Furenna hadn’t even had time to gather her will to resist this new humiliation and threat before Iris released her hair, letting her slump back to the floor.
The Demon King straightened up, elegantly adjusting her cuff, as if the vicious blow she had just delivered was merely brushing off a speck of dust.
“Since we are to learn ’empathy,’ a suitable teaching aid, or rather, a demonstration subject, is required.”
Iris’s voice returned to that flat, matter-of-fact tone.
“Follow me. I hope this practical lesson will give you a deeper understanding.”
A practical lesson? A teaching aid?
A sense of foreboding, like cold vines, wrapped around Furenna’s heart, choking her more than the pain in her abdomen.
But she had no choice. Iris didn’t even place new shackles on her or apply any physical restraint. She simply turned and walked out of the cell door.
Her steps were unhurried, as if certain Furenna would follow, or as if she had a way to ensure she had to follow.
Furenna struggled, using all her strength to try and lift her seemingly shattered body.
Every breath tugged at the violent pain in her abdomen. Her vision swam with black spots.
She clenched her teeth, her nails digging into the cold stone floor. Relying on sheer stubborn willpower, she dragged herself up from the ground bit by bit, swaying as she stood upright.
Every part of her body protested. New injuries layered over old pains made each step feel like walking on knife points.
But she couldn’t fall. She couldn’t stay here.
That “teaching aid,” that “demonstration subject”…
A terrible name circled in the young Heroine’s mind. She didn’t dare dwell on it, yet couldn’t shake it off.
Staggering, Furenna followed behind Iris, leaving the dungeon that had been her prison for many days.
They passed through the familiar, dim, winding corridors, past heavy doors that emanated different auras.
This time, they did not head toward the pink, living-like room, but deeper into the fortress.
Finally, Iris stopped before an utterly unremarkable stone door.
The door had no decoration, not even a knocker. Only a simple, slowly rotating violet-black rune was engraved in its center.
Iris reached out a finger, lightly touched the rune, and the door slid open soundlessly.
The sight beyond the door made Furenna’s already pained and rapid breathing halt completely.
It was a small room. The walls were the same smooth, dark stone, but it was much cleaner and brighter than the dungeon, with several crystals embedded in the ceiling emitting a soft white light.
The furnishings were extremely sparse: only one chair with a soft cushion,
and…
In the very center of the room stood a massive, nearly transparent, pale violet magical barrier.
The barrier was like the purest crystal, yet faint energy patterns flowed subtly across its surface.
And on the other side of the barrier—
was Xiao Ling.
That thin, small human girl in her simple maid’s dress
was now suspended in mid-air on the other side of the barrier, bound by several shimmering, translucent energy chains.
The chains coiled around her wrists, ankles, and waist. They weren’t tight, not even leaving red marks,
but they held her completely immobile, forced into an awkward, hovering position.
Xiao Ling’s head hung down. Her light brown braid was somewhat disheveled. Her small body trembled faintly.
Seeming to sense someone entering, the little girl lifted her head with difficulty.
When her gaze passed through the transparent barrier and landed on Furenna in the doorway,
her large lake-green eyes instantly flooded with disbelief and shock, followed by deeper fear and helplessness.
Her mouth opened, as if she wanted to cry out,
but the barrier blocked all sound. Furenna could only see the movement of her lips and the tears that instantly welled up.
“Xiao Ling—!”
Furenna’s heart sank violently. The name tore from her throat unbidden, and she instinctively lunged forward.
However, an invisible force, gentle yet unyielding, held her back.
Iris had moved to stand beside her at some point, one hand resting lightly on her shoulder. The touch seemed casual, yet felt heavier than a mountain.
“Don’t rush. The lesson hasn’t begun yet.”
The Demon King’s voice sounded in her ear, laced with pleasure.
“See? Your ’empathy subject’ is already in position.”
“And you’re quite familiar with each other, aren’t you?”
“What have you done to her?! Let her go!”
Furenna turned to glare at Iris, fury blazing in her amber eyes, momentarily overriding the pain in her abdomen.
“Relax, relax.”
Iris patted her shoulder as if soothing a bristling cat.
“I haven’t done anything excessive. I merely invited her to assist with the instruction.”
