Chapter Two: Longing to Escape the Palace for the Mortal World

When Chixiao came looking for me, I was still sulking in my room.

“Princess, the Demon Lord is here.”

With a shrill cry, my maid Xiaoyao announced his arrival. I spun around, leapt onto the bed, grabbed the quilt, and pulled it over my head before bursting into loud sobs.

I knew that although Chixiao was the Demon Lord, he never put on any airs in front of me. The hurried footsteps approaching my side only confirmed my guess, followed by a few gentle sighs. Hearing him sigh, I felt at ease—by now, he must have run out of ways to deal with me.

The mattress dipped as he sat down at the edge of the bed.

“Xiaoyao, you may leave us.”

“Yes, my lord.”

After the soft shuffling of footsteps faded away, the room fell into silence once more.

“Yuge, do you truly dislike staying in the Demon Realm so much?” he asked, reaching out to tug at the quilt covering my head.

“Yes,” I replied.

I rolled away from him, huddled in the farthest corner of the bed, determined to show him with my actions that I would not give up—leaving the Demon Realm was a must. If he refused, I was ready to cry every day, hiding under the covers without rest.

The room grew quiet again. Just as I was about to peek from beneath the quilt to see if he was still there, his voice sounded once more.

“Very well,” he said, somewhat helplessly, finally giving in. “But you must promise me one thing.”

“What condition?”

Sensing hope of escaping the Demon Realm, I hurriedly threw off the stifling quilt and looked at him with a fawning expression. “As long as you let me leave, I’ll agree to one condition, or ten, or a hundred, or a thousand—whatever you want.”

“Fine. Then leave behind your three golden scales.”

He said it so easily that I sprang up from the bed in alarm. “No! The three golden scales grow on my chest—pulling them out would be unbearably painful. Besides, if I leave the Demon Realm without them, I’ll be no different from a mortal. I’m so beautiful, Chixiao—you wouldn’t be so cruel as to let others bully me, would you?”

He nodded in agreement. “If you won’t leave the golden scales, then I’ll just make you ugly. If you’re ugly, no bad people will bother you.”

“No! I’d rather die than become ugly!”

I yelled, furious. After more than a thousand years of cultivation, what had I worked so hard for? All so I could take human form sooner, all so I could become more beautiful. Only by being beautiful could I seduce—no, enchant—Zilian.

If Chixiao made me ugly, Zilian wouldn’t spare me a glance. How could I enchant him? How could I ever become his bride?

“You say you’d agree to a hundred, a thousand conditions, but you can’t even manage these two. Then forget about leaving the Demon Realm.”

He seemed angrier than me, flung his long sleeves, and stormed out the door.

Go then, all of you, just go! I jumped off the bed and started packing my belongings. If he wouldn’t let me leave openly, then I’d just sneak away alone. If he thought he could take my scales or turn me into a monster, he could dream on.

When I reached the border between the Demon Realm and the mortal world, I was at a loss. The scenery in all directions looked much the same—it was easy enough to leave, but finding the way back would be nearly impossible. Reaching out to pat myself down, I suddenly remembered: in my haste to leave, I had left my packed bundle sitting on the table. Now I didn’t have a single valuable thing on me. Was I to beg for a living in the human world until I found Zilian?

Oh, I let out a long sigh, cursing myself for being such a fool.