Chapter: Chapter 150
Although she believed Leticia had some feelings for her, Bai Ling felt inexplicably annoyed when her “rival” said such a thing.
“That won’t trouble Miss Elsa,” Bai Ling replied coldly, “Take a message to her for me, tell her that my mind hasn’t changed.”
With that, Bai Ling walked out of the tent without looking back, and Elsa immediately lost her lock on Bai Ling’s aura.
The guards patrolling outside the door made no move, as if they hadn’t noticed a human walking out of the tent at all.
This made Elsa a little troubled; Bai Ling’s strength was truly formidable.
She was indeed a weakling and couldn’t tell Bai Ling’s exact level, but the soldiers outside were top-notch experts among the demon race. Bai Ling had walked past them without eliciting any reaction, which spoke volumes about her strength.
Elsa suspected that if this young lady wanted to assassinate a demon, as long as it wasn’t Leticia, the assassinated person probably wouldn’t know who killed them until their death.
It was truly terrifying.
“Alas, Miss Bai Ya, please come with me. Qian Qian has been waiting for you for a long time.” With a sigh, Elsa stood up and walked to Bai Ya’s side.
The young girl was curiously observing Elsa. From their conversation, she had also gathered that this beautiful older sister seemed to like Sister Qian Qian, just like her own sister.
However, this seemed quite normal. After all, Sister Qian Qian was very likable.
So small, so cute, and also tsundere. After spending time with her, one would naturally fall for her.
“Um, Sister Elsa, how long have you known Sister Qian Qian?”
“Many years. I met Qian Qian when I was seven. She wasn’t like this back then,” Elsa replied with a smile, her eyes filled with nostalgia. She actually preferred Leticia from that time.
Leticia back then wasn’t as ‘soft’ as she was now. She was very hard, both outwardly and inwardly, like a block of ice, bone-chilling and incredibly solid.
Many years ago, Elsa was just an overlooked noble young lady, a barely present member of that large family. Although she was the legitimate daughter, she had two older brothers above her.
What awaited her was probably marriage to the child of some minor noble after coming of age, or a political marriage with the heir of a powerful noble.
As for this future, Elsa couldn’t say she liked it, but she didn’t dislike it either.
After all, all noble young ladies were like this. They were born as tools for their families to consolidate power. If they had good magical talent, they had some status; if they didn’t, they could only be manipulated by their parents.
And Elsa was one of those with poor talent.
Her current strength could only be described as pathetic, and this pathetic strength was achieved through her taking medicine. If a real fight broke out, she would be a complete weakling.
Under normal circumstances, the Grand Duke would never be her. It would be her brother, or those younger siblings with good talent.
In any case, Elsa was the one with the least hope.
But then, she met Leticia, a new empress eager to find allies.
When Leticia first took the throne, she undoubtedly faced a mess. Her mother barely managed anything, leading to the major nobles almost completely sidelining the Demon King.
Leticia was still young at the time, and those seasoned nobles didn’t think much of this young empress.
At that time, no one listened to Leticia’s words.
Then, Leticia began to seek help. After a series of alliances, schemes, and cunning plans, she managed to regain power. Coupled with her strength, which now fully matched the title of Demon King, the nobles had no choice but to concede.
Having less power was better than dying.
Elsa’s family was one of the targets that Leticia paid close attention to at that time. Their family had many scandals. With the embellishment of her rivals and Leticia’s deliberate targeting, the previous Grand Duke was forced to commit suicide to atone.
And the new Grand Duke was personally appointed by Leticia as Elsa, who had completely escaped everyone’s notice at the time.
This choice surprised everyone, yet it was also within everyone’s expectations. They had expected Leticia not to let Elsa’s family off easily, but they hadn’t expected her to do it in such a way.
A Grand Duke with almost no strength and no foundation perfectly suited Leticia’s interests. For Elsa to secure her position, she had to maintain a good relationship with Leticia.
Of course, few people knew that Leticia had already had many exchanges with Elsa before that.
“After meeting once, we communicated by writing letters. She wrote about her vision for the future of the demon race, and I pointed out the immaturities in her ideas in my reply,” Elsa said with a smile. Those days were some of the few happy times of her childhood.
When she learned that Leticia had nominated her as the new Grand Duke, she wasn’t that surprised. After all, considering everything, it seemed only she fit Leticia’s requirements.
