The little demon happily held a large bowl, sipping fish soup. His tail behind him swayed happily back and forth. The fish soup was delicious; he wanted to catch fish again next time.

The demons gathered together, whispering amongst themselves about something.

Then Nick walked over. “Baobao, can I have some of your fish soup?”

“Okay,” Hilaire replied with a sweet smile, without the slightest hesitation, pouring half of his large bowl for Nick.

Lance: “Baobao, I want some too.”

Hilaire looked at the remaining fish soup, then poured half for Lance again.

Next, Bazel and Baph also came over asking for fish soup.

This time, Hilaire hesitated for a moment but still shared the soup with the two demons.

Now his large bowl was empty, with only a tiny bit of soup left at the bottom. Hilaire’s smile vanished. He swirled the bowl helplessly, feeling heartbroken, preparing to drink the last few remaining sips.

Bode came over last. Hilaire paused his soup-drinking action.

Before Bode could even speak, Hilaire offered him the bowl. “For you.”

He looked extremely reluctant. The slime, who doted on the cub the most, felt heartbroken. “I won’t drink it, Baobao, you drink it.”

The little demon’s eyes had turned into poached eggs by now, his voice laced with tears. He shook his head. “I already drank some. They all got some, you should have some too.”

Bode was about to refuse, but suddenly Bazel coughed, frantically signaling him with his eyes. So, Bode silently accepted the bowl and put the entire large bowl, along with the fish soup inside, into his mouth.

A slime’s body is translucent, so Hilaire clearly saw his large bowl gradually melt away until nothing was left.

He licked his lips, looked down at his empty hands, and whispered grievously, “I don’t have any fish soup left.”

His tail drooped listlessly behind him.

Lance and Nick, holding their bowls, kicked Bazel hard.

This was all his rotten idea!

Bazel nearly buckled from the kicks but stubbornly stood straight. “I wasn’t wrong! Baobao really should be taught early on. Today it’s just fish soup; in the future, he’ll suffer greater losses.”

Hilaire had been very well-behaved since hatching. He knew how to act cute, was considerate, and even keenly sensitive to other demons’ emotional changes. When he sensed you were unhappy, he would obediently snuggle up to comfort you.

Such a well-behaved and adorable little demon—who wouldn’t love him? He was practically a little angel!

But… what the heck was a little angel? He was a demon!

And the son of the Demon King, destined to become the next Demon King!

Bazel was simultaneously dying from the cuteness of the well-behaved, considerate Baobao, yet also conflicted and uncomfortable. Most demons were thick-skinned, opportunistic bastards like himself. If the sweet little demon encountered them, wouldn’t he be cheated and still help them count the money?

“Think about it! Baobao getting deceived by other demons in the future—those demons eating his food, sleeping in his bed, taking his money, and forcing him to do lots of work! Just imagining that scene is suffocating!”

Bazel didn’t want to see the child he raised end up like that. He would rather the well-behaved little demon become a bastard like himself; at least he wouldn’t be bullied.

Lance: “…Have you been secretly reading some strange storybooks lately?”

Bazel was already lost in his fantasy. “This absolutely won’t do! We must make Baobao become a bastard demon!”

Bode: “Are you trying to die? You’re the big bastard!”

Baph mused, “Speaking of which, His Highness is already one thousand and three years old this year. It is indeed time for him to learn how to be a qualified Demon King.”

The demons agreed to propose this matter to the Demon King later, while simultaneously returning the fish soup to the little demon. Seeing several bowls of fish soup on the table, the drooping little black tail finally lifted high, twitching behind him.

Unaware of the educational suffering that awaited him, the little demon happily said to the demons, “Let’s drink together!”

And so, the little demon who generously shared his fish soup received a pile of lessons in return and began his daily studies.

Hilaire, who had never attended classes before, was quite excited. He sat in a luxurious chair custom-made for him.

The dark red backrest was wide and comfortable, inlaid with sparkling colored gemstones. The seat cushion was soft and springy.

The stubby little demon nestled in the chair, his two feet just level with the edge of the cushion.

The first lesson was taught by Bazel. As the oldest among the demons, his life experience as a demon was very rich. And the first lesson he wanted to teach the little demon was about payment.

“To get a demon to do something, a price must be paid.”

Bazel spoke earnestly and sincerely, “What this means is, if a demon asks you to help with something, they have to give you money.”

Hilaire listened attentively, trying hard to understand.

“For example, Baobao, my tooth hurts right now. Can you go to Gorgon’s place and get medicine for me?”

“Okay,” Hilaire nodded, climbing down from the tall chair, preparing to head out to Gorgon’s place.

“Wrong.” Bazel quickly went over, crouched beside the little demon, and held onto the little guy, who was foolishly really going to get the medicine. “You should ask me for payment first.”

Hilaire tilted his head, worried. “But… your tooth hurts.”

“It’s just hypothetical! My tooth doesn’t hurt! I asked you to help me do something; you should ask for appropriate payment first.”

Hilaire thought for a moment. “Don’t want payment. Besides… everyone plays with me, no payment either.”

He cleverly reasoned, thinking of Bazel and Nick playing with him, Constans making clothes for him, Baph preparing food, Bode bringing snacks, and Lance telling stories.

None of them asked him for payment. So, if they needed his help, he wouldn’t ask for payment either.

