The relationship between Nora and me isn’t as good as she thinks. We’re just ordinary comrades-in-arms—no, just plain coworkers.

The only reason I gossip about them is because I’m curious.

But once Vinales touched my interests, the only thing I had left for her was disgust. That feeling completely buried whatever curiosity I had about their little yuri romance.

“Yiluodiya…”

Nora’s arms dropped to her sides. A heavy gloom covered her face, and her fiery red hair lost its usual flare.

“You’ve really disappointed me.”

With that, Nora didn’t even bother saying goodbye. She slammed the door and left.

Disappointed, huh…

You think you’re my master or something?

I walked up, wanting to close the door. But when I saw Nora’s back as she sprinted away, I just sighed and stepped out of the room.

I glanced at my master’s room next door. She still wasn’t back.

Might as well wander around.

In the entire demon camp, there’s no one more idle than me.

————————

In my master’s original room, I surveyed the crime scene. The broken shards had long been cleared away. Now the whole room was full of messy holes, dilapidated and ruined.

I thought of what Nora said just now.

I’m like a pet my master is keeping.

So what?

I don’t feel like my master has brainwashed me. I know exactly what my situation is.

The painful abuse from the past feels like a wisp of smoke now, completely blown away by my master’s gentleness.

It’s not that I forgave her. My master didn’t do anything wrong to begin with. The one at fault was me. She just used… a rather cruel way to punish me, that’s all.

I pressed a hand to my chest. This inexplicable feeling I have toward my master—that’s the main reason I want to protect her and get closer to her. I deeply, desperately hope she’ll show me that soft smile of hers. Just for that one breathtaking smile.

Is that wrong?

I’m not wrong. My mind is clear, my thoughts are sharp.

I had nothing to begin with. My master summoned me to this world and gave me a new life. And what I chose… was to hope she’d keep a place for me in her heart. I’m not lost. That one goal is enough for me to fight to keep living.

If one day my master dies before me…

My heart suddenly clenched. An indescribable bitterness spread through it. Grief flooded my brain, then swelled until it hurt.

“Yiluodiya!”

Lumia’s voice suddenly sounded behind me.

I hurried to calm myself and turned around.

Lumia came running over, holding Enise’s hand, her face full of happiness.

This place is close to where Lumia and Enise live. It’s normal they’d notice me.

“What is it?”

The two of them stood before me, still holding hands. Enise was still watching me with that cautious, probing look.

“It’s nothing. I just saw you here, so I brought Enise over to check on you.”

As she spoke, Lumia also looked around the ruined room and let out a sigh.

“Man, why did General Vinales have to do something like this?”

“Because of hatred, I guess.”

Hatred or not, my master is the ruler of a nation. You catch the leader of a rebellion, there’s no way you just let them off.

“Hatred, huh?”

Lumia gave a wry smile.

“Who doesn’t hate the Demon Lord? But what can we do? I heard that after the rebellion more than forty years ago was put down, no one’s dared show any obvious resistance to her rule ever since.”

Listening to Lumia, I found it hard to believe. I refuse to think my master can’t run this country well. But after seeing the lives of the people at the bottom with my own eyes outside, I didn’t even have the chance to lie to myself.

“Um, Yiluodiya, do you know what punishment General Vinales is going to get?”

Enise lifted her head and asked me carefully.

I shook my head.

“But if she tried to assassinate the Demon Lord, there’s no way it’ll end well for her. Maybe death would actually be a relief.”

Lumia and Enise both showed pained expressions.

“General Vinales is actually really nice. She’s cold and distant, but she works hard and helps us a lot. She just never gives us the chance to thank her or get close to her. I still hope the Demon Lord can give her another chance.”

Enise spoke softly, her face full of sincerity. Is this some kind of collective petition for mercy?

“Yesterday General Nora called us over to reattach General Vinales’s arm. I thought the Demon Lord had already decided to spare her.”

So they reattached her arm. Then again, Vinales is locked up in prison now. I doubt she can threaten my master anymore.

“My master hasn’t decided yet.”

After getting hated by Nora last time, seeing Lumia and Enise sympathize with Vinales now, I didn’t criticize Vinales again this time. Better to draw a little less aggro.

“But your master almost lost her life. Don’t you care about your Demon Lord at all?”

Enise just gave a helpless smile.

“There’s no way the Demon Lord would get killed that easily by General Vinales.”

Lumia nodded in agreement.

“I think so too. With the Demon Lord’s strength, I doubt she’d have trouble protecting herself.”

Seeing how little they cared about my master, the anger in my chest flared up at once.

“We’ll talk later. I’m leaving.”

I turned and stormed off before they could answer.

“Bye then, Yiluodiya.”