“It sounds like Sister Elsa and Sister Qian Qian have a very good relationship,” Bai Ya said softly.
This Elsa seemed to be a childhood friend character from those romance stories. Such characters looked threatening, but their rate of being rejected was quite high.
As for her sister, she was a “suddenly arrived” character, not only suddenly arrived but also possessing so many buffs. Not only was she more beautiful than this Elsa, but she was also an adversary of Sister Qian Qian in the past. How could she lose?
In any other romance novel, this would be a guaranteed victory!
Childhood friends were already no match for suddenly arrived characters, let alone suddenly arrived characters with so many accumulated buffs.
Bai Ya believed her sister would absolutely not lose to this Elsa. This was a sure win, with no possibility of losing.
“Alas, let’s not talk about this anymore.” Elsa sighed. Their relationship might stop at being good friends.
Leticia’s refusal was so clear that Elsa couldn’t see any possibility of a change.
She herself was considered pretty, and her relationship with Leticia was good, yet she lost so miserably.
Elsa felt like crying.
“Sister Elsa?” Bai Ya gently poked Elsa.
She seemed to see a dark aura surrounding this young lady. Had she accidentally touched a sore spot for Elsa?
“It’s nothing, I just remembered some unpleasant things.” Elsa gave a slightly forced smile. “Let’s go, I’ll take you to find Qian Qian.”
“How are we going? By carriage?” Bai Ya asked with some curiosity.
On her way here, she had heard Emily talk about some basic information about the demon race. Unlike the technological creations of the human world, the demon race still largely followed ancient customs.
For example, there were carriages and nobles, with at most some magical elements added. Essentially, there wasn’t much change.
“Ah, in a sense, it is indeed a carriage.” Elsa waved to Bai Ya, signaling her to follow.
When they arrived at the place where the ‘carriage’ was parked, Bai Ya’s eyes widened. She had imagined countless times what the carriage would look like, but the carriage before her exceeded her imagination.
The four white horses pulling the carriage alone showed their extraordinary nature. Their pure white wings and the smooth, jade-like horns on their foreheads reminded Bai Ya of unicorns from fairy tales.
“Unicorns, I remember that’s what you call them.” Seeing Bai Ya’s surprised expression, Elsa chuckled. “Actually, they’re not as magical as the legends say. In the end, they’re just ordinary magical beasts.”
“Let your surprise end here. Our Qian Qian has been waiting for Miss Bai Ya for a long time. Get in the carriage first, and then I’ll briefly introduce you to the basic situation of the demon race.”
Elsa clapped her hands and led Bai Ya into the carriage.
…
“Oh? Elsa has already picked up Little Ya?” Hearing Xue’er’s report, Leticia was surprised. Bai Ling’s speed was quite fast.
Less than a day after she sent Elsa, Bai Ling had already brought Bai Ya over. This speed was truly outrageous.
“How did she get here?” Leticia was curious how Bai Ling had managed to bring Bai Ya through that heavily guarded passage.
After learning that Bai Ling had walked from one end of the passage to the other in front of everyone, Leticia fell silent.
She was contemplating whether to further strengthen the defenses there, otherwise, if Bai Ling could sneak in without anyone noticing, who knew if others could use similar methods to sneak in one day.
“Miss Bai is an exception, after all. I believe the guards there have an impregnable defense and will never let any threatening enemy through,” Xue’er believed that Leticia didn’t need to be so agitated. Bai Ling couldn’t be judged by normal standards. There was no need to strengthen already perfect defenses because of one person.
“But the thought of her sneaking over right under everyone’s noses still makes me a bit creeped out,” Leticia shook her head vigorously. “Never mind, I’ll dispatch another legion there… or maybe two?”
“Your Majesty, all legions currently have their own tasks. Dispatching them would cause a lot of trouble,” Xue’er said helplessly to Leticia.
There were never enough people. Even if you squeezed, there was a limit. Unfortunately, the demon race’s manpower was like Leticia’s chest – you couldn’t squeeze anything out.
“Tch.” Leticia snorted unhappily.
Fortunately, she wasn’t a ruler who acted solely on impulse; she still listened to her subordinates’ advice.
