Even though the golden glow of dusk had completely faded, the city-state's nightscape, illuminated by lantern light, remained no less enchanting than before.
Beside the ancient buildings lining both sides of the streets, pedestrians in various attire walked with easy smiles on their faces.
A few hundred meters from the city gates lay a secluded residential corner.
Aside from the torches placed along the walls by the guards and the light spilling from the windows of local homes, there was no other illumination.
Once Lanqi's eyes adjusted to the dimness, he slowly approached his destination.
He could see things curled up beneath the wall at the corner—in fact, quite a few curled-up creatures.
Fragile little things, shivering from the cold.
Lanqi kept walking in their direction, catching the faint sounds of life from the shadows.
"Meow... meow..."
He stopped, crouched down, and opened the food container in his hands.
The simple motion was enough to release a rich, tempting aroma into the air.
As Lanqi tossed pieces of cooked chicken onto the ground nearby, a few kittens slowly began to draw closer to him.
At that very moment.
He seemed completely oblivious to the figure sitting propped against the wall across the street, looking like a homeless girl from the slums.
This corner was by no means pleasant—remote, with only stray cats for company.
Yet there were no other vagrants, and guards rarely passed through.
Talia despised humans, so this place offered her a measure of comfort instead.
No one could have ever guessed that a girl dressed like a refugee was once a demon princess.
Time slipped by.
Lanqi's food drew nearly all the nearby kittens to his side.
He watched them eat, a look of pure bliss on his face.
He had learned from the butler that Talia had been sleeping rough on this very street for the past two days.
So before dinner, Lanqi had asked the estate's chef to prepare a generous portion of specially seasoned chicken—safe for cats, and even more delicious for humans.
Then, later that evening, he had come here deliberately under the guise of feeding strays.
"..."
Even though Lanqi hadn't glanced her way once in the past few minutes, Talia had noticed this human encroaching upon her "territory" from the very start.
If he had merely stayed quiet and kept to himself, Talia might have treated him like empty air.
Yet why on earth was that damned human feeding such high-grade meat to stray cats?
Reflecting on the years she had spent enduring the elements with barely enough to eat, Talia could only reach one conclusion: even the cats ate better than she did.
At last, she couldn't help but look in Lanqi's direction.
Restrained by her pride, however, she couldn't bring herself to voice a single reprimand.
All she could do was glare daggers at him.
Lanqi, meanwhile, went on as if he still hadn't noticed her presence.
"Can you go feed your cats somewhere else?"
She finally spoke, her tone cold.
Lanqi looked up, slightly startled, and cast a bewildered gaze toward the source of the voice. Once he seemed to grasp the situation, he replied flatly, "I come here more often than you do."
He sounded as though he were asserting his territorial rights, stating the simple fact that he was a regular visitor who fed cats here.
Hearing this, Talia let out a faint, dismissive snort and ignored him.
Because the human truly wasn't lying.
Lanqi said nothing more.
What he had said was indeed the truth.
As a native of this city-state, no matter how rarely he came, he had still visited this spot far more often than she had.
Having only arrived in town recently, Talia naturally had no way of knowing whether Lanqi had fed cats here in the days prior.
Still, Talia was stubborn by nature.
She disliked Lanqi, but she was equally reluctant to walk away and surrender the spot she had claimed for the past two days.
If she yielded now, it would feel like she had lost.
So she stayed tucked in her corner, enduring her hunger while trying her best to fall asleep.
A short while passed.
"Could you do me a favor?"
Lanqi's voice suddenly broke the quiet street.
Talia raised her head slightly toward him, confirming that he was indeed speaking to her.
"What is it?"
She hadn't intended to pay him any mind.
Yet by the rules of human society, when someone asked for a favor, it usually came with compensation.
Right now, compensation of any sort was precisely what she needed.
"Help me feed the cats, and make sure the bigger ones don't bully the kittens. I'm sleepy and want to go home to bed."
Lanqi lifted the container in his hand and added, "You can keep whatever's left."
"..."
Talia fell silent.
If it wasn't charity but a transaction, she could consider it.
To demons, honoring the terms of a deal was of paramount importance.
It was a matter of pride.
The nobler the demon, the more they would sooner die than break the terms of an agreement.
Even if this human didn't know she was a demon.
As demon royalty, she would rather starve to death than breach a contract just to greedily take a morsel meant for the kittens.
She silently counted the cats, confirming that there should indeed be a small portion of chicken left over for her in the end.
"Deal."
Talia decided there was no reason to refuse.
Though she couldn't fathom what pleasure humans derived from feeding cats.
Lanqi placed the lid back on the container, set it on the ground, stood up, and stretched his back before casually strolling away.
...
The following morning, at a wealthy merchant's manor in the city.
It was another disciplined day. Lanqi rose early, finished breakfast, and stepped out of the estate.
The morning sun bathed the plants in the courtyard with a warm, hazy glow, while canaries chirped melodiously in the surrounding trees.
Walking through the grounds, Lanqi couldn't help but feel in high spirits.
Yet the moment he stepped out the front gate, his footsteps halted.
Across the street sat Talia, looking as though she were staking him out.
He didn't panic in the slightest.
It was practically impossible for Talia to have uncovered his misdeed so quickly.
Talia strode across the street toward him. Behind Lanqi, the guards posted at the manor entrance instantly tensed, on high alert.
Lanqi raised a hand to signal that they shouldn't be nervous.
Nerves wouldn't help anyway; if she truly wanted to unleash a slaughter, no one here could stop her.
"The box."
She simply raised her hand and held out the food container from the previous night.
