A Trial of Love - Chapter 1

It was the second day after my return to the Demon Realm.

I lounged in the sumptuous bedchamber of my demon palace, a ravishing demoness curled in my arms. Sipping a cup of well-aged blood wine, I idly considered when to launch the next war between gods and demons.

Now this was the immortal life befitting this sovereign!

My comfort lasted barely a moment before a guard came stumbling in, white with panic.

“Your Excellency, disaster!”

My gaze sharpened.

The guard gulped for air. “The—The High God Chiyuan has fought his way into the Demon Realm!”

The wine cup fell from my hand.

Merely hearing that name made my head spin, my legs go weak, and my backside ache. My knees nearly knocked together. I wanted nothing more than to find a quilt and roll myself up in it.

But I restrained myself.

I had told my subordinates that I had spent the last twenty years in seclusion. No one knew I had run off, racked up an enormous romantic debt, and gotten pinned beneath my archenemy from the celestial realm.

If the truth came out, how could the mighty Demon Sovereign ever show his face again?

The intruder casually flung the guard back through the doorway. I forced myself to sit upright on the couch and said coldly, “Gods and demons do not interfere in one another’s affairs. Has the divine lord crossed our border today because he wishes to declare war?”

Chiyuan wore white. His pale face was colder still than his robes.

He lifted his eyes, swept them over the room, and let his gaze settle on the scantily clad demoness in my arms.

Demons had never cared much for propriety. A few lengths of steel wire counted as clothing—and could conveniently be stripped off and used as weapons in a fight. The demoness had two pieces of cloth wrapped around her, which made her practically conservative by demonic standards.

Yet under Chiyuan’s stare, I had the inexplicable sensation of being caught in bed with another woman.

I released the trembling demoness. “Leave us.”

Soon, the vast hall held only one god and one demon, facing each other across the room.

Chiyuan walked toward me. As his elegant figure drew closer, I caught the faint, refined fragrance that clung to him.

My mouth felt strangely dry.

I frowned. “If you have something to say, say it. Why are you standing so close?”

Chiyuan stopped before me. With a solemn expression, he suddenly loosened his sash and lifted his robe.

I was just about to roar, “You lecher! How dare you behave obscenely in my palace!” when he produced a tiny baby from beneath the folds of fabric and stuffed him into my arms.

“The child won’t stop crying. He may be hungry and need milk.”

I stared down in disbelief.

A silencing spell had been cast on the baby. He was bawling without a sound, his little face streaked with tears and snot. He looked utterly pitiful.

But still—

I shot to my feet in a fury.

“Chiyuan, what is wrong with you?

“I am a man! A man! Where would I get milk to feed your child?

“If you want war, just say so. Don’t come here to humiliate and provoke me! Do you believe I won’t start the war this very instant and fight my way to the Southern Gate of Heaven?”

Expressionless, Chiyuan wiped my spittle from his face.

“Your guilty outrage makes it sound as though you intend to deny responsibility.

“You gave birth to him. If you don’t feed him, who will?”

With a wave of his hand, a vast screen appeared in midair, flashing through the twenty years we had spent entangled in the mortal world.

“Do you need me to remind you how this child came to exist?”

Face burning, I took the baby back.

“That won’t be necessary.”