And at this moment, Leticia was not in her imperial palace. If Bai Ya were to see the Demon King’s Palace, even if this young girl was slow-witted, she would be able to guess who her Sister Qian Qian really was.
Therefore, Leticia searched for a long time on her property and found a small villa located on the outskirts of the Demon King City. The environment was beautiful, perfect for a quiet young lady like herself to receive guests from afar.
Yes, a quiet young lady. You’d be a fool to believe that.
“Little Ya will arrive around dinnertime. Should I prepare a grand meal?”
“Of course, make it grand. Let Little Ya see our hospitality,” Leticia said righteously, slamming the table. “Prepare all the signature dishes, and don’t forget the famous ones from the human world.”
Xue’er’s scalp tingled at such a request. “Your Majesty, may I ask how many people will be dining?”
“Me, Kira, Little Ya… ah, and Elsa, four people.” Leticia calculated and gave a not-so-large number.
Xue’er looked at Leticia helplessly. Preparing so much for four people meant it definitely wouldn’t be eaten. And Miss Bai wasn’t accompanying them this time.
Without that girl with a terrifying appetite to set the baseline, preparing so many dishes would only lead to super serious waste.
This made Xue’er, who was naturally frugal, unable to watch. “Your Majesty, I think with your appetites, preparing less is fine. You don’t want Miss Xiao Ya to have the impression that all demon nobles are extravagant, do you?”
Come to think of it, even after Little Ya knew her sister was super rich, she was still the same as before. At most, she didn’t look at the price tags when shopping.
And when she encountered waste, this young girl would point it out very seriously, which was indeed quite cute.
“Then prepare less. Choose those that look beautiful and have flavors that suit human preferences.”
“Yes, the kitchen is already rushing the preparations. We guarantee that Miss Xiao Ya, who has been traveling, will have a warm meal,” Xue’er replied. “Then, I’ll go to the kitchen to supervise.”
“Mm, go ahead.” Leticia nodded.
After Xue’er left, Leticia continued her previous work. She was in the study of this villa, and just now, she had seen an interesting book on the bookshelf.
She had some impression of this book. It seemed to be a seditious book that some people secretly spread many years ago, before she became the empress.
Before she ascended, her mother, ah, no, the nobles had banned this book. All the books should have been burned.
She wondered why one was left here.
After reading it at a glance, Leticia pouted. She thought the book was well-written, but it turned out to be just an emotional outburst, thinking the Demon King was the source of tragedy.
Such books could indeed sway people, but it was impossible to expect the author to achieve anything significant.
“Hmm? This last page…” The only thing that puzzled Leticia was the handwriting on the last page of the book. It was written by a previous reader.
It wasn’t much, just pointing out the book’s shortcomings, but the reader seemed to agree with the author’s viewpoint, believing that the Demon King should not exist in this era.
It was quite rare to have such thoughts among the demon race. Most people believed that the existence of the Demon King was a matter of course.
The position of Demon King had been passed down for countless years, and there was never a time when someone wanted to abolish the position of Demon King.
Even though the nobles sometimes suppressed the Demon King, even the most powerful nobles in the distant past had no intention of replacing the Demon King or ousting him.
This wasn’t to say those nobles were particularly loyal. It was just that they felt that since the position of Demon King had been passed down for so long, it couldn’t be broken during their time.
Anyway, they were just mascots, so it was fine to keep them.
“Who put this book here?” Leticia wondered to herself.
This villa was not initially the property of the Demon King’s family. It was bought by the group of people under Leticia who managed her various assets.
Leticia just stayed at home and waited for the demon race’s best ‘economists’ to make her already immense wealth even greater.
For example, this villa was bought when Leticia was hiding in the human world.
As for its original owner, well, Leticia didn’t know.
She’d have to ask the people who bought this place about its basic situation, and see which rebellious guy was tired of living.
Leticia had no problem sending traitors to hell to have a chat with King Yama about life.
But before that, she had a more important matter to attend to: welcoming her younger sister, Ya.
A few hours later, when the carriage pulled by four unicorns landed in front of the villa’s gate, Xue’er was already waiting at the entrance with a smile.
“Sister Xue’er!” The young girl happily jumped off the carriage and greeted Xue’er.
“Miss Xue’er, good evening.” Following behind Bai Ya, Elsa stepped down from the carriage, holding onto the handrail.
