Knock knock knock, knock knock knock.
Accompanied by Xue'er, Leticia knocked on the door next to Bai Ling's house.
Hearing the knock, the one who came to open the door wasn't Lin Qingyu, but Candice, Leticia's old acquaintance.
"Your Majesty's complexion looks quite good." The moment she saw Leticia, Candice noticed that the Miss Demon King's complexion was incomparably better than a few days ago.
Previously it was the paleness from lack of blood energy, but now it faintly revealed a hint of red, looking much healthier than before.
"The past few days were a bit rough, but today is much better." Leticia nodded. "Is Lin Qingyu here?"
"Yes, Miss Qianqian, did you need me for something?" Hearing Leticia call her name, Lin Qingyu poked her little head out from the dining room.
She should be having breakfast.
"Although I can't figure out what her poison is, I suspect conventional therapeutic methods can be effective." Candice explained. "Detoxification isn't possible, but I can help her recover some vitality consumed by the poison."
After being cared for by Candice for two days, Lin Qingyu's complexion also looked much better.
"Mm, you two go out first. I have some things to discuss with Qingyu." Leticia gave Candice a meaningful look.
The physician immediately understood and nodded, following Xue'er out of the room, creating a space belonging only to Leticia and Lin Qingyu.
Having to talk alone with Leticia so suddenly, Lin Qingyu seemed somewhat flustered. That night she had gone through quite complex psychological struggles before daring to suggest talking privately with Leticia.
Today's sudden visit from Leticia really caught her off guard.
Panic—really panicked.
And Leticia's next words made Lin Qingyu so panicked she nearly fainted.
"The Elves are looking for you." Leticia said straightforwardly.
She didn't want to play complicated games with Lin Qingyu. Directly laying out Lin Qingyu's current situation on the table and letting her know how dangerous she was now—this was the best and fastest method.
"You don't need to explain. I know they're looking for you, and you know they're looking for you. Moreover, I also know you're carrying something you shouldn't be carrying."
A divine artifact. If Lin Qingyu had escaped to the human world alone, then Leticia felt the Elves wouldn't care much about this escaped Half-Elf.
After all, they didn't consider Half-Elves as Elves. Who would care whether these lowlifes escaped or not?
Secrets? Impossible—Half-Elves couldn't access elven secrets at all.
If she escaped, so be it. Out of sight, out of mind—the Elves would be happy for these Half-Elves to get lost on their own.
But Lin Qingyu had brought a divine artifact when she escaped.
Now things were different. That was a divine artifact, and according to Flora, Lin Qingyu could awaken the divine artifact.
A Half-Elf who could use divine artifacts taking the artifact and running to the human world—how could the Elves not be anxious?
If something went wrong and this Half-Elf joined the humans, using elven divine artifacts to fight back against the Elves—wouldn't that be the end?
No wonder the Elves had sent people to Central City to search so quickly.
"I..." Lin Qingyu lowered her head. "I don't want to go back."
As expected, her identity had never been hidden from the start.
"I understand, but staying here will undoubtedly put everyone around you in danger." Leticia pressed Lin Qingyu's shoulders, pushing the somewhat agitated girl back into her chair. "Honestly, I want to kick you out."
Lin Qingyu's eyes widened. She had thought Leticia wanted to tell her that she wouldn't hand her over, but instead Leticia opened with "I want to kick you out."
Kicking her out from here basically meant making her face elven pursuit alone—for Lin Qingyu, this was a dead end.
She couldn't possibly escape.
"But someone disagrees." Leticia sighed, indicating her opinion wasn't very important—what mattered was someone else's opinion. "You should be grateful you met these sisters. Otherwise, I would have silenced you long ago."
Killing Lin Qingyu and seizing her divine artifact—this was also a viable option, wasn't it?
Bai Ling couldn't do such things, but that didn't mean Leticia couldn't.
"So what exactly did you come to see me for today?" Lin Qingyu stared and asked. She couldn't understand what Leticia's words meant. Was she trying to threaten her?
But why would Leticia threaten her?
"Just came to discuss your future arrangements with you." Leticia said to Lin Qingyu. "Actually, stopping the Elves for you isn't that difficult. That person surnamed Bai has quite a high status among humans—the Elves couldn't possibly openly conflict with her."
