A Jealous Heart in the Dessert Shop

An hour later, in a dessert shop in Emes Town.

“So… you just bickered with that woman… oh no, the Third Young Miss of the Krieg family for so long, all for this one?”

“Ah! Lady Iqiyah, can affairs of nobility be called bickering? That’s called diplomacy!”

“Besides…”

Seraphina glanced at Ailur, who sat on the floor at her feet, hands cuffed and eyes glistening with tears. She then gave a slight shrug.

“I didn’t engage with Miss Claire for this one’s sake. At most, she’s an accessory; I don’t particularly want her.”

“Then perhaps… you should just let her go.”

Iqiyah’s voice sounded somewhat faint, as if she were harboring worries.

“What makes you say that?”

“…I just have a feeling that this one is quite dangerous.”

“Think about it, she’s already tried to harm you twice…”

“Hm, you have a point.”

Iqiyah scooped up a spoonful of ice cream.

“However, she’s already my s*ave. There’s no way she could harm me again, is there?”

“If that’s the case, I might as well keep her. After all, she’s my first ever—”

Before the word ‘s*ave’ fully left her lips, Iqiyah suddenly grabbed Seraphina’s arm, startling her so much that she nearly sent the sundae flying from her hand.

“Wha—what’s wrong, Lady Iqiyah?”

Seraphina looked at Iqiyah, who had lowered her head, concealing her expression. Though Seraphina couldn’t discern it clearly, she sensed an underlying current of various grievances.

“Is… something bothering you?”

Seraphina began to hesitate, wondering if she should activate her [All-Seeing Eye].

“…Feed me.”

Under Seraphina’s bewildered gaze, Iqiyah lifted her head, tears welling in her eyes.

“I want you to feed me!”

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t you have your own? Why are you trying to snatch my sundae?”

“I don’t care! I want to eat yours!”

Indeed.

It was another strawberry sundae.

Seraphina had neglected Iqiyah for too long, provoking her anger once more.

Thus, the moment they left the collection room, Iqiyah urged Seraphina to depart from the castle.

As soon as they alighted from the carriage, Iqiyah pulled Seraphina back to this very dessert shop in a rush. She settled into their original seats, loudly demanding two more strawberry sundaes before finally calming down.

Though Seraphina’s instincts warned her that too many strawberry sundaes would lead to weight gain and poor health, if they could appease Iqiyah, such minor concerns were negligible.

Scooping up another large spoonful of sundae, Seraphina felt a wave of weariness.

She gazed out of the shop. Unbeknownst to her, the sky had already grown dim, and the shopping street had quietly lit up with its ornate lamps.

The dimly lit, blue-hued street, bathed in the glow of bright yellow lights, appeared hazy and ambiguous, unconsciously inducing a sense of relaxation, and profound fatigue…

Reflecting on it, today’s experiences had been remarkably eventful: first, returning to Emes Town, then being invited by Claire, and subsequently encountering an “old friend”…

Yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling… that she had overlooked something crucial.

“Alright, alright, come on, ah—”

Seraphina shielded the spoon with her hand and brought it to Iqiyah’s mouth.

To her surprise, despite the eagerly anticipated treat, Iqiyah didn’t even part her lips.

“Lady Iqiyah, if you don’t open your mouth, I can’t feed you.”

Seraphina gently poked Iqiyah’s tightly sealed lips with the spoon, but received no response.

“Lady Iqiyah?”

“Seraphina…”

“What is it?”

“Can… can you just get rid of her?”

“Huh? What?” Seraphina was taken aback. “You’re still thinking about that? Don’t worry, there’s absolutely no way she could harm—”

“…That’s not it.”

Suddenly, a glistening sparkle appeared in Seraphina’s vision.

“Seraphina, I… I hate you.”

When she spoke again, Iqiyah’s voice was choked with sobs, broken and intermittent.

“You’re clearly, clearly my familiar.

“Yet, today, your attention hasn’t been on me at all.”

Wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, Iqiyah struggled to suppress her ragged breathing and the choked feeling in her throat caused by her sobs.

“First, there was Levian, then that woman named Krieg today, and now this s*ave…”

“Levian… I’d already noticed something was off with you two, but she’s my maid, after all. I thought it was a good thing that you got along well…”

“But then, today, you two were practically glued together right in front of me, with no regard for anyone else, not considering my feelings at all…”

“I’m sorry… but that was Levian…”

“Then there’s that Krieg woman,” Iqiyah continued, not giving Seraphina a chance to explain. “When you saved her, and she invited you to her manor as a guest, accepting her kindness, I thought nothing of it…”

“But then, you had only just met that woman today, and she already put a ring on you!”

“I wanted to give you a [Blood Essence Necklace] before, but you adamantly refused! Yet, when some outside woman gives you something, you happily accept it and even hold hands with her!”

“And that’s not all! Then, you two, you two just left together, abandoning me alone in that room! You left me there for almost half an hour!”

“I ask you, Seraphina, did you ever consider my feelings!?”

As she spoke, Iqiyah had already risen from her chair.

With both hands braced on the wooden table of the dessert shop, she leaned her body towards Seraphina with all her might, almost pressing against Seraphina’s face.

Her red-glowing eyes stared intently at Seraphina, emitting a searing gaze that seemed intent on piercing her very soul.

Yet, despite such aggressive and confrontational behavior, her face was a picture of vulnerability: brows tightly furrowed, eyes brimming with tears, and cheeks flushed with a pitiful blush—a clear begging expression. This only made Seraphina feel even more overwhelmed with shame.

Unbeknownst to them, the once bustling dessert shop had fallen into a profound silence.

Seraphina was at a loss for words, and an awkward silence descended between the two of them.

“Seraphina.”

After several rounds of hurried breaths and choked sobs, Iqiyah finally spoke again.

It seemed the outpouring of her emotions had restored some of Iqiyah’s rationality, for her voice no longer trembled as it had just moments before.

“Though I don’t know what your relationship with this woman is, I… I truly don’t want anyone else to try and snatch you away.”

“You… you are my familiar, exclusively my familiar, aren’t you?”

“You promised, didn’t you, that you would always stay by my side?”

“If you still… if you still harbor feelings for me as your mistress, please look at me more often. Don’t leave me alone again, alright?”

After her bout of crying, both Iqiyah’s breathing and tone had become steady.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, this very calmness felt even more heartbreaking.

“I’m sorry.”

Seraphina set down the sundae in her hand.

Although she possessed the [All-Seeing Eye], capable of seeing through all things.

Although she had the experience of two lifetimes.

Still… faced with an Iqiyah overflowing with jealousy and consumed by possessiveness, Seraphina truly felt at a loss.

‘Trouble on the home front was truly difficult to manage.’

However… Seraphina had an ultimate trump card.

After all, while Iqiyah was jealous, her jealousy was entirely founded on her affection for Seraphina.

In that case, the countermeasure was quite simple.

“Iqiyah.”

“Can you close your eyes first?”

“Hm? Mmm…”

Despite all her complaints, Iqiyah still obediently complied with Seraphina’s request.

She closed her eyes without a single question.

Gazing at Iqiyah, who stood before her with hands clasped, eyes closed, almost as if in prayer, Seraphina swallowed hard.

Although there were many people around, and a s*ave knelt at her feet, Seraphina no longer cared about any sense of shame.

She had to fill the void in Iqiyah’s heart immediately.

Grabbing Iqiyah’s face, Seraphina aimed for those rosy lips, closed her eyes, and directly leaned in for a kiss—