Subjugation
The scream tore through the darkness.
“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!!”
It was that dream again.
The one where Edward was falling, and at the edge of the cliff, she and Jihyeok were locked in a deep, passionate kiss.
But this time, it was different.
Until now, she had always watched from a third-person perspective, floating in the air like a disembodied soul. This time, it was first-person.
She was the one kissing Jihyeok—her lips pressed against his, their tongues entwined.
The Doctor had been lost in the sweetness of that kiss when Jihyeok’s eyes suddenly snapped open. The shock nearly made her faint.
Her body felt like it was being sucked into a bottomless swamp.
A sensation of being stretched from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes washed over her.
“Hah!”
She jolted awake, bolting upright in bed.
Her body, drenched in cold sweat, was completely naked.
As she tried to steady her breathing and calm her racing heart, a low voice from beside her made her flinch.
“Our child is fine. Nothing happened.”
Jihyeok had pulled up a chair next to the bed. He sat there, gazing down at her with incredibly gentle eyes.
The memory of losing consciousness came rushing back, and her breathing grew ragged again.
She had met Jihyeok and then fainted.
And it had been because of that terrifying—no, that eerily calming aura he had radiated.
But she couldn’t let herself be enchanted. That man was a fake.
Tyrat had clearly stolen Jihyeok’s face!
Pressing herself flat against the wall, the Doctor yanked the blanket up to her chin and shouted.
“Fake… You’re a fake!”
“I understand why you’d think that. It must be hard to believe.”
“.....”
“I’ll prove anything you want. From what happened in Sokcho to my sister’s pregnancy… Ask me anything. I remember every single memory I made with you.”
Sweet words meant to stir up old memories were useless.
That face wasn’t the real Jihyeok.
She wanted to believe that, but… there was a reason she couldn’t dismiss it.
His eyes.
The gaze Jihyeok fixed on her was filled with love.
It was the same soft, tender look he had always given her back home.
Tyrat could never make an expression like that.
No… perhaps Jihyeok had been Tyrat all along.
The Doctor clenched her fists around the blanket until her knuckles turned white.
The overwhelming sense of betrayal made her teeth chatter.
Jihyeok had toyed with her like a plaything.
He had approached her on purpose! With clear intent!
“You piece of trash…!”
At her strained curse, Jihyeok let out a small sigh.
“Originally, I had no intention of getting close to you at all. My plan was only to turn the Beast Slayers like Sehwa into my subordinates. But… you were just too tempting. I wanted you.”
“Shut up…! Shut your mouth!”
“Living with you was genuinely enjoyable. I really felt like we were in love.”
“Don’t spout nonsense!”
“I’m being sincere.”
“You deceived me… You tricked me, fed me Sehwa’s blood, made me abandon Edward, and twisted my entire worldview…!”
The Doctor had believed that Jihyeok had been steadily injecting her with malice this whole time.
More accurately, her heart believed it. Her head, however, knew the truth.
Until the moment she was brought here, Jihyeok had done nothing but approach her with genuine affection.
“You’re human. You don’t have Aether. Your mental strength is quite strong, but you’re still within the bounds of an ordinary person. The power contained in Sehwa’s blood is what we call malice. Do you know what happens when you inject that into an ordinary person like yourself?”
How could she not know?
She was the one who had offered drugs to Chae Bo-young, after all.
“Don’t tell me Chae Bo-young also…?”
“That’s right. She’s working for me now. She doesn’t show any of the resistance you did. She’s proactive, but she only acts to fulfill the orders I give her. Doubt? That doesn’t even exist for her. For reference, I gave her far less blood than I gave you.”
“I ate Sehwa’s…”
“Yes. You drank Sehwa’s blood. But why do you think Sehwa kept telling you to trust me?”
“Why… did she do that?”
“So you could adapt quickly when this moment came. Right now, even though you’re experiencing something completely insane, you’re staying remarkably calm. Why? Because you feel the same sense of comfort from me that you felt when you were with Sehwa.”
She realized it was true.
The faint aura Jihyeok was currently emitting felt warm and comforting to her.
Even her wildly pounding heart was gradually settling.
That was why, despite being in a situation where she should have been losing her mind, she could remain relatively composed.
Normally, she would have fainted several times by now.
“Do you know why you’ve grown familiar with Sehwa’s, Yuria’s, and my energy? Because you drank the blood? That’s part of it, of course. But there’s a more important reason. The child in your womb carries magi.”
“What…?”
“I didn’t know either. I never injected any malice into the child. But after seeing how easily you accepted Sehwa’s blood, I became certain. It was only natural, really. Since the child is a mix of demon and human blood, of course it would carry magi.”
