Why must the devil be Defeated?
Chapter 423: Things promised before 416

Chapter 423: Things promised before 416

Quickly, surrounded by the chattering members of Vivian’s Team, everyone left with answers they had obtained from Shane, each harboring their own thoughts.

Nadura could feel that each of those girls had their own sentiments about Shane genuinely becoming the prime candidate for the suitor of Princess Luoqi.

"I never expected that the one who would end up beside Princess Luoqi would be you."

Vivian remarked thus, sighing.

"Now that I think about it, only you would truly deserve to be her suitor."

Tiella seemed rather indifferent, her tone quite aloof.

"The Princess’s suitor..."

Lu Muya looked at Shane with a hint of admiration in her eyes.

"Wuu..."

Merica appeared somewhat discontent, yet dared neither speak nor ask, only able to show her grievances on her face.

Watching the four girls leave, Nadura looked at Shane’s crestfallen face and couldn’t help but find it amusing.

"Indeed, heroes are always the romantic type."

This was a nature shared by all heroes, or perhaps it could be called a hero’s true colors.

However, Nadura soon realized that the girls around Shane were not limited to the members of Vivian’s Team.

Before long, while walking in the manor, Shane encountered two acquaintances.

"Got confirmation, huh? Surely the Royal Family didn’t mess something up?"

Laischa teased him the moment she saw Shane.

"Congratulations."

Unlike Laischa, Lasha seemed to have already obtained the correct information through her own channels, thus she congratulated Shane expressionlessly.

Facing these two, Shane was clearly annoyed.

And Nadura was once again taken by surprise, staring hard at the faces of Laischa and Lasha, finally sighing.

"They are here too?"

Nadura didn’t know how to describe her feelings at that moment.

She knew Laischa and Lasha, of course.

After all, the object that had been hidden in the Mitra Kingdom Palace was also extremely important to the Divine Race.

Had it not been for the Divine Race and the Demon Clan having already negotiated in private to not intervene in this matter, just Laischa stealing that object would have been enough reason for the Three Great Goddesses to step in and capture her themselves.

"Really..."

Nadura could only suppress her mixed feelings, intently observing the exchange between Shane and the pair of demons from the Demon Clan.

The interaction was essentially Shane and Laischa teasing and squabbling with each other, while Lasha simply watched quietly beside them.

It wasn’t long before Shane and Laischa ended their bickering, parted ways on the spot—one continuing deeper into the manor while the other seemed ready to head to the large bathhouse for a bath.

Nadura hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to continue following Shane.

While she was curious about the demon master and servant, it was ultimately the sense of closeness around Shane that drew Nadura towards him.

It was this decision that led Nadura to finally witness a shocking presence.

This happened when Shane returned to his own room.

"Bang!"

As soon as Shane entered the room, a small figure threw herself into his arms, startling him immensely.

Only then did Shane clearly see the small figure who had thrown herself into his embrace and relieved, he hugged her back.

Nadura also saw the whole figure.

"Lilith...!?"

The one who threw herself into Shane’s arms was naturally Lilith.

Seeing Lilith momentarily, Nadura instinctively went on guard.

Even though many years had passed, Nadura still remembered that it was this little Goddess who had turned the earth into Hell, allowing evil energy to spread across the world, creating countless evil creatures that drove numerous beings mad, even causing continents to sink.

It had cost Nadura and the others a great effort to seal this Goddess.

Thus, suddenly seeing Lilith, Nadura couldn’t help but go on guard.

But the next second, Nadura saw Lilith’s sparkling amethyst eyes fixed on Shane, filled with emotions and brightness that hadn’t been there before.

"Right, Anima mentioned that Lilith had returned and had entrusted the ’True Seal’ to this hero."

Nadura felt relieved yet amazed.

It was because she had never seen such a docile Lilith before, and was quite taken aback by Lilith’s apparent reliance on Shane.

If Lilith’s presence was surprising, making Nadura feel guarded and amazed, then the last figure to appear was a truly dangerous presence that made Nadura’s whole body tense up.

"Are you back?"

The little girl sitting on Shane’s bed edge and hugging a pillow looked at him discontentedly.

Her appearance made Nadura’s heart tremble slightly.

"Dragon Demon Ai..."

The old adversary had finally appeared before Nadura.

"Is she really here?"

Nadura fixed her gaze on Ai.

No way around it.

A thousand years ago, it was this Dragon Demon who, together with Anima, had routed her in battle.

Therefore, even though Nadura knew that Ai Yi was currently by Shane’s side, seeing her in person still made her pale.

