"Did I disappoint you?"
"Uh... haha, hey, Your Majesty the Demon Emperor, are you and Skye brothers?" Lily Bai asked.
"No."
"But their auras feel so similar!"
"Skye is just His Highness's servant."
"Alright... By the way, where's Baxa? I haven't seen him around."
"He's out handling something, not here right now."
"Oh..."
"Come with me," Azure Flame said.
Lily Bai immediately hugged the nearby pillar. "Why do I have to go?"
Are they going to roast me and eat me?
"You're a guest—join the party with us," Azure Flame said.
"I really don't have to! I'm just a prisoner—what am I doing at a party?"
Azure Flame ignored her protests and simply grabbed her wrist, dragging her along.
This one's a super-demon who's lived for hundreds of thousands of years.
Lily Bai had no strength to resist her, and was pulled over and made to sit beside Damian Black.
Damian must've won a big fight today—he was in a good mood, a faint smile on his lips.
He glanced at her when she sat down but didn't say anything.
Lily Bai glanced around, feeling like her seat was all wrong.
Why was she sitting next to Damian Black?
The seat next to Damian Black should really be for his empress or favorite consort.
Sitting here... just feels weird.
Azure Flame sat on her other side. Lily Bai whispered, "Isn't it kind of inappropriate for me to sit here?"
"What's inappropriate about it?"
"Doesn't Your Majesty the Demon Emperor have an empress or any concubines? This spot should be theirs."
"Nope," Scarlet Quinn replied.
"Not even one?" Lily Bai asked.
"Mm-hmm."
Well, that explains it...
If he did, he wouldn't still have his primal yang intact.
But still...
Even if he doesn't have an empress, isn't it weird for a prisoner like me to sit here?
Azure Flame said, "Don't overthink it. We're just keeping an eye on you so you don't cause trouble."
Lily Bai went silent, then grinned, showing eight little white teeth. "Looks like you guys are pretty wary of me!"
"You're ranked third among the Twelve Heaven-Bestowed. Of course we're wary."
"Alright then!" Lily Bai pursed her lips and stopped fussing about it.
"Hey, Azure Flame," she called again.
Azure Flame looked at her, face expressionless.
"After I removed the talisman, doesn't your body feel a lot better?"
"Yes."
"Good thing you ran into me," Lily Bai said. "Otherwise, that talisman really would've cost you half your life."
"Mm."
"Do you have any idea what Your Majesty the Demon Emperor plans to do with me?"
"No idea. You should ask him yourself."
Lily Bai: "...Azure Flame, you know, your features are actually really nice. You're pretty."
Azure Flame: "Trying to cozy up to me won't work. I'm not letting you go."
"That's not it," Lily Bai said. "I mean, why don't you ever smile—or, actually, why don't you ever show any expression? Are you secretly wearing a human-skin mask?"
Azure Flame paused, then replied, "Expressions are just ways to show joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. I usually don't have those feelings, so I don't show expression. I'm not wearing a mask."
"No joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness?" Lily Bai tilted her head at her. "How come? Look at that dancing peacock spirit—always looks like she's in heat, her emotions are all over the place. Why don't you have any?"
"You ask me, who should I ask? I was just born this way," Azure Flame replied.
Lily Bai: "...Alright then!"
Azure Flame really knows how to kill a conversation.
She gave up on talking to her and turned to watch the performances in the middle of the four bonfires.