The moment that spoonful of blackish-purple substance was stuffed into her mouth, Lilia’s throat began to spasm.
A slimy texture clung to her tongue.
A taste mixed with rot and a sour stench exploded.
Her stomach churned, and her esophagus burned.
Every cell in her body was screaming—
Spit it out! Spit it out now!
“Mmph… mmph-mmph!”
Lilia struggled desperately, her hands pushing against Lucia’s arm.
But that hand was like an iron vice, death-gripping her chin so tightly she couldn’t even turn her head.
More poisonous substances were stuffed into her mouth.
Slime mucus stuck to her teeth.
Abyssal ink corroded the lining of her mouth.
Screaming Radish powder exploded at the root of her tongue, an ear-splitting ringing echoing through her brain.
She was going to die.
She was really going to die.
Lilia’s tears fell uncontrollably, and her vision began to blur.
Those toxins were sliding down her throat, about to enter her stomach—
No! Absolutely not! She couldn’t die here! She couldn’t die at the hands of this pervert!
The instinct to survive overwhelmed all fear.
The mana network within Lilia’s body was completely activated at this moment.
All her mana surged frantically toward her throat, compressing and gathering in her mouth.
She opened her mouth.
Not to beg for mercy.
Instead, she spat out an extremely compressed fireball directly at Lucia’s face!
“Boom!”
Firelight exploded between the two of them.
The shockwave forced Lucia’s hand away, and Lilia took the chance to spit out everything in her mouth.
“Blegh—cough, cough, cough!”
She collapsed on the ground, coughing violently, her mouth filled with the taste of blood and charred soot.
Her tongue was numb.
But she couldn’t worry about that.
Scrambling on all fours, she retreated, desperately putting distance between herself and Lucia.
She backed into a corner until there was nowhere left to go.
She looked up, trembling all over, at Lucia.
Lucia stood where she was, raising a hand to wipe the soot from her face.
A small black mark was left on that perfect face.
She looked at the ash on her fingers, then at Lilia huddled in the corner.
Then—she smiled.
It wasn’t that cold, playful smile.
It was a genuine smile, one filled with appreciation.
“Interesting.”
Lucia lowered her hand and walked toward Lilia.
“To actually think of using a spell to counterattack while in a desperate situation. It seems you learned your lesson well yesterday.”
Lilia curled into the corner, watching helplessly as Lucia approached.
She wanted to run, but her legs were too weak to stand.
Lucia stopped in front of her, looking down from above.
“However, your control is still too poor. The fireball’s compression wasn’t stable enough, and the timing of the explosion was off. If this had been an enemy, your strike wouldn’t have even broken their shield.”
Lilia grit her teeth, unable to say a single word.
Only one thought filled her mind now—when is this pervert finally going to kill her?
“Today’s Punishment Game ends here,” Lucia suddenly spoke.
Lilia froze.
It was over?
Just like that?
“I have decided to give you a new reward.”
A reward? Lilia’s heart skipped a beat.
This pervert’s “rewards” were never anything good.
Last time’s “reward” was making her wear a maid outfit and feed her while kneeling.
The time before that was making her wear a bell collar and play hide-and-seek in a lightning maze.
What kind of trick would it be this time?
“Your magic is still in its most primitive stage.”
Lucia turned and walked back to her throne.
“The reason is that your understanding of energy is too shallow. The ingredients you’ve encountered are of too low a grade.”
Lilia lay on the ground, her mind unable to keep up.
Ingredients? Grade?
“Therefore, I have decided to send you somewhere.”
Lucia sat back down and crossed her legs. “To procure some higher-grade ‘ingredients’.”
Lilia’s cat ears twitched.
“Go… go where? Meow?”
Her voice was still trembling, but her mind had already begun to calculate.
If she could leave the Evernight Palace, even just temporarily—
“The Demon Capital, Asra.”
Lilia’s breath hitched.
The Demon Capital?
Letting her out of the Evernight Palace?
A surge of immense joy welled up in her heart, but she desperately suppressed it, not daring to show it.
“Of course, I don’t feel at ease with you going alone.”
Lucia snapped her fingers.
Lilith’s figure silently appeared behind her.
“Lilith will accompany you to ensure your safety.”
Lucia paused, her blood-red eyes locking onto Lilia.
“And to ensure you don’t run off.”
Lilia’s smile froze on her face.
She knew it wouldn’t be that simple.
“As for the procurement funds…”
Lucia reached out her hand.
A pitch-black ring engraved with complex magic patterns appeared out of thin air in her palm.
The ring emitted a faint, dark-red halo.
The patterns on it flowed like a living creature.
“Come here.”
Lucia beckoned her with a finger.
