Although it was said to be safe, when Liuli returned to her room and saw Serveyia—who had clearly finished bathing yet still had her hair tied up—Liuli suddenly felt that she might not be all that safe after all.
“Little Fox, you’re back,” Serveyia said.
Her tone was off, carrying a suppressed quality Liuli had never heard before.
All signs pointed toward the possibility that she might meet her end here today.
At that thought, Liuli’s pace toward the bed slowed by several degrees.
“Um, Serveyia, we still have work tomorrow…”
Although Liuli had anticipated this part when she confessed, now that the moment had arrived, she found herself becoming even more nervous.
After all, she didn’t know what would happen next.
Even if manga always claimed girls enjoyed this moment, it was, in the end, a work of fiction.
Liuli didn’t believe anyone wouldn’t be nervous when it actually happened to them.
“So, are you saying we should just go straight to sleep tonight, Little Fox?”
“Well, if possible, it would be best…”
“Eh? Little Fox, aren’t you being a bit too naive? Do you really think you can retreat unscathed after stoking my fire?”
Serveyia said as she forcefully leaned closer, pulling Liuli directly into her arms.
“It’s okay. The night is still young. I need you to help me vent this fire. That should be simple enough, right?”
“How… how am I supposed to vent it?”
“It’s very simple. Have a DOTA one-on-one with me. That’s it.”
“I don’t think that’s simple at all.”
Liuli didn’t believe for a second that this would be a simple game.
Although she knew a bit about DOTA, her knowledge was superficial.
For Serveyia to make such a request, she must have come prepared.
Winning a one-on-one against someone who was prepared was simply too difficult.
“Now, now. You wouldn’t want to end up crying, would you, Little Fox?”
Before Liuli could argue further, Serveyia immediately picked a rush-down hero.
Liuli chose a defensive-counter hero.
Once the match started, Serveyia’s offensive never let up for a single moment.
She tore through the middle lane, taking down the Tier 1, Tier 2, and High Ground towers in succession.
Eventually, she even reached the two Inhibitor Towers, where she began dancing in circles to taunt her opponent.
Although Liuli tried to activate her tower defense multiple times, Serveyia didn’t seem to be in any hurry.
She waited leisurely for the defense to end before further eroding Liuli’s defensive line.
“Aren’t you going to surrender yet? You should know by now, Little Fox, that your defeat is inevitable. There’s no need to waste any more time here.”
Serveyia’s tone was somewhat arrogant.
Come to think of it, this was one of the few times Liuli had seen her so emotional.
Along with her emotional outburst, the intensity of her taunting increased.
Not only was she spinning in circles near the Inhibitor Towers, but she even added verbal jabs.
‘Hmph!’
Liuli was fuming.
To be honest, she felt that if Serveyia wanted to win, she should just push through and get it over with.
She wouldn’t finish it, choosing instead to stay there and watch Liuli make a fool of herself.
However, surrendering felt too humiliating.
Besides, Liuli didn’t think Serveyia would let her off the hook even if she did click the surrender button.
If there was a post-match analysis afterward, she wouldn’t be able to hold out at all.
“It’s okay. I believe you’ll give in sooner or later, Little Fox.”
Seeing that Liuli had no intention of begging for mercy, Serveyia wasn’t annoyed.
Her offensive didn’t stop for a moment, constantly squeezing Liuli’s farming space with an ever-increasing intensity.
But somehow, despite the taunting and pressure being at their peak, Serveyia remained measured.
She kept Liuli in a state of being overwhelmed but not quite completely defeated.
It seemed Serveyia didn’t plan on letting Liuli go so easily.
Like a cat that had caught a mouse, she toyed with Liuli’s nerves.
Liuli always felt that women who played with others like this were truly detestable.
She wasn’t even that good at DOTA—was there really a need to be this cruel?
With the enemy at the gates, even the commander-in-chief was starting to consider surrendering.
This was a battle destined for loss; was there really any point in persisting?
“I… I surrender.”
As for whether there would be any post-match punishment for the loser, that wasn’t something Liuli could consider right now.
Surrendering might not mean death, but if she remained stubborn, she would definitely die.
A Princess dying in bed—how ridiculous did that sound?
“Then, since the Little Fox has surrendered, shouldn’t you show some sincerity?”
“Sincerity?”
Liuli wanted to say that her predictions were right.
She had just surrendered, and Serveyia was already demanding ‘war reparations.’
As for sincerity, what could she possibly offer?
She looked at Serveyia’s face, which was very close to her own.
There wasn’t even a single drop of sweat on her.
Did that mean Serveyia didn’t even need to break a sweat to crush her High Ground?
“Little Fox, are you trying to seduce me?”
Serveyia’s interest was clearly piqued by Liuli’s gaze.
The offensive that had been about to stop suddenly became sharp once more.
This left Liuli, who had already lowered her guard, completely defenseless.
Her World Tree was leveled, and Liuli met a swift defeat.
Looking at the Little Fox who had pushed away the keyboard and completely surrendered, Serveyia wore a satisfied expression.
The Nine-tailed Celestial Fox was envied and pursued by many not just because of its rarity, but because of an innate ability: when experiencing intense emotions—like joy or frustration—it emitted Magic Power.
It was the purest Magic Power Serveyia had ever seen.
Honestly, the amount of Magic Power was so vast that even if someone were to absorb it without restraint, they probably couldn’t finish it all.
It seemed this special ability of the Little Fox couldn’t be allowed to become known to others.
However, looking at Liuli—who had fought to the bitter end, exhausted all her strength, and was now almost on the verge of fainting from fatigue—the arrogant smile on Serveyia’s face vanished.
After thoughtfully tucking Liuli into bed, she stepped outside.
“Princess Serveyia, has the Princess fallen asleep?”
Lien was waiting respectfully outside the door, as if she had been expecting Serveyia to emerge.
“Yes, she’s already asleep. How is the matter I asked you to investigate?”
“It’s mostly finished. Yike is not male, nor is she human. She belongs to the Fox Demon Clan. Although her life history is very richly detailed and appears to have no issues, she still left behind a small Fox Tail.”
“Do you know her objective?”
“I don’t. After all, she has been with the Princess for so long and has almost never exposed any major problems. Therefore, I believe we can temporarily consider her non-threatening.”
“What has she been doing lately?”
“Just attending school normally. There has been no change in her daily routine. There aren’t any flaws at all. Generally speaking, this means there are only two possibilities—”
“Either she truly has no schemes, or she realized long ago that we were monitoring her. In other words, she is someone with a very deep mind.”