Volume 3
The sun was bright and beautiful—perfect weather for going out for a walk. But in the spring-filled Demon King City, Demon King didn't want to go out.
She wanted to stay home, sleep until she woke up naturally, then play games after waking up, then eat, sleep, and play games in that cycle.
Even Princess Qila, who loved her sister most, felt that her sister seemed a bit too decadent. If Leticia continued slacking off like this, Qila was afraid her sister would become a complete waste of space.
"Sister, you should go out for a walk. If you keep staying home, you'll grow mushrooms!" In the super luxurious bedroom, Qila pulled at Leticia's blanket and shouted loudly.
Leticia gripped the blanket tightly, refusing to let go. She shook her head repeatedly, firmly rejecting Qila's request.
How could outside be more fun than home? She wanted to play games, play games!
It had been about half a year since returning to the Demon Realm, and these days had been relatively peaceful.
Nothing worth paying attention to had happened. The demon race was steadily recovering its strength, and Leticia's slacking hadn't affected many things.
Things were still as they should be. Leticia's subordinate nobles and Heavenly Kings seemed to have gotten used to their empress's daily slacking.
Let her slack—as long as she was still there.
This was the current thinking of those demons who knew some inside information.
It was better than the previous years when they couldn't even see her. At least now when they really encountered troublesome matters, they could still go find the empress for consultation, instead of running around like headless flies as before.
"No way. What's fun outside? Looking at flowers? Or flying kites?" Leticia indicated she had absolutely no interest. "I don't want to go out."
"Hah, sister, aren't you forgetting something?" Qila let go and took a deep breath.
"Ah? There's nothing special today, right?" Leticia scratched her head.
Qila clenched her fists. "Five days ago, you approved Elsa's report without even looking at it, didn't you?"
Elsa? Leticia pondered for a moment and retrieved related matters about this girl from her memory.
It seemed like five days ago, she had approved a report?
The report's content seemed to be about holding a spring dance in the royal garden. Leticia naturally didn't think much about such a small matter and directly signed it with a flourish.
Elsa was the heir of a great noble that Leticia had supported after ascending the throne. Elsa was quite grateful to Her Majesty the Empress who had helped her.
Among all the nobles, Elsa was probably the most loyal to Leticia.
And Leticia's attitude toward Elsa could be considered relatively trusting—at least more trusting than those four big disappointments.
"A dance? What about it?" Leticia tilted her head, expressing confusion.
"How old are you this year, sister?"
"Um, twenty-something."
"What's the average marriage age for our demon race?"
"Twenty-four or twenty-five."
"What about noble girls?"
"Even younger."
"What about royalty? How old was our mother when she married and gave birth to sister?"
"Ah, our mom never married." Leticia pointed out a small problem in her sister's words. Although their mother was devoted, for some reason, she just never had a wedding with their father.
This left their father without proper status or recognition until his death.
Later, Leticia learned that before falling into their mother's hands, their father had been a freedom-loving poet who was unwilling to be bound by marriage.
People have different aspirations, one could say.
Leticia had never even seen what her father looked like.
But why was Qila asking such questions?
"Qila, you're not trying to... pressure me into marriage, are you?"
Her sister nodded.
Leticia reached out to touch her sister's forehead. "No fever."
"Sister, you're not young anymore. You're the Demon King—you should find a partner and continue the Demon King bloodline." Qila slapped away Leticia's hand and said to Demon King, "The Demon King bloodline only has us two left. We can't let it end here!"
Leticia blinked. She felt it was still early, very early.
How old was she? Not even thirty. Powerful magicians could also extend their lives—she could easily live for several hundred years.
Getting married and having children so early might eventually evolve into the awkward situation of "how can there be an eighty-year-old crown prince."
It might even be more awkward.
After all, Leticia's lifespan was very long.
"I think there's no rush. Even if I got married, I wouldn't have children quickly." Leticia told Qila her thoughts. "So you don't need to worry about it, Qila."
"Of course I'm worried! Sister, tell me honestly—did you really fall for Sister Bai?" Qila asked with a serious face.
