Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - Chapter 231

Chapter 231

As if sensing her gaze, Princess Teresa, still visibly shaken, began to recount the story in a rush:

“Ever since I held the top position on the mission rankings for a full year, my father-that is, His Majesty the King-entrusted me with the task of caring for the Forbidden Fruit Lord.”

Before then, the Forbidden Fruit Lord had been personally tended to by the King of Nauze alone, and it wasn’t as well-known as it was now.

One day.

The King personally led Teresa and another princess into the Church’s Inner Hall.

Teresa saw the Forbidden Fruit Lord.

It was a withered tree growing in a pool of water, looking shriveled and devoid of life.

That day.

The King showed Teresa how to feed the Forbidden Fruit Lord.

At first, Teresa didn’t understand why her father had brought her, the top-ranked on the mission board, along with the princess who was at the very bottom.

Not until her father left the lowest-ranked princess in the Inner Hall and returned a short while later.

That princess had vanished, and a new apple had appeared on the withered tree.

Teresa understood then.

“I heard you haven’t been sleeping well lately, Teresa. Just eat this apple, and you’ll have a good night’s rest tonight.”

The King placed the apple in her hand.

“Yes, it brings many unexpected benefits to the body.”

“If this apple is so good-”

Teresa looked up at the King in confusion as she ate the apple.

“Then why don’t we make more of them?”

The King burst into laughter.

“As expected of my most trusted and proud daughter.”

A bloated hand patted Teresa on the head.

“Then, I’ll leave the matter of increasing the number of apples to you, Teresa. Do not disappoint me.”

As if greatly encouraged, Teresa gave a firm nod.

“I will never disappoint you, Father.”

She said.

…

Afterward, Teresa distributed the extra apples according to their quality.

The high-grade ones were given to the King and his concubines.

Medium-grade apples were sent to the castles of other Nobles.

Low-grade, rotten apples were made into apple puree and distributed to commoners and Half-beasts at the Church.

In just one year.

The population of the Nauze Kingdom increased several times over.

When children were no longer scarce, people became more willing to keep the exceptional ones and throw the ordinary or dull-witted children onto the streets.

“Then, in the name of the Forbidden Fruit Lord, I took those abandoned children into the Church to let them keep the Forbidden Fruit Lord company,”

Princess Teresa said.

…

“Then-”

In the air, the butterfly with shimmering blue-green wings fluttered gently, emitting a young girl’s voice.

“Are there any other entrances, exits, or secret doors in this space?”

The question was asked tactfully, because Beili wasn’t actually interested in the story; she only wanted to lead Princess Teresa into revealing key information.

Specifically, the Black Bone Scythe she was so fixated on.

Dammit, where on earth is it hidden…

“The only entrance to this space is the door you just came through, Miss Bartholomew.”

Dazed, Teresa frowned slightly.

“Usually, there are many Mages guarding that door, but today they just happened to be summoned to the palace by my father.”

Beili: “Then tell me about this space.”

“…Space?”

Hearing this question, a strange expression flashed across Teresa’s face.

She had originally thought that what the other party wanted to know was what she had just revealed-the ugly secret of the Nauze Kingdom.
But as it turned out, what the other party wanted to know seemed to have nothing to do with the story she was telling.

Beili, of course, was not about to confess that her weapon was stuck here.

If she really couldn’t take it with her, she could temporarily hide it in this place.

If the Nauze Royal Family found out, the Black Bone Scythe would probably belong to them shortly after she left.

“Let me put it this way-”

The girl’s rapid speech drifted out from the swarm of shimmering blue-green Morpho Butterflies.

“When this tree eats people, it spits the bone fragments into the Cradle River.”

“That water, containing those bone fragments, is rebranded as ‘Mana Crystal Water’ and sold to commoners and half-beasts. I just happened to notice something wrong with the water.”

“So now, I want to know how those bone fragments are flowing from this space into the Cradle River.”

…

A look of hesitation crossed Princess Teresa’s face.

“I heard from my father that in the beginning, there was no Church here. It was just a sewer.”

Left with no other choice, she could only answer truthfully.

“Father tried to move the Forbidden Fruit Lord, but he failed. So, he had to build a Church over it and have a Mage use a pocket dimension to hide it.”

A pocket dimension?

Like a dome covering it, but with the roots still exposed on the outside?

Could the roots of that withered tree have entangled her Black Bone Scythe?

“…”

If Ashera’s Torso really was hidden inside that withered tree, then with her current level of Mana, she might truly be unable to retrieve the Black Bone Scythe.

The butterflies remained quiet in the air for a long moment.

As if having reached a quick decision, she let out a sigh and said to Princess Teresa, “Fine. I’ll take you out of here now.”

…

Soon enough.

Beili brought Princess Teresa back to the Church from the space within the Inner Hall.

The swarm of Morpho Butterflies gently lowered Princess Teresa to the ground.

Beili took the apple out of her Spatial Bracelet and placed it in the princess’s hand.

“This is the apple you dropped earlier, Your Highness.”

Princess Teresa clutched the apple and immediately took several quick bites without a word.

Once she swallowed, the stinging pain in her eyes gradually faded, and her vision returned to normal.

Princess Teresa continued to eat the apple while secretly observing the grey-haired, red-eyed girl before her.

The latter had pulled out a Communication Orb and was dialing someone with a slight frown.

Taking advantage of the moment the girl turned her back to make the call, Princess Teresa seized the opportunity and bolted out of the Church.

Beili looked back at Princess Teresa’s retreating figure as she fled in a panic, but she had no intention of giving chase.

From the moment she handed over the apple, she had already signaled that the princess was free to go.

Because Beili herself was about to make a run for it.

Yes.

Though her heart was filled with reluctance, after some calm reflection, she decided to endure the loss and abandon the Black Bone Scythe.

Beili dialed the owner of a carriage rental shop in the royal capital.

After agreeing on a location, she hung up and had just turned around.

Two familiar figures appeared in the Church.

Beili only had time to see the curved Black Goat Horns atop the lead figure’s head, his long, silver hair that looked like poured moonlight, and his draped Black Robe.

In an instant, that person flashed before her eyes.

He leaned down.

A pale, greyish face with perfectly sculpted lines drew close.

He looked at her with a half-smile, then raised a hand to lightly tap the tip of her nose with a cold finger.

“My careless Little Butterfly, you even need me to clean up after that runaway Little Wild Boar.”