Liam frowned, as if he didn't know the reason either.
"When it comes to manipulating natural mana, you're not an elf after all. Your compatibility with natural mana probably... isn't as good as ours... So... the soreness in your back and waist might be because of that..."
"Moreover... even for us elves, every time we cast a spell, it comes at the cost of reduced lifespan."
Celia's explanation was actually quite lacking in confidence.
When she thought about it carefully, she was only a first-class elf, far inferior to Liam.
It felt like – an elementary school student trying to explain a problem to a university student?
"What!"
Liam exclaimed in a low voice, his face quickly darkening.
"It consumes lifespan?"
"Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Celia trembled in fear, her voice tinged with a sob as she whispered in response, "Whimper... You never asked..."
After all, in the eyes of the elves, something like lifespan meant nothing to the Demon King...
But in reality, when it came to consuming lifespan,even the true Demon King couldn't withstand it, living at most a thousand years or so.
Besides, the current Liam was only a demon of a relatively high level on the surface; such demons were considered lucky to live an average of two to three hundred years.
The amount of natural mana Liam wielded today, if calculated, had almost reduced his lifespan by a full ten days.
These losses were, of course, fatal to ordinary humans or demons.
But the elf tribe was completely different.
Their lifespans were almost endless; living for tens of thousands of years was not only possible but might even be just the lower limit.
"It's fine," Liam softened his tone, sitting down and pulling the girl who was standing there crying pitifully into his arms, soothingly rubbing her head.
"Let's just not do it like this next time. Phew— my good wife, why are you crying again?"
"No... whimper..."
...
Second floor.
The curtains were drawn tightly, the lighting dim yet exuding a sense of warmth.
Celia sat with her thighs together, calves splayed outward, slumped on the sofa in a relaxed 'duck sit' posture, the edges of her eyes still slightly red and swollen.
This appearance, instead, made her seem even more exciting, making one unable to resist the urge to pick her up and hold her.
In front of her, on the transparent rectangular glass tabletop, was a basket containing more pastries sent by her mother.
After calming Celia down, Liam busied himself hanging something on the wall opposite the sofa.
He worked for a while, during which a hint of magical aura seeped out.
Soon, a large black cloth appeared on the smooth wall, covering most of it.
Once everything was arranged, Liam brushed the dust off his sleeves, took a few steps back to observe for a moment, and then slowly walked over to sit beside Celia.
He reached out, scooped up the slumped elf girl, and placed her on his lap.
"Mm~"
Celia's cheeks flushed.
She shifted slightly in his arms, adjusting to a comfortable position, and leaned her back securely against his chest.
To be precise, she was forcibly held in place by those two irresistible arms.
For some reason,her husband really liked holding her.
Didn't he think she was heavy...?
After calming down for a while, Celia's attention shifted to the black cloth, and she couldn't help but ask curiously, "Lord Liam, what is this...?"
"You'll see in a moment," Liam said casually.
Then, he waved his hand nonchalantly toward the front.
But with that single wave,suddenly, the black cloth on the wall began to emit a multicolored light.
An image gradually appeared from blurry to clear – it was a chicken –
Following the shaking camera, the chicken was running around, occasionally lowering its head to peck at grains.
"A TV!"Ignoring the content on the screen for now, Celia grew excited.
This kind of electronic device that could play images felt both familiar and strange to her after being reborn in this different world.
Wasn't this just a TV!
"TV? What's that?"
"It's just something that can play things."
"That sounds quite interesting. Currently, across the entire demon race, I am the only one who has researched recording magic and successfully played it back."
"What was that TV thing you saw? Who invented it?"
Liam's two long arms wrapped freely around the girl's waist as he leaned in and asked with interest near her ear.
"Actually... this is just something I thought of... hasn't been invented yet..."
"Is that so?"
"But judging by your reaction, you must be quite interested in it, right?"
"Mhm."
Celia didn't argue.
Her eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the 'TV,' watching as the hen pecked one grain after another on the flat ground beside a doorway...
With this,it wouldn't be so boring every day while incubating the eggs at home, right?
But –no matter how the camera moved,
why was it only a chicken!
"Um, Lord Liam... are there any other scenes?"
Celia couldn't help but ask.
She had been hoping to watch a movie...
"A few days ago, while mingling among the humans, I was bored and found this chicken deeply inspiring, so I tried making this on the spot," he said nonchalantly.
"So amazing..."
So disappointing!
But mentioning its creation made Celia even more interested.
Having grown up in the clan, she had never seen any elf make things like this.
Now,as she watched the scene before her, her eyelids gradually grew heavy, and her head resting against the man's chest became even more languid.
"If you like the recording tool, you can take it to play with. When the child hatches, it will be much more convenient to use it for records, no need to hire someone to fiddle with those brushes anymore."
"Once you've accumulated many recordings, looking back at them won't feel monotonous."
"Thank you, Lord Liam..."
Gurgle –
Celia's stomach rumbled.
By now, the scene of the chicken pecking grains had already played three times.
"Right, we haven't had dinner yet."
Next, the image on the screen was turned off.
Liam held Celia, took out heated demon cuisine from his ring, and paired it with the pastries her mother had made, feeding her bite by bite like this.
Soon, she was fed until full.
Then, he placed Celia back on the sofa, lingered in the living room tidying up for a moment,
and then came back over, picked her up again, and forcibly dragged her into the bathroom...
Bathroom.
White steam swirled, pungent.
The showerhead was spraying.
The sound of splashing water was incessant.
Celia held her breath, watching wide-eyed as the man took off his inner shirt, revealing sharply defined muscles as if carved by a knife.
Every line exuded a sense of raw power.