They didn’t seem to notice my dissatisfaction at all. Their overlapping voices rang out behind me.

Under the warm winter sun, I walked toward the inner courtyard of the lord’s mansion. I wanted to see my master. She’d only just recovered, and she was already working this hard again.

“So the campaign’s getting postponed.”

“Yeah. Speaking of General Vinales… it’s kind of a shame.”

I heard two soldiers talking. It was about Vinales. They were on guard duty. I stopped, leaned against the wall of a nearby building, and eavesdropped.

“She’s probably not gonna end well. The Demon Lord’s famous for being ruthless.”

“General Vinales used to be our role model. If we worked as hard as she did, I don’t think we’d still be just low-level guards. But we really can’t keep up with the way she pushes herself.”

So Vinales actually has a pretty good reputation among the demon soldiers?

Someone that icy normally is this well-liked?

“I just really like General Vinales’s clean and efficient no-nonsense attitude.”

“But attacking the Demon Lord like that… that was insanely brave.”

A silence fell between them.

“But I really hope General Hesrelya can plead with the Demon Lord and save General Vinales. At this point, only General Hesrelya can rescue her. She’s the one among the Five Generals who’s the most reasonable.”

Hearing that, I couldn’t hold back my anger any longer. I turned and ran back to my own room.

————————

I stood guard at my master’s door.

So that when she came back, I’d be the first thing she saw.

I was afraid that if I went out and heard more of those soldiers talking, I wouldn’t be able to control myself.

I’d had enough of hearing their opinions and comments about Vinales attacking my master.

Even when I occasionally opened up my “favorable wind” hearing, I could hear soldiers all over the mansion talking about Vinales’s assassination attempt. Their tone and attitude were almost the same as Enise and Lumia’s, all reminiscing about Vinales’s contributions and achievements.

Why does everyone think it’s my master’s fault? Why is everyone pitying Vinales? Why is no one worried about whether my master lives or dies, and instead praying she’ll give Vinales another chance?

The more I thought about it, the more injustice I felt on my master’s behalf. She’s nothing like the monstrous tyrant they paint her as.

Hesrelya will definitely stand on my master’s side too.

I leaned against my master’s door and watched the sun slowly slant downward.

When it finally touched the horizon, I saw my master’s figure returning.

“Master…”

She walked up to me. I greeted her, still in a foul mood. She looked at me, puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

“They’re all talking bad about you. They’re all saying you should give Vinales another chance.”

She was silent for a few seconds.

Then her puzzled look turned into a smile.

“Let’s talk inside.”

I followed her into the room and watched her sit down. I stayed standing in front of her as usual.

“Sit. You don’t have to stand the whole time.”

I looked at the stool beside her, then at her faint smile. For some reason, I suddenly felt a bit overwhelmed.

After confirming a few times that there was nothing unusual in her gaze, I finally sat down on the stool next to her.

My master propped her right elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand.

“What you said—I know all that already.”

She acted like she didn’t care about any of it, which only made me more anxious for her.

“Why don’t you care at all, Master?”

“At this point, what do you think I should do with Vinales?”

“Kill her, obviously. Anyone who hurts you is unforgivable.”

But my master only smiled and shook her head.

“If Vinales dies, what do you think will happen to Nora?”

“How is that our problem?!”

I shouted, a little too angrily.

I lowered my head, aching with frustration and unwillingness for her sake. Why does everyone think it’s her fault, when Vinales is the one who attacked first?

Even if Nora and I are friends, even if there is something between us, all of that is nothing compared to the place my master holds in my heart.

Anyone who hurts my master—only their death would satisfy me.

Nora’s feelings and emotions don’t even matter in front of my master.

Suddenly, warmth touched the top of my head. It was her hand.

My exploding mood was instantly soothed. I relaxed my body and let myself sink into her touch.

Until she finally took her hand away.

I looked up at her faintly smiling face. Any anger I had was already gone, blown clean away.

“Didn’t you used to care a lot about this?”

“Yeah.”

Back in Zidis City, when my master accidentally patted my head, I couldn’t stop thinking about the warmth of her palm. She definitely knew exactly what I was thinking then, since she hadn’t turned off her mind-reading. I didn’t expect her to remember. I thought she’d always treated my insignificant heart-whispers like background noise.

This time she touched me on purpose. Does that mean there’ll be a next time?

My cheeks suddenly burned. Why am I this addicted to my master’s touch?

“Alright. You calmed down yet?”

“Yeah.”

Her voice pulled me back to a proper state, and the heat in my face slowly faded.

“Yiluodiya, do you also think I’m very cruel?”

Hearing that, I met her eyes.

In those deep crimson pupils, there wasn’t a hint of hidden turmoil.