Chapter Twenty-Six
“What?! I’ve been so diligent, working hard to report the situation for you, so why should I be hated?!
Upon hearing Lisbeth’s almost indignant roar, Clotilde gasped in surprise. She couldn’t understand what she had done wrong to provoke such a remark from Lisbeth.
Meanwhile, Lisbeth, clutching her skirt, glared fiercely at Clotilde, who was subtly imprinted on Natalie’s hand. She then fumed, “That’s because you didn’t say the most crucial word! Do you realize? Because I thought Natalie would run into that gorilla, I was so focused on making the gorilla leave quickly that I didn’t have time to use the restroom!”
Indeed, Lisbeth had initially believed that Natalie might encounter Angelina Cadolanka on her way to deliver the meal. This was why she had forcefully suppressed her urge to use the restroom, prioritizing Natalie’s departure.
Now, the situation was embarrassingly dire. Lisbeth still hadn’t managed to address her most pressing issue, and Natalie had already arrived with her meal.
Understanding the gravity of the situation, Clotilde immediately gasped in shock. She quickly exclaimed, “Wait, are you telling me you haven’t been to the restroom this entire time?! You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Do you think I would joke about something like this!”
Listening to Clotilde’s words, Lisbeth felt an urge to throw her into a burning furnace—a first in her life. She instinctively fixed a murderous gaze upon Clotilde, who was imprinted on Natalie.
“Th-then what will you do? You’re not actually going to… urinate here, are you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m too old for such a thing! But if I truly do something eternally humiliating today, I will remember you no matter what!”
“Huh?! What does that have to do with me?!”
Clearly, Clotilde felt inexplicably resented by Lisbeth. Seeing the murderous glint in Lisbeth’s eyes, Clotilde knew she wasn’t joking.
However, their entire exchange had been purely telepathic. All Natalie saw was Lisbeth staring at her with an expression of deep-seated animosity.
Bemused, Natalie, who had been silent until now, tilted her head and asked, “Hmm? Why are you staring at me with such a bitter, vengeful look? I don’t think I’ve given you any particular trouble, have I?”
“Ah… no, no…”
Noticing Natalie’s suspicious gaze, Lisbeth hastily shook her head. “More importantly, why are you back so soon?”
Lisbeth knew Natalie was there to deliver her meal, but she feigned ignorance and averted her gaze. Seeing this, Natalie smiled gently.
She carefully placed the tray she had been holding in front of Lisbeth. “It’s so obvious, can’t you tell? I’ve come to bring you your meal, of course.”
“Ah… so it’s already mealtime… Being cooped up here, I’ve completely lost track of time.”
Lisbeth spoke, unconsciously clutching her skirt tightly, trying her best not to think about using the restroom. Yet, Natalie observed her every move.
Natalie chuckled softly, then reached out a hand to touch Lisbeth’s lower abdomen. “Hmm, Lisbeth, I recall it’s been at least six hours since I knocked you out, hasn’t it? Have you really not used the restroom during that entire time?”
“N-none of your business…”
Truthfully, Lisbeth was on the verge of exploding, but she desperately endured the urge. She slapped Natalie’s hand away and snapped, “If you hadn’t confined me here, I wouldn’t be in such a predicament! So if you have any conscience, let me out now!”
“Oh my, you know that’s impossible, don’t you?”
Natalie said, pointing a finger towards the far corner of the warehouse. “This warehouse is so big, so there’s no problem just taking care of it in the corner, is there? Come on, don’t be shy. No one will see you~”
‘Hey!! You were once considered a noble! Don’t you think what you just said is incredibly problematic!!’
Lisbeth was well aware of Natalie’s background. Before becoming her companion, Natalie was the third daughter of the Human Realm’s minister—in other words, a genuine high-born lady. Although joining Lisbeth on the battlefield had helped her shed many aristocratic habits, Lisbeth never dreamed she would become so uninhibited.
