Chapter 111: Hilda
Chapter 111: Hilda
Around the time Jaejin was being subjected to sweet torture beneath Lena all through the night, a commotion was unfolding in a certain mansion in Capia from the early hours of the morning.
"You’ve always been like this, Dad! You never care what your children are actually doing, but the moment we produce results, you try to change everything to suit your whims because you don't like them!"
"What a way to speak to your father! Do you even realize the blessed environment you were raised in?"
This wasn't a playful spat, a negotiation, or the kind of formal bickering that had persisted for years. It was a genuine clash of wills between father and daughter, each determined to break the other's resolve.
Waving her hand dismissively as if sick of his words, the woman with long, sky-blue hair immediately shot back.
"The last time I attended school with your support was eight years ago. Everything after that—getting into the Knight Academy, graduating as runner-up, and being appointed as a Royal Knight—was entirely due to my own hard work."
"That damn knight business again! Knight, knight!! I didn't raise you just so you could swing a sword!"
"Then did you raise me just to marry me off to some fifty-year-old geezer?"
"You brat...!"
In this relentless exchange, it was the daughter who held the logical high ground.
Born with a natural affinity for mana and mastery over martial arts, she had been able to follow the elite knightly course faster than the scions of any prestigious martial house.
Her father, one of the leaders of the Noble Faction, was the one trying to force her to return home, push her into a political marriage, and forge an alliance.
"Why can't you see that the Myers family could become the new power in this country? If I ascend to the position of Prime Minister, you can have anything you want."
"As a knight, I cannot commit such a dishonorable act as abandoning my King."
The bond of blood between father and daughter stood in tense opposition, like oil and water that could never mix. It was only when the daughter realized her words had grown too sharp that she took a step back, speaking more softly.
"To think a girl like this is my daughter... Hmph. I'll overlook your behavior over the past few years for your mother's sake. As long as you marry into the Felton family, we won't have to glare at each other like this anymore."
"There's no way I'm marrying an old man like that. I like people who are younger and cuter."
"Still being stubborn, I see. Are you truly intent on turning your back on your father?"
The daughter immediately rejected her father's insistence on using her marriage as a political tool until the very end. As a twenty-four-year-old virgin, she simply couldn't envision a future where she was married to a fifty-year-old noble.
Exasperated by her father, who showed no intention of understanding her feelings and only grew more furious, she reached her breaking point. There was no point in staying here any longer.
However, as a knight and as a daughter of the household, she couldn't truly sever ties with her father, so she had no choice but to flee the mansion as if being hunted.
"I really hate you, Dad!!"
"You brat...! Get back here right now!"
Naturally, a man who had spent his life reading books and had only learned basic self-defense for exercise had no hope of catching up to his knight daughter. Before he knew it, she had left the mansion and was sprinting toward the streets.
And so, the first runaway attempt in the life of Royal Knight Hilda Myers began.
*
On his second day reporting for work at the Shadow of Lilim, Jaejin recalled the lessons he had learned yesterday in preparation for his first customer.
First, this is a service job, and one must respect the client's tastes as much as possible.
Second, the more means and methods one has to satisfy the client, the better.
Third, if things get dangerous, run. The seniors will step in to help.
Recalling those teachings, Jaejin spoke with his first customer for about ten minutes before seizing a moment when she let her guard down to bolt out the door and escape.
Jaejin's first attempt at hosting a customer ended in failure from the very start.
Having arrived at work with his body tense, Jaejin had changed clothes according to instructions and, after being seen off by Natalie, went to meet his first client.
Introduced as a noblewoman, Jaejin presented himself politely as he had been told, and he received an enthusiastic response from the woman. It was more than just enthusiastic; her interest and excitement were so excessive that she looked ready to pounce at any moment.
That wouldn't have been a problem in itself, but Jaejin was horrified by her crazed eyes as she rambled on about her intense interest in his lower body—specifically his backside—and announced her intention to ravish him without mercy.
Despite his extensive experience spending nights with various women, he wondered if the bar hadn't been set too high for his first client. He searched for the cause within his own body.
