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Ren Zu slowly pushed open the door of his humble cabin, expecting to find the usual tranquil silence as always.
But as soon as he crossed the threshold, he noticed something wrong.
Very wrong.
And then he saw her.
The Little Demon Empress was standing right in the middle of the room, coldly like a frozen doll, her skin white as freshly fallen snow, eyes black as a starless night, small and perfectly delicate face, small and delicate body, enveloped in a heavy aura of death. She had her arms crossed, chin slightly raised, rigid posture, and her eyebrows furrowed… so furrowed that they seemed to threaten to turn into two sharp swords.
And her expression…
If someone didn't know who she was, they would think it was a wife waiting for her husband to return after spending the entire day "talking with another."
In fact, could the Little Demon Empress really make such an expression?
Ren Zu stopped at the door.
Frozen.
Eyes blinking slowly.
"…Am I dreaming?" he murmured, too low, but not low enough to escape her.
The Little Demon Empress narrowed her eyes even further and called him coldly: "Ren Zu."
Her words were cold and carried a terrifying cohesion behind them, enough to make any Monarch kneel. Not him, of course. But still… he felt a shiver run up his spine. He straightened his posture and tried to flash an innocent smile, the kind of smile that fooled half the realm and made any man or woman fall madly in love.
"Good afternoon, wife."
"Don't call me wife like that." She spoke coldly and tightened her arms against her chest even more. "Not today."
Ren Zu cleared his throat.
"May I know… why exactly… you're looking at me as if you're going to judge me for a war crime?"
" ….. " The Little Demon Empress's lips trembled, but not a single sound emerged from them. She looked in his direction silently for a moment before saying: "You spent the entire morning locked in the pavilion… with that girl from the Su Family."
Mentioning that matter made the Little Demon Empress's heart beat in a strange, almost uncomfortable way. Jealousy was a new feeling for her; irritating, untimely, and completely out of her control. As the absolute ruler of the entire Illusory Demon Realm, she had never experienced anything even remotely similar.
For her, emotions had always been tools, not weaknesses. Fear, resentment, hatred, pain… all of that could be ignored, crushed, or molded until it served the necessary purpose. From a very young age, she had learned to tame any feeling that could tarnish the dignity of her royal lineage. That was what was expected of someone like her.
But jealousy…
Jealousy was different.
That hot and irritating tightness in her chest, that irrational sense of threat, that contradictory desire to face him and, at the same time, look away… absolutely nothing had prepared her for that.
It was irritating.
It was shameful.
And, at the same time, it was impossible to deny.
The Little Demon Empress was cruel, ruthless, and domineering by nature. The entire world bowed before her. Patriarchs feared her gaze. Monarchs trembled at her voice. Her name was synonymous with absolute power, unquestionable authority.
Yet, before that man alone, something within her wavered.
The imperial posture, sustained throughout her entire life, seemed to falter for a brief and intolerable instant. As if his presence challenged rules that not even she, the supreme ruler, could impose on her own heart.
And recognizing that… was what infuriated her the most.
Despite her cold tyranny, she was someone capable of opening her heart, not to flattery, nor to empty courtship, and even less to insistent kindnesses that she considered a waste of time. She despised that. What moved her was a much fiercer and more primitive instinct: possession.
Envy.
The simple threat of losing something she deemed hers awakened in her a feeling she had never experienced… and that was what caused the jealousy she felt at that moment.
After hearing her words—and imagining what was going through her mind—Ren Zu immediately realized that someone in that residence, perhaps everyone, had a tongue that was far too long.
He sighed inwardly.
"I was literally working...."
"Working?" She raised an eyebrow so high it almost left her face. "Is that what you call holding her hand for half an hour?"
Ren Zu opened his mouth.
And closed it.
And opened it again.
"…Ah."
She narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"Ah?"
He cleared his throat.
"My dear—"
"Ren Zu."
Okay. Not "dear." Forbidden for now.
He tried another approach.
"I was just checking her pulse. She was too nervous to speak, and I—"
The Little Demon Empress took a step forward.