However, the Hero did not take the other’s displeasure into account and went on to embrace Lila, directly approaching and picking up Ai Yi as well.

"...!"

Nadura covered her mouth.

She couldn’t believe that, in this world, aside from the deceased Demon King and the rest of the Six Great Demons, someone dared to pick up Ai Yi.

But that wasn’t the only issue.

The problem was, Ai Yi, though seemingly annoyed when Shane picked her up, did not resist much.

What did this imply?

It implied that this behavior not only had the other party’s consent but also did not provoke any aversion.

"Is...is this really the Dragon Demon from back then?"

At that moment, even Nadura couldn’t help but murmur in disbelief.

She remembered that in past wars, this Dragon Demon Lord had brought terrifying slaughter and brutality to the battlefield more than once, synonymous with cruelty.

Countless people had died under the Dragon Breath of this Dragon Demon.

Countless countries and races had been destroyed by the claws of this Dragon Demon.

Even among the Heroes of the past, two had been slain by this Dragon Demon. After the Demon King was vanquished, this Dragon Lord, Dragon King, reportedly went berserk for a while. Had it not been for other Demons intervening, the Human Realm would have been devastated. So, Nadura could not believe that this reluctant-looking girl who was not resisting was the same Dragon Demon who was second only in cruelty to the Poison Demon among the Six Great Demons.

"...Could this be a fake Dragon Demon?"

Nadura started to doubt.

Under such circumstances, Shane and Ai Yi began their conversation.

...

"What are you upset about, exactly?"

Looking at Ai Yi, who was sitting on his lap after he had picked her up, Shane teased Lila with a wry smile.

For some unknown reason, ever since returning to the Royal Capital, Ai Yi seemed to have been in a bad mood.

"Did I offend you?"

Shane rolled his eyes.

"How have you not offended me?" Ai Yi retorted unhappily, "I think you lack self-awareness."

"I lack self-awareness?" Shane asked, puzzled, "Why?"

"Hmph." Ai Yi snorted, "You are obviously ’mine’, yet you so easily let that pretentious princess capture you, planning to marry her without my consent. That’s lack of self-awareness."

"...So I have to consult you before I get married?" Shane twitched his mouth, stopped teasing Lila, grabbed Ai Yi’s face, and said with a vacant look, "You wouldn’t really think of me as your subordinate, would you?"

"Not a subordinate, a possession." Ai Yi frowned, pushed Shane’s hand away, and said irritably, "That’s why I say you lack self-awareness."

"I think it’s you who lacks self-awareness," Shane chuckled on the spot, "Talking about possessions, you might as well say I’m a kept man."

"What’s a kept man?" Ai Yi’s frown deepened, yet she said, "But keeping you isn’t a bad idea if it’s you; it might actually be nice."

"I should thank you then," Shane said, his smile not reaching his eyes, "Anyway, you think that without your consent, I can’t decide my own marriage, right?"

Ai Yi didn’t respond but simply snorted again and turned her head away.

Actually, Ai Yi didn’t know why, but ever since she learned of Shane’s plan to marry Luoqi, she had felt inexplicably irritable.

All this talk about ’her person’ and needing ’her consent’ was just Ai Yi’s way of coping with her irritable mood.

But Ai Yi was self-aware enough to know that while it was okay to vent her irritation, she couldn’t go too far.

Otherwise, if Shane really thought she was trying to bind and restrict his freedom, it might make things unpleasant for both of them.

So, Ai Yi wisely chose to remain silent.

In this state, Ai Yi did not realize that if it were anyone else, she wouldn’t care this much; she would have said whatever came to her mind.

What did she care about others’ thoughts or whether they were happy?

Only in regards to Shane did Ai Yi choose to compromise in some areas.

A mighty Dragon Demon compromising over such trivial matters, if said out loud, might not be believed by anyone.

Shane, unsure about what was wrong with Ai Yi, looked bafflingly at the face of Lila and then fell into thought.

Even though he didn’t know what was bothering the little girl, since it had come to this, why not pamper her a bit?

But was he really someone who knew how to pamper people?

Shane seriously doubted that.

At that moment, Shane glanced inadvertently at a pillow in front of Ai Yi, then suddenly remembered something important.

"Right, haven’t you yet to fulfill the promise you made to me?"

Shane tapped his palm.

"What promise?"

Ai Yi blinked.

Shane revealed a bright smile.

"Have you forgotten, Dragon Demon Lord?" Shane said cheerfully, "You said, after we dealt with Duke Sterling’s Old Demon Clan Faction, you’d let me take a look at what’s under your pillow."

Upon hearing this, Ai Yi’s face finally changed.