Even though the golden hues of dusk had completely faded, the city-state's nightscape, bathed in the glow of lamp lights, still revealed a beauty none the less spectacular than before.
Beside the ancient buildings lining both sides, pedestrians in various dress presented leisurely smiles on their faces.
In a corner of a residential area a few hundred meters from the city gate.
Except for the torches placed on the wall by the guards and the lights pouring out from household windows, there was no other illumination.
Once Lanci's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he slowly approached his destination.
He could see that something was curled up under the wall at the corner of the street - actually, there were many creatures huddled up.
Appearing fragile and shivering from the cold.
Lanci continued towards that spot, now able to hear these creatures' sounds.
"Meow~ Mew~"
He stopped, crouched down, and opened the food box in his hands.
Right then, the aroma began to spread.
And when Lanci threw the cooked chicken from the box on the ground not too far away, little kittens gradually started approaching him.
In this moment.
He seemed to be completely unaware that across the street not far away, a figure was leaning against the wall. She looked like a homeless person from a slum.
Though this corner isn't an ideal spot, it's isolated and inhabited mostly by stray cats.
There are no other vagabonds, and few guards.
Talia despised humans, so this place made her feel somewhat comfortable.
No one could ever imagine that this girl dressed as a beggar would once have been the Princess of the Demon Clan.
And so, time passed.
Nearly all the kittens around had been attracted to Lanci's side.
Lanci wore a happy expression as he watched the kittens eating.
He had learned from his butler that Talia had been spending her nights on this street these past few days.
So before dinner, Lanci asked the house chef to prepare a generous amount of special aromatic chicken. It was not only edible for cats but even more delicious for humans.
Then later, he purposely came here to pretend to feed the cats.
"..."
Even though Lanci hadn't looked towards Talia once within these few minutes.
Talia had long noticed this human who had recklessly intruded into her "territory."
If he had stayed quietly here, she would have considered him as just another part of her surroundings.
But this damn human, why was he feeding such high-quality meat to stray cats?
Remembering her years of sleeping rough and eating poorly, Talia could only conclude that even the cats ate better than her.
Eventually, she couldn't help but glance in Lanci's direction.
However, her pride seemed to prevent her from uttering a word of rebuke.
She can only glare at Lanci.
And yet, Lanci seemed oblivious to her gaze.
"Can you go somewhere else to feed cats?"
She spoke up, her voice cold.
Lanci looked up, slightly confused. Going along with the source of the voice, and upon understanding the situation, he calmly responded:
"I've been coming here longer than you have."
With these words asserting his sovereignty, he confirmed the fact that "he frequently comes here to feed the cats."
Talia snorted at his words, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and ignored him.
Because this human wasn't lying.
Lanci refrained from saying anything further.
The truth was what he had stated earlier.
As a native of this town, he had come to this spot more often than Talia ever had.
As for Talia, who recently came to the town, naturally she wouldn't know if Lanci had recently fed the cats here.
Nevertheless, Talia was stubborn.
She both despised Lanci and was unwilling to give up her position, where she had been sitting for two days.
If she left now, it would seem as if she had lost.
So she sat at the corner, enduring her hunger while trying to fall asleep.
A little while passed.
"Can you do me a favor?"
Lanci's unexpected voice resounded in the quiet street.
Talia lifted her head slightly to look at Lanci, confirming he was speaking to her.
"What?"
Talia didn't want to deal with him.
But according to the rules of the Human Kingdom, if someone asks for help, there's usually some reward.
She needed every reward she could get right now.
"Help me feed the cats. Ensure the big ones won't bully the smaller ones. I'm tired, I want to go home and sleep."
Lanci followed up by lifting up the box in his hand and saying,
"You can keep the rest."
"..."
Talia was silent.
If it was not charity, but a trade, then she could consider it.
However, for demons, adhering to the rules of a deal is an extremely important matter.
It even concerns their dignity.
The more noble the demon, the more adamant they are about not breaking the rules of a deal, even at the cost of their own lives.
Even if this human did not know she was a demon.
But as a member of the Demon Royal Family, she would rather starve herself to death than break the rules of the deal, even to the point of taking even a morsel of the kittens' food.
She mentally tallied the number of cats, confident that she would get to eat a bit of the chicken in the end.
"Deal."
Talia felt like it was alright to accept this deal.
Although she didn't quite understand what joy humans could get from feeding cats.
Lanci quickly sealed the food box, placed it on the ground, and after standing up and stretching his back, he strolled off leisurely.
...
The next morning, within a wealthy residence of the town.
Today was another day of self-discipline. Rising early, and after finishing breakfast, Lanci left his home.
The rising sun bathed the plants in the courtyard with a hazy sheen. One could hear finches singing in the surrounding trees.
Walking in the courtyard, Lanci couldn't help but feel happy.
However, the moment he stepped out of his house, he stopped in his tracks.