The Sawamura family living room.
Eriri's breathing grew increasingly rapid as she feigned sleep.
Five or six minutes had passed without a sound—even the rustling of paper had ceased for nearly two minutes.
This silence gnawed at Eriri's nerves, compelling her to frantically spam Utaha Kasumigaoka with harassing voice messages through the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System.
[Hey, Kasumigaoka, what's happening now? What exactly are Mum and Luo Shu discussing?]
[Why's it gone completely silent?]
[At least make some noise so I know you're all still there!!]
Just as Eriri was fuming yet unable to sit up and expose her pretence of sleep, Miss Utaha finally responded.
[Are you Pikachu's sister, itching for a shock?]
Three enormous question marks seemed to materialise above Eriri's head.
Before she could send another message, Utaha Kasumigaoka replied:
[The situation's a bit complicated. When I used Mind Reading on Mrs Sayuri, what I saw was truly... Never mind. Sawamura, you'd better open your eyes and see for yourself...]
Huh?
HUH?!
Eriri was equally stunned by her friend's audacity to read her mother's mind and infuriated by Utaha's cliffhanger antics.
Driven by this turmoil, Eriri could no longer resist peeking. She cautiously cracked open her eyelids and stole a glance towards Sayuri Sawamura.
What met her eyes was a face devoid of spirit—hollow, as though all vitality had been drained away.
"...M-Mum?"
Eriri called out blankly, her heart twisting into knots at the sight of that lifeless expression.
Yet at the sound of her voice, colour instantly returned to Sayuri's face. She turned slightly, and by the time her gaze settled on Eriri, her usual cheerful smile was firmly back in place:
"Awake already, sleepyhead?"
"Mum, just now..." Eriri's lips parted as if to speak.
But to her surprise, Sayuri Sawamura swiftly changed the subject:
"Speaking of which, Eriri, it seems you haven't had lunch yet, and breakfast was just some bread prepared by Kochiyo. Aren't you hungry now?"
"No, I mean..."
Eriri wanted to say something more, but was stopped by Sayuri Sawamura, whose smile remained unchanged:
"Could you please stop asking, Eriri?"
Eriri's lips, which had been about to speak, closed silently.
She looked at Sayuri Sawamura's beautiful face, still smiling as always, but the vitality and playful girlishness of the past were nowhere to be seen.
"Eriri, why don't you and Utaha-san go get something to eat first? After all, staying up late is the cruellest blade for a young girl. Mother wouldn't want you to end up looking like an old lady by my age."
"That won't happen..."
Hearing Sayuri's teasing words, so reminiscent of the past, Eriri found herself without the usual urge to retort for the first time. She simply rose silently from the sofa and walked towards the door.
Seeing this, Utaha Kasumigaoka sighed softly, stood up, bowed to Sayuri, and then quickly followed Eriri out.
After both had left, Sayuri Sawamura, who had maintained her smile until now, finally stopped restraining her emotions and revealed a terrifying, almost demonic grin to Luo Shu:
"Luo Shu-kun, I can trust you, can't I?"
The sudden change in expression made Luo Shu click his tongue inwardly.
Suppressing his turbulent thoughts, he replied in as neutral a tone as possible:
"Madam, while I do enjoy keeping some cards close to my chest in certain matters, I wouldn't bother lying about something this significant."
"Don't call me Madam." Sayuri's voice trembled with emotion. "Call me Sayuri, or Sawamura if you must, but never use that title again."
Her words already showed bias—she was beginning to believe the seemingly nonsensical contents of those documents.
Sayuri Sawamura was aware of this, yet she felt no regret.
After all, she wasn't the one who had lied first. It was that man... no, that woman who had deceived her first...
Taking a deep breath, Sayuri lifted a hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, suddenly flashing a coquettish smile:
"This form of address... is what you were hoping for too, wasn't it, Luo Shu?"
Faced with this version of Sayuri, Luo Shu fell silent for a moment before carefully choosing his words:
"...Your emotions seem quite unstable right now. Should I call Utaha over to comfort you?"
"Why not comfort me yourself?"
Sayuri's directness left Luo Shu at a loss for words.
Finally, he sighed and decided to be straightforward:
"I'm worried that if I truly comfort you the way I'd like to, you might pull out a knife and castrate me."
"Oh?" Sayuri couldn't help but laugh at this. "You're quite perceptive, aren't you?"
'You actually considered it...' Luo Shu's face darkened at her reaction. He said drily:
"I don't think I've offended you that much, have I?"
"Having designs on Eriri, and now on me too—doesn't that count as offence? Luo Shu-kun's moral compass seems... rather flexible."
Sayuri Sawamura couldn't help but laugh. Although Luo Shu was relatively mature among his peers, to her, he was still too naive.
But perhaps that was for the best. Lack of maturity meant he hadn't been too tainted by society's rules.
The emotions such people displayed were often the most genuine.
Faced with Sayuri's teasing, Luo Shu responded with complete seriousness:
"I've always considered my moral standards to be quite high."
He meant every word.
After all, someone like him could easily resort to underhanded tactics—manipulating women, committing arson or murder—while evading legal consequences.
Just the hypnotic abilities of the Demon Heart alone would allow him to carry out all sorts of vile deeds in the city with ease.
Yet despite this, Luo Shu had never lowered his standards.
On one hand, he had no interest in ordinary women who weren't heroines. On the other hand, he was actively restraining himself from crossing lines.
Once a person abandoned their principles, they were lost forever.
However, what Luo Shu didn't expect was that the very principles he struggled to uphold would be tested by a devil today:
"What if I told you... If you can bring that woman back, I'll grant your wish?"
Sayuri had somehow appeared beside him, whispering softly into his ear.
This was no innocent demon like Kisara—this was the whisper of a true demon.