An Unusual Morning

Early morning—

“Wah! Fully resurrected!”

Lin Ling sat up abruptly in bed, raising her hands high to declare her resurrection to the morning.

But the moment she finished her declaration, Lin Ling felt like something was off.

She blinked.

Then she looked around.

A bed she wasn't very familiar with, a pink blanket.

And...

Ivelia, sitting not far away, quietly watching her.

Lin Ling: “...”

Ivelia: “...”

The room fell dead silent.

Lin Ling slowly lowered her gaze to look at her still-raised hands.

Then she slowly raised her head to look at the Demon King sitting nearby.

After that, as if she had lost her soul, she let out a completely hollow smile.

“Uh, haha.”

“This world might as well just end.”

With that, Lin Ling buried herself directly under the blanket.

She decided to tell herself:

Nothing happened just now.

Miss Saintess hasn't woken up yet.

The person who just raised their hands and shouted about being fully resurrected was absolutely not her.

It must have been some prankster Deceiver using transformation magic.

Yes! It had to be.

But when Lin Ling opened her eyes under the blanket, she realized she was still covered by that pink blanket.

Lin Ling: “...”

The next second, she bolted upright.

“Demon King! Why am I in your room?!”

“Th-this isn't right!”

Lin Ling looked at Ivelia sitting nearby, her mind in utter chaos.

She felt that things over the past few days were completely and utterly off.

Wasn't she supposed to be sent back to her own room with the white blanket?

Why was she brought to the Demon King's room, and why was this pink blanket draped over Miss Saintess again?

Ivelia simply watched her put on this solo performance.

After a moment, she closed the book in her hand.

“Go wash up, then have breakfast.”

Leaving behind those words, Ivelia stood up and walked out of the room.

Lin Ling sat on the bed, watching her retreating back.

“...”

The Demon King's Castle was very strange this morning.

Or rather, the Demon King's Castle had been strange for the past few days.

But... she had mentioned breakfast.

At the thought of those words, Lin Ling's expression gradually grew serious.

“Well, what's done is done. Let's eat first.”

“Other unimportant matters can wait.”

Miss Saintess made a very mature judgment.

Then, Lin Ling quickly got out of bed to wash up.

When she finished washing up and arrived at the dining hall, she found that Ivelia was the only one there.

Standing at the entrance, Lin Ling poked her head in curiously.

“Huh? Why is the Demon King the only one here?”

“Where are Uncle Baroque and the others?”

Although she usually ate breakfast in her own room most of the time.

Having only the Demon King in the dining hall still made Lin Ling feel that something was off.

Completely and utterly wrong.

Ivelia didn't answer her question, only raising her hand to point to the seat beside her.

“Sit here.”

Lin Ling looked at the seat.

Then she looked at the seat she had just chosen, which was extremely far away from Ivelia.

She fell silent for a moment.

Then, very naturally, she continued to sit in the far-off seat.

Ivelia's expression darkened slightly.

“Sit here.”

Her voice was still calm.

But for some reason, Lin Ling felt the surrounding temperature drop a bit.

She slowly raised her head to look at Ivelia.

The Demon King's expression opposite her hadn't changed much.

But her displeasure was palpable.

Moreover, magic had already begun to gather around Ivelia's hand.

Lin Ling felt that if she didn't move now, she might not be walking over of her own accord next.

Instead, she would be forcibly moved over.

“I-I'm coming.”

Lin Ling stood up.

Then she began to shuffle over, inch by inch.

As if there were some invisible swamp on the floor, she found every step incredibly difficult.

Lin Ling grumbled quietly in her heart.

The Demon King hadn't even done anything.

She had only asked her to sit closer and eat.

Yet the closer she got to Ivelia, the more Lin Ling felt her body refusing to cooperate.

It was a strange sensation she couldn't quite put into words.

Watching Lin Ling's agonizingly slow, shuffling steps, Ivelia sighed softly.

Then she stood up and walked right over to Lin Ling.

“Uh, ah!”

Lin Ling froze instantly.

“D-Demon King.”

Looking at Ivelia standing right in front of her, her voice trembled slightly.

Ivelia didn't answer.

She simply bent down and scooped Lin Ling up into her arms.

Her movements were incredibly natural.

So natural that before Lin Ling could even react, her feet had already left the ground.

“Huh? Wh-what?!”

The next second, she was carried over and placed in the seat right next to Ivelia.

Placed in her seat, Lin Ling gripped the hem of her skirt tightly.

Her pupils were practically shaking in shock.

She had absolutely no idea where to put her hands now.

Nor did she know how to position her feet.

Much less why she was feeling so incredibly nervous.

It was just breakfast.

Yet this atmosphere didn't look like a normal breakfast at all, no matter how she sliced it.

Ivelia sat back down in her own seat.

Her eyes drifted to Lin Ling beside her.

Having just woken up, Lin Ling's hair was still a bit messy.

A few platinum blonde strands draped over her eyes, making her look even more dazed than usual.

Ivelia reached out and gently brushed aside the hair covering her eyes.

Lin Ling's body tensed instantly.

What Ivelia saw after brushing her hair aside was Lin Ling's eyes, shimmering with a hint of tears.

It was hard to tell if they were hazy tears from having just woken up,

or tears born from sheer, overwhelming nervousness.

In any case, Lin Ling's eyes were watery, and her face was flushed red.

Ivelia's movements paused.

Looking at Lin Ling like this, she felt as if her heart had been gently nudged by something.

Then, she quickly turned her head away to look at the food laid out on the table.

Lin Ling, meanwhile, had already drifted into space.

Just as Lin Ling's brain was about to shut down completely, she suddenly caught the scent of food right by her mouth.

It smelled delicious.

The aroma of freshly baked bread,

with a hint of sweet jam.

Lin Ling's body moved a step faster than her brain.

Without even thinking about why food was suddenly right in front of her lips,

she opened her mouth and took a bite the very next second.

“Delicious~”

The bread was soft, and the jam was sweet.

Her empty stomach, having just woken up, was instantly comforted.

Lin Ling's expression relaxed in an instant.

But very quickly, her brain finally caught up.

Lin Ling stiffly swallowed the bread in her mouth.

Then she slowly turned her head.

And there, she saw Ivelia's hand.

The Demon King was holding the bread that had just been bitten into,

still frozen in the act of feeding her.

Lin Ling: “...”

Ivelia: “...”

Time seemed to freeze in that very instant.

And then—

“Gyah!”

According to the recording crystal of Phelan, the historical recorder—

This sound, legend has it, was heard throughout the entire Demon King's Castle.