The door of the Central Administrative Hall was kicked open.
Lilia, dressed in a custom black suit and shorts, with her hair in double ponytails, swaggered in.
The hall instantly fell silent.
The officials who had been whispering to each other knelt down in unison.
“We welcome Lady Lilia!”
Their voices were neat, carrying a hint of relief at having survived the ordeal.
Lilia hummed a tune as she climbed up the large chair at the head of the hall.
“Get up, meow.”
She swung her legs in white knee-high socks and casually waved a paw.
The officials carefully stood up, not daring to breathe.
Finance Minister Batuo was the first to approach.
Fat as a ball, his face twisted into a smile uglier than a cry, he held a thick stack of parchment in his hands.
“Lady Lilia, this is the list of items awaiting repairs in Yasra City that you requested.”
Lilia took the list and casually flipped through two pages.
City east sewer collapse: 3,000 magic crystal coins.
City west slum water leakage: 5,000 magic crystal coins.
City north magic tower wiring aging: 12,000…
All trivial patch-up work.
Slap!
Lilia slapped the list onto the table.
The officials below shuddered as one.
“Your vision is too small, meow.”
She cleared her throat, trying to make her voice sound authoritative, but it still came out in that childish tone.
“Last night, I thought about the future of the Demon City. What’s fixing the sewers? No one sees or touches it. Who will remember His Majesty’s kindness?”
She shot up from her chair, spreading her arms wide.
“If we’re going to do something, let’s do it big!”
The officials below exchanged glances.
What trouble was this little ancestor stirring up now?
Lilia took a deep breath and announced her plan in the loudest voice.
“A super luxurious—public grand bathhouse! Meow!”
The entire Administrative Hall fell dead silent.
Everyone froze.
Batuo’s mouth slowly formed an O shape, and the budget draft in his hands slipped to the floor with a thud.
“L-Lady… you mean… a bathhouse?”
His voice trembled.
“Yes! A bathhouse! Can’t you understand? Meow!”
Lilia planted her hands on her hips, nodding emphatically, her double ponytails swinging back and forth, her small face flushed red.
She jumped onto the chair and began describing her grand blueprint.
“Flooring made of Abyssal Obsidian! Polished to mirror brightness! Magic crystal stones for wall tiles! They’ll glow on their own at night, no lamps needed!”
“The water will come from the lava hot springs deep beneath the Ironblack Mountains! Mixed with Elven Flower Dew airlifted from the Low Whisper Forest!”
“A giant magical skylight in the center so guests can see the Evernight Palace directly in the sky while they soak!”
“Let everyone in the Demon City, from nobles to commoners, enjoy treatment close to His Majesty’s! Let them experience His Majesty’s benevolence! Meow!”
She spoke passionately, spittle flying.
The officials’ expressions shifted from blank shock to panic, then to pale dread.
This wasn’t building a bathhouse.
This was burning magic crystal coins like firewood!
A single piece of Abyssal Obsidian was worth a thousand gold!
Magic crystal stones were the core energy source of magic towers!
The transportation costs for lava hot spring water and Elven Flower Dew alone could redo the entire city west slum in gold!
A spendthrift! A true spendthrift!
A white-bearded old official couldn’t hold back anymore.
Trembling, he stepped forward.
“Lady Lilia! This must not be done!”
“Oh? Why not? Meow?”
Lilia tilted her head at him.
“My lady, the people’s livelihood issues urgently need solving—the sewers, the slums…”
“They concern the livelihoods of tens of thousands. To invest so much money into a bathhouse is putting the cart before the horse!”
“Short-sighted!”
Lilia waved her small hand, cutting him off directly.
“What do you know? Meow? If the people are hungry and poorly clothed, will they be grateful to His Majesty for fixing a sewer? No!”
She paused.
“But if we build a luxurious bathhouse they’d never dare to dream of, and let them soak for free once!”
“They’ll remember His Majesty’s grace for a lifetime! This is called spiritual civilization construction! Understand? Meow!”
The old official was choked red-faced, unable to utter a single word.
Lilia looked at their constipated expressions and grew displeased.
She slowly pulled out that pitch-black token and tapped it on the table, pat-pat.
“Or… do you think my words don’t count?”
Her heterochromatic eyes—one gold, one blue—swept across the room.
