The laziness of someone who had just woken up was evident.
“It should still be early. Are you hungry, Lily?”
Joen’s gaze instantly softened.
He skillfully retrieved a small bottle of milk from his waist pouch, poured a little onto the tip of his index finger, and gently offered it to Liya’s mouth.
Liya was indeed a bit thirsty.
She didn’t stand on ceremony, wrapping her two tiny hands around Joen’s finger—which was slightly thick for her—using it as both a straw and a utensil to sip the milk slowly.
*Chu— Chu—*
The petite girl was like a kitten tasting a delicacy for the first time, earnestly gathering the nutrition and hydration she needed.
Her engrossed appearance was enough to spark the imagination, making one wonder just how much she enjoyed such intimate feeding.
Her slightly flushed cheeks and tender, moving eyes revealed a unique beauty and stunning charm in the dim light.
The sound of her swallowing was faint but clear.
Joen felt a tingling sensation at his fingertip, and a feeling of tender affection spread from his arm to his heart.
Beside them, Kobilio watched with a slight quirk of his brow, gulping down his wine mouthful after mouthful.
Seeing that “beautiful doll,” who looked like an exquisite puppet, accepting Joen’s feeding with such attachment, he couldn’t help but let out a whistle and tease him.
“Hey, Joen, look at her… she’s practically like your little lover.”
Joen’s face turned bright red instantly.
He lowered his head and remained silent for a long time, too embarrassed to speak.
Kobilio waited for a while but received no normal response to his teasing.
His smile suddenly froze.
“Wait, hold on… she’s not actually your little lover, is she?”
“N-No, she isn’t!”
Joen looked up abruptly as if startled, his head shaking like a rattle.
“It’s nothing like that. T-Teacher, please stop joking.”
Kobilio looked at him with suspicion.
“Really.”
Joen stared back without blinking.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
Finally, it was Liya’s soft hiccup that interrupted the “intense stare-down” between teacher and student.
“I’m going back to sleep,” Liya said.
After speaking, she burrowed into Joen’s chest and closed her eyes to continue playing her massive SLG/RTS game, *Pupu’s World*.
The Hero’s embrace was hot and warm, making it quite comfortable to lie in.
Liya felt like she was becoming addicted; it gave her a faint sense of happiness, like burrowing under the covers to play games in her previous life.
He truly was a hot-blooded young man, as reassuring as a heated brick bed.
Joen looked down at Lily in his arms, then looked up at Kobilio, who was watching him with amusement.
After a long while, he gave a helpless smile.
—
The Empire’s territory was vast and boundless.
Even though the airship disregarded fuel consumption to travel at full speed, they remained in the sky for a full two days and two nights.
As the first ray of dawn pierced through the clouds, a towering and magnificent giant city finally appeared at the end of the horizon.
“We’ve arrived.”
As the magic airship slowly descended, Joen felt the true meaning of the “Empire Capital” for the first time.
At first, it was just a black line on the horizon.
As the distance closed, that black line rapidly expanded, transforming into a boundless, dark forest of structures.
Joen leaned against the railing, his eyes widening further and further.
He had thought the provincial city of the Qianhe Domain was large enough, but compared to this behemoth, that city was like a pebble at a giant’s feet.
In his vision, densely packed buildings spread out like fish scales to the very end.
Tall spires pierced the morning mist, and the massive city walls were more winding and longer than the mountain ranges outside the city.
As the airship continued to lower, Joen finally saw the details.
The previously blurred and mottled dark “rivers” now manifested as ant-like crowds of people, flowing together on the wide streets.
The windows, which had been as small as grains of sand, now became clear in his eyes.
Behind every window, there seemed to be an exquisite mansion he could never have imagined in the past.
This visual impact made him feel like an ant that had accidentally entered a nest, only to realize upon getting closer that the so-called “nest” was actually a giant bear holding a meat cleaver.
The wave of clamor hit him like a tsunami; it was the symphony of millions of people breathing, talking, and living.
‘Is this the Empire Capital? The heart of power, the abyss of desire?’
Joen muttered to himself.
