Three days after the Great Garden Deflation, Empress Xue Lian appeared in Lan Yue's doorway once more. This time, she was not holding a schedule. She was dressed in slightly less ornate robes, though they were still clearly of immense quality, and she had a look of brisk efficiency.
"Up. We're going out," she announced, as if addressing a slightly reluctant family member on errand day.
Lan Yue, who had been meditating on the profound injustice of her situation and the baffling comfort of the bed, did not open her eyes. "I have no interest in your tours, Empress."
"Terrific. Your interest level is noted and filed in the 'irrelevant' cabinet. This isn't for you, so don't flatter yourself," Xue Lian said, waving a dismissive hand. "There's a charity event in the Obsidian Spire district. Structural damage from the last earth qi tremor. I have to be seen, shake hands, kiss baby imps, the whole tedious song and dance. You're coming because I can't have you sulking in your room plotting another escape that ends with you admiring my landscaping."
Lan Yue's eyes snapped open. "A charity event?" The words were so utterly foreign in this context they barely made sense.
"Yes. You know, where you give resources to those in need to improve society? It's a novel concept, I know. Demons are usually too busy mustache twirling to figure it out, but we're evolving." Xue Lian strode into the room and tossed a bundle of dark fabric at her. "Here. Put this on. Can't have the Head Disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect wandering around in her pristine whites; you'll blind everyone. It's a cloak. It's not cursed, it's just fashion. Mostly."
The cloak was a deep, twilight blue, made of a soft, surprisingly light material. It was, Lan Yue had to admit, beautifully made. She eyed it with deep suspicion.
"Why would I willingly accompany you anywhere?"
"Because the alternative is staying here with Gleeb, who will read you his epic poetry about the emotional journey of a kitchen scrubber. It's seventeen cantos long and only rhymes every third line. It's a fate worse than death. Now, cloak. Let's go. I'm on a timetable."
With a sense of profound resignation, Lan Yue stood and fastened the cloak over her shoulders. The collar felt restrictive, a layer of demonic fabric added to her demonic collar. She was a prisoner on a field trip.
The journey through the palace was different this time. Demons bowed as always, but they also called out to the Empress.
"Your Majesty! The new shoring beams for the Spire arrived!"
"Empress! Little Krik's horn grew back straight, thanks to the healer you sent!"
"Will you be trying the roasted glow grubs at the festival, Majesty?"
Xue Lian responded with nods, waves, and the occasional shouted instruction. "Tell Foreman Grish the budget for reinforced mortar is approved!" "Excellent news about Krik! Tell his mother to send me the bill!" "I'll try the grubs if you try the new tea, Maz!"
It was… horrifyingly mundane. This wasn't the fearful obedience of subjects to a tyrant. This was the familiar, slightly exasperated interaction between a popular leader and her constituents.
They exited the palace gates, and Lan Yue got her first real look at the capital city of the "Luminous Dynasty." It was not a pit of screaming damned souls. It was a city. A strange, dark, and fantastical one, but a city nonetheless. Buildings were carved from obsidian and basalt, streets were paved with smooth, dark stone, and the air hummed with a low, potent energy. But there were also market stalls, public fountains (flowing with water, not blood), and even street vendors.
And the people… the demons… they weren't cowering. They were living. They bartered, they laughed, they argued. Children little imps, tiny scaled creatures, and small, furry things with too many eyes chased each other through the streets, playing a game that involved kicking a glowing ball of moss.
Xue Lian didn't have a heavy guard detail. A few respectful soldiers walked ahead and behind, clearing a path simply by existing. The Empress herself was utterly at ease, pointing out landmarks to Lan Yue as if she were a tourist.
"That's the Grand Library. You'd like it, it's very quiet. They shush you if you breathe too loud."
"That's the new public bathhouse. The salamander plumbers settled their strike. They got extended lunch breaks."
"Avoid that alley. The trash imps are on a go slow protest. It reeks."
Lan Yue walked beside her, a silent, seething statue of judgment. This is a trick. A grand illusion. A performance for my benefit. She clung to her hatred, her teachings. These were demons. They were evil. They had to be.
