Volume 4 Chapter 30

Volume 4 + Chapter 30: She Actually Chickened Out

“N-No, please don’t…! My Froggy Wallet, don’t take away my Froggy Wallet!!”

The grief-stricken Xia Yi watched as the minister in charge of the Dragon Royal Treasury emptied every last coin from her beloved Froggy Wallet.

The once-plump little frog purse was now hollowed out completely.

“I’m so sorry, Princess… These are royal orders. This old minister’s heart aches as well!”

With a sigh, the finance minister placed the deflated Froggy Wallet in front of Xia Yi, who lay on her stomach on the bed.

She picked it up for a look.

The poor Froggy Wallet had been squeezed dry—absolutely nothing left!

“Y-You give that back!! If you don’t, I’m really going to get mad!!”

Still lying face-down, Xia Yi raged helplessly.

But with her backside still burning, she couldn’t move—only fume in powerless fury.

“Princess, the damage you caused on the streets of the capital is considerable. According to calculations, your next three months of—”

The minister didn’t even finish.

“I’M GOING TO FIGHT YOU!!”

Xia Yi snapped, raising her hand to summon magic—preparing to fire an Ice Spike right through the finance minister’s soul.

“Let’s go, quickly.”

Seeing the danger, Serra hurriedly shoved the minister out of the room and escorted him away.

“Serra! Why did you stop me just now?!” Xia Yi demanded. “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side!?”

“Princess, I was doing it for your own good. Otherwise I would not have acted,” Serra explained. “If the minister had decided to frame you—say, purposely refusing to dodge your magic and taking the hit—he could report it to Her Majesty as an on-duty injury. Then your allowance would have been even more…”

“Uh…”

Xia Yi had no comeback.

She looked down at her Froggy Wallet, her feelings tangled and heavy.

But giving up was not the style of a Sword Saint.

Defeat would not break her.

“Froggy, just wait. I will find a way to fill you back up again!”

……

“Revive!”

The next morning, Xia Yi threw off her blanket and stood up on her bed.

Even though her backside had suffered a brutal assault the day before, she was still a silver dragon royal—her recovery ability was exceptional. She was already fine.

“Huh… It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Standing on her large bed, the little princess twisted her waist, her big tail swaying dramatically behind her.

She glanced around her room and saw that her bookshelf was missing a large chunk of volumes.

Those were all her treasured manga—now confiscated.

“Ugh…!”

Just thinking about yesterday filled her with resentment.

The one at fault wasn’t her—clearly it was the world!

She ran to the mirror and pointed at the little dragon girl inside it.

“Come out!!”

“……”

“You come out here right now—don’t hide!!”

From an outsider’s perspective, this scene would be horrifying—like watching someone with a split personality.

Which, honestly… might not be entirely wrong.

In the mirror, the dragon loli’s expression shifted, her eyes avoided Xia Yi’s gaze, her movements completely different from the Xia Yi outside.

It was the Heart Demon Xia Yi appearing.

“Uu…”

“Heart Demon! How could you do something this spiteful to get back at me? That was way too much!” Xia Yi scolded.

“I didn’t do it on purpose…”

The Heart Demon Xia Yi sounded pitiful.

“Your mom kept spanking me! It hurt so much!”

“What did you do to make Xia Lulu that angry?” Xia Yi asked, bewildered.

“I didn’t do anything,” the Heart Demon said innocently. “I just did what I always do—cut everyone down like usual.”

Xia Yi felt something was off. She herself had challenged Xia Lulu plenty of times, yet Xia Lulu had never gotten that angry.

“Heart Demon, you must have said something else.”

“You mean… when I said Xia Lulu was… flat as a board?”

“……”

Xia Yi fell silent.

She remembered stepping on that landmine once too—losing her temper and calling Xia Lulu a washboard.

The outcome… had been disastrous.

She covered her face. No wonder Xia Lulu beat her backside.

The Heart Demon really had gone and courted death.

“Why do you insist on chopping people?” Xia Yi asked.

“I’m a Heart Demon. What else am I supposed to do if not chop people?” the Heart Demon countered.

Xia Yi was at a loss.

Right… Heart Demons usually act opposite of their host, when someone goes berserk, they often attack everyone in sight…

It really did fit the nature of a Heart Demon.

But—

“No. Heart Demon, you are NOT allowed to randomly attack people anymore!”

“Why not?”

“Because if you don’t behave, how am I supposed to trust you enough to let you out again and let you use my body?” Xia Yi explained. “If you cause chaos every time, of course I won’t ever let you out.”

“This… I… I…” The Heart Demon lowered her head. “Fine.”

“From now on, don’t go around thinking about cutting people. Try to get along with others.”

Xia Yi placed her hand against the mirror, as if patting her head.

The Heart Demon didn’t resist at first, but then suddenly realized something and jerked her head up.

“No! Why am I listening to you!? I’m a Heart Demon—we are mortal enemies! One day I’m going to kill you and take your body! Don’t look down on me! Put away that attitude, Xia Yi! You should treat me as a deadly threat who could take everything from you at any moment! You’re not allowed to act like that toward me!”

“Alright then. I’ll just ignore you from now on.”

Xia Yi hugged her teddy bear, turned her head aside, and acted like she found the Heart Demon extremely bothersome.

“……!”

The Heart Demon’s eyes widened—clearly shaken, completely thrown off, suddenly lost for words.

“I-I… Xia Yi… If you don’t talk to me…”

“It depends on your attitude. If you’re willing to change, we can communicate properly. If you keep causing trouble…”

“…Fine! Xia Yi! I guess I have no choice! I’ll give it a try, okay!?” the Heart Demon gritted her teeth. “I won’t hurt the people around you! But the ones I dislike are a different matter!”

“That’s more like it!”

Xia Yi smiled.

“Oh right—should I introduce you to Xia Lulu sometime? She still doesn’t know you exist.”

“Nope! Absolutely not!!”

The Heart Demon frantically waved her hands. The fearless, nothing-scares-me Heart Demon was… actually chickening out.

“That woman is terrifying!”

“Alright then.”

Xia Yi sighed helplessly. Looks like that would have to wait.

“…Sorry.”

“Hm?”

Xia Yi thought she heard the Heart Demon mutter something just now—three very soft, unclear words…

“Heart Demon, what did you just say?”

“N-Nothing! That’s it for now, Xia Yi!”

The Heart Demon’s cheeks were a little red, her manner strangely flustered, as if hiding something—and then she quickly vanished.

Xia Yi wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt the Heart Demon was… not quite the same as before.