“.....”
“The power in Sehwa’s blood, the magi—it’s all mine. Sehwa, having become a demon, draws on my power. You’ve come to treat everything Sehwa says as law, haven’t you? The same will apply to my words. You’re believing everything I say right now.”
“Ah… Aah…!”
“Everything Sehwa has said until now was preparation for this meeting with me. So you would feel trust in my words and so your sanity would remain intact.”
It was exactly as he said.
At the very beginning of this conversation, she had felt a slight distrust, but now she believed every single word that came out of his mouth.
Even though she felt like she might die from the shock, she was accepting all of Jihyeok’s explanations as absolute truth deep in her heart.
She had even begun to see Jihyeok as a greater sanctuary for her soul than Sehwa—perhaps even her one and only sanctuary.
And although she resented him, she didn’t hate him.
Since a while ago, she had wanted nothing more than to be held in his arms, and her love for him remained unchanged.
Was this also an effect of Sehwa’s blood?
No. These feelings were entirely her own.
She was certain of that. She could swear to it.
Now she understood all of Sehwa’s actions.
Sehwa had been an intermediary. A proxy delivering Jihyeok’s true feelings.
Every word she had spoken had actually been words Jihyeok wanted to say.
She had phrased things indirectly so that the Doctor, who had believed Jihyeok and Tyrat were separate beings, wouldn’t fall for the wrong person.
“It’s true that there was some coercive force involved… but I hope you can understand. Going back to what I was saying… you didn’t fall as quickly as Chae Bo-young. You accepted my magi naturally. Our child was slowly changing your constitution.”
So the child in her womb had been gradually turning her into a demon?
That was why she hadn’t lost her mind even after consuming Sehwa’s blood—Jihyeok’s magi?
As she listened to the explanation, one thing came to mind.
The dream where she was transforming into a demon.
It seemed the reason she had that dream was because of the child.
“Originally, I planned to reveal the truth to you very slowly, piece by piece. But… time ran out, so I had no choice.”
“No choice…?”
“It’s because of Adele. Her holy power is affecting my body. It’s gradually erasing my magi. Because of that, some monsters have begun to rebel against me. Remember those three S-class monsters that appeared at the same time recently?”
“Then those things… were trying to start a rebellion…?”
“Correct. So I crushed them. I’m not as strong as the Beast Slayers. If I lose my magi, I’ll be nothing but an empty shell.”
Now she finally understood why Jihyeok had insisted on adding control mechanisms to the new Device he was developing.
He had been afraid of Adele using both Aether and holy power at the same time.
As the Doctor stared blankly at him, now fully aware of the whole story, Jihyeok continued.
“So I decided this couldn’t go on. That was when I realized you were investigating me behind my back, even lying to me… and that’s when I made my decision. I would turn you into a demon.”
“Y-you could have just told me to come back… If you had said you missed me, just once, I would have dropped everything and returned… Why did you have to do all this and make me suffer so much…?”
“If I had said that, do you really think you would have come home? I don’t think so. Besides… as the child grew, it would have naturally begun emitting magi. Who do you think would have taken action the moment they noticed?”
It would have been Adele.
Her holy power was the complete opposite of magi. It could not only purify but completely annihilate it.
If Adele noticed the child’s magi and used her holy power?
The child’s very existence could have been erased.
If it was only purified and not annihilated? That would be fortunate, but it would create its own problems.
Jihyeok’s true nature was that of a demon. If a demon’s child lost its magi… wouldn’t it become nothing more than an empty husk?
That would be truly devastating.
The child’s parents had to be Jihyeok and herself.
“…. Jihyeok… I…”
“Honestly, even though I said I would turn you into a demon, we can stop here if you want.”
“What…? Then the child’s magi…”
“I’ll find a way. Right now, Sehwa and Yuria are taking medicine that hides their magi. If I improve it, we should be able to conceal the child’s magi as well. Probably…”
Probably… He wasn’t certain.
And after going through all of this, could she really go back to living normally? Absolutely not.
She had already come too far to give up on Jihyeok, and she could feel the sincerity in his almost pleading tone.
She still loved Jihyeok more than anyone else in the world.
Even if she could turn back time, she didn’t want to erase what they had.
Her memories with Edward? She had already thrown them away and forgotten them long ago.
Thanks to Jihyeok’s malice and Sehwa’s blood, she no longer even thought of humans.
Then why was she suffering so much?
Because Jihyeok had completely deceived her? Because she felt she could never truly be with him while remaining human?
