Thus, the Lord Demon King had later personally gone to Data and asked him to make an even better rocking horse for Lin Ling.
End of flashback—
“Ugh... It's already noon, Lord Demon King.”
“Food~”
Lin Ling was already slumped over the rocking horse, looking like a completely spent, dried fish.
This rocking horse was clearly much more exquisite than the one at Data's house.
But at this moment, Lin Ling felt as though her otherworld adventure was being ruthlessly sealed away by this very rocking horse.
Ever since she was caught and brought back, Lin Ling had never managed to escape Ivelia's surveillance.
To be precise, it was protection.
At least, that was what the Lord Demon King claimed.
Now, she had even started to get used to falling asleep in her own room and inevitably waking up in Ivelia's room the next morning.
How terrifying. Habits were truly terrifying.
“Lord Demon King...”
Lin Ling lay weakly on the rocking horse and muttered listlessly:
“If Miss Saintess doesn't eat soon, she's going to turn into a dried Saintess.”
Ivelia sat nearby, processing documents.
Hearing Lin Ling's low, groan-like voice, her pen paused slightly.
She glanced at Lin Ling, who was completely slumped over the rocking horse, entirely devoid of energy.
She also felt that her security measures for Lin Ling's protection might indeed be a bit too extreme.
Although this white fluffball was highly prone to causing trouble.
But keeping an eye on her like this 24/7 didn't seem like a long-term solution either.
Ivelia let out a soft sigh.
“Go on ahead then, Lin Ling.”
No sooner had Ivelia's words left her mouth.
Than Lin Ling's figure vanished on the spot.
Only the rocking horse remained, gently swaying back and forth.
Ivelia: “...”
She stared at the still-swaying wooden horse.
It seemed she was still too lenient with Lin Ling.
Just hearing a tiny bit of her acting spoiled was enough to make her heart soften.
“Sigh.”
Ivelia gently shook her head.
Then, she stood up and walked toward the dining hall.
Having teleported directly to the dining hall, Lin Ling discovered that she was apparently the first to arrive.
There were barely any people in the dining hall.
Even the food on the dining table hadn't been fully set out yet.
Looking at the empty dining hall, Lin Ling's eyes instantly lit up.
“Wow! Today, Miss Saintess is first!”
Placing her hands on her hips, she stood at the entrance of the dining hall and declared her victory.
It was as if she had achieved some monumental feat.
“Ahem.”
“It seems our Miss Saintess is quite proud of being the first to arrive at the dining hall.”
A familiar voice drifted over from the side.
Lin Ling's body stiffened.
She turned her head to look.
Cecil was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching Lin Ling with her hands on her hips.
His face still wore that smile that made people really want to punch him.
“Hey!”
Lin Ling immediately pointed at him.
“Cecil!”
“Have you already forgotten how Miss Saintess braved the pressure to let you down back then?!”
As she spoke, tears instantly welled up in her eyes.
They threatened to fall at any moment.
“Miss Saintess is clearly so kind-hearted.”
“She even risked being caught by the Lord Demon King just to save you all.”
“And yet, you treat Miss Saintess with this kind of tone now.”
“This is too much.”
Cecil: “...”
He fell silent for a moment.
Then, he clapped lightly.
“Uh, Miss Saintess.”
“Your performance is undoubtedly excellent.”
“However...”
He did not continue.
Just then, Phelan appeared outside the door, holding a recording stone.
He seemed to have fully recorded the situation just now.
New text had already appeared on the recording stone:
【Lin Ling is prone to theatrical expressions in front of Cecil.】
【Suspected increase in Lin Ling's desire to perform when facing Cecil.】
【Supplement: This phenomenon is worthy of long-term observation.】
Lin Ling: “...”
“Phelan, if possible, could you please not record that?”
Lin Ling looked at Phelan as he walked in.
Although she knew this plea would highly likely be useless.
She still offered Phelan a feeble appeal.
Phelan put away the recording stone in his hand.
“As you know, this is also a valuable record.”
“Don't use the word 'valuable' to describe this kind of thing!”
Lin Ling wanted to pounce and snatch the recording stone.
But before she could make a move, a steady voice echoed from the dining hall entrance.
“Alright, you guys put on a show like this every single day.”
“Especially you, Cecil.”
Baroque had just returned from his patrol.
Seeing this scene, he merely sighed at the group.
Cecil shrugged.
“I was just sharing some demon race banter with Miss Saintess.”
Baroque looked at him.
“Every time you joke around, you only make things more troublesome.”
Cecil: “...”
That was indeed hard to argue with.
Meanwhile, the Head Chef kept laying out dishes on the dining table.
He had absolutely no intention of paying attention to their bickering.
After all, the dining hall of the Demon King's Castle was always lively these days.
As long as they didn't knock over the soup pot, it wasn't a big deal.
Once the Head Chef finished serving all the food, everyone gradually stopped fooling around.
Ivelia entered the dining hall and took her seat at the head of the table.
Only after she sat down did everyone begin to eat.
Compared to a month ago, the dining table now showed obvious improvements.
There was now a bit more meat on the table.
Although the portion was still small, at least they were no longer in the state where even the aroma of meat was a rare luxury.
Looking at the food in front of her, Lin Ling's eyes lit up as if she were staring at her lifesaver.
“Meat!”
Snatching her fork, she was instantly revitalized.
Seeing her like this, Ivelia's gaze softened slightly.
“Eat slowly.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Lin Ling agreed verbally.
But her fork very honestly reached toward the meat on the plate.
“So delicious~”
Because of these words, the atmosphere around the dining table grew even warmer.
A cozy lunch was taking place in the Demon King's Castle.
On the other side, at the border, the First Prince was in no such pleasant mood.
Bam!
A document was slammed hard onto the table.
In the border camp, the First Prince's face was contorted with uncontrollable rage.
“Those damn nobles!”
“I'm the fucking royalty here!”
“And now these trashy nobles dare to step all over me!”
He glared fiercely at the complaints written by the nobles in his hand.
Those neatly penned documents felt like pure mockery to him.
They accused him of squandering resources without achieving any military results.
They accused him of failing to defeat the demons at the border after all this time.
Some nobles had even begun to secretly question whether he was truly fit to inherit the crown.
Every single word of those complaints felt like it was tearing his sanity apart.
“Your Highness, why trouble yourself over such trivial matters?”
The First Prince snapped his head up.
He saw a woman slowly step out from the shadows of the tent.
Her viper-like eyes glowed with a faint green light in the dimness.
“Once we conquer the demons...”
She said with a soft laugh:
“Won't the throne already be in your grasp?”
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