Leticia's eyes widened. How did this get dragged to Bai Ling?
What did this have to do with Bai Ling?
"No way. How could you have such a strange idea?" Leticia asked instinctively. Had she shown such emotions?
Probably not, right?
And she really had no thoughts about Bai Ling.
Did they really think she was like Evangelyne, that pure girl who would soften after being forceful?
Joke—Leticia was tough.
That day, Bai Ling had gone home with a bright red handprint on her face.
"Then sister, tell me what exactly happened before you came back. What was the handprint on Sister Bai's face about?" Qila crossed her arms and asked. She had already guessed—it must have been Sister Bai forcing herself on sister, which was why sister reacted like that.
But on the day they returned to the Demon Realm, sister had muttered to herself, "Isn't that guy going to see me off?"
How could this not make Qila suspicious?
Having this attitude after being forced—could sister be playing hard to get?
"Nothing happened." Leticia denied somewhat guiltily.
Being wall-slammed and forcefully kissed by Bai Ling was something she'd be too embarrassed to face people if she said it out loud.
The dignified Demon Empress, standing at the world's peak, actually got forcefully kissed—Leticia was too embarrassed to say such a thing.
"Really nothing?" Qila didn't believe it. Something must have happened—sister's state those few days was obviously off.
She had even almost changed Lin Qingyu's name wrong when modifying Xi Mengyao's memories. If Qila hadn't reminded her in time, Xi Mengyao's dream lover would probably have a different name now.
"Really, trust me. I have absolutely no relationship with her now." Leticia patted her non-existent chest and guaranteed.
"Fine, I'll trust sister this once, but you still have to attend the dance today!"
"Eh?!"
In the end, Leticia still couldn't win against Qila. After being dressed up properly by her sister, she was dragged to the royal garden where royalty rarely went.
The royal garden was quite lively today. Miss Elsa's full name was Elsa Priestley, one of only five grand dukes in the demon race.
The dance organized under her leadership had attracted almost all the nobles in Demon King City to participate.
Without wars now, these nobles' entertainment was just attending parties and dances.
Not every demon could get electronic games from the Human World like Leticia. Most demons' entertainment was quite monotonous.
Chess, novels, hunting—similar to human nobles in ancient times.
The demon race wasn't special either. The elves and beastmen had even more limited entertainment. Only humans had advanced technology that allowed them rich and varied entertainment.
"Ah, I didn't expect Your Majesty would come too." In a quiet corner of the garden, Leticia met Elsa, the dance organizer.
Elsa was twenty-four this year and looked very young. Her appearance was quite good too. She had short hair, and her hair and eye colors were the relatively rare gold and emerald among demons.
Yes, demon hair colors were actually quite diverse. Except for the Demon King family being black-haired, other demons had quite varied hair colors.
Generally, you could tell what magic attributes a demon was good at from their hair color. For example, Elsa was good at light-attribute magic.
After all, not all demons were like Demon King bloodline holders, possessing nearly invincible affinity with all magical elements.
Ordinary demons could generally only use one attribute of magic, while more talented ones could use multiple.
As for Leticia, she could easily use magic of all attributes.
This was the value of being Demon King.
"Dragged here by Qila, sigh." Leticia pressed her forehead helplessly and replied. "Just ignore me later, and don't call me Your Majesty."
Leticia's outfit today wasn't conspicuous. At a dance where everyone wore formal attire, she was like an ugly duckling.
The deep gray long dress covered almost every part of her body tightly, and the long hem even dragged on the ground, covering her shoes.
In fact, Leticia was currently floating off the ground.
She didn't want to become a walking human mop.
"Understood, Miss Susu." Elsa giggled. "By the way, Your Majesty, when are you planning to choose a consort?"
"Why are you asking the same thing as Qila?" Leticia couldn't understand. Did everyone want her to take consorts so badly?
Elsa's face turned slightly red. "Um, I mean, if Your Majesty ever plans to choose consorts, could you consider me?"
"Pfft!!!" Leticia spat out the tea she had just drunk.
Frantically wiping the water from her mouth, Leticia looked at Elsa with shock. "How could I possibly make a move on you?"
