Even though the golden glow of twilight had long since completely faded, the city was now illuminated by countless lights, revealing a beauty no less magnificent than its daytime splendor. Ancient buildings flanked the street, and pedestrians strolled in a colorful array of attire. Everyone wore serene smiles on their faces.
Lance went to a place that was a few hundred meters from the city gates, tucked away in a corner of the residential district. Aside from the torches mounted on the walls by the guards and the light spilling from the houses’ windows, there was no other illumination to be found.
Once his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Lance slowly approached his destination. He could make out something huddled beneath the wall at the street corner—or rather, a multitude of huddled figures. They were all fragile-looking wretches, shivering from the cold.
Lance continued walking toward that spot. He could hear the sounds of living creatures.
Meow... Meow...
He stopped, crouched down, and opened the food container he held in his hands. The aroma began to waft through the air. Then, when Lance tossed the cooked chicken onto the ground nearby, little cats stood up and approached him one after the other.
He seemed completely oblivious to the figure seated against the wall across the street. It was a woman who looked like a homeless vagrant from the slums.
This particular street corner was hardly a desirable place, secluded and inhabited only by stray cats. It was, however, free of other vagrants. Furthermore, the guards rarely came here. Talia loathed humans, so she found this place rather pleasant. No one could possibly imagine that this young woman dressed in the rags of a beggar had once been a princess of the Demon Kingdom.
Time passed, and almost all the cats in the vicinity had been drawn to Lance. He watched them eat, his face beaming with pure delight.
The butler had informed him that Talia had been sleeping out on these very streets for the past two days. Consequently, before dinner that evening, Lance had asked the manor’s chef to prepare a generous portion of their special chicken. It was a dish that even humans found quite delectable, let alone cats. Then, a little later, he had found this spot under the pretense of feeding the strays here.
Although Lance hadn't spared a single glance in her direction this whole time, Talia had long since taken notice of this human who had so brazenly intruded upon her "territory." Had he simply stayed put and kept to himself, she might well have treated him as if he didn't exist. But why, why on earth was that damned human feeding such high-grade meat to stray cats?
She recalled the years she had spent living a life of hardship, exposed to the elements and scraping by on whatever she could find. Ultimately, Talia could arrive at only one conclusion: even stray cats ate better than she did.
Finally, she could no longer restrain herself; she turned to look at Lance. However, she was momentarily unable to utter a single word of reproach, as her own dignity demanded that she not make a sound. She could only give Lance a death glare.
Lance remained oblivious, acting as if he hadn't noticed her at all.
Finally, she remarked coldly, "Could you feed the cats somewhere else?"
Lance looked up, slightly taken aback, and gazed blankly in the direction from which the voice had come. After seemingly grasping the situation, he responded with cool indifference, "I come to this place far more often than you do."
It was as if he was asserting the fact that he was a regular here, frequently feeding the stray cats at this very spot.
Talia let out a faint, almost imperceptible snort and ceased paying him any mind. The human wasn’t lying.
Lance also said nothing further. What he had just said was, indeed, the truth. As a native of this city, he had visited this spot far more frequently than Talia did.
As someone who had only arrived in town a short while ago, Talia naturally wouldn't have seen whether Lance had stopped by to feed the cats over the past few days. However, she also had a stubborn streak.
She detested the young human, yet she was unwilling to simply walk away and relinquish the spot she had occupied for the last two days. At this point, whoever backed down first would be the loser of this confrontation. She thus continued to sit in the corner, enduring her gnawing hunger while trying to force herself to sleep.
Another few minutes passed when Lance asked amid the quiet street, "Can you help me with something?"
Talia tilted her head slightly toward Lance to confirm that he was indeed speaking to her.
"What is it?"
She had originally intended to ignore him. However, according to the customs of humans, if someone requested her assistance, surely there ought to be some form of compensation involved. And right now, she was in dire need of all sorts of things.
