Chapter 12: Attempting to awaken maternal love.

Yalith remained silent, simply smiling as she looked at her daughter, who was held in her arms and clearly uneasy. She was pondering what kind of reward would be worthy of Chloe’s performance today.

Strictly speaking, Chloe had met all her personal expectations in every aspect, so rewarding her was not excessive.

However, those despicable actions that aligned with her expectations would be difficult to properly explain to the demons who had come to watch. As the Demon King, she had to consider this carefully.

Chloe, however, could not understand her Demon King mother’s thoughts. She felt extremely guilty. There was a chance that her little tricks in the arena had not escaped the notice of this powerful Demon King mother at all.

Whether those dishonorable actions would be accepted by Yalith, who hoped she would amount to something, was still unknown.

What if she had misread the situation, and right now Yalith was simply building up her emotions to settle accounts with her harshly? What should she do then?

For the sake of her own safety, Chloe began blinking rapidly, trying hard to make her eyes watery. At the same time, she adjusted her facial expression, clenching both little fists tightly, attempting to awaken the motherly love of her greatest, wisest, most benevolent, and considerate mother.

She also did not forget to inwardly complain about a certain ungrateful maid.

Daring to try to reverse their roles as master and servant?

Once she survived this ordeal, she would definitely punish Elda properly!

Should she kick her with her foot or elbow her…

Just thinking about it made Chloe angry.

Everyone around her was a big sister with plenty of meat and a strong build, while she had thin arms and legs. Normally, when servants did something wrong, no matter how she punished them it had no effect. That was also why she had always struggled to establish any authority.

She really didn’t know which useless bean sprout her old mom had paired with to give birth to her. If she had been born as big and strong as those ogres at a young age, or could transform massively like the dragon race, who would still think she was a little good-for-nothing?

That’s right!

Chloe suddenly saw the light.

It was all Old Feng’s fault, and the fault of that missing old bean.

Her uneasy state of mind vanished instantly. Her eyes quickly regained their sparkle, the hesitant stammering disappeared, and she openly fixed her gaze on Yalith’s face.

“What are you thinking about now?”

Yalith suddenly felt an itch on her face. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the little girl in her arms, whose eyes looked a bit off. She suddenly found Chloe distasteful, loosened her hold, and dropped her straight to the ground. Before Chloe’s “Ouch” could even be heard, she spoke first.

“No matter how sweetly you call me, it won’t change my decision.”

If she didn’t say this upfront, her daughter would definitely come up with some other mischievous idea to torment people.

After speaking, Yalith looked toward Elda, who was nervously waiting not far away. The anxious maid immediately stepped forward, bowed, and knelt, quietly awaiting the Demon King’s instructions.

The little scheme Elda had earlier had already been completely extinguished.

Whether she could act freely with Her Highness depended entirely on the Demon King’s wishes. She understood this very clearly, and she also knew who her true master should be before the current Demon King abdicated.

However, Elda soon began to consider withdrawing.

It wasn’t because of anyone else. Her adorable princess suddenly lifted her neck with a look of disgust, stared at the Demon King, put on a stinky face, and said crisply:

“Old mom, I’ve figured it out.”

“What?”

Yalith couldn’t understand what nonsense Chloe was spouting again. Out of curiosity, she frowned and held back the urge to slap her bottom.

“Everything I am today is your fault. It’s all because of you. You just casually hooked up with someone, gave birth to me so useless, and your taste in partners wasn’t even any better.”

Elda swore that on the day Her Highness finished the trial, she witnessed the richest range of expressions on the Demon King’s face.

She also couldn’t help but be amazed that a person’s facial expressions could change so many times in the blink of an eye.

The specific details were probably interfered with by the Demon King’s magic on her memory, so she couldn’t remember clearly. But after that day, Elda had taken care of the princess who had been bedridden for a full week. That was enough to prove what had happened.

……

“Ouch… ouch! Waaah…”

In the palace of the Blood Demon princess, anyone who stepped inside could hear such miserable wailing.

It was truly heartbreaking to hear, enough to bring tears to anyone’s eyes. The one making these sounds was definitely a little girl who had suffered a tremendous grievance.

Yet the moment one entered the palace and saw the actual scene inside, no matter who it was, they would clench their fists tightly.

Not out of anger at the pitiful state of the crying girl, but because they saw the wailing little loli lying lazily on the bed, enjoying the maid’s service, chewing on sweet grapes being fed into her mouth from time to time, and only occasionally pretending to cry out. Anyone would clench their fists.

The feeling of having one’s sympathy fed to the dogs was truly disgusting.

At this moment, Rita, who had come to visit Chloe, was feeling exactly this way. Despite her reluctance, after learning that Chloe had been harshly punished by the Demon King and had also been entrusted with a task by her, and as the big sister among the princesses of the same generation, she had still come to Chloe’s palace.

Yet what she saw was this scene. How could she feel any pleasure in her heart?

“Ah, Big Sister Rita, long time no see~”

Having been caught pretending, Chloe showed no shame at all. She waved her little hand lazily, squeezed her body deeper into the bedding, and had Elda feed her another grape, looking fully prepared to continue living in decadence.

“I have something to say to Chloe.”

Rita frowned and spoke to Elda. The maid, however, showed no reaction and continued feeding Chloe. Chloe, who was happily nestled in the covers, pouted in dissatisfaction.

“Don’t chase her away. You can join too. Let’s keep slacking off and eating together. Ignore her.”

“You are the Demon King’s daughter…”

“So what?”

“……”

Rita helplessly found a chair in the room and sat down. Seeing Chloe stretch one leg out of the covers without any grace, her fair little foot swinging back and forth as it tried to reach the wind chimes on the bed, she gave up on her strict thoughts.

She was still young and very innocent. It was completely understandable that her speech and actions were a bit casual and lazy. There was no need for her to feel troubled over what happened during the trial.

“Chloe.”

Rita had come to visit Chloe this time not only to deliver the task and necessary care, but more importantly to resolve the impact the trial that day had left on her.

As a warrior, she was not good with words and didn’t understand roundabout ways of speaking. Therefore, she understood that even if Chloe’s schemes were vicious, she had genuinely fled in panic that day. According to the rules, she was the loser.

The Demon King hadn’t said what would happen if one lost to Chloe, but it had always been a long-standing rule of the demon race that the loser could be disposed of and humiliated by the winner as they wished. Rita understood this clearly. After discussing it with her mother, even though Chloe was not her preferred type, since Chloe had said those words, she had no choice but to accept it.

Today she had come specifically to clarify this matter.

But just as she put on a serious attitude and was about to speak,

Chloe, whose foot had successfully reached the wind chime, pulled the bed’s gauze curtain down, separating them.

“Elda, you come sleep too~ Also, Big Sister Rita, that was just a joke, okay? I already have Elda. Even if you accidentally fall in love with me, I can’t abandon her.”

“You!”

Rita’s calm face instantly flushed red. She saw Elda give her an apologetic smile, then excitedly slip into the gauze curtain with eyes full of excitement. Rita immediately felt a surge of anger.

She was Rivet’s daughter, an extremely proud Flame Demon warrior. How could she be humiliated like this?

Provoked by Chloe’s challenging tone, Rita tossed aside even the task the Demon King had assigned her. Without thinking, she dove into the gauze curtain. Under the shocked gazes of the master and servant pair, she pinned Chloe down.

“I only came to deliver a message, but now it seems you kissed me and don’t want to take responsibility?”