Originally, Lister thought the Demon Lord's garden would be one golden mountain and silver sea after another, or things like golden flowers and jade trees cast from jeweled crowns... After all, the Demon Lord was an evil dragon, right?
But in fact, Priscilla's garden was much more normal than he had previously imagined.
Although the climate conditions in the Demon Realm were quite extreme, it might be that the more extreme the environment, the more beautiful things it could create.
Following Priscilla's footsteps, Lister saw countless plants that were unique and very charming, which were absolutely rare in the human world.
"That flower is called the Red Spider Lily. It's a flower species that grows along the Naihe River, a long river near the territory of the Blood Clan in the southern part of the Demon Realm. Generally speaking, once this kind of flower leaves its native land, it will wither immediately. However, the life essence of a dragon can perfectly solve this problem."
"This is the flower that, according to demon mythology, was formed from the blood tears of the Mother Goddess Milligan, right?"
"That's right."
Priscilla's hand gently brushed over the delicate spider-shaped bright red flower, then plucked one and handed it to Lister.
"For you."
"Thank you."
Lister accepted it without hesitation.
He carefully examined the flower in his hand, which was identical to the Red Spider Lily in his memory, and couldn't help but sigh at such a coincidence in the world.
Whether it was the shape of the flower, the strange smell from the center of the flower bud, or the liquid flowing from the cut... They were all exactly the same as in his impression.
"...You still like these things so much."
Seeing Lister's focused look, Priscilla couldn't help but smile.
Faced with Priscilla's words, Lister glanced at her but didn't answer.
"Well then, let's continue."
Priscilla gently took Lister's hand and started strolling in the garden again.
Under these rows of flower racks, there were also quite a few bookshelves. Lister swept his eyes over them and saw that among them were leather books made by demons using leather and written in demonic script, as well as exquisite paper books from the human world. The types ranged from romance novels to the history of the continent to the ingenious use of flying wheelchairs.
Rather than a garden, perhaps it was more appropriate to call it the Demon Lord's flower library.
The two of them talked as they strolled, and soon they arrived at a small courtyard.
Priscilla walked in and sat down, her huge dragon tail extending quietly from the opening reserved for the tail behind her clothes and resting to the side.
She pulled out a book from a nearby bookshelf that looked plain and old with aged flipping marks and handed it to Lister.
The book was called "Sewing and Decoration". Lister opened it and saw that annotations written in demonic script were everywhere on every page of the book.
"Although there are many books here, most of them are not prepared for me... Among so many books, this is probably the only one I've read the longest and most carefully."
Priscilla introduced to Lister with a smile, while standing up. She stepped on her exquisite beast-skin short boots, holding up her gorgeous red and white dress, and turned around in front of Lister.
At this moment, she no longer seemed like a Demon Lord, but a classical maiden walking out of a book.
"Does it look good?"
"It looks good. Did you make this yourself?"
"About half of it."
Priscilla put down her skirt and sat beside Lister.
"This dress actually has a special meaning to me. I didn't want to make any changes to it at first... However, because my hands were clumsy before, I would accidentally tear this dress, so I had to learn to mend it myself... Now, it has been altered to this look."
Lister glanced at Priscilla. If one observed carefully, one could see that her dress should have originally been a pure white gown, and the red parts were sewn on by herself.
At the junction of red and white, some very old and slightly rough stitches could be seen. But the further back one looked, the more skilled the sewing technique became. By the latest part, there was almost no trace of any splicing.
A Demon Lord being so skilled in embroidery... It's quite absurd, right?
Of course, Lister didn't think so.
"Sewing clothes is not easy to learn, right?"
"Yeah, at first I couldn't even hold the needle steady and didn't dare to work directly on this dress... Back then, I ruined so many pieces of good fabric. Thinking about it now, I feel quite sentimental."
Priscilla spoke in a reminiscent tone, while her tail gently stopped beside Lister's hand, with the black tip of her tail occasionally touching his fingertips.
"Are you satisfied with this result?"
"Mm, very satisfied... Although there's a certain element of luck, but... I'm still very proud of myself for preserving this dress well."
"Is that so?"
Lister turned his head to look at Priscilla. He stared straight into her eyes, which were now as clear as red crystals, as if trying to find a shadow of the past in those eyes.
"To be honest, I'm still a bit surprised. After all, the change is too big... Whether it's this dress or you."
Lister spoke slowly, while leaning back on the bench in the courtyard, looking at the murky sky of the Demon Realm.
"Besides, although half-dragons and dragons have certain similarities, they are still fundamentally two different species, right? I still find it a bit strange that I actually got acquainted with a dragon without my own knowledge."
"Did it scare you, Mr. Lister?"
"A little. Although I had some guesses and knew you had huge potential that other half-dragons didn't have, I never thought it could be to this extent."
"Hehe... If you praise me now, it might have a miraculous effect."
Lister smiled and shook his head, while reaching out to pat Priscilla's head.
"Can this be a substitute?"
"I'll grudgingly accept it."
Priscilla gently leaned against Lister with the blunt end of her dragon horn.
"Mr. Lister, tell me honestly... After you left back then, were you planning not to come back?"
"Pretty much. After all, there was someone I had to follow at that time, so I indeed didn't consider developing further here."
"Leaving your precious student all alone like this... How cruel, Mr. Lister."
"Didn't you say you wanted to return to the Demon Realm at that time?"
"Did I?"
"You did."
"Alright. In any case, none of that matters anymore. What's important is that after all the twists and turns, you still returned to my side."
Priscilla's dragon tail hooked Lister's right shoulder, pulling his entire body to lean on her shoulder, while pressing her cheek against the top of Lister's head and slowly closing her eyes.
"Long time no see, Mr. Lister... Welcome back."
"You too, Priscilla... Or should I say, 'Crimson Claw'. Also, can you let go of me?"
"No."
...