Lilia grit her teeth, climbed up from the ground, and shuffled step by step toward the throne.
Lucia grabbed her hand and slipped the ring onto her index finger.
The ring’s size adjusted automatically, fitting her finger perfectly.
A cold sensation washed over her, followed by a slight sting—the magic patterns on the ring lit up, as if establishing a connection with her mana network.
“This is Lucia’s Private Seal.”
Lucia released her hand.
“In the entire Demon King Empire, you can use this to pay at any shop bearing the Royal Crest. There is no limit.”
Lilia’s head thrummed.
No… limit?
She looked down at the ring on her finger, then up at Lucia.
This pervert… gave her an unlimited black card?
“What, you don’t like this reward?”
Lucia’s voice carried a hint of playfulness.
“I like it! Of course I like it! Meow!” Lilia’s voice even cracked.
She tried hard to suppress her racing heart and squeezed out a smile. “Master is too good to me, meow!”
Lucia looked at her forced composure, the corner of her mouth curling into an arc.
She naturally knew what this little thing was thinking.
It was nothing more than wanting to use her money to empty her treasury.
However, she didn’t care.
She was looking forward to it.
“Go.”
Lucia waved her hand.
“Don’t disappoint me.”
“Yes! Master! Meow!”
Lilia turned and ran out, practically scrambling on all fours.
Lilith followed behind her, a hint of complex emotion flashing through her purple eyes.
The door closed.
Lucia was left alone in the study.
She looked at the residual mana fluctuations belonging to Lilia on her fingers and chuckled softly.
“Quite the interesting little thing.”
***
Lilia burst out of the study and sprinted all the way back to her room.
Only after closing the door did she dare to pant heavily.
Her heart was racing, and her face was flushed red.
She raised her hand, staring at the ring on her index finger.
On the black band, the dark-red magic patterns were still slowly flowing.
No limit.
Shops throughout the entire Demon King Empire.
Spend however she wanted.
Lilia’s grin spread from ear to ear.
“Ha… hahahaha!”
She clutched her stomach and laughed until tears came out.
Lucia, oh Lucia.
You’ve calculated everything, but I bet you didn’t expect—you personally handed me the knife that will stab you!
Lilia paced around the room several times, her brain spinning rapidly.
The Demon Capital, Asra.
The most prosperous city in the entire Demon King Empire.
All sorts of weird and wonderful things could be found there.
And she now had an unlimited black card.
So what was she going to do?
Buy everything that could be bought?
No.
That was too low-class.
She would buy the most expensive, the rarest, and the things that would hurt Lucia the most to lose!
Legend-grade magical materials.
Out-of-print alchemy recipes.
Peerless treasures.
She’d buy them all! Buy until that perverted Demon King’s treasury hit rock bottom! Buy until her heart bled so much she couldn’t sleep!
When that time comes—
Lilia imagined the expression on Lucia’s face when she saw the bill, laughing even harder.
“Knock, knock.”
The sound of knocking rang out.
“Miss, Her Majesty has ordered that we depart tomorrow morning,” Lilith’s voice came from outside the door.
“You need to prepare your luggage.”
“I got it, meow!”
Lilia responded and rushed to the wardrobe.
Opening the cabinet door, a row of Gothic Lolita dresses hung neatly inside.
She grabbed a few at random and threw them on the bed.
Then she dug out a small bag and started stuffing things into it.
Wallet—don’t need it, I have the ring.
Weapon—don’t have one.
Magic tools—don’t have those either.
She stared at the empty bag, suddenly realizing—aside from the clothes on her back, she had nothing.
Forget it.
She’d just buy it all tomorrow anyway.
Lilia tossed the bag aside and lay on the bed.
Staring at the ceiling, her head was full of plans for tomorrow.
How she was going to spend the money.
What she was going to buy.
How she was going to make that perverted Demon King regret it.
As she thought, her eyelids began to grow heavy.
Today had been too draining.
From the morning magic lesson, to nearly being poisoned to death, to getting the black card—her mental energy had long been overdrawn.
Her eyes closed, and she soon fell into a deep sleep.
In her dream, she stood atop a mountain of gold.
Beneath her feet were nothing but gold coins.
She grabbed a handful and threw them into the air.
The gold coins exploded in the air, turning into fireworks.
Then, Lucia’s face appeared within the fireworks.
She looked at Lilia expressionlessly.
Her lips moved, saying something.
Lilia couldn’t hear it.
She wanted to get closer, but the mountain of gold beneath her feet suddenly collapsed.
She fell into a void of darkness.
There was nothing around her.
Only Lucia’s voice echoed in her ears.
“Don’t disappoint me.”