Bazel looked at the smart and sensible little demon, pinched his chubby little cheek, and felt his heart melt. “Alright then, we don’t count. If an unfamiliar demon asks you to help with something, especially something difficult and complicated, and isn’t prepared to pay you, or says they’ll pay later, you must be careful! That guy is definitely trying to get something for nothing.”

“Then what should I do?”

Bazel simply picked up the little demon. “Naturally, ask him what price he’s prepared to pay. Full payment upfront or a deposit? If it’s a difficult task, what happens to the money if it fails? If it requires travel, are there travel expenses? Are there rest days? How much is overtime pay? And many other details must be clarified one by one. I’ve encountered many demons who reneged on deals afterward, or just wanted me to work without intending to pay! Hmph, those demons are much thicker-skinned than me.”

Hilaire hugged the black dragon’s neck, repeating his words, “What price? Full payment or deposit? Travel expenses…”

He had said too much; the little demon couldn’t remember it all.

Bazel looked at the adorable Baobao still trying hard to recall, and bounced his quite substantial little body gently. “It’s okay, I’ll record it for you. If a demon really does that in the future, you can just play my recorded voice for him.”

The little demon nodded, then was tossed up playfully by Bazel for a game of airplane. And thus, the first lesson ended happily.

The second lesson was prepared by Baph. He dressed very formally in a black tailcoat, wearing a monocle, and placed a thick book on the table in front of Hilaire.

The little demon looked at the book, thicker than a brick, and tried lifting it, but couldn’t budge it at all. He finally felt the weight of knowledge.

“Your Highness, in this lesson, we will study the history of the Demon Realm. We shall begin from one hundred thousand years ago…”

Hilaire listened attentively, growing sleepier and sleepier. He tried hard to keep his eyes open, but his heavy eyelids completely disobeyed, quickly closing again.

Baph’s voice was even more sleep-inducing than Lance the Nightmare Demon’s. The little demon’s eyes opened, slowly closed again, then opened, then closed again. After repeating this several times, he slumped sideways in his chair and fell asleep.

When he woke up, he found Baph was still talking. Feeling sheepish, the little demon quickly wiped away his drool, sat up straight, and widened his eyes, pretending he hadn’t been sleeping.

“Your Highness, you’re awake.” With only one student, how could Baph possibly not have noticed?

Hilaire felt very embarrassed. “Sorry, I fell asleep.”

“No, it was I who was too hasty. The history of the Demon Realm is indeed somewhat dry. Next, let’s discuss some more interesting topics: humans and angels.”

One thousand two hundred years ago, the Demon Realm discovered two other different worlds: the Human Realm, inhabited by humans, and the Celestial Realm, where angels resided. It was also that year that the previous Demon King went mad, wanting to conquer the Human and Celestial Realms.

Many demons merely feigned compliance. After all, they detested the previous Demon King but couldn’t defeat him. Like Bazel and the others, they could only take advantage of the chaos, using the pretext of attacking the Human Realm to go sightseeing there, or visiting the Celestial Realm to see just how beautiful the angels were.

Only a small handful of demons extremely loyal to the previous Demon King strictly carried out his orders.

Humans could also use magic, but their magic reserves were lower than demons, and they lacked even innate talents, relying solely on later learning. Even though only a minority of demons attacked them, it was indeed a huge disaster for humans at that time.

It wasn’t until the previous Demon King was sealed by Eris—the seal coincidentally located at the entrance to the Human Realm—that contact between the two realms ceased, as the entrance was blocked, and no demon had visited the Human Realm since.

“Then what are humans like?” the interested little demon asked.

Baph was pleased His Highness was asking questions. He hadn’t been to the Human Realm himself but had heard many rumors.

“They are very clever, knowing how to use various tools to create needed items. At the same time, they are very greedy. I heard they deliberately approach demons, then capture and sell them. If it’s a good-looking demon, they sell it whole. Dragon race demons like Bazel would be dismantled and sold piece by piece.”

“Sold piece by piece?” Hilaire was shocked. “Humans are scary!”

“But don’t worry, the passage is blocked, so we have no chance to interact with them. Besides, humans’ magic power isn’t high; even their strongest wouldn’t be a match for you,” Baph said confidently.

Although His Highness was still a cub, his internal magic reserves were terrifyingly vast; he would definitely become a qualified Demon King in the future.

“As for the Celestial Realm, it’s separated from the Demon Realm by a barrier. Angels are few in number, but their magic system is completely different from ours.”

Seeing the Little Prince’s interest, Baph explained in great detail, “Different types of demons use different magic systems, whereas angels all use the same type of magic, which they call Light Magic. That magic has a strong inhibitory effect on demons. That’s why in the previous wars, although angels were few, they managed to resist even the attacks led personally by the previous Demon King, thanks to Light Magic.”

“Do angels sell demons, too?” Hilaire asked worriedly.

“That they don’t. Angels look down on us, demons. Besides, due to the previous Demon King’s actions, they remain highly vigilant towards demons. But if you want to talk about angels’ greatest characteristic, it’s that they are all very good-looking.”

Hilaire’s eyes lit up. “Prettier than Lance?”

“Yes.”

“Prettier than Papa?”

“How could they possibly compare to His Majesty’s elegance?”

“Then compared to me?” The little demon asked shyly.

Baph watched the Little Prince cover his face while asking this and couldn’t help but smile. “His Highness is the cutest little demon; no one can compare.”