"But we need a reason—a reason to help you."
"I don't understand."
"You've suffered a lot of abuse, right? Even I've heard about elven discrimination against Half-Elves. The poison in your body should also have been given to you by the Elves." Leticia spoke calmly, as if stating facts. "You hate them, don't you?"
Lin Qingyu remained silent.
This oil-and-water-resistant attitude really made Leticia a bit angry. "Our current plan is to transfer you to another safe location for custody. I hope you can understand."
"I understand." Lin Qingyu nodded. So she was still being abandoned?
But this was quite normal. After all, she had only met these people by chance—they couldn't possibly oppose an entire elven race for her sake.
"Don't make that expression. Your safety can still be guaranteed." Leticia noticed Lin Qingyu's expression was off. "Besides, if we just kicked you out, we'd have no way to explain to Little Ya later."
"?"
"I told you it's a safe place. Do you understand the value of 'safe' from my mouth?" Leticia propped her chin with a helpless expression. "We're not afraid of the Elves—we're afraid that fighting would hurt Little Ya or let her know things she shouldn't know."
"Eh?" Lin Qingyu, discovering things weren't quite as she'd imagined, was a bit confused. So this transfer wasn't abandonment disguised with nice words?
Leticia picked up her water cup and took a sip, giving Lin Qingyu some time to accept reality.
"So you came this time..."
"At someone's request, to tell you not to overthink—they won't abandon you or hand you over to the Elves."
So they weren't going to abandon her?
Lin Qingyu blinked. Had she thought too badly of people?
"Don't look at me. I wasn't planning to care about you. If you want to thank someone, thank Little Ya and that person surnamed Bai. I just came to tell you this and explain the reason for my... their decision." Leticia waved her hand, reiterating her position once again.
She was too lazy to deal with Lin Qingyu. She just wanted to stay here peacefully for a few more days. For this purpose, sending away or dismantling this time bomb Lin Qingyu was very necessary.
According to Bai Ling's idea, sending Lin Qingyu somewhere far away was a good method.
Leticia had an even cleaner and more decisive method—directly killing Lin Qingyu.
You Elves want to find someone? The person's gone, and you can't find what was on her either. You'd better go home and find your mommy.
However, this method was a bit too ruthless and wasn't suitable for use at this time.
But if things really developed to that point, Leticia felt she wouldn't hesitate. She definitely wouldn't watch the divine artifact housing Flora return to elven hands.
You didn't guard it well yourselves and let Lin Qingyu steal it out. Now she was taking it—no problem, right?
"Thank you, Miss Qianqian. I understand." But Lin Qingyu had obviously misunderstood, thinking this was a method Leticia had proposed.
After all, when Bai Ya had talked about this Sister Qianqian before, the most-used descriptive word was tsundere—cold on the outside but warm on the inside.
She would definitely not simply help people openly. This lady preferred to quietly contribute behind the scenes, while on the surface, she would definitely mock the person she was helping.
Didn't this match perfectly with the current situation?
Starting by saying she wanted to hand her over, but finally telling her they would send her to another safe place, with the reason being to protect Bai Ya.
Lin Qingyu could understand this reason. She also didn't want that pure and kind girl Bai Ya to be hurt because of her.
As for whether Leticia was deceiving her? Lin Qingyu thought this was unlikely.
It would be too simple for this lady to harm her. Never mind anything else—just that big-chested doctor beside her was Leticia's person. Wouldn't poisoning her be simple?
"You seem to be overthinking a bit. Tsk, whatever—think what you want." Leticia was too lazy to explain more. Let Lin Qingyu overthink if she wanted to. At least she'd completed the task Bai Ling had assigned her.
This task was done, but there was another more difficult one.
Making Lin Qingyu emerge from past shadows and bravely face the past.
Flora's request was much more troublesome than Bai Ling's. Leticia didn't even know what this girl's past shadows were, so she could only give guidance blindly. Very difficult.
"However, I still want to ask what you suffered among the Elves."
Lin Qingyu's originally somewhat happy expression visibly darkened. She seemed unwilling to recall those past events. "Those things are all in the past."
"I've already escaped from them. I don't want to go back."
"But they still live in your heart. If you continue to escape like this, they'll follow you for life, tormenting you in your dreams." Leticia gazed into Lin Qingyu's emerald eyes and said word by word: "You need to learn to face the past, to overcome the past. Only then can you truly escape from it."
