Naily couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, turning to place the tray on the cabinet by the door, with no intention of touching it—she instinctively distrusted everything in this magic den and absolutely would not eat anything here. Fortunately, food intake was not essential for system spirits, so Naily sat down by the window again, carefully organizing her thoughts. The abnormal memory gap could only be attributed to Kalsas; if something was serious enough to be erased, it must have interfered with his plan.
What was his purpose? Naily’s head started hurting again. As if in response to her doubts, another knock came at the door.
“Who is it?” “Naily.” Kalsas’s voice made Naily involuntarily tremble. Surprised by her own reaction, she became even more vigilant and didn’t open the door, instead asking, “What is it?” There was a moment of silence outside the door. Then Kalsas’s calm voice came: “Nothing.” Naily waited uneasily for a moment, and when no more sounds came, it seemed he had truly left. She took a long breath, abandoning the idea of going out to look for clues—encountering Kalsas again would not be good.
So until nightfall, Naily explored every corner of the room.
But there were no hidden notes between the pages, no secret compartments in the cabinet, and the room seemed entirely normal, completely lacking the intelligence she had hoped to find.
On the first night, Naily dreamed of forgotten memories; the second night, her memories completely disappeared; the third night… Naily began to dream again. The dream was pitch black, with only a voice endlessly whispering in her ear, repeatedly calling her name: “Naily, Naily, Naily, Naily, Naily…” She couldn’t distinguish who was speaking, but could feel the malevolence in the voice, something more terrifying than hatred or despair, stirring in the darkness with each call, about to take shape and devour her completely. She involuntarily covered her ears, trying to drown out this maddening murmur with her own voice: “I’m not Naily! I’m not from this world! My name is not Naily!”
But the voice continued to cunningly slip into Naily’s ears. She screamed awake, yet felt the voice had not disappeared, still lurking in the night’s silence, disturbing her mind. She futilely tried to cover herself with the blanket, but to no avail. Now the voice was more like a seductive invitation from the dark night, gently luring her to follow the guide into the darkness, to pursue the darkest, most desperate secret of this magic den. Naily took a deep breath, got dressed, and opened her door.
All the torches outside had been extinguished, pitch black. She felt along the wall, carefully moving in the direction of the voice. Only her footsteps echoed in the corridor, accompanied by increasingly loud whispers, each sound striking her heart. Naily didn’t know where she had walked, only vaguely aware that she had turned several corners, entering an area she had never been to before, the terrain subtly descending. By now, the voice was almost shouting right next to her ear, leaving her no time to discern any surrounding sounds. At another corner, Naily stopped to rub her temples. The voice was now deafeningly loud, her head throbbing, her temples pulsing violently, as if something was about to burst out. The fear she had momentarily suppressed swept over her again. Naily stood in the darkness, not knowing where she was or where to go. Annoyed at her own recklessness in leaving the room, she gritted her teeth and turned to go back. But no matter how fast she walked, the voice calling her name did not diminish, instead seeming to chase her like a shadow. Naily ran out of breath, no longer caring about finding her way, instinctively zigzagging along the wall’s contours, trying to escape that voice. Closer, getting closer, right behind her. At the moment the volume reached its peak, everything suddenly went silent. Naily crashed into someone’s embrace.
The other person seemed stunned for a moment too, but then embraced her. “Naily.” It was Kalsas’s voice.
Perhaps still in shock, or perhaps because the other party was somewhat familiar, Nailey actually felt a momentary sense of relief. Compared to the Demon King’s voice, the previous one seemed less terrifying.
“It’s okay,” he said in a steady tone that was comforting.
Nailey’s breathing gradually calmed down, and Kalsas released the embrace. Kalsas supported her shoulders and teleported again.
Having been in darkness for a long time, Nailey involuntarily closed her eyes when suddenly exposed to light, and then blinked to survey her surroundings. This was another unfamiliar room, with two ordinary wall lamps lit, soft lighting, and a very simple layout, but the structure seemed to be a reception room.
Kalsas walked silently to the fireplace, took down two teacups from the shelf above, and placed them on the tea table in the room. With a wave of his hand, he conjured a teapot with steam visibly rising from its spout, and poured two cups of deep red hot tea.
He gestured for Nailey to sit down and pushed a cup towards her.
Nailey still didn’t dare to eat anything here or drink tea made by the Demon King. She held the cup in her hands but didn’t taste it. Kalsas looked at her, slightly lowering his eyes, took a sip of his own tea, and then pushed the cup towards Nailey again. Nailey found this somewhat amusing. She thought, Kalsas had the ability to arbitrarily alter her memories, and surely wouldn’t bother tampering with a cup of tea. She turned the pure white bone china teacup in her hand and took a light sip.
She cleared her throat and asked softly, “What happened yesterday?” In a peripheral glance, Nailey clearly saw Kalsas’s body slightly stiffen. She continued in a soft tone, “I can still tell if there are memory issues.” Kalsas responded with a meaningful silence.
After a while, he said flatly, “I won’t harm you.” Nailey looked up at him, seeing the young-looking Demon King holding the edge of his cloak, appearing somewhat awkward. Kalsas added, “Don’t be afraid.” This had almost become the Demon King’s universal phrase.
Nailey looked at him, her voice slightly tight, “Can you tell me what exactly you want to do? Impersonating a hero and bringing me here, what do you want?”
Kalsas looked at her quietly for a moment, then suddenly curved his lips, “I just want to be with you.”
Said casually, Nailey was stunned for a moment before responding, yet was at a loss for words. She couldn’t tell him she just wanted to leave this world – her instinct told her this was a topic that shouldn’t be mentioned.
She tried to maintain a calm attitude, “This requires me to like you too.”
Kalsas gazed at her intently, “Will you be willing to like me?”
“This…” Nailey turned away, “This isn’t something that can be decided by willingness. Liking someone isn’t that simple.”
Kalsas was silent for a moment, leaning forward slightly, “Then Nailey, will you be willing to try?”
Nailey realized she didn’t have the courage to answer. She sensed that if she agreed to this proposal, she would only be further from going home. But she had no choice.
“If I can’t come to like you, will you let me go home?” she asked bravely.
Kalsas lowered his eyelashes. He carefully looked up, as if giving a response was extremely difficult: “Yes.”
He paused, then continued, “But if you do like me, please stay.”
Nailey softly replied, “I understand.”
For a moment, neither spoke. Nailey couldn’t help but steal a glance at Kalsas, only to meet his gaze, causing her to feel embarrassed. She pursed her lips and turned to look at the fireplace.
A smile flashed across Kalsas’s lips, and then he stood up, calmly saying, “I’ll take you back to your room.”
