"You can rest assured, if you let me out now, I'll still grant you three wishes," The tiny loli demon in the bottle said in a sweet, childish voice, blinking her dark golden eyes.
Somehow, she had managed to let Lucius see her, sealed within the bottle.
Though a demon, she was a petite loli, barely over a meter tall.
She gazed at Lucius with an adorable expression, her delicate little horns twitching slightly atop her head.
"That doesn't seem right, does it?" Lucius hesitated, though he appeared tempted. "It goes against the rules!"
"No worries. For you, I'm willing to break the rules."
"You're saying this, thinking of me like that? I'm truly touched," Lucius said with heartfelt gratitude.
"If you're really so touched, then hurry up and let me out already!"
"I can't let you break your own promises, so I'll wait another two centuries before releasing you."
"You fool, in two hundred years, the sapling on your grave will be old enough to be a grandfather!"
"Then wait until that sapling gains sentience and lets you out!"
Let her out again?
He'd have to be a complete idiot.
This sweet-looking, adorable loli demon, who seemed like someone you'd want to pamper, was probably plotting "A Thousand Ways to Kill Lucius" in her mind right now.
"You're really not going to let me out, you moron?"
"You brainless thing, stay in that bottle until the end of the world!" Lucius replied without hesitation.
To hell with it.
No matter what he thought, he was the one who let her out of that bottle in the first place.
Not only was she ungrateful, but she also wanted to kill him.
If that wasn't insanity, what was?
"If you don't let me out now, when I finally break free from this bottle, you're done for!"
"If I let you out now, I won't have a future," Lucius scoffed. "As long as I'm alive, you're not getting out of that bottle."
"Once you're dead and I'm out, the first thing I'll do is scatter your ashes! You fool!"
"FUCKING BITCH!"
"YOU BASTARD HUMAN WITH BLACK ASS!"
Great, if this demon got out now, she'd probably tear him apart with her bare hands.
The loli demon stomped her feet in rage.
But that didn't change Lucius's mind.
Trust her again? He'd be a fool!
So, facing the loli demon's relentless stream of curses, Lucius spoke calmly.
"You brainless thing, do you know what freedom feels like?"
"The sun shining on your body, feeling the warmth of life."
"The breeze gently brushing past, as if every cell in your body is cheering."
"On rainy days, raindrops fall on the back of your hand, sometimes splashing."
"When it snows, quietly feeling the six-pointed ice crystals melt in your palm, cold yet somehow warm."
"Ah—" The demon's incessant cursing came to a halt.
"That feeling."
"You brainless thing, do you even remember it?"
"Or rather, have you ever experienced it?"
"Who cares?"
"Don't worry, though I can't let you out now, I'll tell you bit by bit about the freedom you can't feel," Lucius said leisurely.
And with that, the connection between Lucius and the demon in the bottle was abruptly cut off.
She shut down.
Who was the real demon here?
"Even though I'm a demon, I still have my honor."
After what felt like an eternity, the demon reestablished contact with Lucius.
"You can trust me this time. If you let me out, I absolutely won't harm you."
"Really?"
"Really." The demon in the bottle wasn't about to give up even the slightest hope. She smiled softly, raising her chubby little hand and pointing to her eyes. "Look, what do you see in my eyes?"
She blinked playfully.
"You were crying just now?" Lucius looked closely and asked.
"You're the one crying!" The loli demon bristled. "I'm telling you to look at the sincerity in my eyes!"
Oh, this loli demon was being very sincere right now.
But even so, Lucius had no intention of letting her out.
She might be sincerely begging him to release her now, but once she was out, she could just as sincerely bite him to pieces and swallow him whole.
Lucius didn't want to be eaten, not even sincerely.
"Please, let me out..."
"As a human, you can't possibly imagine what it's like to be sealed in a bottle for thousands of years."
In desperation, the demon in the bottle played the emotional card again, putting on a pitiful act.
Tears rolled down from her dark golden eyes.
Of course, she might actually be quite pitiful.
But human joys and sorrows don't translate, let alone between humans and demons.
As a human, he naturally couldn't comprehend what it felt like to be sealed in a bottle for endless ages.
"The only reason I wanted to kill you when I was first released was because the long years of imprisonment had nearly eroded my sanity, leaving only hatred and madness. But I've recovered now!"
"Even though I'm a demon, I keep my promises. I would never repay kindness with enmity!"
"If you let me out, no matter what you ask, I'll agree... Three wishes, right? I'll definitely make them come true!"
"Is that so..." Lucius seemed tempted once more. "In that case, let me tell you my wishes first? See if you can agree to them?"
Agreeing was out of the question—absolutely, unequivocally impossible. Keeping this demon locked in the bottle was the only way he could live a normal life.
Every time he chatted with the demon in the bottle, it was like meeting a raging troll from a toxic online game. He absolutely loved keeping her trapped in there.
"No problem, tell me!" The little demon nodded eagerly, her dark golden eyes gleaming with an unusual light, her tongue lightly brushing over her sharp fangs.
"My first wish, after I let you out of the bottle, um..."
Lucius thought for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the loli demon and landing on her bare little feet.
Though she claimed to have been sealed for who-knows-how-long, her toenails were neatly trimmed, her toes slightly curled, giving a soft, chubby appearance.
Unlike her toes, the smooth tops of her feet seemed a bit slender, faintly revealing pale blue veins. Her ankles, peeking out from beneath a tattered black robe, seemed to reflect an inexplicable sheen.
Seeing those little feet, he could almost understand the mindset of a certain foot-obsessed literary pioneer.
Lucius decided he should follow his heart.
"My first wish is..."
***
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