"I can't do it." Lin Qingyu closed her eyes.
"You must do it. This is my advice." Leticia also knew this wasn't something that could be solved in a day or two with a word or two, so she hadn't planned to have Lin Qingyu resolve her psychological issues today. "Think about it carefully. Stay there obediently these few days. When things are resolved, that person surnamed Bai will bring you back."
After that would be the time to have Lin Qingyu resolve her psychological issues.
Leticia was even considering whether to catch an elf and throw it in front of Lin Qingyu, then have her stab the elf to death with a knife.
This might count as overcoming past shadows?
After all, her psychological trauma was caused by Elves. Killing an elf should make her feel happier.
As for whether Lin Qingyu would become an elf hunter afterward—that had nothing to do with Leticia.
The more chaotic the Elves became, the happier she, their enemy, would be.
However, this idea was strongly rejected by Bai Ling.
"No." At the dining table, Bai Ling directly rejected Leticia's proposal.
"Then you think of a good method. She's in no condition to listen to reason right now." Leticia drank her porridge with dissatisfaction. She couldn't understand why this person had come to mooch food at her house.
Also, Qila had been dragged away by Bai Ya again. Leticia really wondered if her sister would be kidnapped by Bai Ya someday.
What was today's reason again... Oh right, meeting former classmates—everyone really missed Little Qi.
But obviously, Qila didn't miss them.
"Take it slowly. Haste makes waste." Bai Ling used her spoon to scoop out a piece of red tofu from the plate and put it in her mouth. "A bit hot."
She used facts to prove that hot tofu could indeed be eaten.
"Anyway, she's your person. Do as you please." Leticia finished the remaining porridge in her bowl and stood up with Xue'er's help. "Take your time eating. I'm going back to rest first."
"Oh." Bai Ling nodded. She indeed needed to eat for a while longer.
This lady's appetite hadn't decreased significantly compared to before.
Since she'd just slept with Leticia last night, today's Bai Ling wasn't so eager to get close to Leticia.
In other words, her Leticia energy was already full.
So this afternoon, she'd go discuss Lin Qingyu's matter with Senior Sang. When facing such situations, an experienced senior's opinion was quite important.
Such was Bai Ling's plan, but Leticia began discussing with Xue'er methods to quietly get the divine artifact into her own hands.
"If, as Your Majesty said, Miss Lin has such an important item on her, it's no wonder the Elves, who have always looked down on Half-Elves, would unusually send people to the human world to chase someone."
"As for methods, there are many, but most would require taking Miss Lin's life. Does Your Majesty plan to do this?"
Xue'er spoke of what Leticia naturally knew. "When things develop to an irreparable point, we have to do something to make things develop in a direction favorable to us. Even if we have to kill Lin Qingyu then, it doesn't matter."
The discussion with Xue'er yielded no results. Although she spoke of killing this poor child Lin Qingyu, Leticia's current interest in this matter wasn't very high.
Being able to resolve things peacefully was better than having bloodshed incidents.
Moreover, she had just promised Flora to help Lin Qingyu. Turning around and killing Lin Qingyu seemed quite wrong no matter how you looked at it. That gentle god might get angry.
Speaking of Flora, Leticia thought of the parasol Flora had given her in that dream.
Clearly that place didn't even have much light, yet Flora held that umbrella. She didn't know if it was from boredom or because she needed to maintain her image—the image of a noble young lady.
"The feel is quite nice." With a thought, Leticia summoned the gift Flora had given her. Essentially, this umbrella wasn't a physical object but a rather special type of magic.
It didn't consume magic power but mental strength. As for its function, Leticia hadn't figured it out yet.
But it could definitely serve as a parasol.
Opening the umbrella, a pleasant fragrance began to spread through the room. Smelling this scent, Leticia felt much more alert. This should be one of the umbrella's functions?
Refreshing and brain-clearing—quite a nice item.
But Leticia couldn't figure out more functions for now. However, a gift from a god surely wouldn't have just that one use.
Putting away the umbrella, Leticia looked at the computer in the center of the room. She wanted to play games again.
With Qila dragged away by Little Ya, she seemed to have some time to play.