Feeling a trace of nervousness and timidity, he forced himself to stand straight and firm, puffing out his chest to face this strange and prosperous world.
***
At the same time, at the highest point in the Empire Capital—the Star-Gazing Platform.
Two figures stood on the terrace, looking from afar at the magic airship slowly entering the airport.
One was dressed in a black and gold imperial robe.
He was tall with a majestic countenance; he was the current ruler of the Empire—Emperor Nagel Arenix.
Standing half a step behind him was an old man in a robe patterned with stars and moons.
His hair and beard were entirely white, and his short, pudgy body looked somewhat comical, yet his eyes were as deep as an abyss.
He was the Grand Tutor of the Empire—Anthony.
The Emperor spoke calmly, his voice betraying no emotion.
“That trouble-making boy of ours has finally returned.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty.”
Anthony bowed slightly, his tone respectful.
“He certainly caused quite a stir on this journey.”
“What do you think of him?”
The Emperor asked.
“His heart is sincere and steadfast,” Anthony replied, choosing his words carefully as he gave an evaluation.
“He is a direct man. He is useful, but not one for schemes.”
“Not one for schemes…”
The Emperor chewed on those words, a faint, unreadable smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
“In this world, how many people and matters are truly worth scheming for? As long as he holds ‘loyalty’ in his heart, he will be a worthy and good official of our Empire.”
“Your Majesty is wise.”
Anthony chuckled and offered a casual flatter with a bow.
“The secret report about Demon King Lia’s resurrection—have you read it?”
The Emperor shifted the topic.
“Two lords defected, one Demon Lord resurrected, and the resurrected Demon Lord even found a new enforcer who can shatter the void with a single punch… Heh, what do you think?”
“This old subject actually has a different opinion from those tacticians and advisors,” Anthony said slowly.
“I believe that Demon King Lia has always been cunning, distinctly different from other members of Demonkind. It is not strange that he would leave a fallback plan for resurrection.”
“As for the demon behind him who can shatter the void, I believe the truth of that is debatable. After all… shattering the void with one punch is too exaggerated. The more one understands space, the more one realizes how absurd that is. Furthermore, the Demon Realm is a place where the strong prey on the weak. How could such a powerful demon be willing to follow Demon King Lia?”
“Your meaning is?”
The Emperor’s tone was subtle.
“Perhaps it was a false image created by a magic spell. The betrayal is real, the demonization is real, but the process and details might not be true. It is likely an implanted memory. After all, they were all kidnapped; no one knows what happened in between. Truth mixed with falsehood, and falsehood mixed with truth—that is precisely the method Demon King Lia is best at.”
The Emperor chuckled.
“It sounds like you hold Demon King Lia in high regard?”
Anthony pondered for a long time, his chubby face gradually wrinkling.
“Yes. I believe Demon King Lia is an extremely capable hero of his age. If it weren’t for the fact that the nature of Demonkind is base and their wildness hard to tame, coupled with his short reign of only nine years… I fear this war would not have been so easy for us to win.”
“I don’t necessarily agree.”
The Emperor shook his head, his gaze deep.
“I have seen his intelligence reports. Demon King Lia is an excellent businessman, but he is not a qualified sovereign.”
“He was too obsessed with binding interests and using money to drive others, but he forgot that the way of a king lies in establishing prestige and virtue.”
The Emperor turned around, his expression as calm as deep water and as steady as a mountain.
“The great affairs of a state are rooted in war and ritual. War is to strive for practical gain; ritual is to shape belief. Belief is the second most reliable thing for a nation, more precious than gold.”
“Your Majesty’s insight is profound.”
Anthony bowed deeply, looking like a student who had been taught a great lesson.
However, in his heart, he couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh.
Belief was indeed important… but right now, the emptiness of the national treasury was the most headache-inducing problem.
The reason he held Demon King Lia in such high regard was partly due to this.
If only Demon King Lia were a human willing to be loyal to the Empire, exhausting his heart and soul to scrape together more money for the state, how wonderful that would be.
Unfortunately, there were no ‘ifs’ in this world.
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