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Join the ServerEven when she went out to hunt, Su Yuan’s mind was still occupied with thoughts of Bai Shimo.
Walking into Zhaoxi Bar, the manager was leaning against the counter, wiping a glass.
Seeing Su Yuan enter, she looked up and gestured with her chin—her fingernails painted wine red—pointing toward the window-side booth in the farthest corner of the hall.
“Little Butterfly, you’re finally here.
That guest ordered almost ten minutes ago and hasn’t called for service.
Go take care of her.”
The manager’s voice was low, matching the bar’s quiet atmosphere.
“Looks like a first-timer.
Don’t be too pushy—just follow her lead.”
Su Yuan nodded, pulled off her hoodie’s hood, and revealed a soft, gentle smile—the expression she had practiced at the bar, the one most likely to put people at ease.
She picked up the non-alcoholic mojito from the counter, a fresh mint leaf garnishing the rim, and walked step by step toward the corner booth.
Sitting in the booth was a slender girl.
She wore a simple white hoodie, the hood pulled over her head, her entire figure curled into the plush sofa, head down as she fiddled with her phone.
Su Yuan’s heart stirred slightly.
She doesn’t look like the type who’d come to a place like this.
She reached the booth, gently placed the mojito on the coaster, and the ceramic cup met the glass with a soft clink.
“Hello, here’s your non-alcoholic mojito,” Su Yuan said with just the right amount of politeness.
“Would you like our companion chat service?
It doesn’t involve any extra charges—just someone to listen to your thoughts.”
At those words, the girl’s fingers froze on her phone screen.
She slowly looked up, brushing the bangs from her eyes, revealing a delicate yet weary face.
The moment their eyes met, Su Yuan’s fingers tightened around the tray, her pupils contracting sharply.
That face—she had seen it countless times on television!
It was Sunflower!
One of the currently acclaimed Star Vault magical girls—Bai Shimo’s teammate!
Su Yuan’s heart skipped a beat.
She instinctively stepped back half a step, her professional smile freezing for a split second before she quickly masked it.
Sunflower, however, didn’t recognize her.
She just kept her head down.
“If you don’t need anything else, I’ll take my leave…”
Su Yuan quickly composed herself, resuming the standard server’s posture.
She gave a slight bow, ready to turn and leave.
“W-wait!”
But Sunflower suddenly spoke up, her voice soft and small, tinged with a hint of stammer,
“N-no, don’t go… I… I need the companion chat service.”
Su Yuan halted in her tracks.
With her back to the booth, her brow furrowed slightly.
“Understood.”
She turned around, reassuming her gentle, harmless demeanor, and sat down on the single sofa across from Sunflower—legs together, hands resting on her knees, adopting the most relaxed listening posture.
“Miss, if I may be so bold—it’s truly an honor to meet a star like you at our bar tonight…”
Su Yuan followed her usual chat script, trying to break the stagnant atmosphere between them.
But Sunflower just kept her eyes down, staring at the lime slice in her glass.
Her responses were tepid at best—just scattered “Mm”s and “Ah”s.
Short monosyllables, like stones dropped into still water, without so much as a ripple.
“…Your moves in that last battle were so graceful—truly breathtaking!”
“Mm.”
“…Do you have any favorite foods?
Sweets, perhaps?”
“Seaweed soup.”
A completely failed chat session.
The air around the booth grew even heavier.
Even the jazz melody seemed to drag.
Su Yuan’s fingertips, still holding her glass, grew warm.
She was just thinking of switching topics when a pitter-patter sounded from outside the window.
She turned her head.
Fine raindrops tapped against the floor-to-ceiling window, gathering into tiny streams that blurred the neon nightscape beyond.
The entire bar grew quiet and oppressive.
In that rain-soaked silence, Sunflower suddenly looked up at Su Yuan and spoke softly, breaking the stalemate.
“Little Butterfly, I have a question for you.”
Sunflower’s fingers gripped her phone case tightly as she finally met Su Yuan’s eyes.
“Um… I have a friend…”
“She used some not-so-ethical methods to get what she wanted from the person most important to her…”
“Can feelings like that be forgiven?”
Su Yuan paused at the question.
She didn’t answer immediately.
Her fingertip traced the condensation on her glass.
Her succubus instincts told her clearly that Sunflower’s emotions right now were laced with guilt, anxiety, and a touch of desperate obsession.
“Miss Sunflower, what exactly are you referring to?”
Su Yuan asked.
Sunflower timidly lowered her head, her overlong bangs covering her face.
“I… I can’t say…”
Su Yuan sighed.
She thought about brushing it off with some platitudes—but her conscience told her otherwise.
True feelings were never meant to be sustained through scheming.
That was a principle she had carved into her heart over years of living among humans.
Even as a succubus who fed on emotions, she had always believed that pure, genuine feelings were the most precious nourishment.
Su Yuan lifted her gaze to meet Sunflower’s eyes.
She spoke slowly, voicing what she truly believed: “Miss Sunflower, I think the people we truly care about are never kept through manipulation.”
“Companionship bought with schemes, even if held in your hands for a moment, will never be a genuine bond.
It will fall apart sooner or later.”
Sunflower listened silently, then grabbed the mojito from the table and downed half of it in one go.
The sourness of lime mixed with the cool fizz spread through her mouth—but it couldn’t suppress the weight pressing on her chest.
“…But… even so… I can understand your friend’s feelings.”
Su Yuan continued.
“The fear of losing someone, of being left behind, of that unique bond being broken forever… that kind of fear can sometimes make people act against their own nature—even hurt the ones they care about.”
“It’s not because they’re bad, or because they don’t understand love.”
“It’s precisely because they know what pure love feels like that, in their panic, they reach for anything that might keep the other person close—even if that thing is thorns, even if it’s lies.”
Su Yuan paused, gently refilling the girl’s glass.
When she looked up again, Sunflower’s expression had changed.
She stared at Su Yuan, the sadness in her eyes receding somewhat, replaced by surprise.
“Little Butterfly… you said you can understand her, right?”
“Mm~” Su Yuan handed the drink over.
“Love sometimes makes people make mistakes.
If my lover hurt me because of love, I think I’d try to understand and forgive her…”
“Thank you.
Thank you, Little Butterfly.”
Before Su Yuan could finish, Sunflower had already stood up, her eyes shining.
“Talking with you made me feel so much better.”
“You’re welcome…”
“Um, could I come back to the bar to talk with you again sometime?”
“Of course—just ask for me anytime.”
“That’s great!
Little Butterfly, let’s exchange contacts.”
“Ah, sure…”
Su Yuan handed over her work account.
She watched Sunflower immediately tap the add button, her mood visibly lifted.
But inside, Su Yuan was filled with endless questions.
As a magical girl who protected the city, who exactly was the “friend” Sunflower was talking about?
Why would someone so popular, a magical girl, come alone to a hidden bar like this and ask a complete stranger such a question?
The rain pattered more insistently against the window.
The jazz melody lingered around the booth.
Su Yuan watched the girl before her, who had regained her smile.
Only after Sunflower had finished her drink and left the bar alone, umbrella in hand, did Su Yuan finally look away.
You’ve got to see this next! How To Survive Without Dying at The Hands of The Emperor will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : How To Survive Without Dying at The Hands of The Emperor
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