“Then I won’t be polite.”
Picking up her fork, Iserin slowly and elegantly began to enjoy tonight’s dinner.
Mowan observed Iserin’s every move out of the corner of her eye.
Iserin’s expression couldn’t be called enjoyment, but it definitely wasn’t dislike; she was as relaxed and natural as if she were having an ordinary daily meal.
This relaxed Mowan’s mood quite a bit.
Mowan lowered her head and put some dessert into her mouth.
For some reason, the food on the table seemed to have become a few degrees more delicious.
How strange.
This feeling was truly too strange.
Perhaps it was precisely because she had paid for this dinner out of her own pocket that her internal status had quietly shifted.
Originally, Iserin was the host and she was the invited guest, but now the roles had reversed, with her as the host and Iserin as the guest.
Mowan didn’t think of herself as someone with a particularly bad personality.
But vanity is something no one can avoid.
Treating someone to a lavish meal indeed satisfied her vanity to a certain extent.
Or perhaps, it was simply because seeing Iserin start eating caused her heart to become lively in turn, making her feel as though she were no longer alone.
Why exactly did the dinner become more delicious? It was hard to say…
***
After dinner.
Iserin and Mowan left the manor.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you home. You can rest well tomorrow; the Princess shouldn’t be making any trouble for a while.”
Not making trouble for a while?
But judging from the Princess’s performance over the past two days, she didn’t seem like someone who would live peacefully.
It was probably just that Iserin chose to give her a bit of time off.
After all, she was employed by Iserin and not the Princess.
Sitting in the carriage.
Mowan touched her empty pockets again.
The reward of three Gold Coins had gone down the drain just like that.
However, working for Iserin, she shouldn’t be short on money.
Comforting herself this way, Mowan gradually forgot the heartache of spending three Gold Coins on a single dinner a moment ago.
Returning to that quiet little house.
Iserin didn’t leave immediately; instead, she followed Mowan into the house.
“You don’t need to wake up so early tomorrow to come see me.”
“Yeah…”
Mowan hadn’t planned on it anyway.
“I hope you can understand that I have two completely different attitudes between my work and my private life. If you come looking for me during my working hours, my behavior might make you feel as though I don’t treat you as a friend.”
“I can understand. Besides, I didn’t think that way. If anything, your attitude while working has its own charming aura.”
Oops.
She accidentally blurted out her True Heart.
Mowan cautiously scanned Iserin’s expression.
Seeing that the other woman didn’t seem to find anything wrong with it, Mowan breathed a soft sigh of relief.
“I’m very happy you think so.”
Iserin closed the door.
She turned to look at Mowan.
“While at home, won’t you change back into your Demon Race form?”
Mowan’s hands tightened slightly.
She gazed at Iserin with a hint of uncertain testing in her eyes.
*Change back into my Demon Race form? Are you going to toy with my tail again?*
It doesn’t matter, I suppose.
As long as there is enough trust, letting you play with my tail for a bit is of no consequence.
“Iserin, do you prefer interacting with me in my Demon Race form?”
This time, Mowan didn’t call Iserin Lady Saintess; it was the first time she directly called Iserin by her name.
“I don’t know, but I know that you in your Demon Race form must be your most natural and authentic self. I’ve said before, I hope you will give your True Heart to me.”
So that’s how it is.
That’s fine too; it’s not bad.
Mowan thought she could use this to slightly induce Iserin into saying those two words—for the supreme and flawless Saintess to say “I like you” to someone else.
I’m so wicked.
Mowan secretly chided herself in her heart.
Mowan looked around. After confirming that the windows and the door were tightly shut, she released her Seal and allowed all her Demon Race characteristics to manifest.
“Can I touch your ears?”
Iserin approached Mowan and made her request in a gentle voice.
“Of course.”
Iserin opened her arms, and her fingers pressed against Mowan’s ears.
Mowan held her breath.
She didn’t know whether to look up or down.
If she looked up, it would make her seem very short, and she didn’t like looking up at others.
She was a head shorter than Iserin, so she could only see Iserin’s chin and neck.
A holy, pale neck, its skin as translucent as snowflakes.
Her ear tips were enveloped by two warm palms.
Mowan’s heart rate suddenly accelerated, and the blood flowing faster through her body made it impossible for her to hold her breath any longer.
She flared her nostrils slightly, breathing at a faint frequency.
Yet even so, Iserin’s fragrance rushed into her nose one after another.
She didn’t hate the scent on Iserin’s body.
She was just afraid she would become addicted to this smell.
When breathed in from so close, the originally elegant and cold fragrance became somewhat hallucinogenic and warm, a scent that could almost make one lose themselves in addiction, as if it were evaporating from Iserin’s body heat.
These messy imaginings floated through her mind.
Mowan suddenly blushed.
The long sleeves on Iserin’s arms brushed past her face, blocking her peripheral vision so that she could only see Iserin.
Below her line of sight, Iserin’s chest almost touched her own, like a great mountain meeting a small hill.
Mowan felt a bit inferior and a bit shy.
Finally, at the moment before Mowan’s heart exploded, Iserin let go of Mowan’s beet-red ear tips.
“The texture seems better than that of an ordinary Human’s ears.”
“Is… is that so?”
Mowan answered stutteringly.
After pulling back a bit, her eyes didn’t dare look directly at Iserin.
“Or perhaps it is just your unique sensation; after all, I’ve never touched another Demon Race’s ears.”
“Then you’ve touched other Humans’ ears?”
“Yes, I often touch Croll’s ears. When she was little and wouldn’t listen, I would pinch them.”
“So just now, did you think I was being disobedient?”
“Perhaps a little? After all, you aren’t very self-aware. In private, you should let me see your Demon Race form.”
“I see…”
Mowan fidgeted with her fingers.
Her heart was full of conflict.
Iserin didn’t seem to mind her Demon Race identity at all; she even hoped Mowan would interact with her in that form.
She was so understanding.
If she just reasonably told her the suspicions in her heart—not necessarily rushing to prove them right—she should… choose to understand her, right?
“Actually, I…”
“Hmm?”
Iserin waited patiently for Mowan’s confession.
Her eyes were full of doting, as if telling Mowan that no matter what she said, she wouldn’t be angry.
In this atmosphere.
Mowan wanted to take back her words even less.
“Actually, while treating the injured Princess this afternoon, I discovered that the damage to her body was Light-attribute Magic damage. That is to say, what that Monster unleashed was magic from a branch of the Sun God.”
After pouring out her true suspicions, Mowan felt a bit of lingering fear.
She quickly used the Princess’s own words to cover for herself.
“Of course… it’s also possible that it reflected the Princess’s magic.”
“Are you thinking that the Monster might not have come from the Demon Race’s side?”
“Yes.”
“Your suspicion is correct.”
“Eh?”
“Creating magical creatures and making them fight for oneself—do you think it’s possible that Humans wouldn’t imitate such a useful magic?”
Iserin didn’t question Mowan as she had expected.
Instead, she openly and straightforwardly admitted that this was a creation of Humans.
Mowan looked at Iserin as if she were seeing the descent of a savior.