Chapter 99: The Weight of Time and a Cat-Head Cake

On the way back, Lamia remained as quiet as before.

This time, they did not take a carriage. Their paths diverged for the return journey.

Wade still needed to return to the Knight Order, as it was a workday. He couldn’t always cite personal matters as an excuse for daily absenteeism, though he certainly could. Leaders, after all, always found their reasons. He could simply claim to be in meetings all day, and no one would question him.

Yet, Wade was a conscientious man, not one to shirk his duties every time. With no other pressing engagements today, he returned to the Knight Order as usual. Lamia, having accompanied him this far, would then take a convenient Knight Order vehicle home from their headquarters.

They had foregone a carriage for the journey to the Knight Order because Wade wished to spend a little more time with Lamia.

However, Lamia would take a carriage for her trip home, as Wade wanted to ensure her safe arrival.

Regardless, Lamia was undoubtedly safe. She was the Demon Lord, after all. Who would dare lay a hand on her?

Wade knew, of course, that Lamia would never reveal her true power or magic in his presence. But privately, when he wasn’t around, she would certainly resolve any trouble using her own formidable means.

Generally, no one sought to trouble her… except Orlan.

Orlan, however, had been remarkably quiet recently, refraining from any unnecessary actions. Had he implicitly approved of Lamia’s movements?

Or was this tranquility merely the calm before a storm?

In truth, one particular matter always weighed on Wade’s mind: ‘time’.

Lamia had once mentioned, in a moment of candor, that ten human years were but a fleeting moment for a demon. She had implied that if she were to stay by his side for a decade, it would be no different to her than a casual two or three-day business trip.

Thus, Wade harbored deep anxieties about this concept of time.

If a decade was a mere blink of an eye for demons, what kind of preparations might they be undertaking?

How long would their preparations take?

For humans, a plan might require days, weeks, or even months of preparation. Some exceptionally farsighted individuals might strategize for years.

That was because humans only had so much time in their lives.

Humans possessed only a few decades of lifespan, with eighty or ninety years typically marking their limit. Most people began to decline physically around seventy, and by forty or fifty, chronic illnesses often emerged.

Wade was human.

No matter how powerful he became, he remained fundamentally human.

How long could the demonic energy within his body protect him? Could it help him live to one hundred and fifty?

Even if it could, what true meaning would there be in it?

He did not fear death; he feared dying before his affairs were settled.

Lamia could casually dedicate a decade of her life to him. But what about him? How many decades did he have to spend by her side?

The most crucial aspect was the internal affairs of the demon race. Orlan’s silence was precisely what worried Wade, making him fear that Orlan might be plotting something nefarious.

Furthermore, a conspiracy, by demon standards of time, could be plotted for three, five, even ten or twenty years. Proportionally, this was no different to them than a few months or a year or two. For humans, however, such a duration could consume a significant portion of a lifetime.

If the demons continued to hide, secretly plotting, would he live long enough to see their secrets exposed?

What should he do? How should he proceed?

‘Utilize… Lamia?’

‘Exploit this demon, the only one by his side, who could serve as a link to her kind?’

‘In that case… what preparations did he need to make?’

‘He would need her trust, her dependence, her… affection.’

****

Wade watched as Lamia departed in the carriage. As it pulled away, she opened the window and waved goodbye to him with a cheerful smile.

Wade, too, offered a smile in return, appearing no different from any ordinary husband.

Yet Wade knew they were far from an ordinary couple.

‘Ah, damn it.’

‘If only they truly were a normal couple.’

The carriage rattled along. Once Wade had vanished from her sight, Lamia closed the window and stretched languidly inside.

This was a special Knight Order carriage, typically used to escort knights’ families home, so she felt completely at ease using it.

It had been a pleasant day, at least judging by the current outcome.

On the way to the Knight Order, they had passed a dessert shop. Lamia’s eyes immediately fell upon a cream cake shaped like a cat’s head. Wade frowned, but reluctantly bought it nonetheless.

As Wade purchased it, his internal monologue was rather peculiar. ‘Cats,’ he thought, ‘always cats!’

‘Do those despicable felines truly captivate her attention so much!’

Yet, after a moment’s consideration, he dismissed the idea of a cake shaped like himself. The thought of eating a cake by scooping out his own head, bite by bite, was simply too unsettling.

When it came to such food, Lamia preferred to admire its appearance and collect it rather than consume it. It held little flavor on its own, relying solely on magic stone powder to enhance its taste. After eating, most of the flavor still belonged to the powder, with very little of the ingredients’ natural taste discernible.

She wasn’t much of a foodie, so she didn’t care passionately about what she ate.

Carrying the cake, Lamia chatted casually with Wade the entire way. Their conversation drifted from the weather to dinner, to a small bird spotted under a grand old tree, or various sights they’d encountered on their journey.

Lamia, filled with curiosity about the human world, gazed around, taking everything in.

As she looked everywhere, she seemed not to notice that Wade had remained largely silent for the latter half of the journey, his gaze fixed on her curious eyes with a complex mix of emotions.

Once settled in the carriage, after her stretch, Lamia clapped her hands together.

She glanced at her cat-head cake, then, after a moment’s thought, decided to save it to share with Wade that evening.

She observed the cake’s decorations. Having read cookbooks, she knew the white sprinkles were sugar crystals. Wade seemed to have a sweet tooth; he had thoroughly enjoyed the apple pie last time, so he would likely enjoy this cake too.

As for why it was a cat’s head? The shape was simply unique.

Had there been a dragon-head cake, she would have bought that too.

Lamia leaned back against the carriage seat, a smile playing on her lips. She didn’t need to hide it, for she was completely alone in the carriage now.

—She had noticed Wade—specifically, the subtle expression on his face at the orphanage when she had touched the cat.

That was precisely why Lamia had intensified her petting of the kitten, mischievously watching Wade squirm in discomfort.

To see the esteemed White Knight looking so flustered in front of a mere cat was truly amusing.

[I knew it—my charm is utterly irresistible to you…!]

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