?At night, the dorm room was brightly lit by a magic stone lamp. Loren sat at his desk, flipping through a borrowed library book containing a biography of this world's history over the past thousands of years. A look of deep interest appeared on his face.

  ?Beside his hand sat his dinner for the evening: a very simple honey bread, a fruit salad, paired with a large mug of rich cocoa. Because he had used fire magic to punish a few scumbags that afternoon, the smell of roasted human flesh still made him slightly nauseous, so he couldn't stomach any food related to roasted meat tonight.

  ?"Interesting. To think that the demons, who were so powerful in the game, have become a lowly slave race in this world due to their defeat."

  ?By now, Loren had roughly flipped through most of the book, sighing as he read that section of history.

  ?In the game Divine Realm, the demons were an incredibly powerful race, established in the lore as the public enemy of all races on the continent. One entire version update featured quests dedicated to fighting those terrifying demons.

  ?Yet in this world, the demons had become a lowly race, which made Loren find the situation somewhat comical.

  ?"Silver hair, wine-red eyes... This really is the standard setup for demons," Loren muttered as he stood up from the desk. He turned to look at the girl sleeping soundly on his bed—the very girl he had rescued from those Brotherhood bandits that afternoon.

  ?A blanket covered the girl, and beneath the blanket was fair, tender skin. Clearly, to wash her clean, Loren had stripped her completely bare before finally tucking her into bed.

  ?Of course, because the girl's appearance was far too childish, Loren felt absolutely zero pressure when stripping her naked.

  ?With the soot washed away from her little face, one could see that the quietly sleeping girl on the bed was as exquisite as a porcelain doll. Her sleeping face was incredibly adorable; her soft eyelashes trembled occasionally, her delicate little nose twitched slightly as she breathed, her rosy little mouth was slightly parted, and a faint blush colored her fair cheeks.

  ?After washing the girl clean, Loren hadn't held back from pinching her fair, tender cheeks, thoroughly satisfying his hands.

  ?Looking at the girl's sleeping face now, a rare trace of tenderness appeared on Loren's face.

  ?To be honest, Loren didn't consider himself a good person. As mentioned before, he didn't save this girl purely out of an overflowing moment of kindness; it was mostly because seeing her adorable face inevitably reminded him of his own younger sister.

  ?This girl was about the same age as his sister when she passed away. Carrying some longing for his sister, Loren had brought this girl back.

  ?Of course, aside from these factors, Loren hadn't brought her back without any ulterior motive. In the game, a pureblood demon servant was extremely valuable.

  ?Although demons were very lowly in this world, Loren knew their true worth. This girl had value she could provide.

  ?—Especially for a mage, this value was immensely precious.

  ?Just as Loren was about to reach out and pinch the girl's tender cheek once again, he suddenly pulled his hand back and said flatly, "Since you're awake, there's no need to pretend you're sleeping."

  ?Hearing his words, the girl's eyelashes fluttered rapidly a few times before she somewhat cautiously opened her eyes. However, upon seeing Loren right in front of her, the girl shrank toward the inner side of the bed like a frightened little rabbit. Of course, she didn't forget to wrap the blanket tightly around her naked body.

  ?Looking at Loren's cold face, memories of what had happened slowly surfaced in her mind. She couldn't help but blush and lower her head. Staring at her own crystal-clear, jade-like little feet, she looked somewhat awkward and whispered, "Thank you for saving me."

  ?"No need to thank me. I didn't save you out of the goodness of my heart."

  ?Loren replied casually.

  ?The girl looked up in shock, and suddenly, as if realizing something, stared at Loren with extreme vigilance while gripping the blanket even tighter with both hands.

  ?"You stole my five thousand gold coins and got me dragged into the trouble of being harassed by thugs. You wouldn't think I'm magnanimous enough to completely let this matter go, would you?"

  ?Loren said leisurely.