She wasn't as weak as the previous few days anymore. Playing for a little while definitely wouldn't be a problem. Yes, definitely no problem.
Thinking this, Leticia tiptoed to the computer like a thief and carefully pressed the power button.
The faint sound of fans started, and the familiar screen appeared before Leticia's eyes.
Unlike Bai Ling's desktop that was practically unsharable, Leticia's desktop was clean and tidy. The wallpaper was also a relatively normal 2D girl—it would only make people think the computer's owner was an otaku, not a pervert.
Bai Ling's wallpaper would actually have a similar effect when shown to others. Unfortunately, the person who had seen her wallpaper happened to be the prototype of the girl in the wallpaper.
Seeing her own appearance used as someone's computer wallpaper, and that someone harboring ill intentions toward her, Leticia was naturally a bit unsettled.
But while that person surnamed Bai was quite perverted, she was extraordinarily rule-abiding in certain areas. They had slept together twice now, and this person's most excessive action was just hugging Leticia.
Could hugging count as getting handsy?
Probably not?
Maybe?
Playing games... not really feasible. If Qila suddenly returned, wouldn't she have to quit mid-game and abandon her teammates?
Abandoning teammates was a small matter, but being reported by teammates was serious. If her account got banned for two or three days, Leticia estimated she'd definitely be able to play games openly by then.
So today, she'd better endure it.
Then what would be good to do?
After thinking it over, an idea suddenly appeared in Leticia's mind. She remembered Bai Ling's browsing history she'd seen yesterday.
Some of it was questions, and some was manga, novels, and such things.
Leticia felt the questions weren't worth reading. How could those silly netizens give reliable answers? Not adding fuel to the fire would already be impressive.
But manga and novels seemed quite good to look at.
Since she was bored anyway, reading these things to pass time was fine. Even if Qila came back, she'd have a chance to argue.
I was reading manga, not playing games. These two are completely different!
Something like that for an argument.
"I remember it was called 'Lilies Blooming on Campus' or something." Leticia entered the name that left the deepest impression into the browser.
Entering the manga's main page, Leticia first checked how well this manga was performing, then she was stunned.
This was already an explosively popular manga!
Originally she thought it was just a relatively niche manga that might have some inappropriate content, but now it seemed this manga was completely different from what Leticia had imagined.
Could it be she had wronged Bai Ling? That person was simply wanting to see what popular manga were like?
"Impossible, impossible. She definitely read this manga with filthy thoughts, absolutely." Leticia quickly drove these thoughts that defended Bai Ling from her mind. She firmly believed Bai Ling's thoughts absolutely couldn't be pure.
Unlike her, who came to read manga with a pure heart—you couldn't find such a good reader as her even with a lantern.
Spending some time, Leticia read through all the free chapters. When she turned to the next page with lingering interest, a notification of insufficient balance appeared before her eyes.
This was her first time reading manga on this platform. She hadn't charged money before, so naturally she couldn't read the subsequent paid content.
Should she charge money?
Leticia took out her phone and looked at the big zero in her payment app. She fell silent.
Ah, no money.
But this manga was so good—she really wanted to keep reading.
"That person surnamed Bai should have bought the entire manga, right? Should I... mooch off her?" Leticia felt she was being quite shameful. A mighty Demon King couldn't even afford to read manga.
Ask her for it? Wow, completely unacceptable.
But, but this manga was really good.
When Qila came back, have her pay for her gaming expenses? Setting aside whether Qila would agree, letting her sister know she was reading this kind of manga—she'd definitely overthink it, right?
After all, this was manga about the hazy feelings between girls, and some of the suggestive scenes made Leticia feel she couldn't hold back. Letting her sister know her sister actually liked such manga—wouldn't her image crumble to nothing?
Although currently Leticia had no image to speak of in Qila's eyes anyway.
A sister who only thought about gaming and slacking off—Qila really wanted to twist her head off and kick it like a ball.
But Leticia insisted she still needed face—at least she couldn't let it crumble further, right?
Being able to sleep here forever meant submitting to Bai Ling, didn't it?
Occasionally sleeping once, Leticia could still use "this is a transaction with no other emotions mixed in" to convince herself. But doing this every day—Leticia would really doubt whether she'd been bewitched by beauty.
"Ah, it seems I really can only get her account. How annoying."