Free Web Novel“Sign the contract and think you can just leave? Trying to freeload off me? Dream on.”
Vieya planted her little hands on her hips, chin raised proudly, pointing with exaggerated authority under the sunlight.
“A slave should act like a slave. From now on, you two are members of my maid squad. You must fulfill any of my requests. If I tell you to go east, you go east; if I tell you to go west, you go west... in short, I will not allow you to defy my orders!”
After saying that, she slowly narrowed her emerald eyes and leaned closer to the cage. “Understood?”
Although Vieya was seriously trying to display her authority, her childish face devoid of any extra expression, Elizabeth and Jiele Xiyin were not frightened at all. Instead, they found it amusing.
It was like a child waving a gun around; you would only be afraid because you feared the gun might go off by accident.
“Good.”
Seeing the two Demon Kings remain silent, Vieya nodded with satisfaction. She had thought she would have to talk circles to make these two old foxes, who had lived for centuries, behave.
But apparently, she had worried for nothing. The older such foxes are, the more afraid they are of death. As long as she held their lifeline, no matter how cunning they were, they could not stir up any real trouble.
Thinking this, Vieya looked toward the black cat crouching under the sun licking her paw and beckoned.
“Cat, move.”
“Meow?”
The black cat dropped her paw in confusion, tail raised, and walked over. She lifted her head blankly before letting out a soft meow,
What do you want me to do?
The next second—
She felt a sudden weight press onto her back. Two iron cages were placed right on top of her.
At once her pupils dilated, fur bristling, and her voice rose in panic. “Those are Demon Kings! You—you’re putting them on my back?! Either of them bites me once and I’ll be dead for sure!”
“Don’t be afraid. From now on, you’ll be the head maid.” Vieya smiled and patted her head.
“Meow! I’m scared of dying! I don’t want that job!”
With a thud, the black cat raised her paw and hugged Vieya’s thigh, voice filled with grief. “At worst, I’ll eat less from now on... but please don’t make me stay with them. They’re Demon Kings who kill cats without blinking, and I’m just a cat...”
“Objection overruled.”
Vieya patted her head again to comfort her.
Under the dazzling sunlight—
Rania came running out from the cathedral in a rush, stopping sharply in front of Vieya. Looking down at the white-haired little girl, her expression turned strange.
“Vieya, that thing you said about there being someone else inside the cathedral—could it be you saw it wrong? Or... maybe those three dangerous ones worked together to create some kind of illusion?”
“......”
The three unlucky creatures all fell silent, glancing resentfully at the violet-haired Hero. Their eyes seemed to say: If you have ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) a problem with us, just say so. No need to go through the motions like this.
“Is that so?”
Vieya lowered her chin and thought for a moment. It seemed that the priest she had met in the cathedral earlier was not from the convent.
Maybe he had come from somewhere else—perhaps from the main Church headquarters in the Royal Capital. Having sensed the Demon Kings’ aura, he must have been hiding nearby... Too bad she did not know why he had not reported it or taken action.
Besides, that priest looked a bit mentally unstable.
She shook her head inwardly and decided to stop dwelling on a question that would lead nowhere.
“It’s fine. Maybe I just saw wrong. No need to bother with it for now.”
Vieya brushed the topic aside lightly and asked, “Anyway, are you free today? Want to come by my place later for some tea or something?”
“...I really want to,” Rania sighed dejectedly, “but I’m sorry, I’ve been so busy lately that I probably won’t have time.” After a pause, she explained, “The reconstruction work in the residential district is ongoing, and there are still vampires loose in the city. Senior Lumi took leave today, so I have to help keep watch. It would be bad if anything happened.”
“......”
Vieya hesitated to speak. So this is the ‘responsible senior Hero’ you talk about so fondly? Or have humans really gotten this lax in just a few years while I was gone...?
Fine, maybe she was worrying too much. Like a seven-year-old fretting about whether to attend Tsinghua or Peking University—please, that’s not what you should be worrying about right now. What matters most is getting your own messy life back on track!
She convinced herself of that, waved to Rania, and left for a walk with the cat.
Maybe because most people in the city were helping with the reconstruction of the residential area, there were even fewer people in the already quiet commercial and core districts.
Walking alone down the street, Vieya suddenly felt like a retired person with nothing to do—spending her days raising her daughter and taking the cat for walks.
“Cat.”
“Meow?”
“Anything you want to eat? I’ll buy some, and we’ll bring some back for Jasmine and the others.” fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
“Meow! Blue-striped dried fish! Little cakes! And... bear cookies!”
“Mm, anything else?”
“No more, meow.”
The black cat thought for a moment and decided she had already ordered enough. She should leave the rest of the choices for Jasmine and the others.
...
The sun rose in the east and set in the west.
In the blink of an eye, it was evening.
“Welcome home!”
“Mom! Welcome back... and Cat-sis too!”
As soon as she entered, Vieya was surrounded by her daughter and the elf girl. The bags in her hands were promptly taken from her.
Standing at the doorway, Vieya blinked blankly for a moment and unconsciously placed her hands on her hips, spacing out on the spot.
“Wow, you even brought back so much food after going out just once...”
Looking at the many large and small bags, Jasmine felt both happy and worried. She thought her mother spent money far too freely—if things went on like this, their savings would soon be gone, and then her mother would once again have to risk her life taking commissions alone to earn money.
“Mom, you spent all three gold coins you took out in just one day.” Jasmine looked up at Vieya, who stood at the doorway smiling foolishly with her hands on her hips, and sighed. “Mom, you really need to start saving.”
“Oh, save when you can, spend when you should.”
Vieya came back to her senses and waved her hand dismissively. Her beautiful eyes curved into a shallow crescent, and she tapped her daughter’s forehead lightly.
“Drink today’s wine today, Jasmine. You’re still young—don’t frown over a few gold coins.”
Jasmine: “......” Do you even know why I’m frowning?
“All right, all right, everyone come in. It’s windy at the door.” Aislin came to smooth things over, ushering everyone inside and closing the door.
“Eh? Anna’s not here?” Vieya asked curiously as soon as she stepped in.
Setting down the bags, Aislin replied, “She said she had something to do, so she left first. Also, she might not have time to come teach Jasmine magic for the next few days, so I’ll handle the lessons for now. Once she finishes her business, she’ll come back and make up what’s missing.”
“Is that so? Guess I bought too many cakes today.” Vieya sighed. “These kinds of cakes get hard overnight—shouldn’t have bought so many.”
“Right, Aislin, do you know any preservation magic?” she suddenly asked.
“Preservation magic?” Aislin thought for a moment. “You mean magic that keeps food from spoiling?”
“Yes.”
“I know a little.” Aislin nodded, her soft ears twitching slightly as she smiled. “Do you want to learn it? Then come to class with your daughter tomorrow.”
“...No.” Vieya refused decisively. “I just want to keep the leftover cakes fresh until tomorrow.”
Aislin looked a little disappointed.