"Help me feed the cats, and don't let the big ones bully the little ones. I'm tired, and I want to go home and get some sleep." Lance held up the box in his hand and added, "Whatever's left over is yours."
Talia fell silent. Since this was phrased as a transaction and not an act of charity, she could consider it.
However, for a demon, adhering to the rules of a bargain was a matter of paramount importance. It touched upon their very dignity. The nobler the demon, the more determined they were to die before they violated the terms of an agreement.
Even if this human was unaware that she was a demon, as demonic royalty, she would sooner starve herself to death than breach a contract. She would never greedily snatch even a morsel of food intended for the cats.
She mentally tallied the number of cats, confirming that she should be able to secure a small portion of chicken for herself. In the end, Talia thought that there was nothing wrong with accepting this deal, although she did find it odd that humans would actually enjoy feeding stray cats.
"Fine."
Lance closed the food container and placed it on the ground. He stood up, stretched a little, then leisurely walked away.
***
The next morning marked the start of another day of exercising self-discipline for Lance. After rising early and finishing his breakfast, he left the manor. The foliage in the courtyard was bathed in a soft, ethereal glow cast by the rising sun, while canaries perched in the surrounding trees chirped melodiously.
Lance couldn't help but feel his spirits lift as he walked. However, the moment he stepped out through the gate, he came to an abrupt halt. Right across the street was Talia. She was sitting there, looking as if she were staking him out. Nevertheless, he remained completely unperturbed. It was highly unlikely that Talia could have uncovered his misdeeds so quickly.
Talia strode quickly toward Lance. The guards standing at the entrance of the manor behind him instantly went on high alert, but Lance raised a hand, signaling them to relax. Being tense was useless. If she truly intended to go on a killing spree, no one here could possibly stop her.
"Food box," Talia said as she handed Lance the container that had held the chicken the previous night.
It was pretty easy for her to track Lance down. She only needed to casually ask a few people about a "green-eyed, black-haired youth" to learn all about the exploits of this rather notorious young master.
However, she couldn't shake the feeling that the wealthy young scoundrel described by the townspeople didn't quite align with the youth she had met. Although he appeared somewhat dim-witted and lazy, he certainly didn't seem like a bad-tempered human.
Lance looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I don’t want it back. You can sell it if you don’t want it either."
Selling off this high-end food container would fetch at least half a pound. However, Talia stated expressionlessly, "This falls outside the terms of our agreement."
Hearing her refusal, Lance simply nodded and reached out to accept the box. To pass herself off as a human, this demon princess must have gone to considerable lengths, adhering with exceptional strictness to the conventions and norms of human society.
Before he could say another word, Talia turned around without a moment's hesitation and walked away with an air of indifference.
"You didn’t eat very much, did you?" Lance asked as he gazed at Talia’s silhouette. Her dark-gray cloak flowed behind her.
Without turning to look at him, Talia replied, "I have fulfilled my end of the deal."
Lance lowered his gaze to the box, speaking more to himself than to her, "I see."
This demon placed particular emphasis on the fact that this was a "deal" rather than a "favor."
Her deep-seated pride would not allow her to take charity from anyone, nor did she wish to be indebted to others. Talia knew all too well that there was nothing truly free in the world. In fact, the things touted as free were often the most costly.
Thus, his little scheme to bestow a favor upon Talia was utterly shattered. Even the food box, which might have served as a potential trap, had been returned to him at the very first opportunity.
Lance sighed and handed the meal box he was holding to the guard standing beside him. Sure enough, using a favor in an attempt to offset her potential dislike was nowhere near as simple as he had imagined. Other than that, though, everything was unfolding exactly as he had anticipated.
Lance signaled the guards trailing behind him to stand back. He intended to speak with Talia in private. The guards did not have the guts to voice an objection. They complied and took up their posts at the entrance of the manor.
Lance then broke into a light jog, catching up with the departing demon.
