Arona stood in front of the gate of the Magic Academy.
Two hours had already passed since the sun rose.
During this time, apart from seeing one old noble’s child standing there being punished together with her, she had not seen anyone else.
Although being alone was boring, Arona still did not choose to strike up a conversation with that old noble.
As for why Arona could tell at a glance that she was an old noble, it was because this uniform was something only old nobles could wear.
However, this old noble’s face was pale, and she seemed to be in a bad mood.
“Forget it, Arona. She wouldn’t want to talk to a commoner like you. Not everyone can be as kind as Her Majesty the Empress…”
In fact, if Arona went to greet this little one now, she really would not get any response.
“What should I do… what should I do… I already spent the money, so why didn’t I still pass the exam…”
Poor Liana Serafina had secretly spent all her living expenses and her little savings behind her parents’ backs, just to continue studying at the Magic Academy.
The exam questions were simply too difficult, and by bad luck she was also an idiot.
Fortunately, that teacher had said that paying the money would let her pass.
But when she came here yesterday afternoon, those teachers had already disappeared without a trace.
When she tried to enter the academy, the guards stopped her at the gate, and her name was not on the list of those who passed the exam.
Now she could only keep it from her parents and come to this place every day to space out, hoping that one day those teachers would return and let her in.
Unfortunately, that day would most likely never come.
Liana Serafina curled up in the corner of the wall, hugging her legs and rocking back and forth.
The cold wind brushed past her cheeks, making her already nearly numb skin even colder.
Almost all of Arona’s clothes were hand-woven by her mother and were very warm.
Yesterday, when she saw Her Majesty the Empress wearing a scarf, she also wrapped one around herself.
“Um, are you okay? I’ve seen you squatting here for a long time,” Arona gathered her courage and spoke to Liana Serafina.
Liana raised her head and glanced at the girl who was cautiously asking about her, feeling a bit strange—she did not recognize her at all.
Moreover, the time she had been standing here was no shorter than her own.
“I’m waiting to go to school.”
“Waiting? Are you also here to enroll?”
“No, I’m not a new student.”
“Ah, you didn’t really give money to that teacher, did you?”
“Mm…”
Liana nodded.
“He’s already been arrested. You should stop waiting. They’ll probably return the money to you in a few days, right?”
Her Majesty the Empress would surely uphold justice for them—Arona firmly believed this.
“By the way, aren’t you a noble? How come your clothes…”
Liana’s clothes had many patches; if it weren’t for the uniform, no one would think she was a noble.
Staying here wasn’t a solution either, and Her Majesty the Empress also didn’t seem to have said when she would return.
“I know a café nearby. Do you want to go together? It’s very warm inside.”
Liana shook her wallet—there was still a bit of change.
“Mm.”
The afternoon sun was very warm, and the Demon King’s garden could receive all of that warmth.
She brought Sephalin here to bask in the sun.
There was no one else—just her and her wife.
Selin changed into a different outfit, wearing a pure white dress, with a sun hat two sizes larger than her head on top.
A white little flower that looked freshly picked was pinned to her chest.
Sephalin knew that the Demon King had previously allocated a sum of money to build a garden, but she hadn’t expected it to be this large.
Still, it didn’t seem to have cost much.
Perhaps it was because the lake beside it had been dug by the Demon King herself.
“So beautiful.”
Sephalin sat on the grass, gazing at the lake on the opposite side.
The clear and pure lake water was like a mirror, reflecting the transparent blue of the sky on its surface.
Occasionally, gentle breezes swept across the lake, stirring ripples across the water.
Sephalin liked this kind of quiet atmosphere, even though there was a noisy fellow beside her constantly rubbing against her.
“Do you like it?”
“I like it.”
“As long as you like it.”
Originally, the Demon King had not planned to dig out this artificial lake, but earlier she had accidentally overheard that Sephalin really wanted to go see the Bright Lake in the neighboring country, so she used just a little of the Demon King’s authority and dug out such a lake.
“I never had a chance to take this out before. This is for you.”
Sephalin took out a small box from somewhere.
“This was left to me by my mother. She said it was for me to use when I marry a wife.”
Viel took it, opened it, and saw a ring inside.
A name was engraved on it—Sephalin’s former name, “Seth.”
“I’ll put it on you.”
Selin took the ring out of the box.
Viel stretched out her ring finger, and Selin slid the ring onto it.
The silver ring was cool to the touch and fit perfectly.
“This is the last thing my mother left me.”
Sephalin’s parents and sister had all died at the hands of roaming rebel troops.
Although those people called themselves an uprising army, they were in fact a band of robbers.
Fortunately, they were wiped out by the real uprising army and did not get to harm more families.
“By the way, I had them make some cake. Wife, do you want some?”
Anyone could tell that Sephalin was feeling down; her worried expression made the Demon King quite distressed.
However, speaking a bit cruelly, if Sephalin’s family had not all died, she would not have gone alone into the dangerous forest to hunt, and she would not have met Dainifen Viel.
“It’s too sweet. I don’t like it.”
“So I had them add more fruit and less sugar. It’s really good—have a bite?”
“I want something sour.”
“I brought some grapes. I’ll bring them to you.”
The Demon King personally feeding someone—probably only Sephalin in this world had ever enjoyed such treatment.
Viel picked up a bunch of grapes, plucked one, peeled it, and put it into Sephalin’s mouth.
“Is it good?”
“It’s good.”
Sour enough—Sephalin blinked because of the grape’s tartness, but there was also a sweet aftertaste.
No, this didn’t seem like the sweetness of grapes.
“……” Sephalin took a sharp breath.
Feeling that soft sensation, she had thought it was a grape.
“Another one?”
“Mm.”
No one else would come here.
This was time belonging exclusively to the two of them, with no idle people to disturb them.
The Demon King used a towel to wipe the corner of Sephalin’s mouth.
She was full now.
“Thank you for the treat, my dear wife.”
“Hmph. If you do something so sudden again, I won’t let you off. This garden is protected by a special magic array. The temperature won’t change much throughout the year. Even if you lie down and sleep here, you won’t end up catching a cold.”
“Hmph. You built this garden just for this kind of thing, you little pervert.”
“I’m not a pervert.”
“I’m a sex demon.”