  ?Only then did the girl react. Having her theft pointed out by the victim made her face turn a bit red. However, as if remembering something else, she said somewhat weakly, "B-but you already took the gold coins back from those guys, right?"

  ?The girl's voice was like a mosquito's, offering a very feeble rebuttal. She completely didn't dare to lift her head to look at Loren's face.

  ?"Wrong! Those were the spoils of war I obtained by teaching those thugs a lesson, not the gold coins you stole from me!" Loren glared at the girl, though she didn't notice because her head was lowered.

  ?However, the girl did react to his words, saying somewhat flusteredly, "Y-you're being unreasonable."

  ?"And you stealing my things is reasonable?" Loren twitched his mouth, saying in annoyance. Hearing this, the rims of the girl's eyes instantly turned red, and tears began to well up.

  ?Tch, crybaby.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  ?The girl's tears made Loren feel somewhat irritable, but the things that needed to be clarified had to be clarified now. So, he continued with a blank expression, "Since you did something like that, you should be prepared to be caught and pay the price. Those guys caught you, so they wanted you to sleep with them. But now that I've dealt with them, the one looking for trouble with you has switched to me. Stealing my things plus saving your life—what price do you think you have to pay to satisfy me?"

  ?The girl shook her head blankly.

  ?Loren pulled a wooden box from his coat. Upon seeing that box, the girl suddenly sprang up from the bed, reaching out to snatch the item from Loren's hand.

  ?But Loren simply raised his hand, putting it out of the girl's reach.

  ?"Idiot, don't you realize you're not wearing any clothes? Or do you really enjoy showing yourself to others like this?"

  ?Loren frowned as he looked at the girl. This kid had just jumped out forgetting even the blanket, and she had absolutely no development to speak of.

  ?"Ah! Y-you, don't look!"

  ?The girl screamed, finally realizing she had no clothes on. She frantically squatted down, grabbing the blanket with her little hands and wrapping it back around her body.

  ?"Don't worry, even if you let me look, I couldn't be bothered. Aside from a slightly pretty face, you have no butt and no chest. What's there to look at?" Loren said casually. He certainly wasn't going to tell the girl that he had already seen everything while bathing her earlier. That flat little chest would struggle even to be rated an AA; it felt no different from being completely flat.

  ?The girl, however, turned red with anger. She glared at Loren with intense shame and indignation, then her gaze fell back onto the wooden box in his hand. Pouting angrily, she said, "That is my thing, give it back to me."

  ?Loren rolled his eyes at her. "You stole this from those guys, didn't you."

  ?The girl's little face turned slightly pale, but she still gritted her teeth and said, "That thing was mine to begin with. I don't know where they got it from either. I was just taking my own thing back, that's not stealing."

  ?"Whether it's yours or someone else's, now that it's in my hands, it's mine," Loren said, seemingly deliberately trying to anger the girl as he stuffed the wooden box into his coat.

  ?The girl watched eagerly as he put the box away. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "What do you want to be willing to give that box back to me?"

  ?"This is my spoil of war. Do you think I have any reason to give this to you? Trade for it? Do you even have anything left on you to trade with?" Loren asked in return.

  ?The girl was completely naked, with her whole body wrapped in just a blanket, and even that blanket belonged to Loren. She felt somewhat angry and somewhat deflated, and in the end, the expression on her little face turned into pure bewilderment. Honestly, she had absolutely no idea how to get the box back from Loren's hands now.

  ?Seeing the girl's expression, Loren knew the timing was about right, so he said leisurely, "Actually, it's not entirely impossible for me to give the item to you."

  ?"What do I have to do?"

  ?The girl quickly asked.

  ?"Be my maid."

  ?Loren said, "Just like I mentioned to those thugs before, you'll be my maid, working for me to pay off your debt. If you perform well, it's not impossible to return the wooden box to you."

  ?M-maid?

  ?As if thinking of something humiliating, the girl said with shame and indignation, "Impossible! I won't be a human's maid!"