Talia looked behind her, gazing at the human who was once again getting close to her. Her expression shifted to mild bewilderment. She could not fathom what this fellow, who was clearly privileged and physically weak, was trying to accomplish.
"I would like to propose another deal to you, and I guarantee upon the honor of my family name that it will be fair," Lance stated respectfully.
Talia stared at him, as if she was attempting to see into his inner thoughts.
He’s not lying.
Furthermore, they had already successfully completed a deal without any problems. Apparently, this wealthy human wasn’t a bad egg, and, presumably, he would be able to provide the compensation she sorely needed.
After a brief pause, Talia replied, "Let’s hear it."
Lance looked at her seriously. "I also hope you won’t ask me why this deal is necessary."
Talia nodded. She didn’t need to probe further because no one could lie to her.
Lance looked somewhat troubled, making no attempt to hide the worry in his eyes as he looked directly at Talia. "Someone in this city wants to kill me. Therefore, I’d like to ask you to keep an eye out for suspicious people near the manor and get rid of them to protect me. I’ll pay you accordingly."
Talia was certain he was telling the truth. "That won’t be hard for me to do."
She paused to think, then glanced toward the guards standing in the distance. They were clearly well-trained and strong. Then, she voiced her doubts, "Your family must be quite wealthy and influential. You must have people who are capable of keeping you safe."
"I suspect that the assassin has already infiltrated my inner circle, so I can’t truly trust anyone around me. I need as many contingency measures as possible."
Lance appeared to have taken a particular liking to Talia. His admiration was quite obvious, and it was an admiration sparked by her honesty in returning the food container. Furthermore, he believed that she harbored absolutely no prejudice against him based on his identity, status, or the rumors surrounding him.
"So you believe I am more reliable than your guards?" Talia seemed to tacitly acknowledge the fact that she was actually someone quite formidable. This human clearly possessed the instincts of a shrewd merchant.
Lance nodded. "Relatively speaking, yes."
Talia simply said, "My services are not cheap."
This entire time, she had been constantly assessing the veracity of every word this human spoke. Yet, thus far, he had not told her a single lie. Among all the humans she had encountered to date, this was a rare and remarkable quality.
To her, he was the sort of person who was honest, upright, and kind. Therefore, he was an ideal long-term business partner.
"I’ll pay you three pounds a day. This agreement remains in effect for as long as you stay in the city."
Lance had already pulled from his pocket a pen and a checkbook embossed with the words "Wilford Trading Company" on the cover. It appeared this young man found carrying around the gold coins in the denominations of pounds and half pounds to be too much of a bother for him.
And that was not to say his offer was insignificant. Thirty pounds was enough to sustain an average family in South Vantina, a border territory of the Kingdom of Hutton, for an entire year.
Talia was visibly stunned. And not merely by Lance’s show of sheer affluence. For someone who hadn't encountered a pound coin in ages and was also an unregistered resident of the kingdom, this was a business proposition that was simply too good to refuse.
Of course, she possessed absolute confidence in her own capabilities. Therefore, this was not a favor, but a contract. Most importantly, the initiative to terminate this arrangement lay entirely with her; it would not impinge upon her freedom.
"...Deal," Talia murmured.
"Then I'll leave it to you." Lance promptly handed both his checkbook and pen to Talia, causing her to once more pause in shock. She looked down pensively at the checkbook in her hand.
Am I supposed to fill in the amount myself each day and then go cash it? He truly is a wealthy and generous human...
He was the kind of person who possessed a host of other virtues, such as kindness and integrity. Yet humans of this very sort were often the ones least compatible with demons.
Lance turned around and walked toward the other side of the street. The corners of his mouth twitched. He could barely suppress his smile.
Talia had not realized that the very person intent on killing Lance was, in fact, herself. And even if she discovered one day that Lance was the one who had hunted down and killed her familiar, she would be powerless to harm a single hair on him.
She was bound by their contract: as long as she remained in this city, she had to protect Lance and, in return, receive her wage of three pounds a day!