She considered Elsa a good friend. It was only when she first met Elsa that she occasionally fantasized, but later she completely abandoned such thoughts.
So when Elsa said that, Leticia really couldn't hold back.
I treat you as a friend, but you want to be topped by me?
Wow, this was too strange.
"Eh, is that not okay?" Elsa was somewhat disappointed.
"Of course not! Forget about us not having that emotional foundation—if you wanted to marry me, Elsa, you'd have to give up your current grand duke position." Leticia nodded.
She couldn't let Elsa be her wife while managing her family at the same time. Even if Elsa could handle it, this just couldn't be done.
The Demon King's consorts could certainly be nobles, but absolutely couldn't be the head of a noble family. This was a rule from long ago, and Leticia didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
"With just those small fries left in your family, I'm not confident." Leticia patted Elsa's shoulder and said earnestly, "In the entire demon race, you're the one I'm most confident about."
"Your Majesty, please use a more normal way of speaking." Elsa complained, then proposed another idea. "Then, having no official status would actually be..."
"Stop. Don't say anymore about this. I still want to have fun for a few more years and don't want to settle down so quickly." Leticia immediately interrupted Elsa's words.
Honestly speaking, Elsa wasn't unattractive. In fact, if it were the previous Leticia, she might have agreed to Elsa by now.
After all, it was that kind of relationship—entering the body but not the life. It wasn't unacceptable, right?
No need to take responsibility, and it could deepen the relationship between her and Elsa. Leticia couldn't see what was worth refusing about this.
She was the Demon King—what was wrong with being a bit promiscuous?
Look at how many emperors throughout history had wives and concubines filling their palaces.
Although Leticia was an empress, she felt she could also have wives and concubines filling her palace.
It was just that she was still a bit cowardly now, afraid that after settling down, she wouldn't be able to continue having fun. Otherwise, she would have already ordered the entire demon race to start selecting beauties.
Hah? You say Bai Ling might have opinions?
Joke—would Leticia care about her?
Although that bastard had stolen her first kiss, Leticia could still guarantee she had absolutely no thoughts about her.
She wasn't Evangelyne, and Bai Ling wasn't Xi Mengyao either. Their relationship was much more complex than those two girls.
"Mm~" Elsa lowered her head dejectedly. She knew this would be the result. "I'll go check on the dance. Excuse me."
Watching the dispirited Elsa leave, Leticia touched her chin and muttered to herself: "So Elsa was interested in me?"
Qila rolled her eyes. "Probably only a blockhead like sister couldn't see Miss Elsa's feelings."
Elsa liking Leticia was almost public knowledge among perceptive people.
Qila knew, Xue'er knew, three of the four Heavenly Kings knew, and Elsa's 'friends' also knew.
Among the demon race's upper echelons, it seemed only Leticia and Aina didn't know.
Aina not knowing was normal—her poor brain function was well-known.
But Leticia not knowing could only make people suspect that Demon King was a complete blockhead when it came to emotions.
......
Holding a glass of light red beverage, Leticia and Qila sat in a corner of the dance, watching like spectators as the handsome men and beautiful women danced gracefully in the central open space.
To be accurate, Leticia was watching the beautiful women.
"Eh, this girl has grown so pretty—she has some of her mother's charm. Not bad, not bad."
"Whoa, such a broad chest—her magic power couldn't have all accumulated there, could it?"
"Wow, this dress is too revealing. Isn't she embarrassed to wear it?"
While drinking the free beverages and eating snacks, Leticia commented on the noble ladies in the open space.
Her remarks made some passing nobles can't help but laugh. After all, there were people with little experience, but few would expose their lack of experience so blatantly.
If not for noble etiquette restraining them, some busybodies would probably start mocking Leticia directly.
"But this pudding is quite delicious." Leticia ate another pudding and patted her stomach with satisfaction. "The texture is quite good."
Qila had already covered her face and sighed countless times. Hearing her sister's words, she looked up with some despair: "Sister, care about your image a little."