They arrived at the Obsidian Spire district. It was clear there had been a disaster. A large residential spire had a jagged crack running down its side, and a section of the street was cordoned off. But instead of chaos, there was organized relief. Demons in uniforms with the Imperial crest were directing operations, handing out blankets and steaming bowls of soup from mobile kitchens. Engineers with crystalline measuring devices were assessing the damage.
As soon as Xue Lian stepped into the area, a wave of genuine warmth and relief went through the crowd.
"Empress! She's here!"
"Make way, make way for Her Majesty!"
An elderly demoness with cracked horns and a soot smudged face rushed forward, not in fear, but in supplication. She grabbed Xue Lian's hand. "Thank you, Majesty! Thank you! The responders came so quickly! They saved my grandson's pet void puppy from the rubble!"
Xue Lian didn't pull away. She patted the demoness's hand. "Of course, Matron Helga. Is the temporary housing adequate? I told them to bring the extra comfy cots."
"It's wonderful! Thank you!"
Xue Lian moved through the crowd, speaking to families, listening to engineers, personally handing a wrapped pastry to a tiny, sniffling imp. She was calm, competent, and genuinely… caring.
Lan Yue watched, her guarded hatred beginning to fray at the edges under the assault of sheer, overwhelming cognitive dissonance. This wasn't a performance. The gratitude was real. The relief efforts were real. The Empress's focus was entirely on her people, not on impressing her captive.
At one point, a little demon child, no higher than Xue Lian's knee, toddled up and hugged her leg. Xue Lian looked down, smiled a real, warm smile that reached her eyes and ruffled the child's hair. "Hey there, sprout. You being brave?"
The child nodded, wide eyed.
"Good. Bravery gets you extra dessert." She nodded to a nearby aid worker, who handed the child a second pastry.
Lan Yue felt the world tilt. The image of the cruel, defective Omega tyrant was shattered, replaced by this… this capable, exasperated, pastry distributing administrator who was apparently beloved by her monstrous subjects.
Xue Lian moved through the crowd, speaking to families, listening to engineers, personally handing a wrapped pastry to a tiny, sniffling imp. She was calm, competent, and genuinely… caring. At one point, a little demon child toddled up and hugged her leg. Xue Lian looked down, smiled a real, warm smile that reached her eyes, and ruffled the child's hair. "Hey there, sprout. You being brave?" The child nodded. "Good. Bravery gets you extra dessert."
Lan Yue felt the world tilt. The image of the cruel, defective Omega tyrant was shattered, replaced by this… this capable, exasperated, pastry-distributing administrator who was apparently beloved by her monstrous subjects.
Xue Lian finally finished her rounds and came back to where Lan Yue stood, a silent statue amidst the controlled chaos. The Empress raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at Lan Yue's bewildered expression.
Breaking her long silence, Lan Yue spoke, her voice low and laced with a confusion she couldn't hide. "Everyone seems to adore you, Empress. And you have a pretty face. Does it get you everything you want?"
A slow, dangerous smile spread across Xue Lian's lips. "Oh, you just noticed I have a pretty face?" she purred, taking a step closer. "But to answer your question... hmmm. Almost, I guess?"
Lan Yue's gaze swept over the crowd, where demons were still looking at their Empress with genuine reverence. "One look from you, and the creatures here men and women swoon at your feet."
Xue Lian's grin widened, her amber eyes locking onto Lan Yue's with a challenging glint. "And yet... here you stand," she said softly.
Lan Yue felt a sudden flush creep up her neck, surprised by the unexpected flirtation, by the intimacy of the challenge.
The moment hung between them, charged and intimate. Xue Lian's smirk finally returned to its usual place. "Right. That's that done. Boring, but necessary. See? Not everything is about you." She glanced at Lan Yue's utterly bewildered face. "You look like you've just seen a ghost. Or, well, a demon acting with basic decency. Which I suppose is rarer. Come on, let's head back. I've got paperwork on mortar tensile strength that isn't going to read itself."
She turned and began walking back the way they came, leaving Lan Yue standing amidst the friendly, recovering demons, her righteous hatred still present but now hopelessly, irrevocably confused. The walls of her world were not just cracking; they were being cheerfully repainted in shades of grey by a demon empress with a disturbingly good public works program.