"She was nervous?" She repeated coldly, with the voice of someone about to burn an entire city. "Why, I wonder?"
Ren Zu stared at her.
She stared back.
He blinked.
And then…
He smiled.
A slow smile. Beautiful. Dishonest. The one he wisely used sparingly, especially in front of her.
"It wasn't my fault if the girl fell in love with a beautiful appearance. I mean, have you seen how handsome your husband is? It's hard for women to resist my charm....."
Silence.
The air froze.
The Little Demon Empress remained completely motionless for three full seconds.
And then—
"REN. ZU."
Her voice came out so thin, so furious, and so adorably hurt that his own heart skipped a beat.
He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Okay, okay, I deserved that. I admit it. It was a bad joke."
She turned her face away with a brusque movement, her cheeks flushed, not from shame. From jealousy.
"You…" Her voice trembled, subtle and genuinely hurt. "You spent hours with another girl. And you're still… joking with me…"
Ren Zu stopped.
All the teasing evaporated.
He approached slowly, slow steps, careful, as if approaching a rare and frightened animal. When he got close enough, he tilted his head slightly to try to see her face.
But she turned even more.
He took a deep breath.
"I just treated someone. Nothing more."
She didn't respond.
Ren Zu slowly unraveled her arms with gentleness; she allowed it, though her chin remained defiantly turned to the side.
Then, holding her chin with just two fingers, he made her look at him.
Her eyes were shining.
"I would never touch any woman… for any reason other than medical."
She didn't blink.
He brought his face closer.
"…And you know that."
Her eyebrows wavered.
Her breathing too.
Ren Zu smiled again, but this time, it wasn't provocative. Just calm, sincere, soft.
"Just as you are my wife, I am also your husband. There's no need to be jealous over something so trivial...."
She finally blinked.
And blushed.
Violently.
"A-And I…!"
Ren Zu pulled her by the waist, very lightly, but enough to make her stumble over her own heart.
"If you want," he murmured, his voice too low, too warm: "I can prove it as many times as you deem necessary."
The Little Demon Empress, future absolute ruler of the entire Illusory Demon Realm… Took a step back so quickly it seemed like teleportation.
"R-Ren Zu!!!"
He laughed softly.
"So we're good?"
She turned her face away again… but this time, he saw the small smile hidden at the corner of her mouth.
"…Not entirely."
Ren Zu raised an eyebrow.
"Then what do I need to do to make up for it?"
She let out a small, almost imperceptible, imperial hum:
"…You will accompany me for the rest of the day."
"Just that?"
"And you won't look at anyone else."
Ren Zu smiled sideways.
"The whole time?"
"Yes."
He took a step toward her, leaning dangerously close.
"And if I look at you too much?"
She swallowed hard.
"…That doesn't count."
Ren Zu smiled calmly, observing the Little Demon Empress regain her composure… or, at least, pretend she had regained it. His black eyes, deep and always so calm, reflected a simple, direct, and accurate thought: anyone who dared say she was "heartless" clearly had never spent enough time by her side.
He had lived with that woman intimately, more intimately than any living person. He knew better than anyone that, behind the imperial coldness, there was someone extremely kind when it came to the man she loved. Kind not in the common, sweet, or submissive sense, but in the fierce, silent, and absolute sense. She became a devoted wife when she was with him, someone who trusted him, depended on him, and above all, placed him in a position that no one had ever occupied before.
She was authoritarian with the entire world.
But with him… it was different.
Before him, the Little Demon Empress became obedient, attentive, and vulnerable, even. Especially when they were alone, in the bedroom. There, where no expectations or watching eyes existed, she did everything he asked, dedicating herself to pleasing him in the best possible way…
And now, she was jealous too....
He could still see the trace of that emotion in her eyes, a almost imperceptible gleam, but impossible to ignore. A bit of discomfort, a bit of irritation, a bit of that silent fear of losing something she didn't even know she feared losing… and a pride so immense that it prevented her from admitting anything out loud.
None of that surprised him.
In fact… he found it completely natural.
