The afternoon sun became soft and lazy, adding a tender touch to the air beside the restaurant window.

"Ah."

Lanci sliced a piece of tender veal with a fork, dipped it in sauce, and brought it to Talia's lips.

Talia shyly opened her mouth, and soon a spoon fed the sliced piece into her mouth, with Lanci's hand catching under the spoon to prevent the food from falling on her.

"Did we skip a lot of steps and go straight to the main point?"

Talia chewed and asked Lanci as she swallowed.

As one delicious dish after another was presented, the two of them started feeding and being fed without a care today.

Once they started eating this way, they realized that in the past they would have pulled back and forth a bit more; now starting the mutual feeding so smoothly made her feel a bit of unprecedented embarrassment.

"Or should we stroll around and come back to eat again?"

Lanci suggested.

"No, it's better to focus on the main business."

Talia shook her head, continuing to savor the familiar dishes of the Kolong Zhiriqiao Inn Restaurant.

After leaving the Platinum Sen Palace, they followed the designated route to the not-too-distant restaurant.

The lights in the main hall shone brightly, reflecting the luster of the pure white tablecloths and silver cutlery. From their window-side booth, the view of the Selena River was unobstructed, the blue river water appearing as dreamy as an illusion, leaving them feeling very relaxed.

"Do I not need to carry you this time?"

Lanci asked her teasingly.

He had learned how to deal with today's Talia.

Even though their overly intimate gestures had already attracted envious or teasing glances from others, Lanci couldn't be bothered.

This was him directly facing off with Talia.

A coward would just be spun like a top.

"!"

Talia stopped eating for a moment.

Despite both of them entering a feeding mode shortly after starting the meal, Talia still found it hard to let go completely, her body held tightly.

Lanci clearly seized this opportunity to tease her, taking her off guard.

Her frozen demeanor was all caught by Lanci's eyes.

The more Talia thought about it, the more she felt this guy was insufferable.

"Is it in human form, cat form, or... should I be in human form but you treat me as a cat?"

Talia shamelessly leaned close to Lanci and whispered to him.

After speaking, she also meowed softly beside Lanci's ear.

"..."

Lanci's fork lightly tapped the porcelain plate.

He hadn't expected Teacher Ta to be so open today.

If this continued, they would end up reenacting their initial date process.

"Would you be mad if I accidentally read your weight?"

Lanci hoped Talia could be a bit more rational.

"...If you read it once or twice, I won't blame you. I said today you can provoke as you like."

Talia suppressed her temper, maintaining a smile as she replied.

"But my reading is real-time. By the way, how do you manage to keep eating but your weight changes so little?"

Lanci had been very curious about this question last time, but he hadn't dared to ask.

"..."

This time Talia clenched her fist tightly.

She really wanted to curse Lanci, but feared that he would be satisfied—what kind of beast is a real-time reading, does it also involve calculus for studying her weight change rate during meals?

"Because I'm using a spell to quickly break down the food into stamina and mana, it's my recovery magic."

Talia exhaled and patiently explained to Lanci.

"Then why doesn't your mana recovery ever transfer back to me?"

Lanci was surprised upon hearing that.

Mana always flows to those who lack it.

Though Talia continuously drains his mana, for her the mana itself remains an overflowing resource.

"I can't help it. After using Demon Fusion, although as an earring bearer I'm the one in control of consciousness, my physical traits lean more towards the fused being, so like Lan Fu, I don't have a mana bar anymore, even if I recover it, it won't transfer back to you."

Talia explained the epic equipment mechanism they had long been familiar with,

"Unless you become my Servitor, then I could grant you my mana, and moreover, your power consumption should be low enough that you probably wouldn't even deplete my mana."

Talia thought about it and realized that Lanci becoming her Servitor actually seemed like a more reasonable arrangement.

"Wouldn't that make us like Tamisha and Lankros?"

In Lanci's memory of dreaming about the Blood Moon Bad World story, Lankros became Tamisha's Servitor after she found him.

"Exactly, such a partnership has strength. Don't you think our mana supply and consumption feel completely reversed?"

Talia seriously discussed this with Lanci.

Even though she knew the topic had been sidetracked, she tacitly continued this new conversation with Lanci.

After all, there would be plenty of opportunities for feeding each other in the future, they could do it at home, there was no need to torture each other at the restaurant.

"It really does."

Lanci imagined it for a moment—if he and Talia switched roles, Talia might just have the demeanor of a Demon King.

"Don't I already have it? Aren't I the cutest Demon King in history?"

Talia questioned.

"..."

Lanci finally could not hold it anymore, his hands shaking as he picked up the fork to continue feeding Talia to cover his laughter.

"Answer me, didn't you say I'm adorable many times? I remember every word clearly."

Talia took the food offered by Lanci in one bite, pressing him for an answer.

The way Lanci fed her was overly proficient—even though this time Lanci wasn't holding her while feeding her, she felt as if Lanci had thoroughly learned her preferences, with food choices so aligned with her tastes that she was about to melt.