Chapter 111 : I Like You
Chapter 111: I Like You
“Why?”
Hera’s voice drifted down from above, devoid of any discernible emotion, yet it made every hair on Lilia’s body stand on end.
“Why did you lie?”
Lilia’s heart suddenly clenched.
She recalled what Hera had said when they first met—
As long as you are honest.
Even fear, even greed—so long as it was real, she could tolerate it.
Lilia lay prone on the ground, her fingers digging into the cracks of the floor, her nails turning pale.
She couldn’t make anything up anymore.
If she kept lying, she would really be turned into a specimen.
“Because… because…”
Lilia raised her head, her face completely bloodless, her eyes frighteningly red.
“This was given to me by Mary.”
She poured everything out in one breath, her speech as rapid as machine-gun fire, afraid that if she was even a second slower, she would be interrupted by Hera.
“She came to see me tonight.”
“She said… if I couldn’t climb onto your bed within two days, couldn’t make you… do that to me, she would dismantle me and stuff me into the belly of her broken teddy bear.”
“This bottle of potion was also given by her.”
Lilia sniffed, tears swirling in her eyes, yet she didn’t dare let them fall.
“I never planned to let you drink it! Really!”
“I already decided—even if she dismantled me, I wouldn’t use this filthy thing to insult you!”
“Just now… just now it was because you suddenly came in, I was too scared, so… so I wanted to hide it.”
Lilia’s voice grew smaller and smaller.
Hera looked at the bottle in her hand.
The pink liquid swirled at her fingertips.
She lowered her gaze, looking at Lilia’s disheveled and pitiful appearance, and the coldness in her eyes seemed to dissipate just a tiny bit.
“Mary?”
Hera let out a soft chuckle.
“That little lunatic does worry quite a lot.”
With a casual toss—
The bottle containing enough potion to drive an entire city into madness traced a parabola through the air and landed precisely into the trash bin in the corner.
Clang.
Lilia’s heart finally settled back into her stomach.
“What else?”
Hera took a step forward, the tip of her shoe almost touching Lilia’s knee.
“Besides Mary, there should have been other guests tonight, right?”
Lilia’s entire body stiffened.
She didn’t dare hide anything.
“Yes… a little succubus came.”
“She said she came to deliver a message.”
“She said… when they repaired the sewage system before, they left a gap. Tonight, during the guard shift change, there would be an opening, and I could use the chance to escape.”
Hera’s movement paused.
She bent down slightly, that cold hand once again gripping Lilia’s chin, forcing her to raise her head.
Their eyes met.
In those golden pupils was reflected Lilia’s panicked face.
“Then why didn’t you run?”
“Lilia.”
Hera’s fingers brushed against Lilia’s cheek, the pads of her fingers slightly cool.
“Tell me the truth.”
“Did you want to escape?”
Lilia was forced to tilt her head back, her neck aching terribly.
Did she want to escape?
Of course she had thought about it.
Who would want to serve a Demon Queen who could kill at any moment every single day in constant fear?
Who would want to struggle for survival in this world without Wi-Fi, without food delivery, filled with nothing but slaughter and schemes?
At that moment earlier, when that little succubus spoke of the route, her heart had indeed raced wildly.
But…
Lilia looked at Hera.
At that face so close—exquisitely beautiful yet aloof.
At that faint, almost imperceptible… loneliness in her eyes?
Lilia suddenly felt something inside her get pricked.
“I did think about it.”
Lilia didn’t avoid Hera’s gaze.
“When that little succubus said I could escape, I was tempted for a second.”
Hera’s fingers gripping her chin tightened slightly.
“But…”
Lilia took a deep breath.
“I didn’t run.”
“It’s because… if I ran, then no one would…”
“No one would massage your shoulders, no one would listen to you vent.”
Her voice was slightly dry, but every word was crystal clear.
“And… in this hellish place, other than you, I don’t trust anyone.”
