Chapter 278: Because I Care, I Mind (Happy Little New Year)

Swoosh—

Snap!

"Hiss! You damned demon!"

Snap!

"I curse you! You'll definitely go to heaven!"

Snap!

"I ***!"

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Flora's expression was calm as she swiftly swung the lava whip in her hand, lashing Kreti again and again.

Each strike carried little force — far from harming Kreti, it couldn't even break the skin.

But the whipping technique possessed a rather astonishing spiritual damage, deliberately striking at sensitive spots.

What landed on Kreti's body was not pain, but a tingling numbness.

This left the Young Lady demon both embarrassed and furious.

Damn it!

She's humiliating me!

Vile demon—

"Speak."

After quite a while, Flora finally stopped her hand, loosened her grip, and casually tossed the whip aside.

"What exactly happened before? Why did you lie to me? What did you lie to me about?"

The response she got was an indignant, angry snort.

"Hmph!"

Although she had been "whipped" for quite a while, the Young Lady demon's spirit remained undimmed; she was in remarkably good shape.

She glared at the demon and said furiously, "In your dreams! I will absolutely never tell you! Just you wait!"

The Young Lady demon hardened her resolve.

She had decided — this time she absolutely would not bow her head and beg for mercy!

She had to make that creature Flora have a full taste of the torment of worry.

I will absolutely not pass Herbert's words on to you!

Kreti's face was full of delight as she looked at the expressionless Flora with mockery.

Hehe!

Feeling pretty annoyed, aren't you?

Feeling pretty anxious, aren't you?

Heh!

I just won't tell you!

Just! Won't! Tell! You!

"Haha~ Feeling pretty anxious, aren't you? Dying to know what happened? I just won't tell you~ Drive you crazy with it! Hahaha... huh!?"

However, her smile didn't last long.

Because Flora let out a sigh.

"Sigh."

Flora shook her head and remarked with seeming helplessness, "Kreti, I really should discipline you properly."

As she spoke, a ball of lava appeared in Flora's hand, which she gripped tightly, shaping it into a rod.

Flora gave it a gentle shake, and the internal special structure combined with the infused magic power caused the entire rod to vibrate.

Buzz—

Hmm!!?

Kreti's eyes suddenly went wide, and her smile vanished completely.

As a demon who had lurked in the dark realm, how could she possibly fail to recognize what that thing was.

Wait, you're serious?

"Wh-what are you going to do?"

"Wait! W-we can talk this out!"

Gulp.

Kreti swallowed hard and said awkwardly, bracing herself, "Wasn't I just joking with you? How could you take it seriously!"

"Hahaha, I was just playing around with you... stop!"

Watching the demon step closer and closer, the Young Lady demon finally broke down, casting aside the oath she had just sworn in her mind.

"I'll talk!"

"Herbert didn't do anything to you! He just had me help you undo your self-seal, and then he didn't do anything else... don't come any closer!"

Buzz buzz buzz!

The humming of the magic rod caused sweat to keep seeping out of Kreti's body...

Don't come over here, ahhhh!

Flora walked a few more steps before stopping, shook her head, and said, "Save that kind of useless talk — of course I already know that. What I'm asking is what exactly did he say to you?"

As a succubus, Flora's nose could keenly catch the scent of males, and there wasn't even the slightest lingering trace of Herbert's scent on her body.

Let alone touching her, he hadn't even gotten close to her.

Herbert, what does this mean? Is he expressing his dissatisfaction?

But... where exactly does his dissatisfaction come from?

This left Flora somewhat bewildered.

Why?

What on earth is going on?

At this moment, Crete also noticed Flora's confusion and instinctively wanted to exploit this weakness.

Perfect opportunity.

If I seize this mental flaw, I can plant a curse deep in her heart, and then... hiss!

But at the very moment before acting, Crete snapped back to her senses and immediately suppressed her instinct.

No, you don't want to!

Don't you dare provoke her again!

This flaw won't affect Flora much—it'll only anger her, and then she'll crush you mercilessly.

