Chapter 10: Only the Most Useful Person Deserves to Stay by Her Side

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Only the Most Useful Person Deserves to Stay by Her Side

Lilia looked down at the colorful packaging inside. She couldn’t be more familiar with these items. After all, she had to unwrap dozens of them by hand every night, often until her hands ached. Now, they lay quietly in the trash can, as if an invisible hand had slapped "waste" labels all over them, forcibly stripping them from her life.

TAP, TAP, TAP.

Rhythmic and slightly heavy footsteps sounded behind her. Lilia didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. Caius walked up beside her and stopped.

"From now on, don’t associate with those unsavory characters." The young man’s voice was deliberately lowered, sounding deep. Yet, it also carried the faint, cheerful undertone of vented frustration.

Lilia turned her head. Caius was staring intently at her, his pitch-black eyes as calm as still water. He was scrutinizing her, observing her. He was anticipating her reaction.

There was no trace of disappointment or anger on the delicate face before him regarding the discarded gifts. On the contrary, Lilia’s tone was unexpectedly obedient. "I understand."

Caius finally felt relieved. He was just about to turn and leave when he heard her add, "However, if they insist on pestering me, there’s nothing I can do about it."

The young man’s steps came to a sudden halt.

"I’m just a lowly maid," the girl blinked innocently. "How could I possibly have the courage to refuse those Nobles?"

As her words faded, a notification chimed.

[Caius’s Favorability has decreased.]

"..."

Listening to the system’s announcement, Lilia didn’t feel panicked at all; instead, she found it rather amusing. This wasn’t the first time. Caius’s Favorability was always dropping for inexplicable reasons. At first, Lilia would try to figure out why, but once she realized that nothing she did could stop it, she gradually threw in the towel and gave up.

He truly lived up to his reputation as one of the most notoriously difficult capture targets in the game. Since his Favorability was going to drop no matter what, Lilia decided to just let her true colors show.

She no longer hid her thoughts, nor did she pretend to be innocent and kind as she had before. Shedding her gentle and generous demeanor, the girl’s posture became somewhat languid. She twirled a strand of long hair around her right index finger, her black, round-toed leather shoes idly kicking at the grass by her feet.

This momentary shift was silent yet stark. It was as if she had finally torn away the Angelic facade covering her body, revealing her true Demonic nature beneath.

Inexplicably, looking at Lilia like this made Caius’s heart race. If he hadn’t tried so hard to control himself, his entire body would have likely started trembling.

"But I have to thank you," Lilia said.

Caius lowered his head slightly, gazing into those exceptionally beautiful and bright eyes. He didn’t speak—or rather, he couldn’t speak because of the trembling. He merely gave a barely audible grunt to signal for her to continue. His deliberately maintained cold expression made it seem as though he didn’t care in the slightest about Lilia’s current behavior or what she was about to say.

"Haven’t I told you?" Lilia said carelessly. "I’m just a maid. Even if I wanted to reject their advances, I couldn’t.

"They’re really annoying, always flocking around me like noisy little birds.

"I don’t even like the gifts they give me every day. They’re all Nobles, so why can’t they give me something more useful?"

Lilia looked up at him with a smile. Sunlight filtered through the treetops, spilling over her and reflecting in the depths of her eyes. It made her dark eyes look like a shimmering, sunlit lake. Dazzling. Yet distinctly predatory.

At that moment, Lilia suddenly took a step forward, closing the distance between them. Caius jolted in surprise. He subconsciously wanted to step back, but instinctively, he couldn’t bear to pull away.

In the distance, a group of students approached. From afar, the cheerful laughter of the boys and girls sounded hazy and indistinct.

"So, I have to thank you." As if afraid of being overheard, Lilia lowered her voice, sounding as though she were whispering right against his ear. It was as if she were telling him a secret meant only for the two of them. "Thank you for getting rid of a huge problem for me.

"From now on, as long as I have you, I won’t ever have to accept those useless gifts again... and no one will ever bother me anymore, right?"

"...Bother you?" Caius still wore a taut expression. His voice was slightly hoarse. "It looked to me like you were thoroughly enjoying their bother."

"How could that be?" Lilia smiled. "Now that I have you, I don’t need them anymore."

Faced with this candid confession, Caius gave no reply. However, the gaze he directed at Lilia suddenly grew intense and heavy, as if a storm was brewing within. He thought that because she had him, someone more useful, she no longer needed that trash. Exactly, that was how it should be. Only the most useful person deserved to stay by her side.

Whether it was Lilia’s imagination or not, for a fleeting second, the corners of Caius’s lips seemed to twitch upward. The smile vanished so quickly that Lilia figured her eyes were playing tricks on her. After all, Caius’s Favorability toward her was so low, and even now, it showed no signs of increasing. Why would he smile at her?

Lilia brushed it off. "But, even if I don’t want them, those gifts still belonged to me."

Caius watched her intently. "...So?"

"From now on, you’re not allowed to touch my things without my permission. Even the things I don’t like."

"Alright." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

"Also, since you threw away my gifts, you have to compensate me."

"After school today, I’ll go buy that lava cake you’ve been wanting to eat."

"?"

Lilia inexplicably felt that something was off. Plus, hadn’t this guy agreed a little too quickly?

Before she could test the waters further, a lively female voice rang out from nearby. "Lilia!"

It was a blonde girl in a school uniform. She had probably spotted Lilia nearby on her way to school and came over to say hello. The girl waved her hand. "Lilia, class is about to start! Want to walk to the classroom together?"

Lilia turned to look. She was just about to say something when Caius grabbed her wrist. He held on tightly, as if terrified she might fly away.

Only then did the girl notice Caius nearby. Seeing his dark, gloomy expression, she subconsciously took a step back, her initial excitement instantly turning into hesitation.

"I’m sorry, Cecie," Lilia said. "I still have some things to take care of. You go ahead; I’ll be there in a bit."

"O-Okay!" Cecie replied, appearing somewhat flustered. She hastily dropped a "I’ll wait for you in the classroom, then" before scurrying away in a rather frantic manner.

After she left, Lilia exerted a little force, breaking free from Caius’s grip, and turned to walk toward the classroom. Caius didn’t mind. He simply followed silently behind her.