Chapter 183: Section 184: Princess, Demon and Knight


    In a room filled with the scent of medicine, a seriously ill woman lay weakly on the bed.


    The door gently opened, and a father-daughter pair approached the bedside. sea??h thё N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The father, wearing a worried expression, sighed and said to his daughter, “Zi Di, say your last few words to your mother…”


    Young Zi Di softly called out, “Mommy.”


    The lady barely managed to open her eyes and upon seeing Zi Di, her expression instantly showed intense love, reluctance, and guilt, “My daughter…”


    Young Zi Di, puzzled, said, “Mommy, daddy says you have to go to another place. Can’t you stay?”


    ...


    The lady smiled, though her eyes quickly reddened, “I can’t, sweetie. I wish I could stay and be with you forever. But I can’t, I’m so sorry…”


    Young Zi Di started to sob softly.


    Her father, standing behind her, was also immersed in grief and remained silent.


    Feeling extreme heartache, the lady mustered all her strength, barely grasping Zi Di’s small hand, and comforted her, “Little Zi Di, don’t cry, be good. Before I leave, let me tell you your favorite story one more time.”


    Young Zi Di looked up, with tears lingering in her big eyes, yet her attention was clearly drawn away, “Is it the story about the Princess, the Demon, and the Knight?”


    “Yes, it is.”


    “I… love it so much,” Young Zi Di nodded, choking up.


    A long, long time ago, there was a kingdom. The King was kind and loved by his people, and he and the Queen loved each other deeply, but it was a long time after their marriage that they had a child.


    She was a little princess, not only naive and lively, adorable, but also the most beautiful person in the kingdom.


    Everyone in the kingdom, whether it be the King, the Queen, or all the people, loved this little princess dearly, treating her like an angel.


    One day, a very evil demon stealthily entered the castle and forcefully took the princess away.


    The demon took the little princess to his lair in the abyss, not allowing her to leave.


    The demon was very fond of the little princess and said to her harshly, “Marry me quick, little princess, you are the cutest person I have ever seen in this world.”


    The little princess shook her head, “I don’t want to marry you, you bad demon. My daddy and mommy will send a knight to rescue me.”


    The demon laughed loudly, “My lair is in a very deep part of the abyss, nobody knows exactly where. How could a knight ever find it?”


    As the little princess grew up,


    the demon told the princess with a gruesome smile, “Oh princess, you are now the most youthful and charming young lady I’ve ever seen in the world. Marry me! So many years have passed, and your knight still can’t find this place.”


    But the princess didn’t doubt, instead more resolute than before, “A knight will definitely find this place, I will never marry you.”


    The princess grew older and turned into a great princess.


    The demon was even more obsessed with the great princess, “Great princess, you are the most alluring person I’ve ever seen, your skin is whiter than snow, your face is more beautiful than Venus, your eyes are brighter than the stars at night, your golden hair long and soft, like silk woven by the sunshine. Marry me!”


    “My knight will come to rescue me!” the great princess remained very firm.


    The demon mocked, “You can’t wait any longer, you’ve waited so many years. If you wait further, the God of Time will take away your youth and fade your beauty, sticking wrinkles and old age onto you. Instead of that, why not marry me now?”


    The great princess thought for a moment, deliberately said to the demon, “Let me think about it, if I feel like it, I’ll agree to you.”


    The demon was pleased, “Then what can I do to make you happy?”


    The great princess said, “Oh, it’s like this, you see, your lair is dark and stifling. Over all these years, I haven’t seen the night sky. If I could see the wide-open sky, feel the cool evening breeze, then my mood would naturally brighten.”


    The demon thought for a moment, then agreed to the great princess, “That’s easy, I’ll just open the top of the abyss, and you’ll be able to see the night sky.”


    So the demon opened the cover, and the great princess looked up to see the night sky, the many stars.


    Suddenly, she snapped her headband, and her beautiful golden hair, like a waterfall, spread out widely.


    Her hair shone brilliantly with golden sunlight, lighting up the night sky and overshadowing the stars’ light.


    A handsome, brave knight, seeing the golden sunlight, stormed into the abyss and found the demon and the great princess.


    “Let the princess go, you despicable demon!” the knight shouted, and engaged the demon in a fierce battle.


    The knight was very powerful, the demon was no match for him.


    But the demon was very cunning, he pointed his finger and turned the princess into his likeness.


    Now, two demons were standing before the knight, both smirked at the same time, “Knight, drop your long spear. You can’t tell who is real and who is fake. What if you choose wrongly and kill the real princess; that would be terrible.”


    The knight hesitated for a moment, but quickly made a decision.


    He drew his sword and with one sweep, struck the real demon.