“After all, the best way to learn ‘consideration’ and ’empathy’ is to personally experience the other’s situation, don’t you think?”
As she spoke, her fingertip moved slightly again, gathering a point of faint but pure violet-black light.
The light seemed alive, pulsing gently for a moment.
Almost simultaneously, Furenna saw—more than heard—the barrier shudder. On the other side, Xiao Ling suddenly jerked, her body convulsing in a silent cry of pain.
She trembled violently, as if pricked by an invisible needle.
The energy chains binding her seemed to tighten slightly, emitting a soft hum.
“You see,”
Iris’s tone was light, as if demonstrating a curious toy,
“a little ‘discomfort’ is enough to cause her such pain.”
“The human body is so fragile, so sensitive.”
Furenna felt as if all the blood in her veins had frozen. Of course. Sending a human maid to care for her had been part of Iris’s scheme all along!
“You… you demon!”
“To use a hostage… such a despicable tactic!”
Furenna forced the words out between clenched teeth, her body trembling with rage and impotence.
“A demon? Despicable? Perhaps.”
Iris was unperturbed. Her fingertip moved again.
On the other side of the barrier, Xiao Ling jerked once more. This time her head snapped back, her neck straining,
her face twisting in greater agony. Her small body struggled helplessly within the energy chains, only making them glow brighter.
“But the demon is also teaching you an important lesson, Furenna.”
Iris withdrew her hand, turning to look at Furenna instead, her crimson eyes bottomless pools.
“Your ‘defiance,’ your ‘anger,’ your ‘persistence’…”
“Here, they are not merely your own concern.”
“They bring ‘consequences.’ And ‘consequences’ are often borne by those more fragile than you.”
She leaned in slightly, close to Furenna’s ear, her voice low, tempting, yet chillingly cruel:
“Now, tell me, little Heroine.”
“Will you continue to hold your proud spine straight, shooting fire at me with your eyes, protesting with your silence,”
“and watch this little creature, implicated because of you, endure more ‘small’ pains?”
“Or… will you try to learn how to ‘consider’ her situation, to ’empathize’ with her feelings,”
“and use your ‘performance’ to ease her suffering?”
“The choice is now in your hands.”
“Every time, every subtle reaction, is a choice.”
Iris’s finger lightly traced the still-damp tear track on Furenna’s pale cheek.
“Your anger, her pain.”
“Your compliance, her peace.”
“Such a simple, direct correlation, isn’t it?”
Furenna stood frozen, as if encased in ice.
Her gaze was locked on Xiao Ling behind the barrier—
on the child’s body trembling in pain,
on that little face, streaked with tears, filled with terror and helplessness.
Xiao Ling seemed to realize something too. Through her tears, she looked at Furenna with pleading eyes.
The little girl’s lips moved soundlessly again, as if forming words,
but the panicked, distraught Heroine could no longer discern them.
The cramping agony in her abdomen sharpened once more, mingling with the storm of fury raging in her heart.
Iris wasn’t using the contract to force her directly. She wasn’t using violence to beat her directly.
She had simply taken an innocent life and, in the cruelest way possible,
tethered it to Furenna’s “choices.”
It was a wicked test of her morals and her will.
Every breath she took, every glance she gave, even every rebellious thought deep in her heart, could become a blade aimed at Xiao Ling.
“Learn to consider others, Furenna.”
Iris’s voice echoed in the silent room like an incantation.
“Consider her fragility. Consider her pain.”
“Then, learn how to use your ‘change’ to grant her ‘peace.'”
“This is the core of the second lesson.”
She took a composed step back, like a patient tutor, waiting for the student’s “comprehension” and “practice.”
Furenna stood in place, silver hair disheveled, face pale as paper,
her body trembling faintly from pain, rage, and a cold, unprecedented despair.
Before her was Xiao Ling, weeping silently behind the magical barrier. Beside her was the Demon King, wearing a cruel smile as she awaited her “choice.”
Her pride, her defiance, her fury…
At this moment, they all had to confront one icy question:
Were they worth paying for with the suffering of another innocent?
Iris did not hurry her. She simply watched quietly, her eyes shimmering with the pleasurable glow of absolute control.
She knew that the most solid fortress often began to crumble from within.
And what the Demon King intended to do now was to personally pry open a deep crack in this resilient Heroine.