Her movements were so elegant compared to Bai Ya’s. Unfortunately, no one here would appreciate her elegance.
“Miss Xiao Ya, Miss Elsa, good evening. My lady has been waiting for your arrival for a long time.” Xue’er bowed slightly and replied elegantly.
This made Bai Ya feel a little uncomfortable. She preferred the more natural way of interacting in the past.
Being so formal made Bai Ya feel a bit unsuited to her.
“Um, I think Sister Xue’er and Sister Elsa can act more naturally,” she said softly.
“Actually, I also feel it’s a bit contrived,” Elsa laughed.
“Miss said she wants Little Ya to experience noble life, so…” Xue’er showed no expression. She stepped aside and extended her hand. “Then, please come in, ladies.”
As she walked into the villa that Leticia had carefully chosen, Bai Ya’s mouth didn’t close. She had imagined what Leticia’s home would be like, but she never imagined that Leticia’s home would be so grand and beautiful.
So Sister Qian Qian really is a scion of a noble family.
“So big, so beautiful, is this Sister Qian Qian’s home?”
“No,” Elsa shook her head.
“Eh?!”
“Although this is a property of the Lei… Qian Qian family, she generally doesn’t come here.” Elsa explained. “She probably chose this place this time because she didn’t want you, Little Ya, to be targeted by some disgusting people.”
Leticia’s human guest, and a frail young girl at that, would be something worth paying attention to for those with intentions.
By choosing this place, they could at least avoid the sight of many people.
Many people were watching the Demon King’s Palace, but fewer would notice this place.
Leticia’s whereabouts were almost unknown. As long as she didn’t want people to know her whereabouts, others couldn’t know.
Seeing through Leticia’s stealth magic was not a simple matter.
Besides Bai Ling, Leticia was confident that her stealth magic could deceive anyone, regardless of race or strength.
“Sister Qian Qian has considered everything very carefully.”
“In fact, she hasn’t considered anything at all,” before Bai Ya could finish speaking, a voice laced with a hint of resentment came from the other side. “Long time no see, Little Ya. You’ve become even more radiant.”
“Little Qi!” Bai Ya’s eyes lit up. she was too familiar with this voice.
Turning her head, she indeed saw the familiar girl.
Kira was wearing a black princess dress, and her long black hair was tied into twin tails, giving her a very cute appearance.
She held a black notebook in her hand, seeming to have just finished a day’s work.
Bai Ya didn’t think much further. The moment she saw Kira, she pounced towards the black-haired girl.
The girl instinctively tried to dodge, but before she could make a move, Bai Ya had already hugged her.
“Little Qi is still as cute as half a year ago,” Bai Ya said happily, rubbing her face against Kira’s.
Kira had no idea how to react. She could only cast a pleading glance at Xue’er and Elsa, hoping that these two reliable adults could help her.
“Um…” Elsa was about to speak, but Xue’er gently pulled her sleeve.
“Don’t worry,” Xue’er said softly.
Bai Ya wouldn’t do anything to Kira. Hugging and rubbing her face was fine. They were both cute girls, so what was the problem?
It wasn’t like she was at a disadvantage.
“Ah, this.” Elsa felt like she was an outsider, not understanding anything.
And as Xue’er had said, after Bai Ya vented her half-yearlong longing for Kira for half a minute, she let go of the princess who looked like she had given up on life.
“Little Qi, Little Qi, where is Sister Qian Qian?”
“I’m behind you, you little brat.” Leticia appeared behind Bai Ya and gently tapped Bai Ya’s forehead. “You forgot me the moment you saw Kira, didn’t you?”
“Hehehe, is Qi’er Kira’s name?” Bai Ya giggled foolishly, then asked Leticia.
Bai Ya knew that the true names of the demon race wouldn’t be names like Su Qi or Su Qian Qian.
And the name that just came out of Leticia’s mouth must be Xiao Qi’s true name.
Kira, Kira, it really is a nice name.
“Yes, Kira is Kira’s name,” Leticia replied with a smile. “As for my name, Little Ya, you can try to guess. If you guess it before your vacation ends, I can grant Little Ya one wish.”
“Sister Qian Qian, don’t underestimate me. I’m very smart!” Bai Ya confidently accepted the challenge.