Still, though she understood this in her heart, Crete couldn't help but test the waters: "Um... you... really can't figure it out?"

"..."

The demon said nothing, only extended the mana rod toward the devil.

!!!

At the critical moment, Crete finally dared not provoke further and quickly said: "He said! He said something at the time!"

Crete imitated Herbert's voice and tone, as if playing a recording, perfectly reproducing his exact words.

"Flora, if you don't believe me, you don't have to force yourself to pretend."

These words caused Flora's expression to freeze, her eyes flickering slightly.

With the "blade" at her side and the inner city about to fall, Crete had no time to tease Flora now and continued repeating Herbert's words.

"Though this situation saddens me a little, you needn't worry I'll break my promise."

"My promise won't change—I'll still help you remove the curse and grant you true freedom."

"As for what kind of relationship we are... Flora, you decide."

After frantically finishing these words, Crete gasped for breath and strained to move her body farther from the mana rod.

"That's exactly what he said! I didn't change a single word! Take that thing away!"

The Devil Young Lady's voice was nearly on the verge of tears.

Crete was terrified of that thing for a reason.

After waking up once more from being sealed by Herbert's sealing array, she didn't know why, but her senses had become abnormally sharp.

The previous whippings had already left her head spinning; if not for constantly cursing aloud, she truly feared she might let out some strange sound.

To gasp and pant in front of the demon... that kind of thing must not happen!

Her dignity as a devil forbade it!

Though, no one knew whether her "devil's dignity" even allowed her to be hung up and whipped to begin with...

Perhaps it once forbade it—but since it happened, it happened.

Boundaries, after all, have always been flexible for devils.

The Devil Young Lady struggled to preserve her last shred of dignity, while the Demon Young Lady held the mana rod, lost in thought.

Hum—

"Herbert, my master."

After thoughtful consideration, Flora's expression grew peculiar, and she murmured to herself, astonished:

"He saw me sealing myself and thought I didn't trust his promise...?"

"Is he... throwing a tantrum?"

This must be a tantrum, right?

Flora had seen similar scenes before during her travels in the mortal realm.

Among lovers—no, even among close friends—such things occurred.

People once close would misunderstand each other over trivial matters.

One side wouldn't notice the issue, but the other felt untrusted and responded with this kind of "dissatisfaction."

The best way to handle this is to explain clearly at once; otherwise, the longer it drags, the worse it becomes.

"This..."

The Demon Young Lady blinked, unsure how to respond to this turn of events.

"But the problem is, I truly never doubted him..."

Flora scratched her head in confusion and murmured: "I didn't seal myself because of that."

"I did it simply because Crete was too noisy!"

She pondered for a moment, then turned to the source of all this chaos.

The demon looked at the devil; the devil looked at the demon; their eyes met.

The devil glanced at the demon's "reason," and smirked at her.

"Heh."

The demon thought for a moment, nodded, and then—

Hum!!

"Ahh~ Aaaahhh!!!"

The devil, having thought the matter settled, let her guard down—and was ambushed, letting out a strained, breathy moan.

Although she quickly covered it with a louder voice, the wound in her heart could not be concealed at all.

"FLO! LA!"

Kreti roared, glaring at the rule-breaking fellow, and gritted out: "You! You... you don't play by the rules!!?"

I already said it!

"Nonsense, if I followed the rules would I still be a demon?"

The demon snorted a laugh, then said casually: "Fine, I'll let you off this time. Don't come bothering me again after this."

Tossing the magic-cane aside, he released the bindings on Kreti and turned to walk toward the lava pool.

She felt the demon's glare behind her—daring to be angry but not daring to speak—and pondered the matter of Herbert.

"About this matter... how exactly should I explain it to her?"

【"Speaking of which, why did you leave behind words like that?"】

After leaving the Lava Hell and returning to the Endless Labyrinth, Nie Nasha asked Herbert curiously:

【"Didn't I already tell you that her self-imposed seal might not actually stem from distrust toward you? Why did you still say something like that?"】

Jokes were jokes and teasing was teasing, but after fishing Flora out of the magma pool, the Young Lady of Humor still told Herbert about the other possibility.