“This is His Majesty’s will! Whoever opposes it questions His Majesty’s wisdom! Goes against His Majesty! Meow!”
The word “His Majesty” crashed down like two great mountains.
The token’s black light reminded everyone of the terrifying presence that had descended last night.
Thump!
The old official, who had been about to speak again, went weak in the knees and knelt directly.
The others buried their heads, daring not to say another word.
“N-No objections! My lady is far-sighted! Brilliant and heroic!”
Batuo was the first to react, shouting at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking.
“Good! Then it’s settled! Meow!”
Lilia nodded with satisfaction and put away the token.
“Minister Batuo!”
“Y-Your subordinate is here!”
Batuo flinched.
“Design drawings! Construction team! Building materials! Three days! I give you only three days! I want to see everything! Meow!”
Lilia held up three fingers.
“If even one thing is missing, or if there’s a problem… you won’t need to be Finance Minister anymore.”
“The bathhouse is short a foundation stone. I think that fat of yours would make a good fit, meow!”
Batuo’s entire body of fat trembled, cold sweat instantly soaking his official robes.
He scrambled to kneel and kowtow.
“Yes! Yes! Your subordinate obeys! It will be done!”
…
Lilia’s order swept through the Demon City like a category 12 hurricane, stirring up a storm.
Everyone thought His Majesty’s new pet had gone completely insane.
But under the Demon King’s token and Lilith’s cold, efficient “assistance,” no one dared to say the word “no.”
The super bathhouse plan was pushed forward at an unreasonable, breakneck speed.
The largest empty lot beside the Demon City’s Central Plaza was cordoned off, and surrounding buildings were demolished overnight.
Tens of thousands of craftsmen and alchemical golems were mobilized.
Under the “supervision” of Skullcrusher Gromm and the City Guard, they worked day and night.
On the third day—Batuo’s promised deadline—a problem arose.
In the temporary command center, Batuo paced like an ant on a hot pan, sweat plastering his hair to his forehead.
“Why hasn’t it arrived! Why hasn’t it arrived!”
The door was pushed open, and Lilia sauntered in.
“Minister Batuo, what’s the rush? Meow?”
“M-My lady!”
Batuo saw Lilia and scrambled over, nearly falling.
“Trouble! Big trouble!”
“Speak.”
“The most critical material—that batch of Abyssal Obsidian—didn’t arrive on time!”
Batuo’s face crumpled.
“Without those stones, the entire project has to stop! My lady, what do we do!”
Lilia frowned.
Before she could speak, Lilith stepped forward.
“Miss, I’ve already investigated.”
Lilith handed over a document.
“The Red Ridge Caravan in charge of transport reported back yesterday.”
“They encountered a once-in-a-century sandstorm in Weeping Canyon.”
“By the time they dug themselves out of the sand, an entire cart of obsidian had vanished into thin air.”
“A sandstorm? Meow?”
Lilia took the document and scoffed coldly.
“What a coincidence.”
“Yes, very coincidental.”
Lilith’s voice betrayed no emotion.
“The largest shareholder behind this caravan is Count Geluomu Green.”
“Count Green?”
Lilia tilted her head, pulling the name from a corner of her memory.
Lilith reminded her at the perfect moment:
“At the last Evernight Palace banquet, he mocked your height, and you pulled off his wig and kicked it around like a ball.”
“Oh, that baldy, meow.”
Lilia understood.
It was retaliation.
These old foxes dared not fight her openly, so they pulled sneaky little tricks behind her back.
They really thought she was just a little kitten without claws?
“Where are those stones now? Meow?”
Lilia licked the corner of her mouth.
“City west, Count Green’s largest private warehouse.”
Lilith handed over a map, clearly marking the warehouse’s location.
Even the number of guards, weapon configurations, and shift changes were written in detail.
“Thirty-two crates, not one missing.”
“Good.”
Lilia jumped down from the sofa.
She clenched her small fists, her knuckles cracking crack-crack.
Daring to stall on Her Lady’s materials?
Tired of living!
A beam of “extremely benevolent” smile bloomed on her small face.
“Sister Lilith, inform Gromm. Have him bring the toughest team.”
She turned, her black double ponytails cutting a sharp arc through the air.
“We’re going to help Count Green… take a thorough inventory of his stock, meow.”