The reason she had tracked Lanqi down so quickly was that a casual inquiry around town about a "black-haired, green-eyed youth" turned up plenty of stories about this notorious young noble.
Yet she couldn't help feeling that the pampered young master the locals described didn't quite match the boy standing before her.
He might seem a bit foolish and lazy, but he certainly didn't appear to have a vile temper.
"You could have sold it. I didn't plan on taking it back."
Lanqi looked at her, puzzled.
Pawning fine tableware from his household would fetch at least half a pound.
"That wasn't part of the deal,"
Talia said impassively.
Lanqi nodded at her words and accepted the box.
This demon princess had clearly gone to great lengths to blend into human society, strictly abiding by its rules and conventions.
Before Lanqi could say anything more, Talia turned without hesitation and walked away in silence.
"Didn't you eat much?"
Lanqi called after her as he watched her depart, her figure swallowed by her dark gray cloak.
"I honored our agreement,"
Talia replied without looking back.
"I see."
Lanqi looked down at the box and murmured to himself.
This demon seemed to place immense emphasis on the fact that this was a "deal," not a "favor."
Her pride forbade her from accepting charity, nor did she wish to owe anyone gratitude; she knew full well that free things often proved the costliest of all.
That shattered his little scheme to bestow kindness upon Talia.
Even the box, which might have served as a "trap of indebtedness," had been returned at the first opportunity.
Lanqi sighed and handed the container to a nearby guard.
As expected, trying to offset the hatred between them by doing her a kindness was far from simple.
However.
Everything so far remained well within his expectations.
Lanqi signaled to the guards behind him to stand down; he was going to speak with the young lady alone.
The guards didn't dare object and remained stationed at the entrance as instructed.
Lanqi jogged forward to catch up with Talia.
Talia turned her head, looking at the human who had reappeared by her side with a hint of confusion.
She couldn't understand what this seemingly high-status yet utterly frail fellow wanted.
"I'd like to propose another transaction. I swear on my family's honor that it is fair,"
Lanqi said with polite respect.
Talia's golden eyes locked onto Lanqi's, as if trying to peer deep into his pupils.
Not a lie.
She possessed magic capable of discerning the truth of another's words.
Besides, they already had one successful transaction between them.
This wealthy human didn't seem all that wicked, and he should be able to provide the compensation she needed right now.
"Let's hear it,"
Talia said, stopping in her tracks.
"Regarding the details of this deal, I hope you won't ask me why."
Lanqi's expression turned serious.
Talia nodded.
She had no need to pry anyway, since no one could deceive her with lies.
"Someone in this city wants to kill me. So I want to hire you to keep watch near my home for any suspicious individuals, eliminate threats, and protect me. I'll pay you accordingly."
Lanqi looked troubled, making no effort to hide the worry in his eyes as he looked straight at Talia.
"That doesn't sound difficult,"
Talia said after hearing Lanqi's proposal, certain that every word he spoke was true. "Your family must be quite wealthy and influential in this town. You shouldn't be lacking people to ensure your safety."
She pondered a moment, glanced toward the capable-looking guards in the distance, and voiced her doubt.
"Because the killer might be right beside me. I can't place absolute trust in anyone close to me, so I need as much reliable insurance as possible."
Lanqi appeared to hold Talia in exceptionally high regard.
His eyes made no secret of his appreciation—an appreciation earned by her honest return of the box, and the fact that she showed no prejudice toward him based on his status, wealth, or rumors.
"So you think I'm more reliable than those guards of yours?"
Talia seemed to tacitly acknowledge that she was far from weak.
She understood that Lanqi possessed the discerning eye typical of a shrewd merchant.
"Relatively speaking, yes."
Lanqi nodded.
"Hiring me is expensive,"
Talia simply said.
She had been constantly monitoring the truthfulness of his words.
Yet to this point, he hadn't spoken a single falsehood to her.
Among all the humans she had encountered, that was a rare and precious quality.
By her estimation, he was an honest, upright, and kind sort of human—a rather fine trading partner.
"Three pounds a day. As long as you remain in this city, this agreement stays in effect."
Lanqi produced a checkbook stamped with the words "Wilfort Chamber of Commerce" and a pen from his pocket.
Carrying gold coins of one pound or half a pound seemed too much of a bother for him.
Normally, thirty pounds was enough to support an ordinary family in the Hutton Kingdom's South Vantina frontier territory for an entire year.
Talia was visibly stunned.
It wasn't merely the awe of dealing with a wealthy aristocrat.
For someone who hadn't touched currency in "pounds" for ages and lacked any legal status in the kingdom, this was an offer nearly impossible to refuse.
Yet she possessed absolute confidence in her own strength.
Therefore, this was not charity, but a deal.
Most importantly, the power to terminate the agreement rested entirely with her; it would not compromise her freedom in the least.
"...Deal,"
Talia said in a low voice.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Lanqi handed the entire checkbook and pen directly to Talia, catching her off guard once more.
Talia looked down at the checkbook in her hands, lost in thought.
Did this mean she was supposed to write down the number herself each day and cash it?
He truly was a wealthy and generous human.
Possessing kindness, integrity, and many other fine virtues.
Yet such humans were often the ones demons were least compatible with.
...
Meanwhile, Lanqi turned and walked toward the opposite street.
The corners of his mouth twitched, barely able to suppress a grin.
Talia had no idea that the person who wanted to kill Lanqi was none other than herself.
When the time came and she discovered the truth about who had hunted down her familiar, she wouldn't be able to lay a finger on him.
Because she was bound by a rule—
"As long as she remains in this city, she must protect Lanqi, and in return receive three pounds every day"!
Chapter 3