The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Afterwards, Lucy hurriedly got out of bed and got ready to get back to the palace.

Due to the fact that Shien only got back at around dawn, after everything that happened, next, it's now already nearly noon.

And noon is when Lucy needs to make her public appearance.

If she doesn't get back quickly, then she'll be done for.

Thus, even though her body still felt a bit uncomfortable, Lucy could only forcefully bear with it, ignore Shien's obvious ogling at her from the side, quickly get dressed again, and got ready to leave.

Oh, as an aside, she's leaving through the windows.

If she really were to simply walk out of Shien's room, the Lucy could guarantee that the matter of her having stayed the entire night and only left at around noon will quickly end up spreading out through the Capital, thus causing a huge uproar.

Therefore, she had to both come and leave in secret.

Only…

"Why does it feel like we're having a secret rendezvous?" Shien looked quite amused, "Plus, isn't the person who's escaping through the windows supposed to be the guy here?"

"Off with you!" Lucy glared at Shien while yelling at him, "Remember to come find me in the palace. You're not allowed to leave today!"

Lucy really was worried that Shien would end up leaving the Capital and head toward the Stalim ducal territory without a word after eating her up.

Although she's rather busy, so she can't stay around here, Lucy didn't actually want to part from Shien just like that either.

She just gave herself to him, so Lucy had some worries still as well.

Thus, Lucy doesn't plan on letting Shien leave without a few days worth of sticking together.

If she didn't do that, then given that guy's way of doing things, who knows if Shien might only return after the child's already an adult?

Either way, Lucy didn't think him too reliable, so she has to first properly whip him into shape for a few days before letting him leave.

"Alright, alright. You're in charge, alright?"

Shien wasn't all that happy with that, but he didn't actually object either.

Things are different now after all. Shien had already laid his hands on the princess already after all, so it's only natural that he can't keep acting the way he was before and act so resistant to going to her room.

His magic studies were over now too, so Shien basically doesn't have anything that he really needs to deal with now. Thus, keeping Lucy company for a few days is thus very much something that he should do.

Besides, in the past, all they could do was have tea and talk. Now though, they have a lot more that they can do together, right?

Shien decided. Next, he should properly savor the taste of the Treasure of the Kingdom that's the idol of countless people's hearts. There's no way that he can leave without doing that first.

To put it in another way, he won't be stopping until he completely molds this princess into his shape.

It's unknown if Lucy had noticed those ideas of Shien, but after she got Shien's promise, she finally managed to relax a bit.

"In that case… I'm going then?"

As she said that, Lucy kind of didn't want to leave.

So what if she's the Treasure of the Kingdom?

So what if she the idol of countless people?

No matter how beautiful, how talented she is, in the end, she's still a 17 years old girl. In this situation, feeling at a loss and not wanting to leave her man is only natural.

Thankfully, Shien wasn't a complete idiot when it comes to love, nor is he one of those damnable dense protagonists, so he was able to notice how much Lucy didn't want to go.

Thus, Shien immediately drew her into his arms and pressed a big kiss down on her.

"Wah…!"

Lucy let out a muffled cry, attempted to slap at Shien's shoulders, and then gave up. She could only wait for Shien to finish his kiss with her with a blush before she was finally released.

"Now you can go." Shien spoke in a rare, gentle tone, "I'll come see you after I finish lunch. It won't take long at all."

With that, Lucy finally got her heart filled by Shien's gentle side and felt a bit of true happiness.

Thank goodness. That guy's not a complete bastard. He at least knew to be gentle to her.

This also seems to be the first time he has treated her so gently, right?

In that case, all her efforts toward him are finally worth it.

That said… Using her everything in exchange for a single gentle moment. Isn't that trade just a bit too lopsided?

Sigh, here's hoping that guy can be as sensitive in the future.

"I'll wait for you then."

Lucy stayed for a while in Shien's arms and got a few more kisses from Shien before she was finally satisfied and left, jumping out through the window.

Off in the garden, Yulin seemed to have noticed something, so she opened an eye. However, she soon closed it again, completely ignoring Lucy who dropped next to her.

Lucy turned her head to look back and saw Shien waving at her from the window. Only then did she finally show a brilliantly beautiful smile on her face.

Just like that, the peerless princess left.

Shien continued to watch her as she left. It was only when she finally disappeared from his sight that he reminisced over it a bit.

"So this is the feeling of having a woman, huh?"

To think that even he felt a bit reluctant to let her leave. No wonder that kind of development between a man and woman is always one of the important developments in every world.

Of course, Shien was in quite a good mood.

After all…

"I've finally succeeded in escaping being single."

The more Shien thought about it, the better his mood got.

"Let's make sure to properly keep that princess company for the next few days then."

Only after deciding on that did Shien finally turn around.

