Chapter 15: The Senior

According to their previous agreement, after Xing Yue had washed up and eaten breakfast, she gave Phyllis her daily footbath treatment.

Xing Yue had originally thought that after serving Phyllis, today's schedule would be the same as yesterday's—going to the dungeon to visit... well, possibly interrogate that Holy Maiden.

But that wasn't the case. Phyllis only lightly said, "Go to the dungeon? Of course not~"

"Against someone that stubborn, if you don't leave them hanging for a few days, they won't easily give in."

"But... yesterday, Mother, didn't you say 'We'll come again tomorrow'?"

"I just said it offhand. I don't have that much free time to visit a prisoner in the dungeon... What~ Yue Yue, you didn't actually believe that, did you?"

Phyllis's eyes were seductive, her tone amused.

Xing Yue was a bit silent.

That's true. After all, Phyllis was a Demon King. There really was no need for her to keep her word to a prisoner.

It seemed that poor Holy Maiden would have to suffer another day...

But knowing that the Holy Maiden wasn't in any mortal danger, just scared for a day, Xing Yue only sighed a little inwardly. She planned to visit the other woman later when she had free time, then calmly asked about the day's plans.

"No, that's not it, Mother. Speaking of which, what are we doing today?"

"Today, I'm taking you to meet a senior~"

Phyllis raised her small hand, and that jet-black throne answered her call, hovering silently before her. Then, with a light leap from the bedside, she landed steadily on the throne.

After finding a comfortable position on the throne, Phyllis continued, "I should have taken you to meet her earlier, but you were sleeping the whole time, so I had to wait for you to wake up~"

Xing Yue repeated curiously and doubtfully, "Senior?"

"She's the former Demon King of the魔族~ Consider her... hmm, your aunt? No, that doesn't seem right either... Ah, forget it. Yue Yue, just call her Grandma," Phyllis said casually.

"...?"

How did the title get older and older?

Xing Yue was a bit speechless.

Judging from her cheap mother's very casual attitude toward that former Demon King, their ages probably weren't that far apart, but their relationship didn't seem very good.

If she actually listened to Phyllis and called the woman "Grandma," she'd definitely max out the hate meter upon first meeting, becoming a lightning rod for her cheap mother's conflicts.

Phyllis, with her strength, didn't care about such things, but Xing Yue was just a third-rate small fry. If the former Demon King held a grudge against her, she definitely wouldn't get any good outcome.

So she'd better be polite and call her "Auntie" instead...

But come to think of it, besides Phyllis, was there actually a former Demon King living in the Demon King Castle?

Xing Yue had thought it would be like a natural law—one mountain can't accommodate two tigers. To become the new king, you had to kill the old Demon King first.

Now it seemed more like the former Demon King had retired and passed the throne to Phyllis.

With a head full of questions, Xing Yue followed Phyllis all the way to the top floor of the Demon King Castle.

Compared to her own livable room in the castle, the first feeling upon stepping onto the top floor was cold and gloomy. Chilly winds came in waves. "It's lonely at the top" might be what this was describing.

Moreover, all kinds of strange, creepy sounds were even more unsettling than the dungeon. She constantly felt like something was staring at them.

Xing Yue didn't dare speak, nor did she dare get too far from Phyllis. She kept her head down and just followed her mother upward.

Eventually, they arrived in front of a spire.

Phyllis waved her small hand, and the door of the spire was pushed open from a distance, revealing the scene inside.

The spire's interior, a dark space that tapered upward, had been transformed into a vertical, luxurious hall.

A huge floral carpet swallowed their footsteps. The walls were covered in crimson velvet, and vines embroidered with gold thread glimmered faintly in the candlelight. The air was filled with the warm, ambiguous scent of aged oak, leather, and some expensive incense.

On tall, gilded shelves lining both sides, reaching up to the dome, were not books but countless wine glasses. They came in all shapes—crystal, gilded, etched glass—reflecting varying depths of light under the candles.

Each glass was carefully placed in its own separate, velvet-lined compartment, silent like sleeping treasures. Even someone like Xing Yue, who knew nothing about valuables, could tell these glasses were priceless.

On a long table covered with dark patterned brocade stood a single, clear crystal goblet. The liquid inside was thick and dark red, like a flowing, mellow stream of blood.

And in the very center of this meticulously arranged palace lay a wide black coffin. The coffin was matte, absorbing all the surrounding splendor, leaving only a heavy, dense darkness.

A pale marble cross entwined with thorns stood upright behind it, cutting through the intoxicating air together with the coffin. The warm fragrance of wine and candlelight quietly cooled down as it reached here.

Phyllis seemed to have been here many times. Riding her jet-black throne, she skillfully navigated to the coffin, then kicked the lid right off.

"Hey, wake up, old thing."

"Phyllis, what the hell are you?! Waking me up in the middle of the day! Are you out of your damn mind?!"

Direct, heartfelt, and unrestrained.

A polite and friendly greeting came. Xing Yue saw a young girl with jet-black hair sit up from inside the coffin.

She still seemed sleepy, grinding her little pointed fang in displeasure, with a few strands of hair sticking to her slightly flushed cheeks.

A defiant tuft of hair stood up on her head, casting a small trembling shadow under the flickering candlelight, like an old cat disturbed from its sweet dream, about to hiss.

But it didn't end there. Xing Yue saw another young girl with pink hair sit up from the coffin. There were faint kiss marks and bite marks on her neck. The two of them both looked disheveled...

Ah...

Could it be...

Xing Yue immediately covered her face with her hands, only daring to peek at them through the gaps between her fingers.

Phyllis didn't care about the other's cursing at all, as if she was long used to such scenes. She continued, "Now every day it's either 'I'm hungry' or 'I'm sleepy.' You're just like a pig. At least you were once a Demon King. Can't you have some ambition, you old thing?"

"None of your business?!"

The black-haired girl was very rude to Phyllis. It wasn't clear if it was just because of her morning grumpiness or if that was always their relationship.

"If you have business, say it. If not, get lost and go paint your pictures. Don't bother my sleep!"

Phyllis chuckled lightly, reached out, pointed at the pink-haired girl beside the other, and stated her purpose directly: "Funuola, give me that little one. I need her."

"Why?"

"Hmm~"

"?"

Funuola was stunned for a moment, then reacted. She grabbed a pillow from the coffin and threw it at Phyllis, yelling, "I'm asking you for real! What do you want her for?"

Phyllis casually caught the flying pillow and said with a smile, "Naturally, to find some fun amusement~"

"If you don't want to give her to me, then I'll have to find my amusement from you~"