Although Yōki was unwilling to accept her father's arrangements, her timid nature, long ingrained in her, left her too afraid to argue or resist.
She merely nodded obediently and followed the maidservant as she prepared to return to her room.
Watching the maidservant escort Yōki back to her room, the City Lord did not linger any longer and turned to leave the hall.
As Yōki passed the corpse of the strange bird that had attacked her earlier, she suddenly stopped.
"Princess Your Highness... what is it?" The maidservant beside Yōki looked at her princess in confusion.
"How pitiful!"
Princess Ying Ji crouched beside the strange bird's corpse and clasped her hands together, as though praying for the demon.
"..."
Though the maidservant felt somewhat helpless at Yōki's actions, she seemed to have grown used to them.
Whether human or demon—even demons that had attacked her—she treated them all with great kindness.
"Princess Your Highness, let us go! Otherwise, the head of the household will be angry again later."
"Mm." Yōki stood up and headed toward her room with the maidservant.
"What a strange human. She was praying for a demon that wanted to eat her raw liver?"
Yingcao stood beside Mei, watching Yōki's departing figure with a puzzled expression. That human actually pitied a demon that wanted to eat her.
"Yes... but that is precisely why she is Yōki! Let us follow her as well. There are some things I need to learn from Princess Ying Ji."
Yōki returned to her room and looked at the maidservants behind her. "You may leave first. I am going to rest."
"Yes, Princess Your Highness."
The maidservants bowed to Yōki, turned, and left Princess Ying Ji's room, closing the door behind them.
After the maidservants had left, Princess Ying Ji