NOVPUBThe next day.
The sky over Demon King Castle Necaris was still a deep shade of blue, dawn was not far off.
Around five o’clock in the morning, the color of the sky outside began to change.
On the shore of Lisi Island’s bay, there was a small wooden cabin, its exterior walls covered in ivy, revealing the beige of its walls amidst the verdant green, and from behind the bedroom curtain, Lisandra slowly sat up in bed.
"Yawn."
Her sleepy eyes looked a bit dazed as she scratched her messy dark hair.
Glancing at the clock, she was so startled that she tumbled out of bed and began to wash and dress in a flurry, not realizing until her long hair was neat that she could actually sleep in a bit today, since Mr. McCarthy had promised to take her to the royal palace.
However, she didn’t know if Mr. McCarthy would be too busy to take her, so she originally planned to get up early as usual and prepare for both scenarios.
Now she could only pray that Mr. McCarthy had a free day today.
She arranged her outerwear, picked up her bag, and hurried out of the cabin.
There were a few oddly shaped clouds on the horizon, fluttering about in the faint morning breeze.
Normally, the sky might have started to turn blue by 5 am in July, but today it was particularly dark.
Lisandra had thought about going to ask at the mansion next door to see how she could quickly find Mr. McCarthy, but as soon as she locked her door, she saw that a familiar amber magic energy vehicle was already parked outside her courtyard.
The same familiar face from yesterday was leaning on the driver’s seat, watching the night sky still scattered with stars.
Perhaps he was out confirming which parts of the Demon World’s sky he owned, or maybe he was watching the faint blue light emanating from the royal palace across the bay.
The moon, barely hidden, still shone upon the bushes, and the garden of the mansion next door was brightly lit by 5 or 6 am, but the joyous laughter and bustle of last night were no more.
The glow patterns about McCarthy’s handsome face looked like petals, his hair as neatly groomed as if it were trimmed weekly.
Lisandra couldn’t detect any malice in him; he was just quietly looking across the sea.
Maybe because he abstained from alcohol, he appeared dignified in contrast to the guests in the palace dining room yesterday, who became more jovial and raucous as they drank, while he became more solemn.
Lisandra suddenly realized.
Perhaps every morning, McCarthy might be downstairs at the palace, staring at a beam of aurora across the bay, as if trying to grasp something, and on that headland, lies the pure land that he yearned for in his heart.
Soon enough, McCarthy became aware that Lisandra had arrived.
Out of courtesy, McCarthy stepped out of the vehicle to bow to her.
Lisandra also quickly nodded her head and hastened over.
"Mr. Lanci, are you waiting for me?" she couldn’t help asking.
"Just arrived awhile ago, seems we are quite in sync," Lanci replied, turning around with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face.
Lisandra nodded, following the direction that Lanci pointed with his raised hand, and took her place in the passenger seat.
If it had been a normal day, she would most likely have been late, but with Mr. McCarthy giving her a ride, there seemed to be plenty of time.
She had the feeling that he had been waiting quite a while, but still said he had just arrived.
"Will we need to transfer to a sea magi-device later?" she inquired.
She and Mr. McCarthy were now seated in an amber-coloured streamline magi-guided vehicle that was as beautiful as a princess’s eye, with long and elegant lines. The vehicle was equipped with compartments for clothes, food, and tools, and the layered windshield refracted the street lights’ multiple rays of light, fitting perfectly with her image of a wealthy man.
"No need, it can drive directly on the sea," Lanci leisurely replied.
Effortlessly pressing the accelerator, the vehicle started to speed up along the road towards the seashore.
Lisandra felt the power of money once again.
She had initially thought of McCarthy as a mysterious, legendary member of the Demon Race, but now, that impression was dissolving, and she was more inclined to see him as a generous neighbor.
He was extraordinary, yet not in the way she had imagined.
However, sharing the car this time made Lisandra gradually realize there was some awkwardness.
She had blurted out a yes to his offer of a ride to work the day before.
Actually, their relationship had not developed to this extent.
At most, he was merely a Demon Race individual she had just met.
And she had already been under his care, and now she was asking for his help again.
Alone together now, she felt there was nothing to talk about.
"Miss Lisandra, what do you think of me as a member of the Demon Race?"
Noticing out of the corner of his eye that Lisandra had become slightly embarrassed and was clutching her handbag a bit tighter, Lanci broke the silence in the car first.
"I think... you’re a very good member of the Demon Race, much more amiable than I imagined, without the arrogance of nobility."
Lisandra could only reply as such.
"Actually, I didn’t want you to misunderstand me because of those idle gossips. Recently, there might be many rumors about me in Necaris, but you must know, with gossip, each time it’s passed on, it changes a little, and in the end, it’s barely related to the truth at all."
Lanci, holding the steering wheel, said to Lisandra.
Lisandra nodded.
Clearly, McCarthy himself had also heard the various rumors discussed by the Demon Race around his palace restaurant.
"Did you really act as a spy during the war?"
Lisandra asked curiously.
"You could say that I did, but not in the way the rumors portray it,"
Lanci admitted.
"Then... did you attend Purgatory Corridor Academy?"
Lisandra hadn’t expected McCarthy to admit it, and her interest piqued, she continued to inquire.
These matters might interest the princess.
After all, the princess was once a student at Purgatory Corridor Academy, even though she ultimately left before finishing and escaped to the human kingdom.
"Of course, but... also not quite like the rumors depict."
Lanci intermittently glanced at Lisandra as he spoke.
This made it hard for Lisandra to judge whether McCarthy was lying or not; his hesitant demeanor appeared as if he had secrets he could not disclose, yet she could faintly sense McCarthy’s somewhat unusual and profound feelings for that school.
"Which class were you in? Who was the headmaster at that time?"
Lisandra asked casually.
Simply by confirming with the princess, she would basically know the authenticity of McCarthy’s statements.
"Uh, that was twenty years ago..."
Lanci’s voice was unusually strained.
"..."
Lisandra struggled to suppress her urge to laugh.
His fabrications were so clichéd that Lisandra didn’t have the heart to continue probing.
They then talked about his path to success in business from scratch, which was very different from what Lisandra had heard in the restaurant the night before, yet it wasn’t difficult to discern that the original version told by McCarthy himself was indeed the basis for the rumors; without this original, the rumors surely wouldn’t have sprung up.
However, she realized that Mr. McCarthy had never intended to deceive her from the beginning; his words were very conservative, and perhaps he was sharing these trivial topics with her to help her relax.
Interacting with McCarthy was indeed a relaxing affair, as he seemed to naturally take into consideration the feelings of the friends around him.
If it were an ordinary girl, she might have quickly become fond of him.
But Lisandra knew her own weight, and she felt that McCarthy’s kindness toward her was pure, without regard for whether she was male or female.
Of course, it was precisely because of McCarthy’s natural demeanor that, one day, when his heart is truly moved and he becomes devoted to a girl he likes, that girl might also, following the principle of not being overly self-conscious, mistake love for friendship.