Perhaps, it was for some other reason~

She also believed Herbert would surely have guessed that much.

But if that was the case, why still leave behind words like that?

"Do you think what I said was a bit improper?"

【"A little, perhaps? That little fellow probably wouldn't be happy if she felt she was being misunderstood, right?"】

Herbert raised an eyebrow, smiled, and asked again.

"Are you sure?"

【"Hm? You did it on purpose again?"】

Hm? Why did I say "again"?

"Is there a possibility... that if I never truly kept Flora in my heart, and it was all just play-acting with her."

"Do you think I would care about her inner thoughts? Would I care whether she actually doubted me or not?"

Without waiting for the Humor Goddess to answer, Herbert shrugged and lightly gave the answer.

"I wouldn't."

"If I only treated her as a prop controlled through a contract, I wouldn't care about any of that at all."

The corners of Herbert's mouth lifted slightly as he gently shook his head.

"Nie Nasha, you need to get one thing straight—I only care, because I truly care."

No executioner cares whether the blade in his hand has a heart, whether it can feel sorrow; that would only be inviting needless trouble.

"And as for why I said those words... it was actually to use Kreti to convey my attitude to Flora."

"To tell her—I care about you."

Yes.

I care about you, which is why I felt displeased, which is why I adopted that attitude.

"And the reason I didn't say it to her in person was so that she could slowly come to realize it herself, and ideally let her imagination run a little, to think even more about it."

When Herbert finished speaking, Nie Nasha fell silent.

【"..."】

The Young Lady of Humor hesitated for quite a while, and finally, just before Herbert arrived at where Valentina was, blurted out a heartfelt sigh.

【"Your heart really is so filthy."】

All these calculations, inside and out, are just too many!

Herbert laughed helplessly, shook his head with a light chuckle, and accepted his ally's "praise": "Then thank you for the compliment?"

"Hehe, after all, this is what the human heart is~"

Sighing to himself, Herbert walked over to the still-sulking Miss Hungry Dragon and asked with a smile:

"Hello there, beautiful miss! May I sit beside you?"

"..." Valentina turned her head and shot Herbert a sidelong glance, then pursed her lips and turned back.

Ignoring you.

When Herbert was away, Valentina always wanted him to come back.

But now that Herbert had truly returned before her, she didn't quite feel like acknowledging him.

I'm angry.

"Then should I leave? I'm really going... oof!"

Herbert made as if to leave, but before his right leg could even step out, a powerful tail swept over, directly coiled around him, and dragged him to the Hungry Dragon Miss's side.

"Hmph."

The Hungry Dragon Miss still didn't turn her head to look at Herbert, but her body was very honest—she pulled Herbert into her embrace and nuzzled him out of habit.

Herbert felt the warmth transmitted over, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly as he gently hugged her back.

The two held each other like that for a while. Valentina stirred and asked in an extremely low voice: "... Are you hurt?"

"No."

Awoo.

Herbert was about to explain when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his ear.

The tip of his ear was caught between the Hungry Dragon Miss's teeth, and she gently nibbled it with her sharp canines.

"You're lying."

Valentina bit Herbert's ear and mumbled, "You smell like blood. You're injured."

She caught the fresh scent of blood on Herbert — he had been hurt not long ago.

"Was it that guy? The one with wings?"

"You mean 'Lucille'? No, it wasn't her."

Herbert tilted his head, lightly kissed Valentina's cheek, and whispered, "I did it myself. I wanted to borrow her power to strengthen myself."

"How?"

Herbert blinked and smiled. "You want to help?"

*Chomp. *

His ear tip got bitten again, this time with even more force.

"... Nonsense."

Valentina grumbled unhappily, then hugged Herbert even tighter.

"If you absolutely have to get hurt, then let it be me instead."

Because she cared, she couldn't bear the thought of Herbert being hurt by anyone else.

(End of this chapter)