrupted her.
Ivelia’s voice was very soft.
“But today, she did not use that power to harm the demons.”
“She did not run away.”
“Nor did she demand anything excessive from us.”
“She just stood before that patch of land and tried to make a dying seedling live.”
Aliviel lowered her eyes slightly.
Niya had said so.
When Lin Ling proposed that method, her expression was very serious.
It wasn't the superiority of a Hero facing demons.
Nor was it the pity of a victor for the defeated.
It was more like a person half-dead from hunger who, seeing another group of people also about to starve, cursed under her breath but still reached out a hand.
Ivelia said in a low voice:
“The demons don't have much left to gamble with.”
“The land is dying.”
“The children cannot withstand the powerful magic within the territory.”
“The humans are eyeing our ores.”
“Food is becoming scarcer and scarcer.”
She raised her eyes.
“If she is hope.”
“Even if it is just a tiny bit.”
“We cannot feed hope with hard bread.”
Baroque opened his mouth.
But in the end, he didn't say anything to refute her.
Cecil leaned against the wall and let out a soft breath.
“When the Demon King says something like that, it really makes it impossible to keep arguing.”
Phelan said flatly:
“From a results perspective, increasing her food rations is a rational investment.”
Baroque glanced at him.
“Can’t you say it in a way that sounds more human?”
Phelan answered calmly:
“No.”
Aliviel couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.
The originally heavy atmosphere loosened slightly because of that sentence.
Ivelia didn't continue the topic either.
She just picked up the softened hard bread again.
“Starting tomorrow, Phelan will record the changes in the experimental field.”
“Aliviel will be responsible for observing Lin Ling.”
“Do not press her about what she is hiding.”
Baroque frowned.
“Don't ask?”
“Not for now,” Ivelia said.
“While she is willing to stand on the side of the demons, we will first believe that she stands here.”
“As for what she’s hiding...”
She paused for a moment.
“We will listen when she is willing to speak.”
Aliviel bowed her head slightly.
“Yes.”
Baroque was silent for a moment, then also lowered his head.
“Yes.”
Phelan and Cecil responded at the same time.
“Yes.”
The room became quiet again.
After the others left, the door clicked shut softly.
Ivelia sat alone at the table.
The bowl of minced meat soup had gone completely cold.
The hard bread soaked in the soup had absorbed all the water and become mushy.
It wasn't particularly good.
And it certainly wasn't dignified.
But she just ate it quietly.
...
On the other side.
Lin Ling had already finished the piece of soft bread.
She clutched her pillow and rolled happily on the bed.
“It’s so good to be alive...”
Niya sat on the edge of the bed, unable to stop herself from smiling.
“Miss Saintess only ate a piece of bread.”
Lin Ling looked at her seriously.
“Niya.”
“Yes?”
“You don’t understand.”
She pressed her hand to her chest, her gaze deep.
“For someone who was almost assassinated by black bread, soft bread is salvation.”
Niya: “...”
Lin Ling rolled again.
Her platinum-blonde hair scattered across the bed like a tangled mass of moonlight.
She looked very happy.
So happy she didn't realize at all—
Whom that piece of soft bread she had just eaten originally belonged to.
Niya looked at her.
She wanted to say something.
But in the end, she didn't say it.
The Demon King hadn't told her to say it.
So she couldn't.
Lin Ling clutched her pillow and suddenly looked up.
“Niya.”
“Yes?”
“Do you think, if I make another leaf lift up tomorrow...”
“Will there be meat?”
Niya was stunned for a moment.
Then she laughed softly.
“Maybe there will be.”
Lin Ling’s eyes lit up.
“Good!”
“Tomorrow’s goal is decided!”
“For meat!”
She raised her fist.
“Make the second leaf stand up!”
Niya watched her.
Outside the window, the black fields remained silent.
The dense magic still flowed like mist.
The food in the Demon King’s Castle hadn't increased.
The curse hadn't vanished.
But for some reason.
Hearing Lin Ling’s nonsensical declaration, Niya suddenly felt a bit warmer inside.
Like a long, long time ago.
In fields that hadn't completely withered.
The wind blowing through new sprouts.
And on the other side of the Demon King’s Castle.
Ivelia swallowed the last bite of the softened hard bread.
She raised her head and looked out the window.
Deep within the black land.
That tiny seedling still stood there.
Its leaf was weakly unfurled.
Like a dream that was almost impossible to achieve.
And also like a point of light that had not yet gone out.
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