Luxiu was such a childish guy. Almost every joy and sorrow showed plainly on his face.

He was eager for the red moon to end, so he could take his revenge on the subjugation squad.

“Suppose you got your powers back. What would you do to me and Big Sister Xiya?”

The Little Demon King was throwing a tantrum, and he was so cute that Liliya couldn’t bear to disappoint him. So she played along and chatted about what he wanted.

“That sword-wielding woman thinks she’s so tough. I’m gonna beat her to a pulp. And that fat, stinking elf—I’ll make her regret what she did for the rest of her life. And that demi-human…”

The moment they started talking about revenge, the Little Demon King perked right up. He chattered on and on, as if he really could get his powers back.

“You’ve never actually killed anyone, have you?”

Liliya had grown up listening to stories about the Demon King. She’d noticed one thing about the Luxiu in front of her: he never went for the kill.

They said that all the Heroes who went to defeat the Demon King had lost to the Prideful Demon King. Still, none of them had been killed, though they’d been left with varying degrees of trauma.

“I kill without blinking! There are enough humans who’ve died by my hand to make mountains of corpses and seas of blood. But killing you would be letting you off too easy. I want humanity to sing of my greatness and live in fear for the rest of your lives!”

The Little Demon King heard the girl’s painfully embarrassing question and immediately raised his voice. It was obvious he was rattled.

“Mm-hmm. The Demon King is so strong! From now on, you have to be good and promise not to do anything wicked, okay?”

When she was younger, Liliya used to be so frightened by the Demon King’s stories that she couldn’t sleep at night.

But after meeting the story’s main character, she realized he wasn’t scary at all. In fact, he was super cute.

“I’m the Demon King. You tell me to behave, and I’ll beat you up!”

Luxiu still found the girl easy enough to look at, so when he threatened her, he only raised his little fist. He didn’t actually hit or shove her.

“Even the Demon King can be a good person. And you’re a boy, so you shouldn’t go around hitting people. That’s not nice.”

Liliya had long since lost her awe of the Little Demon King. All she wanted was to help him turn over a new leaf.

“Stupid little dwarf! Smelly dwarf! You’re an idiot! I can’t talk to you!”

Luxiu cared more than anything about his image. When he realized Liliya didn’t see him as the Demon King, he immediately turned against her.

He’d thought the soft, sweet girl would be easy to bully, but reality left Luxiu bitterly disappointed.

“Don’t be mad. I didn’t mean any harm…”

Liliya had never imagined the Little Demon King would react so strongly.

He’d lost his powers. Couldn’t he just act like a normal boy for once?

With a face like the Little Demon King’s, surely some woman would be willing to take care of him for the rest of his life.

“Hmph.”

Convinced he was a tiger fallen among dogs, the Little Demon King stood proudly with his hands on his hips, then turned his back on Liliya.

“Demon King, don’t be like that. Let’s talk this out.”

Patiently circling the Little Demon King, Liliya came around to stand in front of him again.

They were about the same height, and even their hair was the same silvery white.

To anyone watching, they looked just like an older sister soothing her angry little brother. It was a heartwarming sight.

“I have nothing to say to a mere human. Get lost.”

The Little Demon King was deliberately making things difficult for the girl. He turned away again.

“You have human blood in you too, you know.”

Liliya couldn’t help pointing out that the Little Demon King was a half-breed.

“Shut up! I’m the Demon King. Even if I have human blood, it’s only a tiny bit. That doesn’t make me any less a pure-blooded demon!”

The Little Demon King hated being a half-breed with all his heart.

If he weren’t mixed-blood, he wouldn’t have ended up a human prisoner, suffering one humiliation after another.

Liliya had touched a sore spot by bringing up exactly what she shouldn’t have.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t insulting you. I just wanted to tell you that you can live like a human too. Why cling so tightly to being the Demon King?”

The girl was the kingdom’s Little Princess. She’d been sheltered and protected, which had left her with some rather naive ideas.

Someone like Luxiu, a human-demon hybrid, would be rejected by both humans and demons. Neither side would ever accept him.

“Idiot.”

The Little Demon King muttered under his breath. He couldn’t be bothered to argue with such a naive girl.

He felt like talking to Liliya any longer would lower his IQ.

“Demon King, did you hear what I said?”

Liliya kept trying to reason with him, never losing patience.

“Are you ever gonna stop? You’re more annoying than a fly!”

Luxiu had finally had enough.

To make the girl shut up, he was going to get physical.

Having lost the Demon King’s powers, he could only resort to the simplest, roughest method.

He reached out with both hands and shoved Liliya in the chest.

Her chest felt soft under his hands, but that did nothing to soften the Little Demon King’s cruelty.

“Oh!”

Caught off guard, Liliya stumbled from the shove and fell toward the bed.

When people lose their balance, they instinctively grab at whatever’s nearby to save themselves.

As luck would have it, the Little Demon King was right beside Liliya.

And so, a ridiculous scene unfolded.

As she fell, Liliya instinctively grabbed Luxiu’s hand. But he was no lifeline. The two toppled onto the bed together.

“Demon King, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

Liliya wasn’t hurt, and now she had an adorable Little Demon King in her arms.

The innocent girl’s cheeks turned red at the close contact with a boy. She didn’t even blame him for what he’d done—instead, she took all the fault upon herself.

“Idiot! I’ll crush you!”

Luxiu took the girl’s words as an insult, as if she were making fun of how weak he was.

To get even, the Little Demon King pressed down on the girl beneath him with all his might.

Unfortunately, boys just weren’t very strong, and the powerless Demon King was no exception.

He seemed to be pressing Liliya down, but it was more like playful teasing than a serious attempt to hurt her.

“No, don’t… Please don’t…”

Liliya let out a “frightened” squeal. She’d always been taught to keep her distance from boys, and didn’t know what to do with her hands. She was afraid of accidentally offending the boy in her arms.

“That’s what you get for grabbing me! And for running your mouth…”

The Little Demon King showed no mercy, venting all the grievances he’d been bottling up lately.

The two started wrestling on the bed. The Little Demon King locked his legs around Liliya’s lower body, pressed himself right up against her, and pinched the soft flesh of her cheeks, pulling it outward.

“If you keep this up, I’m going to get mad.”

Even the easygoing Liliya couldn’t help feeling embarrassed and annoyed at being bullied by a boy like this.

“What are you gonna do about it?”

The Little Demon King was getting cocky. He thought Liliya was a pushover and that he had nothing to fear, even without his powers.

Then—

Liliya stopped indulging the mischievous Little Demon King.

She thrust upward with all her strength and sent the Little Demon King tumbling to the side.

Then the girl lunged at him, easily straddled him, and pinned his arms firmly to the bed with her hands.

In an instant, the tables had turned. The Little Demon King, who’d been acting so tough just moments ago, immediately quieted down.

“Hey, let go!”

Pinned to the bed, the Little Demon King looked up at Liliya’s lovely face, which wore a faintly reproachful expression. Her loose strands of hair dangled down, making him feel a faint tickle.

“You’re so mischievous and naughty. You act just like a little kid who hasn’t grown up at all.”

The soft-spoken girl grew stern as she scolded the Little Demon King for acting so childishly.