    The demon, severely injured, cried in disbelief, “How did you know I was real?”


    “Because you have a strong sulfuric scent, while the real princess, though you transformed her appearance into that of a Demon, still carries a captivating fragrance,” the Knight replied.


    Thus, the Demon was vanquished by the Knight.


    Upon the demon’s death, his Dark Magic also vanished, and the Princess reverted back to her original form.


    The young Knight took the Princess out of the sinful Abyss and returned to the castle, where they met the King and Queen. The family was finally reunited.


    The Princess married the Knight, and from then on, they lived a beautiful and happy life.


    After finishing the story, the lady became even weaker.


    She tried her best to support herself, preventing herself from falling asleep.


    With her last bit of strength, she tightly grasped Zi Di’s small hand and instructed, “My little Zi Di, my little Princess, though Mommy is leaving, you will still have your father’s love.”


    “No matter what difficulties you face in the future, always keep hope in your heart.”


    “You must be optimistic, you must be strong.”


    “As long as you persist, there will certainly be a Knight, your Knight, who will come to help you, to save you!”


    After the lady finished speaking, her strength finally dissipated, and she slowly closed her eyes.


    The breath of life gradually faded away.


    This was a mother’s blessing to her daughter, and also her last words.


    The young and naive Zi Di did not yet understand the weight of the scene before her, but her mother’s dying words were deeply etched in her heart.


    “Be good, don’t disturb your mom. She is sleeping,” came her father’s choked voice from behind.


    “Oh.” Zi Di obediently nodded and followed her father’s steps quietly to the door.


    “Daddy, can I see Mommy off when she leaves?” Zi Di looked back at the sickbed, extremely reluctant.


    The father suddenly clenched his teeth and, with trembling hands, closed the door, “I think it should be possible… as long as you don’t stay in bed, and can get up early.”


    …


    Time passed, and the childhood Zi Di gradually grew into a young girl.


    Inheriting her parents’ features, she became youthful and charming, like a princess from a fairy tale.


    Her father never remarried; he founded the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce. The business became increasingly burdensome, but his affection for Zi Di was enormous. Perhaps because he spent too little time accompanying Zi Di as she grew, this affection was mixed with much guilt.


    Her beautiful face made Zi Di the center of attention and welcome wherever she went.


    In the academy, the young girl Zi Di attracted many young men’s pursuits. Soon, a noble young man from a distinguished family outshone all the other suitors.


    He was handsome, wealthy, and gentle. Under his passionate and various courtship methods, the young Zi Di gradually fell in love.


    “Perhaps, he is my Knight.”


    However, one day, at a dinner party standing on a balcony for fresh air, Zi Di inadvertently overheard a conversation among the noble youths.


    “Hahaha, I’m about to win Zi Di over!”


    “Our bet, I’ll definitely win. She seems tough to chase, but actually, she just really thinks she’s a Princess, so she acts all high and mighty.”


    “Hehehe, how ridiculous! She is merely a merchant’s daughter, and no matter how big the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce is, her bloodline is utterly lowly.”


    “A Princess? Little girls of this age like to dream such dreams! She must be fantasizing about marrying me, but someone of my status marry a merchant’s daughter? That’s a joke! After I’m done playing with her, anyone of you can take over, I don’t care.”


    Standing against the wall on the balcony, Zi Di’s face turned pale, her hands tightly covering her mouth, tears streaming from her eyes.


    …


    The shattering of love inflicted a profound wound on Zi Di’s spirit, making her feel her world was filled with misfortune.


    From then on, she became extremely cautious with all suitors, never easily moved again.


    Her busy father could not reach into the sensitive heart of the young girl. Numerous sorrows and concerns, she could only confide to herself.


    First, her dream of being a Princess was shattered, then the burden of her studies gradually increased, making her realize a cruel reality—her lowly bloodline meant that even with sufficient resources from the Guild for cultivation, and no matter how hard she worked, her highest achievement in life could only be the Black Iron Level.


    Her father’s business grew larger and larger, and the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce expanded continuously. He increasingly felt overwhelmed, his smile fading day by day, and afterward, he almost always looked worried.


    Many late nights, Zi Di found the light still on in her father’s study.


    Zi Di would knock on the door, enter the study, and remind her father to go to bed early.


    The Chairman of the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce often smoked a cigar, his increasingly portly body hunched in a large leather chair, enveloped in thick smoke, giving Zi Di an impression of coiled fear.


    When he saw Zi Di, he would lift his head, squeeze out a smile from his face, and quickly extinguish the cigar in his hand.


    Before Zi Di could roll her eyes, he’d nod with a penitent look, volunteering, “My dear daughter, say no more, I understand, I’ll go to sleep now!”