The War of Nerves Between Two Females and the Weight of the First Wife

When the night's frenzy that had descended upon the crimson castle finally subsided and Abyss's chilly morning sunlight spilled through the windows of the audience chamber, the great red castle no longer retained its original, imposing form.

Tia, having activated a secret vampiric art, had compressed the entire colossal castle into a finger-sized pendant shaped like a black coffin, and hung it around Yushin's neck.

The touch of the black-coffin necklace resting between his collarbones was cool to the skin yet strangely weighty. It felt as though the history and lands of an entire house, along with the whole soul of one woman, had been sealed away against his chest.

"You didn't have to go so far as to shoulder your entire castle just to follow me around."

When Yushin fiddled with the necklace and chided her, Tia, walking beside him, lifted her chin with imperious grace.

"Sending one's mate out alone into the treacherous crossroads of the demon realm would be a violation of the laws of the noble house of Amelia, would it not?"

Her speech had shed every trace of the bitch who had drooled and wet herself beneath his massive cock all night long, regressing into childlike abandon—her tone had returned, perfectly intact, to that of a haughty, elegant noble daughter.

The two of them passed beyond the edge of the Obsidian Forest and set off at a leisurely pace toward the frontier village where Lilith's cottage stood.

When they left the forest's rugged terrain behind and a peaceful meadow came into view, Tia narrowed her crimson eyes and asked in a deceptively casual voice.

"So... where exactly are we headed now?"

She posed it as an idle question born of boredom, but her sharp gaze was obsessively tracking every subtle shift in Yushin's expression.

"I have a promise to keep."

At Yushin's short, even reply, the corner of Tia's mouth twisted upward.

"And this 'promise' of yours... would its counterpart happen to be that silver-haired succubus wench you were panting after, moaning her name deliriously atop the bed yesterday?"

In an instant, the air around them grew heavy and suffocating.

There was no killing intent from an enemy, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no presence of a monster, yet the chill crawling up his spine was far more breath-stealing than the battle they had just fought. It was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dizzying undercurrent—a single word or the direction of a single glance from a man could shake the foundation of everything that was to come.

Tia sniffed dismissively at Yushin's stiffened face.

"Do not misunderstand. I am no vulgar woman driven by petty jealousy. I merely wish to test what measure of responsibility my mate is truly capable of bearing for the words that leave his mouth."

Even as she said this, the black-coffin necklace hanging on Yushin's chest trembled faintly, as though speaking for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its master's tangled heart.

'He's terrible at lying, but his pride knows no bounds, huh...'

Yushin let out a soft laugh, stopped walking, and turned to face Tia.

"I'll show you exactly what responsibility looks like."

He pulled her slim, corseted waist toward him and pressed his lips roughly against her plush, crimson ones.

"Mmph...! Chk, churuup...!"

A dense, deep kiss in the middle of the open road.

As Yushin's tongue ravaged Tia's tender mouth and swallowed down her saliva, the aloof rigidity in her eyes melted in an instant, silver drool trickling down in glistening threads.

When he finally drew his lips away, Tia lapped languidly at her tongue and nuzzled her face against the nape of his neck.

"Haah... my mate's saliva is far sweeter than blood..."

'Seeing this, you're not a vampire at all—you're a succubus of pure lust, through and through.'

'No TMI needed, Yurang.'

'The One Who... Records the Stars?'

It was a strangely unsettling phrase that sent a shiver down his spine, but Yushin forced himself to shake off the distraction and turned his head. Before the two of them, the familiar, humble form of Lilith's cottage had already come into view.

"Mate, is something weighing on your mind?"

When Tia tilted her head slightly and cast him a worried look, Yushin drew a deep breath and pushed open the door with force.

The hinges creaked.

"I'm home, Lilith."

The sound of hurried footsteps came rushing from inside, and the moment the door swung open, the silver-haired succubus Lilith flung herself, tears brimming, straight into Yushin's arms.

Thud!

"Nanggun-nim...!"

The desperate warmth and trembling radiating from her small, delicate frame pressed heavily against his chest.

"You didn't come back all night without a single word... do you have any idea how frightened and worried I was?!"

It was a sulky, reproachful whine, yet her hands clutched the fabric of his clothes so tightly they seemed about to tear, refusing to let go. It was the heartbreaking devotion of a girl who had surely lain awake all night, wide-eyed, wondering if she had been abandoned.

At that very moment, a leisurely, frost-cold voice sliced through the cottage's air from behind Yushin.

"So this is the one... the counterpart of that 'promise,' I take it."

Startled, Lilith's body froze like stone.

Slowly—very slowly—she lifted her head from Yushin's embrace and looked behind her.

Reflected in her violet eyes was the peerless vampire princess Tia, flame-red hair cascading down her back as she stood with her arms crossed. A daringly low-cut corseted dress that bared the full valley of her cleavage, a garter belt, and arrogantly half-lidded crimson eyes.

