All she had to do was stall for a little longer.
Once Vi got back, she wouldn’t have to fight anymore.
“Is there something else?”
Sephine glanced at her watch again.
Time was almost up.
If she kept wasting time here, she’d probably be late.
Being late was bad—she might even get her pay docked.
Misilanka was thinking.
What reason could she use now to keep Sephine here?
It seemed she had exhausted all available tricks.
What other way could she stop Sephine?
‘Could she only use that move? Daughter, remember, your father is no coward.’
Misilanka rolled onto the floor again and accidentally hit her head.
The noise was loud; Sephine heard it clearly and hurried over to help Misilanka up.
Tears were already hanging at the corners of Misilanka’s eyes as she looked at Sephine pitifully.
“How could you be so careless? Xiaomi isn’t young anymore, you know. Don’t hurt yourself.”
Sephine picked her up and placed her back on the bed, then blew on the spot where she had bumped.
“I’m sorry, I’m an idiot.”
“It’s not that bad. Just stay in bed, okay? I’ll go get Ai’er.”
Sephine walked out of Misilanka’s room and entered the living room, but she didn’t see Ai’er.
Where had she gone?
“Ai’er?”
No response.
She pushed the door open again and stepped outside.
There, she saw Ai’er.
“You’re here. Your father—”
Sephine stopped short.
She saw someone she didn’t dare to see.
‘Why is the Demon King here? Didn’t Ai’er say she rarely comes home? Is it just my bad luck to run into her like this?’
Sephine immediately shut her mouth and walked over to Ai’er.
“Your father just rolled off the bed again. Go take care of her? I need to go to work.”
With that, Sephine lowered her head, said nothing more, and walked straight toward the exit.
Realizing something, the Demon King grabbed Sephine.
“Wait a moment.”
“Demon King, I still have to go to work.”
Why had Ai’er been outside blocking Vi earlier?
Simple: she was afraid of being kicked.
Her act of playing pitiful was seventy percent fake and thirty percent real.
That thirty percent real was her frequently getting beaten by her sister.
“I have something to tell you.”
“What could we possibly have to talk about?”
“Come inside first. I’ll have Lifaliya explain things to Auntie Xue.”
It was rare for Vi to call Ai’er by her full name, Lifaliya.
Could there really be something important?
Sephine wasn’t the type to throw a tantrum either.
Since Vi had said so, staying here for a while wouldn’t hurt.
Pushing open the door, Vi paused for a moment, then sighed.
Her father was still the same as ever.
Neither of those two ever gave her peace of mind.
And now Sephine had seen the family’s dirty laundry—how embarrassing.
“Go on, now!”
Vi growled at Ai’er, who was standing in the doorway lost in thought.
Ai’er muttered something under her breath and left.
Judging by her bristling appearance, it probably wasn’t anything nice.
Sitting down, this was the first time in many days that Sephine had sat face-to-face with the Demon King for a formal conversation.
Misilanka, hiding in her room, had no idea what was happening outside, only that her eldest daughter seemed to be back.
That was enough.
“The Monster Nation has declared war on us. I haven’t released the news.”
“It was only a matter of time, wasn’t it? The Monster Nation’s land is extremely barren, but its population is enormous. If it weren’t for the fact that most of the monsters lack intelligence, they would have revolted long ago.”
The Monster Nation, which could only survive by encroaching on neighboring kingdoms, naturally declared war frequently.
They were troublemakers, completely indifferent to their own fate.
Win or lose, it was all the same to them, so they might as well go all in.
Besides that, Sephine was more curious why the Demon King was telling her all this.
Wasn’t there anyone in the Cabinet?
Why come specifically to her?
“We can’t keep dragging this out with them. We can’t afford it. The cities outside the Royal Capital are developing quickly, but they’re extremely unstable. We can’t let war come.”
“If that’s what you’re saying, are you planning to sue for peace? But as I recall, those guys would rather die for money. They must have already presented their terms to you.”
“Their terms are too harsh.”
“So you blew up at them?”
“Mm…”
The Demon King also knew that the declaration of war was partly her own fault.
“I knew it.”
Sephine understood her personality best.
Since she was so concerned about this matter, she must have done something that led to this outcome.
As a monarch, the Demon King was a bit too impulsive.
But what could be done?
After all, she had the power to back it up.
She just didn’t consider the consequences enough.
Buying peace with money, though not very dignified, was far more worthwhile than going to war.
“What do you plan to do now? Are we really going to fight?”
“I plan to make a wish to the Gods during the Light Bath Festival.”
“Pfft—Have you been drinking too?”
The probability of those Gods accepting that wish was 0.01%.
The Gods wouldn’t do something that’s thankless and troublesome.
Especially when this matter wouldn’t bring them any entertainment, and would even reduce it.
That would be fatal for the Gods.
“I’m serious. If that doesn’t work, I’ll have to take action myself.”
The Demon King had already thought of a backup plan.
If the Gods didn’t grant her wish, she would have no choice but to use violent measures.
She had long since sent people to infiltrate the Monster Nation and had already located the palace of the Monster Kingdom King.
At that point, she would have to use a high-purity magic power compression bomb to solve the problem.
If it didn’t kill the target in one shot, she would have to destroy the Royal Capital.
Since war had been declared, she had to be prepared to sacrifice everything for it.
When dealing with enemies, the Demon King would not show mercy.
“Then, go crazy one more time? When you completely lose your mind, what are we supposed to do?”
In the past, Demon Kings would not use their power frequently during the early days of the kingdom’s founding, roughly once every ten years.
But Vi’s frequency of using her power had already surpassed that of any previous Demon King.
She had a high probability of becoming the Demon King to lose her sanity the fastest.
“I can’t let those guys encroach on our land. This is a treasure we obtained through hardships.”
“You can’t place your hopes of solving this problem on the Gods. Let those cultists believe in them if they want, but even you think They will act?”
“But They gave me power.”
“That was to show you, not for you to use. They’re just in it for entertainment. If you die, the next Demon King will get the same treatment.”
Sephine hated those high-and-mighty Gods the most.
They only dared to stay up in the sky.
Did they dare to come down and tangle with her?
At home, Karin sneezed.
She was still lying on the rooftop, basking in the sun.