“Lady Sephine is sleeping upstairs, so we need to be quiet,” Aglis kindly reminded the Demon King.
However, the Demon King did not seem to care.
She had mastered her Disguise Art to perfection; there was no way she would be recognized.
But the Demon King noticed that the way the three of them were looking at her seemed a bit off.
‘Am I really that much of a failure?’
“Ahem, let’s not talk about that for now. I’ll take you all out to buy some things.”
The Demon King knew that Sephine currently had very little money.
But even in hardship, one shouldn’t let the children suffer, right?
So, she had specifically taken some Gold Coins from her private vault.
Giving the children a bit of allowance was well within her means.
They could buy whatever they wanted; that was the confidence she had as the Demon King.
“Um, Mother, can we buy something for Mama and bring it back?”
Karin spoke up.
Faced with this somewhat unfamiliar mother, she was still a bit restrained.
But since the two of them had stolen and eaten Mama’s little cake earlier, it would be best to replace it before Mama found out.
If possible, the Demon King actually wanted to take Sephine out shopping with them.
Unfortunately, Sephine wouldn’t agree to it now and might even chase her away.
“We’re going to change our clothes!”
Fala said.
“Eh, are there more new clothes?”
Karin asked, confused.
“Let’s go, let’s go out and play!”
Karin and Fala changed into the clothes Sephine had bought earlier.
They were two pink sweaters that were very warm, perfect for going out on a sunny winter day.
The Demon King led the two little ones out the door.
Shortly after the Demon King and Aglis left, another person arrived at Sephine’s house.
She knocked on the door and found it was unlocked.
“Is Lady Sephine here?”
She called out softly in the living room but received no response.
But wasn’t the door open?
Did she forget to lock it when she went out?
Sephine shouldn’t be that scatterbrained.
She had no choice but to check the second floor.
Opening a door, she found a small figure lying on the bed.
‘She’s here, but she seems to be asleep.’
It would be impolite to wake Sephine up now.
Therefore, the Great Witch could only choose to wait downstairs for a while.
These past few days, she had been busy searching for her research results in the ruins of the Academy, so she hadn’t paid much attention to news from the Imperial Palace.
It wasn’t until yesterday that Freyja told her that the Empress and the Demon King had seemingly broken up.
Though it was a bit immoral, she found it hard to keep the corners of her mouth from twitching upward.
Her reason told her not to try to lay a finger on the Demon King’s woman, but her heart told her that she couldn’t miss this opportunity.
“What if she really chose her?”
There wasn’t anything about her that was inferior to the Demon King, right?
As a Great Witch, what couldn’t she obtain?
She was only slightly less powerful than the Demon King.
She and the Demon King were both people, so why couldn’t they compete on the same stage?
In the end, Sephine should be the one to decide who gets her heart, not the Demon King.
As long as she did well enough, Sephine would surely choose her.
Unfortunately, Lady Catherine did not seem to know that Sephine’s children had already been born.
Sitting on the sofa on the first floor, Lady Catherine began to fiddle with the small toys Karin and the others had been playing with earlier.
They were quite interesting.
But the object seemed a bit too slippery, and Catherine accidentally dropped them on the floor. With a “splat”, they shattered into pieces.
“I’ll just try my newly researched magic…”
Catherine pulled out her staff, gestured toward the remains on the ground, and muttered something under her breath.
A brand-new toy was born.
It looked even better than the original.
With this technique, she felt she would soon become the wealthiest witch in the Royal Capital.
That way, she would have enough capital to support Sephine.
At that moment, Sephine walked downstairs barefoot.
She had been woken up by the sound just now.
Her years in the military had made her a very light sleeper; even the slightest noise could wake her from a beautiful dream.
This was why Sephine had noticed the Demon King leaving quietly so many times before.
“You are… Lady Catherine! Why are you here?”
Sephine was quite happy to see her.
Compared to Aglis, this person felt more like a true acquaintance and friend.
Ever since she was taken by the Demon King to serve as a bed warmer in the Inner Palace, Sephine had hardly seen Catherine.
Even on the rare occasions they met, they couldn’t speak.
Sephine felt that she and Catherine were kindred spirits with many common topics.
Back when she was still working in the Cabinet, she frequently interacted with Catherine.
But after the Demon King captured her, it was as if they were being deliberately kept apart, and Sephine hadn’t seen much of her since.
“Is there something you need at my house today?”
“No, no, I just heard that Lady Sephine was having some trouble, so I came to visit. How have you been lately?”
Catherine was a bit stiff.
She hadn’t expected it to be so easy to talk to Sephine; it was truly a pleasant surprise.
That was right; Sephine was never someone who liked to put on airs.
It was just because it had been so long since Catherine had spoken with her that she had almost forgotten who she was.
After all, the change was so great that it was difficult for Catherine to associate her with his former self.
Compared to the current little girl, Catherine still preferred the original Sephine.
But loving someone wasn’t just about loving their appearance.
She would love Sephine no matter what she became.
“Would you like something to eat?”
Having just woken up, Sephine’s body was still a bit weak.
If this continued, it would certainly affect her normal life.
Now, every word she spoke required a small gasp for air.
“No thanks, I’m not hungry. Lady Sephine is too polite.”
“Why still call me ‘Lady’ at this point? It makes us sound distant. Just call me Sephine.”
“Sephine… may I ask, you and the Lord Demon King…”
“There is no longer any relationship between her and me. If you’ve also come to persuade me, don’t bother. I won’t change my mind.”
Whenever Sephine spoke these words, a flash of sadness always appeared in her eyes.
Catherine was good at reading expressions, and no subtle change in Sephine’s face could escape her gaze.
“I didn’t come for that.”
“Sephine, can you tell me the truth? Do you still like your life as it is now?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Then what if I said I have a way to turn Lady Sephine back? Would you be willing?”
“What?! But didn’t the Demon King say it was absolutely impossible to change back?”
“Those secret arts of the Demon King were merely learned from us witches. We certainly understand the secrets within them better than the Demon King. No magic is irreversible.”
“No!”
The Demon King pushed the door open with force, rushing in with a shout.