  ?"But isn't it completely normal for you demons to do this kind of thing?" Loren was very calm, flipping open the book in his hand: "Ever since you were defeated by humans, demons have basically become human appendages. A demon slave as pretty as you is very rare even on the market. If you're willing to be my maid, then I won't hold you stealing my money against you."

  ?The girl glared at Loren with hatred. Her wine-red eyes suddenly rippled with a heart-trembling light, but Loren didn't react in the slightest: "I am merely stating facts. The winner is king, the loser is an outlaw. Your demon race was defeated, so it's not surprising you've ended up in this state. Hating me is useless. If you want to hate someone, hate your disappointing compatriots from thousands of years ago."

  ?Saying this, Loren snapped the book shut with a smack.

  ?The girl lowered her head, the expression on her exquisite little face incredibly sorrowful. Yes, no matter what, the demons were the losers, and it was precisely because they lost that they had fallen to such a state.

  ?After that war, the powerful demons possessing high-tier demon bloodlines had basically been slaughtered completely by humans. The demons that remained posed virtually no threat to humans and were kept captive as playthings or slaves.

  ?However, only the girl knew that quite a few royal demon bloodlines had been preserved. From among those bloodlines, it was possible for another Demon King to emerge, leading the demons to restore their former glory.

  ?As for why the girl knew this, the reason was that she herself was a royal.

  ?...And a royal who had awakened the Demon King bloodline!

  ?If this identity were exposed, the girl would face endless pursuit.

  ?Originally, the girl had lived carefully with her parents and some clansmen in a secret realm they found inside the magic beast forest outside human cities. However, a traitor later leaked their location, causing the place she lived to be targeted by the Inquisition. To nip the girl with the Demon King bloodline in the bud, the Inquisition dispatched a full five powerful Holy Adjudicator Knights and one White-Robed Priest to seal off the secret realm.

  ?To cover her escape, her parents and relatives were completely wiped out under the Inquisition's purge. Only she survived, escaping through a teleportation magic array in a hidden room. Furthermore, her father, a powerful demon, had used a secret technique to seal her bloodline, allowing the girl to disguise herself as an ordinary demon and avoid detection.

  ?The girl's current life was bought with the lives of her parents and clansmen, and her frail body now carried the massive mission of reviving the demon race.

  ?Thinking of her father sending her away while covered in blood, and his final instructions, the girl suddenly seemed to make a decision and looked up at Loren.

  ?"I can be your maid, but you cannot do anything out of line to me."

  ?"Also, you have to protect me, give me food, a place to stay, and teach me magic!"

  ?The girl stared intently at Loren's face, trying hard to see through his thoughts, but her heart was somewhat apprehensive.

  ?After all, in the eyes of humans, demon servants were merely consumable items and tools to be used at will. The demands she presented, especially the one about learning magic, were almost impossible to be met.

  ?Loren stared at her and snorted, "I already told you I have no desire for your flat figure. You're just a demon, yet you have quite a lot of conditions."

  ?Hearing Loren's mockery, the girl lowered her head dejectedly.

  ?However, she didn't expect that in the next moment, Loren would slap a contract down in front of her. "But as long as you are my property, I will naturally protect you from being harmed by anyone. Other than me, no one is allowed to bully you. As for learning magic, it's not impossible to teach you later, depending on your performance."

  ?T-this human agreed?

  ?Looking at the contract in front of her, the girl still hadn't fully processed it. She had initially thought Loren's words meant he was going to refuse; she didn't expect him to actually agree.

  ?Looking at the still somewhat stunned girl, Loren continued, "Also, my name is Loren. Before we officially sign the contract, shouldn't you tell me your name as well?"

  ?The girl snapped back to her senses, her body trembling slightly, and she lowered her gaze somewhat timidly. "I don't have a name."

  ?Loren paused for a moment, looked at the girl with her head bowed, and revealed a thoughtful expression. But then he smiled in relief. "No name? That's fine too. I'll just give you one."

  ?"From today onward, your name is Lola."

  ?...