Having done so, Shien's heart nearly leaped out of his chest in fright.

At some point, a figure had actually been standing behind him without him noticing.

"L-Lasha…!?"

Only after clearly making out who the person is did Shien's eyes widen.

Lasha however was completely emotionless as always though.

"You've finally gotten out of bed, Mister Shien." Lasha spoke with impeccable calm, "Lunch is already prepared. Miss Vivian and the others had been asking after why you've not gotten up since morning. They have been waiting for you for some time now."

"I-is that so?" Shien was still somewhat in chaos, so he could only respond, "S-sorry, I'll head over now."

"Very well." Lasha nodded, but then she added, "I've already prepared the items for your morning routines, so please head directly over. Although those are tasks that I should have taken care of, I had judged that today was relatively special and that Mister Shien would not require it, so I must ask that you take care of it yourself."

In that case then, did that mean that even Lasha wasn't able wash and brush his teeth while he was asleep without him knowing?

However, compared to those minor trifles, Shien cared more about a different matter.

"Y-you already know then?" Shien weakly asked.

The matter he was referring to was obviously the heated things that happened in this room.

Lasha simply nodded before Shien's twitching face.

"Of course I knew. After all, I've been by your side the whole time."

Lasha said something like that.

"B-by my side?"

Shien was dumbfounded.

"I'm a maid, so of course I will always wait by your side."

Lasha however was completely nonplussed.

"No… Then, were you… The entire time…?" Shien's eyes widened.

"Yes, I've been watching the entire time."

Lasha was still as calm as always, but the words out of her mouth made Shien want to vomit up blood.

In other words then, his battle with Lucy, their back and forward, attack and defense, ups and down, have all been observed by this maid from the side then?

I…

While Shien was being utterly stunned, Lasha even continued to speak.

"Please do not worry. I already said this before, but I have professional knowledge, so I won't be alarmed at all, nor will I be gossiping about hit. Thus, there's no need to Mister Shien to feel afraid due to such a minor thing."

The words out of Lasha's mouth was deadly in its provocativeness.

A minor thing?

The best night in his life that he put all his efforts into was merely a minor thing to her?

Come on then, let's compare your so called professional knowledge against me if you dare.

He refuses to believe that his "wildly read" experience from his 20 years of his past life would lose out against her so called professional knowledge!

Just as Shien was getting ready to put his thoughts into action, Lasha suddenly changed the subject.

"Actually, I'm quite happy as well." Lasha suddenly spoke matter-of-fact, "At the very least, there will be someone who can resolve some of Mister Shien's physical issues, so I won't need to worry about being dragged onto the bed and be kissed and groped by Mister Shien anymore."

Those words immediately doused all of Shien's anger.

"I wasn't doing that on purpose…" Shien weakly tried to state again.

"I know." Lasha also calmly replied.

After that… Well, there was no more after that…

Lash really seemed to have simply brought it up as an aside and stopped mentioning it after she was done. It instead made Shien feel like he had done something wrong though.

Thus, Shien hurriedly spoke up.

"Alright, let's go eat lunch then."

With that, Shien moved right past Lasha and hurriedly tried to head out the door.

However…

"Mister Shien."

Lasha's voice came from behind Shien.

Shien stopped.

It was because, at that moment, Lasha's voice felt different from the way it was normally.

Shien thus turned about to face Lasha.

With that, Shien discovered that Lasha was staring intently at him. A strange emotion was shining within her ruby-like eyes.

Behind her, her beautiful, black hair waved in the wind coming from outside the window.

Add in her flawless and beautiful face, Shien's breath caught in his throat for a moment.

It couldn't be helped.

(I keep feeling like I've seen this face before…)

Shien didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity from Lasha.

At the same time, Shien's heartbeats also sped up for some unknown reason.

He wasn't moved. Nor was he feeling guilty. Rather, it's more like something in his body was resonating with what was before him, making Shien feel somewhat uncomfortable.

In this situation, Lasha was still staring intently at Shien.

Shien unconsciously placed his hand over his chest as he met Lasha's gaze.

Neither person spoke up, simply letting the silence hang in the air between them.

Only some time after did Lasha finally lower her eyes.

The beautiful maid stepped forward toward Shien, extended her hand, and pressed it against Shien's chest.

At this moment, the resonance in Shien's heart got even stronger, and his heartbeat also quickened.

But Lasha didn't do anything else.

She only said the following.

"Please be careful from now on."

With those final words, Lasha turned about and left.

Leaving just Shien on his own to watch Lasha's retreating figure with a slight feeling of hurt in his chest.

"Just what was that about?"

Shien couldn't figure it out no matter what.

However, the look and emotion that Lasha had just shown him had carved itself deep into Shien's heart, making him unable to forget it for some time.

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