Regardless of the world, culture, or era, a woman who truly loves feels jealousy when her man gives too much attention to another. That wouldn't change even in a place where having a harem was socially normal, politically useful, and even expected.
The problem always lay in how it was portrayed.
In the original story, everything seemed… unrealistic. Superficial. The women accepted everything too quickly, too soon, without resistance, without developing deep bonds, without showing their natural insecurities. It was as if the protagonist simply accumulated disposable pieces of affection.
But real love doesn't work that way.
Real bonds don't work that way.
In other words, there was no real reason for him to be surprised by her jealousy emerging so suddenly.
She was human, in the end, human in her own way, with her own layers, her own limits, and the intensity that always accompanied her.
Moreover, this world was no longer the story he remembered from his past life. It no longer followed the script he knew, nor the paths he had read. Everything was different, especially her. And why wouldn't it be? His presence, his choices, his words… all of that had changed the fate of many people.
Including hers.
He shouldn't be surprised by an emotional development that simply didn't exist in the original work. It was natural for the people around to change. It was natural for new feelings to appear.
After all, that version of the Little Demon Empress, vulnerable, jealous, intensely attached to him, was a direct result of his influence.
And, thinking about it… he didn't find that bad.
Not at all.
Ren Zu let the thought escape slowly, like hot smoke on a cold night.
And then, without saying anything else, he simply pulled her.
The Little Demon Empress barely had time to react when his arm wrapped around her waist, that thin, delicate, and dangerously fragile waist to his touch, and brought her closer. Her body stiffened in the same instant, an automatic reflex of someone who had always lived unconsciously on guard....
But Ren Zu didn't squeeze her hard; his hand rested on the curve of her back, warm, firm, secure. He tilted his head, his face approaching slowly, giving her all the time in the world to pull back; but, of course, she didn't pull back.
The Little Demon Empress froze, yes.
But she didn't flee.
Ren Zu smiled lightly upon seeing her hold her breath, her chin trembling just a fraction before hiding the expression. He approached his lips and placed a soft kiss on hers, a calm, intimate touch, warm enough to melt the ice she pretended to carry.
When he pulled away just enough to look at her, the Little Demon Empress's eyes, which opened to meet his, trembled. Her face still lifted with that stubborn pride, but the blush betrayed everything her mouth would never admit.
She blinked.
"…You're trying to manipulate me," she murmured, very low, her voice col....
Ren Zu rested his forehead against hers slowly, in a gesture too intimate for anyone else to dare dream.
"If I were trying," he whispered, his tone warm, hoarse, "you would have already given in completely."
She inhaled sharply, her fingers pressing against his clothing.
"…I don't give in so easily, husband. Don't think you can deceive this Empress with sweet words or by taking advantage like this...."
Ren Zu smiled, that calm and dangerous smile that only appeared when he truly knew he had won.
"But you just gave in."
The Little Demon Empress opened her mouth, indignant, ready to deny, but Ren Zu didn't give her a chance.
He pulled her a little more, the embrace closing slowly, with a gentleness so patient that it made her crumble inside. She rested her hands on his chest and took a deep breath, fighting against the impulse to hide her face… and failing miserably.
"I…" She swallowed hard, her eyes shining. "I just… don't like it when other women get close to you."
Ren Zu could swear he had never heard anything so precious in his life.
He ran his thumb over her cheek, an extremely light touch, almost reverent.
"Good," he murmured, with that rare sincerity he used only with her. "Because I also don't like it when other men look at you."
The Little Demon Empress trembled.
She tried to turn her face to hide the expression… and he held her chin again, firm, gentle, and made her face him.
"Come," he said, softly. "I'll accompany you. The whole day. The way you want."
Her eyes softened.
Just a little.
"…And you won't look at other women?"
Ren Zu tilted his face until his lips almost touched hers again.
"I only look at you."
The sound she made, small and swallowed before escaping, would have made any sovereign of the Illusory Demon Realm panic, but not Ren Zu.
He held her tighter by the waist.
And she didn't resist.
Nor did she try.
Because in that moment, she was his.
Completely his.
And she knew it.
Even if she would never admit it out loud.