It was probably both.
“I’m truly sorry for deceiving you.”
Jihyeok’s apology, as if he had read her heart.
She flinched and asked.
“I-is this… also the effect of the blood… no, the magi? Can you read my mind?”
“Of course not… Absolutely not. I’m just reading your facial expressions.”
This kind of mind-reading was unfair.
The anger that had been boiling inside her melted away.
“Jihyeok…”
“I’ll respect your choice. Whether you become a demon or not, we are family. That will never change.”
We are family.
The words moved her far more than when Sehwa had said them. Her heart fluttered wildly.
Since things had come to this, she wanted to become a demon and free herself from all this torment.
Seeing her waver, Jihyeok smiled softly and continued.
“There is one thing that will never change… My love for you. That will never waver. Ever.”
She should have jumped up and run from this place, yet her face flushed red and her heart pounded.
The desire to become a demon surged up within her like fresh spring water.
‘A demon… I’m going to become a demon…?’
From the moment she had felt Sehwa’s mercy, she had already been leaning toward becoming a demon.
Now that she knew Jihyeok was Tyrat, and with her love for him and the child in her womb so firm, there was no longer any reason to hesitate.
But there was one thing that bothered her.
She didn’t want to call him “Master” like Yuria or Sehwa did.
She wanted to continue loving each other as equals, just like before.
“I’m… scared… What if I change and stop being myself…?”
At her worry, Jihyeok smiled brightly to reassure her.
“You will still be you. Your true nature will never change.”
“How can you be so sure? I’ve already changed after drinking Sehwa’s blood…”
“I promise you. Even if you become a demon, our relationship will stay exactly the same as it is now.”
Those words brought her a little—no, a great deal of relief.
The Doctor fell into deep thought about what answer she should give.
Finally, having nearly made up her mind, she asked.
“What do I need to become a demon…?”
“There is only one thing you need. Your will.”
“Just… my will…?”
“After everything you’ve been through with Sehwa, you’re already in a state where you can easily accept magi. I told you earlier, didn’t I? Sehwa’s power is my power. All you need to do is let go of the last bit of lingering attachment.”
The last bit of lingering attachment…? What could that be?
Her desire to doubt Jihyeok?
Or her anxiety about no longer being human?
“I don’t understand…”
“You simply need to sincerely swear in front of me that you will abandon your humanity and become my family. That’s what Sehwa told you, right? If you want to become family, just say so.”
“…. So when Sehwa said that, she meant for me to say it to you…?”
“Exactly.”
It seemed that was the key to becoming a demon.
Covering her face with both hands, the Doctor decided to get one final promise before making her decision.
“J-just promise me one thing… that you won’t treat me like a subordinate…”
“You will belong to me forever, but our relationship will not change. I swear on everything I have.”
Belong to him? It was a slightly unsettling word… but it also meant she would never have to leave him.
Since she had never intended to leave his side in the first place, it wasn’t a problem.
And since he was swearing on everything he had…
‘Let’s do it…’
Jihyeok was everything to her.
As long as he stayed by her side, giving up her humanity didn’t matter at all.
When she thought that, all the pain in her heart seemed to vanish.
Perspective… Yes, it was all a matter of perspective.
She should think positively. Wasn’t this actually better?
She would leave behind an inferior race and ascend to a higher existence.
Having made up her mind, the Doctor knelt before Jihyeok.
Some instinct told her this was the proper posture for the ritual.
Staring directly into Jihyeok’s face, she opened her mouth.
“I… want to become a demon… I want to become your family…”
The moment she spoke the oath that rose from the depths of her heart, Jihyeok gave her a truly dazzling smile and said,
“Thank you, Noona.”
At that instant—
WHOOOOSH—!
An overwhelming surge of magi erupted from Jihyeok’s body and began pouring into every inch of hers.
“Huk…!”
It didn’t hurt. It simply felt like being hit by a fierce gale across her entire body.
As she accepted the energy with a dazed expression, sudden cracking sounds came from her spine and waist.
Crack—! Crunch!
She was startled by the sound of her bones being reconstructed, but there was no pain. It simply felt unfamiliar.
A tickling, strangely sensual sensation also rose from her lower abdomen.
It was an entirely new feeling, but thinking of it as part of the transformation process helped her stay calm.
The Doctor has become a demon.
She now belongs to Jihyeok as his subordinate.
All worldly suffering has been shed. She exists solely for him.
She was becoming a demon. She was becoming bound to Jihyeok.
Free from all torment, she would become a subordinate who existed only for him.
From now on… she just wanted to be happy.