Where was she?
Aetherinra, lying between Lilian and Ian, opened her eyes.
Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, she couldn’t help but ask herself, ‘How did I end up here?’
Aetherinra tried to stand up, but she found that she didn’t have a single ounce of strength left in her body.
The only parts of her she could move were the eyes she had just opened.
After struggling for a moment to no avail, Aetherinra noticed Ian sitting to the side.
‘Was it that bastard Ian’s doing?’
‘It must be him. I only fainted after drinking the water he handed me. Now that I’ve woken up, I’m in this hellhole.’
At that thought, the anger Aetherinra felt toward Ian was like a volcanic eruption that could no longer be suppressed.
Originally, she had thought that no matter how bad Ian was, he wouldn’t be cruel enough to move against her, especially since they had grown up together.
Now, it seemed she had vastly underestimated just how much of a scumbag Ian was.
Veronica had warned her before to keep her distance from Ian, but she hadn’t taken those words to heart.
‘Now it seems I was wrong?’
Aetherinra regretted not following Veronica’s advice.
If she could do it all over again, she would never trust Ian again.
Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret in this world.
Unaware that Aetherinra had woken up, Ian was currently racking his brain for a way to stall for time.
‘System, open the Character Panel,’ Ian said in his mind.
**[Character Panel]**
Name: Ian Saint Yola
Realm: Second Tier
Strength: 105
Speed: 32
Mana: 97
Defense: 20
Skills: Basic Swordsmanship LV2 (Low-grade), Fireball LV1 (Low-grade), Water Dragon Spell (Low-grade)
Seeing his Character Panel, Ian almost swore out loud.
He knew Ian was a piece of trash, but he didn’t expect him to be this useless.
Despite being in the Second Tier, he had only mastered three skills, and they were all low-grade.
Furthermore, as a Second Tier Mage, Ian’s basic stats weren’t even as good as a slightly stronger First Tier Mage.
Seeing such weak stats, Ian couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.
‘Damn it, this is going to be difficult. With stats this weak, let alone fighting Lilian head-on, I probably couldn’t even withstand a single trace of her aura.’
Although Ian had some life-saving measures as the Son of a Duke, those methods would only last a few minutes in front of Lilian.
They wouldn’t delay things for long.
Just as Ian was considering his options, the words of the attendant ahead reached him like a death knell.
“Young Master, we will reach the Demon Realm in another hour. The road ahead will be quite rugged, so I hope you can endure it.”
On the surface, Ian remained calm.
“Understood. I will endure it.”
But at this moment, waves of shock were crashing through his mind.
‘Only four hours have passed! I must delay for at least another hour, or I’m definitely dead!’
For the sake of his own life, Ian decided he couldn’t just keep waiting.
He had to take the initiative.
Therefore, he tried to strike up a conversation with Lilian.
“Lady Lilian, have you grown accustomed to life in the Human Realm over these past few days?”
“If possible, I would like to host a banquet for you to enjoy the finest human delicacies before we enter the Demon Realm. After all, I’ve heard that the food in the Demon Realm is quite hard to swallow.”
“No need,” Lilian rejected him heartlessly.
“I see. My apologies for being presumptuous.”
Although the first plan failed, Ian didn’t give up.
Over the next period of time, Ian tried more than ten different ways to stall, but Lilian rejected every single one of them without mercy.
“I say, you aren’t trying to stall for time, are you?”
Lilian sat with her left leg crossed over her right, staring intently at Ian with eyes devoid of emotion.
Targeted by Lilian’s terrifying gaze, Ian’s heart felt as though it had stopped beating.
He hurriedly stood up and knelt on one knee to show his loyalty.
“How could that be? Lady Lilian, we are in the same boat now. Think carefully — what benefit would stalling have for me?”
“I sincerely want you to enjoy the wonderful things the Human Race has to offer.”
“It better be.”
The killing intent in her tone caused cold sweat to pour down Ian’s back.
He replied with a trembling body, “Understood. I know.”
Without another word, Lilian closed her eyes to rest.
After that little farce, Ian understood that ordinary stalling tactics had no effect on Lilian.
Now, he could only rely on his knowledge of Lilian from his past life to take a desperate gamble.
After a while, they were very close to the border between the humans and demons.
Ian lifted the carriage curtain and glanced out the window; this was the perfect place to buy time.
They had arrived. If he didn’t act now, when would he?
Suddenly, Ian clutched his crotch with an anxious expression.
“Um, Lady Lilian, this lowly one has an urgent need. Could we stop for a moment so I can take care of it?”
“No.”
“I can’t. I really can’t hold it anymore. If I don’t get off the carriage now, I’m afraid I’ll have to do it right here.”
“Fine.”
Ian was speechless.
‘What does she mean by “fine”?’
‘Is she really going to let me do it in the carriage?’
‘Does this woman have no sense of shame? How can she say something like that?’
However, Ian did not give up.
“If I do it in the carriage, I’m afraid it will have a negative impact when we meet the Demon God later.”
“Of course, it doesn’t matter if I’m affected, but I’m worried about Lady Lilian’s image. Surely you wouldn’t want your reputation tarnished because of a man who wet his pants.”
Hearing Ian’s words, Lilian lowered her head and thought for a moment before agreeing to his request.
“Three minutes. I’ll only give you three minutes to handle it.”
“Thank you, my lady.”
Hearing Lilian’s response, Ian couldn’t wait to jump off the carriage and plunge into the forest.
He wasn’t actually in a hurry, nor was he pretending just to stall for time.
What he needed to do was find a flower called the Eternal Secluded Orchid.
After a short while, Ian discovered a patch of blue flowers in the forest.
That was the Eternal Secluded Orchid he was looking for.
Ian’s excitement was palpable as he quickly plucked one from the cluster.
Although the Eternal Secluded Orchid looked ordinary, only Ian knew it wasn’t a common flower.
In the late-game plot regarding Lilian, this flower was the key item that allowed the protagonist’s group to turn Lilian from an enemy into a friend.
It was also then that players learned Lilian wasn’t a pure member of the Demon Race, but a “former human” lurking within their ranks.
Lilian’s backstory was incredibly tragic.
Originally, she had a carefree childhood like anyone else.
Her parents were loving and treated her like a princess, and she even had a cute younger sister.
She was a winner in life.
But just when she thought life would continue this way forever, a demon invasion changed everything.
Her parents took the initiative to draw the demons’ attention to protect the sisters.
She and her sister could only hide under the bed, watching with their own eyes as their parents were killed by the demons.
Although they survived the immediate massacre, Lilian and her sister were infected by the Demonic Qi left behind during the invasion.
That was how she transformed into a demon.
Her younger sister, due to her weak constitution, had fainted immediately and still hadn’t woken up to this day.
To seek revenge, Lilian took on the form of a demon and infiltrated their ranks, attempting to dismantle the Demon Race from within.
Although she didn’t ultimately succeed, she dealt them a massive blow.
Ian knew that they were passing through Lilian’s hometown in this part of the story; it was a small “Easter egg” from the game developers.
At the time, no one realized that the place where Lilian first appeared had such a deep connection to her.
Ian only found out after finishing the game.
Therefore, he had come out to find the Eternal Secluded Orchid to trigger Lilian’s homesickness.
If Lilian realized she had returned to her hometown, there was a high probability she would choose to pay her respects to her parents.
This method carried extreme risk.
If Lilian wasn’t moved, if she didn’t visit her parents, or if she didn’t stay long enough, Ian would be finished.
But at this moment, he had no other choice.