“Even if I crawled into the sewers, it would just be jumping from one pit into another.”
Lilia gritted her teeth and steeled herself.
“You protect your own.”
“As long as I’m your person, you won’t let anyone touch me.”
“Even that lunatic Mary—if you’re here, she wouldn’t dare truly do anything to me.”
“You’re my biggest support, the thickest thigh to cling to!”
“I’d have to be brain-damaged to give up such a thick thigh and go crawl through the sewers like a rat!”
The air fell silent for a few seconds.
Hera looked at Lilia.
In those golden eyes, the frost that had originally condensed seemed to crack open slightly.
She released her hand.
Lilia quickly lowered her head, rubbing her reddened chin, her heart uneasy.
If this were any other boss, she’d probably get a two-level salary raise for that speech.
“Heh.”
Hera suddenly chuckled.
There was no mockery in that laughter—rather, a trace of… pleasure?
She straightened up, looking down at Lilia from above, her gaze turning somewhat strange.
“Lilia.”
“Mm?”
“Do you like me?”
Like?
Wasn’t that topic shift a bit too abrupt?
Just now they were discussing serious political matters like escape and loyalty—how did it suddenly switch to a pink romance channel?
“Huh?”
Lilia opened her mouth wide, letting out a single syllable, her mind a complete mess.
Hera seemed very patient.
She didn’t urge her, only quietly watching Lilia. That gaze was no longer scrutiny, but something like… peeling away the shell and looking directly into the soul.
“If you didn’t like me, why didn’t you run?”
“If you didn’t like me, why endure my temper?”
“If you didn’t like me…”
Hera paused, her gaze sweeping over Lilia’s right hand that had hidden the potion earlier.
“Why stay?”
Lilia swallowed.
Screw it!
At this point, what was there left to hesitate about!
Lilia suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with a kind of reckless fervor.
“I like you!”
That shout cracked a bit, echoing loudly in the small room.
Hera raised an eyebrow.
“I just like you!”
“I’m a vulgar person! I’m lustful!”
“You’re so beautiful, with such a great figure—across the entire Demon Realm… no, the entire world, there’s no second woman more beautiful than you!”
“I could eat three extra bowls of rice every day just looking at your face!”
“A big reason I didn’t run is because I can’t bear to leave that face!”
“And…”
Lilia took a breath, her voice lowering slightly.
“I also… feel sorry for you.”
“You’re clearly a Queen, yet you lock yourself in that cold palace every day. Other than killing, it’s just handling documents.”
“You don’t even have a single person you can speak your true thoughts to.”
“Those subordinates—either they fear you, or they want to scheme against you.”
“I think you’re very tired.”
“I want to stay. Even if all I can do is pour you a cup of water or give you a massage, at least… I can let you relax just a tiny bit.”
As Lilia spoke, she almost moved herself.
She secretly glanced at Hera.
Hera’s expression didn’t change much.
“What else?”
Hera asked softly.
What else?
Lilia froze.
Wasn’t that enough? Lust admitted, sympathy confessed—what more was needed?
“And also…”
Lilia bit her lip, a strange blush suddenly appearing on her face.
She lowered her head, fingers twisting the corner of her clothes, her voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.
“There’s also…”
“I’m kind of… shameless.”
“I just like… being controlled by you.”
“I like you calling me an idiot. I like that… that possessiveness of yours.”
“This feeling of being under your control makes me feel… very safe.”
After saying that—
Lilia directly buried her face into the floor.
She couldn’t face anyone anymore.
How was she supposed to live this down?
The room fell into deathly silence.
Lilia lay on the ground like an ostrich, waiting for Hera’s judgment.
Mockery? Disgust? Or a direct kick?
However, none of it came.
Only the sound of fabric rustling.
Then, a warm hand gently rested on top of her head.
Like a master soothing a frightened pet.
“Idiot.”
Hera’s voice came from above, carrying a trace of barely perceptible amusement and… satisfaction.