“I'm sorry, Master Parish, I’m not worthy. I cannot accept your proposal,” Anna said.

Did he really think she couldn’t see the coldness and murderous intent beneath his proposal?

If she agreed, he would immediately take her soul!

Abigail and the other two maids were shocked by Anna’s response. How could she refuse such a proposal? If it were them, they would faint!

After hearing Anna’s response, Rothgar was half enraged, half resigned.

Her ambitions were too great, and she had already rejected him so many times.

Rothgar only showed a look of disappointment and said, “Anna, you’re still so heartless. Never mind, I believe that one day, you will come around.”

With a sigh, he turned and left.

Indeed, Rothgar didn’t warn or punish the three maids. It was as if he had forgotten about them entirely.

Why would he warn those maids?

They would continue to pressure that human woman, pushing her to end her schemes and accept his proposal sooner. And then…well.

Anna watched Rothgar’s figure disappear, then looked at the three maids kneeling on the ground, seemingly in shock. She suddenly realized that the demon finally knew her name.

She shook her head. She thought the demon would make a bigger show of his affection to move her—maybe by kicking those three maids out of the mansion or something.

But he did none of that. He didn’t even warn them. Shouldn't he have acted more passionately, defending her honor?

It was clear that he had sinister intentions! As a demon, he was a master at manipulating hearts, deliberately isolating her so that she would find warmth only in him and eventually agree to his proposal.

Fortunately, she saw through it all. If it was about stirring the pot, who couldn't do that?

Anna slowly walked up to the three maids and said softly, "Master Parish has left."

The three of them looked at her with complicated expressions. Fiona asked in confusion, "Why didn’t you accept Master Parish’s proposal? Isn’t that what everyone dreams of?"

"Well, it’s a long story." Anna put on a forlorn expression as if she had a story to tell and helped each of them up. "Let's go, we don’t want to disturb Master Parish."

The three of them were still a bit shaken from the recent events and didn't say much. They walked quietly with Anna.

Almost back to the kitchen, Anna stopped. "Actually, I have someone I love."

Their reactions varied, but Abigail immediately objected, "How could your lover possibly compare to Master Parish?"

Anna thought, anyone is better than a demon!

"He can’t compare to Master Parish, of course, but I love him. To me, he’s the best, and I can't accept anyone else’s proposal," Anna sighed.

The hostility the three maids had felt towards Anna seemed to vanish instantly after hearing about her lover.

Curious, and maybe a bit probing, Kelly asked, "But Master Parish seems to love you a lot..."

Anna shook her head. "That’s misunderstanding. Do you want to know how I met Master Parish?"

The three shook their heads, eyes wide with anticipation.

Anna began, "One day, I accidentally fell in front of Master Parish’s carriage. He said, ‘What a clumsy little kitten, so charming...’ and then he proposed to me."

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Hearing this story, the three maids' eyes widened.

Anna watched their expressions, inwardly laughing while outwardly sighing. "I really only came to work in the kitchen to make money for my family... You saw it just now, I refused Master Parish’s proposal. My lover is still waiting for me."

"You did the right thing!" Abigail said, grabbing Anna's hand, her eyes shining with excitement. "Your love is so touching!"

Fiona also held Anna's hand and said, "Yes, Anna. Never accept Master Parish's proposal. A marriage without love is not blessed by the goddess."

"That's right, we'll all pray to the goddess for you and your lover," Kelly added. She couldn't grab Anna's hand, so she simply linked her arm through Anna's.

Anna smiled, "Thank you for your blessings. I am truly touched. It was all a misunderstanding earlier, and I'm glad to have met such good friends. You all know my name, but I don't know yours yet."

The three were delighted to hear that Anna had no intention of accepting Lord Parish's proposal and introduced themselves.

Anna waved goodbye to her new friends and returned to the kitchen.

For now, she would focus on learning from Rebecca and honing her skills. After all, she hadn't done anything wrong; whatever happened to that demon was not her concern.