Lilith's lips trembled.

"...Who... are you?"

Tia bowed her head with elegant courtesy, the corner of her mouth curling upward.

"I am Tia of the house of Amelia. I am this man's mate."

In that instant, the air inside the cottage froze solid.

Lilith's fingers, still clutching Yushin's clothes, went white.

"...His mate?"

Her voice was low and quiet, but the betrayal, confusion, and boundless sorrow packed inside it filled the entire room.

Yushin hurriedly moved to speak.

"Lilith, let me explain, so—"

But Lilith did not cut him off. Instead, she drew a long, deep breath and bowed her head politely toward Tia.

"...Please, come inside. This is not a conversation to be had at the door."

An unyielding stance that gave not a single inch of ground.

Tia narrowed her eyes and gave a nod.

"A wise judgment indeed."

When the three of them seated themselves around the worn wooden table in the narrow living room, a suffocating silence settled over them.

With stiff shoulders, Lilith brewed two cups of warm tea in the kitchen and set them on the table—one before Yushin, the other before Tia.

"...You said you would explain."

Lilith stared straight at Yushin without even taking a seat.

Then Tia, toying with her teacup, opened her mouth first, driving in the wedge.

"I am this man's mate. To put it precisely, he pressed his suit upon me fiercely, and I, taken by his overwhelming audacity, gave him my body and my heart."

Thud.

It was as if she could hear the sound of Lilith's heart plummeting. The fingertips of the girl clutching her teacup trembled finely.

"...He courted you?"

"He did. I was not coerced. I desired it, I chose it, and last night atop the bed I took his seed deep into my womb. And I regret that choice not one whit."

Before Tia's proud declaration, Lilith dropped her head. Her silver bangs veiled her eyes, casting them into deep shadow.

"...I see."

A very short, fragile reply.

Lilith clenched her trembling hands tight and asked quietly, her gaze fixed on the floor.

"Then... to Nanggun-nim... what on earth was I?"

It was a heartrending question that scooped out her very heart.

Tia no longer interjected, taking a step back and turning her gaze upon Yushin. All the air in the room, every eye, converged on the edge of his lips.

Yushin rose from his seat without hesitation and strode to stand before Lilith. Then he wrapped both hands warmly around her small, chilled fingers.

"Lilith."

"..."

"You are my eternal first wife."

Lilith's shoulders flinched, and she slowly raised her head.

"Your... first?"

"Yes. You are the first bond I encountered when I set foot in this dimension, and the only being who offered me her virginity and awakened my mana. That promise will not change, even if the heavens collapse."

At the resolute sincerity in Yushin's eyes, the tears welling at the corners of Lilith's eyes slid down her cheeks in glistening trails.

"...Hng, Nanggun-nim... I was so afraid... afraid you wouldn't come back, afraid you'd throw me away for another woman..."

Lilith buried her face in his chest and sobbed, her body shaking with relief.

After weeping for a long while, Lilith wiped her tears and lifted her head.

"You are destined to become a great Demon King, Nanggun-nim... so I know that countless females will cling to you from now on. But even among all those women... the seat of first wife will be mine forever, won't it?"

It was no mere sulking—it was the unwavering declaration of a first wife establishing her rightful place.

Yushin pressed his lips to her forehead and answered.

"I swear it. My first place belongs to you, and you alone."

At last, a bright smile bloomed across Lilith's face.

"Then I'm satisfied...!"

Tia, who had been silently watching the whole scene, could apparently bear it no longer. She pouted her lips and stepped forward.

"...Hmph! Then where, pray tell, does that leave my own place?"

The normally haughty noble daughter was nowhere to be found—what stood there was a sulking, jealousy-blind creature pouting her lips like a child.

Yushin turned and wrapped an arm around Tia's waist, whispering to her.

"Not being first doesn't make your worth any lighter. Tia, you are my one and only comrade and mate—the one I trust with my back as we carve our way through the battlefield together."

In that instant, Tia's crimson eyes wavered greatly. The realization that she had been acknowledged not as a mere plaything of the bedroom but as an equal who would stand shoulder to shoulder with him curled the corners of her mouth irrepressibly upward.

"...You truly are my man. You certainly have a talent for saying all the right things."

Tia smiled in satisfaction and tapped the black-coffin necklace hanging at Yushin's throat.

Lilith looked back and forth between the two of them, then calmly reached her conclusion.

"Very well. I shall be the haven Nanggun-nim can return to whenever he wearies, his first wife—and Lady ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tia shall be the mate who bleeds alongside him out in the world."

"Hooh, an arrangement I find most agreeable."

Thus the savage storm passed, and at last the strange, perfect equilibrium of a harem was established between the two women.