But more importantly, Lisbeth knew that if this continued, she would truly be forced to endure the humiliation of relieving herself in the warehouse. She quickly shook her head, angrily exclaiming, “I told you, stop joking! I would never do such a thing!”
“Oh, are you sure about that? I wouldn’t want to bring you a change of clothes later, you know.”
“You!”
Clearly, Natalie’s implication was that Lisbeth truly wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. Provoked by Natalie, the urge to use the restroom, which she had painstakingly suppressed, surged anew. She quickly took a deep breath and shouted, “Forget all that for now, give me my food!”
“Oh my, you’re about to wet your pants, yet you’re still thinking about food. What a gluttonous little thing~”
“Who’s going to wet their pants!”
“Hehe, you are~”
Natalie smiled gently and placed the food in front of Lisbeth. Lisbeth’s gaze instinctively fell upon the dishes on the plate. When her eyes registered the food, she widened them in surprise. “Wait, where did you get this food? The meals for us personal maids are the same as for ordinary servants!”
Lisbeth’s astonishment was not unfounded. The food on the plate was, without exception, exquisitely presented. Such dishes were typically reserved only for the highest echelons of the demon race and Christy, the Demon Lord herself.
Upon hearing Lisbeth’s words, Natalie nodded. “I got these from the kitchen in the middle district of the Demon Lord’s Castle. I thought the meals looked quite good, so I brought them to you~ How about it? Aren’t I good to you?”
“Food from the middle district…”
As Lisbeth gazed at the exquisite dishes, a brilliant idea suddenly sparked in her mind. After a moment of contemplation, she quickly raised her head, an angry expression on her face. “Natalie, do you realize the trouble you’ve caused?”
“Huh? Trouble?”
Lisbeth’s sudden reaction startled Natalie. Lisbeth then took a deep breath and, with a very serious expression, said, “Natalie, you don’t know this, but all the food from the Demon Lord’s Castle’s middle district kitchen is exclusively for the high-ranking officials. The high-tier food portions are meticulously calculated, and if even one serving is missing, someone will go without.”
“What?! Really?!”
Natalie was utterly stunned by Lisbeth’s words. However, Lisbeth wasn’t lying; the high-tier food portions were indeed precisely accounted for. Lisbeth remembered that when she first arrived, Hilda had specifically warned her not to touch the food in the middle district.
This was because all the ingredients there were the highest quality, selected from various regions, and the daily food quotas were meticulously planned. If anyone dared to steal food, the lightest punishment was a year in prison.
Despite this, occasional miscalculations in portions still occurred. So, while the rules were strict on the surface, if something was truly missing, the kitchen staff would simply find a way to replace it with other ingredients.
But here, Lisbeth had found a perfect excuse to send Natalie away. Seeing that Natalie had genuinely believed her, Lisbeth quickly pushed the food back towards Natalie. “Natalie, I don’t know how you managed to bring these dishes out, but you need to return them immediately. Otherwise, once mealtime starts and they discover food is missing, everything will be over. You wouldn’t want to cause chaos throughout the Demon Lord’s Castle and expose yourself over something like this, would you?”
“I-I understand…”
Listening to Lisbeth, Natalie clearly hadn’t realized that the food she had inadvertently taken could be such a serious trigger. She quickly nodded. “Alright, I’ll go return them right away. I’ll bring new food later; you wait patiently for me here.”
“Alright, alright, go on.”
With those words, Natalie rushed off without delay, heading straight for the middle district of the Demon Lord’s Castle.
‘I am truly brilliant!!!!’
Seeing Natalie leave, Lisbeth broke into a victorious smile and instinctively wanted to break out of the room. However, she knew that leaving now might cause her to run into Natalie again.
After enduring for another ten minutes or so, she asked Clotilde, “Little Sword, has she returned to the lower district?”
“She has. Now hurry to the restroom, or you’ll really wet your pants!”
“I know that, of course!”
Upon hearing Clotilde’s reply, Lisbeth shattered the seal Natalie had reapplied to the warehouse door without hesitation and sprinted towards the restroom at top speed.