After leaving with "disappointment," Rothgar was in a surprisingly good mood.

Having decided to take his time with Anna, he felt no rush.

Even though Anna’s essence aligned with his usual disdain for humans, she did slightly alter his view of them.

It had been so long since he last visited the human realm; he figured it was time to observe its changes more closely. He hated feeling out of control.

Rothgar headed to the main dining hall of the mansion to dine with Parish’s father, Earl Wilson. Armed with Parish’s partial memories, Earl Wilson didn’t notice any change in his son.

After lunch, Rothgar walked back through the garden, accompanied by his personal servant Vodo.

Abigail, the tall blonde, was delicately tending to the flowers.

There were no such fragile and delicate flowers in the Abyss. Rotgar loathed these weak creations as much as he loathed humans, and he didn't spare them a second glance.

As Rothgar passed Abigail, she suddenly seemed to lose her balance, letting out a soft yelp before gracefully collapsing in front of him, just a foot from his toes.

Rothgar stopped, frowning as he looked down at the maid on the ground.

Abigail raised her head weakly, her golden hair forming a graceful arc in the air. She looked up at Rotgar with a fearful expression, "I'm so sorry, Master Parish. I was so clumsy... I don't know what happened, I just lost my balance. Please don't be angry with me."

Rothgar glanced at her sideways without saying a word and stepped around her, continuing on his way.

Such a clumsy performance; how could he possibly fall for it?

Were these foolish maids trying to imitate that human woman's success?

Before meeting Anna, he might have gone along with it to quickly fulfill his bet with Balan. But now, he only wanted to conquer that particular human woman.

After stepping over Abigail, Rothgar quickly forgot this small incident. However, before he could even leave the small garden, another figure suddenly dashed out from the side, charging at him like a phoenix making its final dive.

Although Parish was not a mage, he had a decent physique. After Rothgar's possession, his physical abilities had slightly improved overall. Such an "attack" didn't concern Rothgar at all; he easily sidestepped it.

The figure crashed into a rose bush with a painful cry, sounded quite genuine.

Rothgar frowned and looked over, recognizing the face of one of the maids who had bullied Anna.

Fiona, determined to mimic the "clumsy little kitten" act, had been quite harsh on herself. Seeing her friend Abigail's failure, she wasn't discouraged; she was even more excited.

If Abigail failed, didn't that give her a chance? Her hair was brown, closer to Anna's reddish-brown, maybe Master Parish had a preference for that color!

So Fiona had thrown herself with full force, eyes closed, into the bushes, hoping to collide with "Master Parish." Instead, she fell painfully among the thorny roses.

Thorns covered the rose stems, and after her initial scream, Fiona didn't dare move. She glanced at "Master Parish" with pleading eyes, hoping he would pity this "clumsy little kitten."

Then, "Master Parish" disappeared from her view.

Rothgar quickly walked out of the small garden, ignoring what was happening behind him. When the third maid he encountered suddenly collapsed as she passed by, he expertly sidestepped her.

Predictably, the third maid with the light golden hair fell to the hard ground with a pained cry.

If encountering one or two such incidents could be coincidence, three was too much.

Rothgar recognized these three maids as the ones who had bullied the human woman in front of him before. They had likely seen his display of "affection" for that human woman and decided to mimic her.

He couldn't help but sneer. His opinion of most humans was clearly justified—they were despicable and boring.

Ignoring the third maid sprawled on the ground, Rothgar continued walking.

Due to an evening banquet, Rothgar didn't create another "opportunity" for Anna to approach him.

The incident with the three maids hadn't initially bothered Rothgar; it merely reinforced his judgment of humanity.

But the next day, from the moment he stepped out, similar incidents became as common as seeing slimes in the Abyss.

By the time the fourth maid of the day collapsed before him, Rothgar was on the verge of an outburst.

Humans were all despicable, filthy, and stupid!