"I'm wearing this thing—others don't know who I am." Leticia pointed to the black butterfly-style eye mask she was wearing, indicating Qila's worry was completely meaningless. "Instead of worrying about this, you might as well eat something, Qila."
Saying this, Leticia picked up a delicate small cake and brought it to her sister's mouth.
Qila helplessly glared at Leticia and opened her mouth to take a bite of the cake.
"Too sweet." Qila frowned.
"Sweet?" Throwing the rest of the cake into her own mouth, Leticia thought it was fine.
She completely didn't care that this cake had just been bitten by Qila.
The sisters had some subtle differences in food preferences. Leticia loved sweets, while Qila didn't like them as much.
"When will this dance end? I'm getting a bit tired of it."
"If you want to leave, you can leave anytime. As for when it ends, that's still a long way off." Qila knew much more about this type of dance than Leticia. Generally, such dances continued until nightfall.
After the dance ended, those nobles would still gather for dinner and such.
Basically, they'd spend the entire day on this dance.
"That's great—let's go then." Leticia patted her clothes, brushing off food crumbs that had fallen while eating.
But before she could stand up, a girl in a black robe quietly appeared in front of Leticia.
The girl was very pretty—Leticia even felt her beauty was no less than that bastard Bai Ling.
Fair, translucent skin, a slightly baby-faced small face, pure black eyes. Seeing this girl for the first time, Leticia immediately labeled her in her heart: stunner.
"Are you looking for me?" Leticia tilted her head and asked.
The girl blinked with some surprise. She glanced at Leticia, then shook her head like a startled little animal: "I'm waiting for my teacher."
Oh, so she had been presumptuous.
"I see. What's your name, little sister?" Leticia asked.
Such a pretty little girl, and she didn't know her—had she come from somewhere else in recent years?
"Mo Zili." The girl answered quietly.
Leticia raised an eyebrow. This kind of name seemed like something from Bai Ling's side.
Names here in the Demon Realm were basically Western-style, while Central City had Eastern-style names.
So Leticia immediately began suspecting this girl's origins.
But the problem was, this girl was definitely a demon—which was strange. Why would a demon have such a name?
"Zili, so you're here." Just as Leticia wanted to ask more, a somewhat authoritative female voice came, making Mo Zili's body tremble.
Leticia looked up and saw a serious-faced middle-aged woman had appeared behind Mo Zili. She had a stern expression, making it impossible to guess her current mood.
"Teacher." Mo Zili quickly ran to the woman's side.
Leticia squinted. So this was this little girl's teacher?
Although she did fit the characteristics of a teacher, this was a human.
A human teaching a demon?
Was this a joke?
Watching this strange teacher-student pair leave, Leticia looked at her sister. Qila's expression was the same as Leticia's—confused and puzzled.
"Qila, you saw it too, right?"
"Sister means that human?"
"Right. Although we don't refuse humans from entering, having a human teach a demon is a bit too strange." Leticia nodded. Moreover, that woman appearing at this occasion was itself worth thinking about.
This dance should be called a noble networking event. A human appearing in such a place was somewhat intriguing.
"Don't know. Should we ask Elsa?" Qila also wanted to understand, but since they appeared at the dance, they must be people Elsa knew.
Otherwise, Elsa wouldn't have invited them.
But when Leticia and the others found Elsa, they were disappointed to discover things weren't as simple as they imagined.
"Actually, I only invited some nobles I know, and they have other invitations I gave them to invite people they know." After hearing Leticia's question, Elsa indicated she hadn't invited that strange teacher-student pair. "So there aren't many people here I'm familiar with. I don't have much impression of that teacher-student pair either."
"But if Your Majesty really wants to know, I can go check their invitations. That's relatively simple."
This wasn't a bad method either. Leticia agreed to Elsa's suggestion. "But there's no rush. Take your time."
"I'll give Your Majesty an answer by tomorrow." Elsa immediately indicated she wouldn't take too long. "I'll find out everything."
"Don't be so serious. They might not be bad people." Leticia quickly said, afraid that Elsa would be too earnest and make this small matter known to everyone.
That wouldn't be good.
"Keep the commotion small, and it's best if others don't know about this matter."