Jaejin realized that since his encounter with Valerie at the Demon God Cult, he had never once had relations with an ordinary human woman.
With the blood of a Lust Demon and three Lust Crests, Jaejin—though human—had reached the realm of the only male Lust Demon. To an ordinary human with no immunity, he was essentially emitting a constant aura of Charm.
Naturally, there was no way to know this beforehand, so no one could have predicted that the dark tastes hidden deep within the woman would be dragged to the surface.
If he stayed still, she would surely count every single fold of his rear. Feeling a visceral sense of crisis, Jaejin took his chance, kicked the door open, and sprinted out.
"H-help me...!!!"
The noblewoman chased after the screaming Jaejin. However, even as they watched the pursuit, the Lust Demons passing by simply thought it was 'that kind of roleplay' and no one stepped in.
Ultimately, still dressed in his shameful male prostitute attire, Jaejin ran out of the brothel and into the back alleys.
"Liar... You said you'd help... I trusted you...!!"
In the nail-biting chase, it was Jaejin who held the advantage in stamina. Thanks to his physical strength forged through numerous battles and his consistent exercise, he was clearly superior to the noblewoman in endurance.
However, just as he felt relieved by the widening gap and tried to catch his breath, a sharp pain shot through his foot, and he tumbled forward, rolling on the ground. Because he had left the brothel in such a hurry, Jaejin was barefoot.
In contrast, the woman, who hadn't taken off her shoes yet, was able to reach the spot where Jaejin had fallen without any injury to her feet, albeit a bit later.
"I finally caught you♡ Big sister is going to take her time devouring you, so let's go back quietly, okay? Ehehe♡"
"N-no..."
Jaejin crawled backward on all fours. It was difficult, but he could endure it if people he already knew and was close to tried to take him from behind. But it was a different story when it was someone he had met for the first time today—and a mere customer at that.
Especially when she was threatening him with such a crazed expression; how could he not be terrified? The noblewoman reached out toward the trembling Jaejin, and just as her hand was about to grab his shoulder—
"You, take your hands off him."
A savior appeared from the end of the alley.
The woman, with her shimmering sky-blue hair and practical denim pants, was incredibly beautiful and possessed clear, piercing eyes.
She stepped between the noblewoman and Jaejin, helped the fallen Jaejin to his feet, and then glared sharply at the other woman.
"To try and ravish such a young boy... Have you no shame as a noble?"
Cowering under the predatory momentum that completely overwhelmed her, the noblewoman, who had been giddy under the influence of the Charm, shrunk back and made a mosquito-like excuse.
"N-no... it's not like that, I bought him..."
"Bought... him? A child like this? The nobles of this country have truly gone mad...!"
Realizing that the situation was only worsening every time she spoke, the noblewoman shut her mouth. Then, taking advantage of the moment the blue-haired woman was tending to the boy, she immediately fled in the opposite direction.
The woman considered chasing after her but soon sighed and looked over the boy, whose feet and knees were scraped.
"Kiddo, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere else? I'm Hilda Myers, of the Royal Knights."
Jaejin was finally able to relax at the kind and gentle demeanor of this woman named Hilda. Only then did he realize that in addition to his feet, which had small stones embedded in them, his knees and hands were also scraped.
"Thank you... My name is Jaejin. And I'm twenty years old."
Giving his real name to his savior, Jaejin realized she saw him as much younger than he was and made sure to state his age. Sure enough, Hilda looked shocked as she stared at Jaejin's face.
"Only four years younger than me? That's... very surprising."
Because his appearance was much younger and even his voice sounded youthful, she had assumed he was much younger. As she pondered how to treat him, she finally took notice of his clothing.
Calling it 'clothing' was a stretch; the outfit was full of holes and failed to serve any practical function. Considering the noblewoman's comment about 'buying' him, it was likely...
"By the way... are you selling your body?"
It was a rather blunt question, but because her expression was so full of genuine concern, Jaejin couldn't bring himself to lie, especially after she had just saved him.
"Yes. Today was my first day on the job, and she was my first customer..."
Seeing Jaejin's hollow expression as he lamented his misfortune from the very start, Hilda couldn't hide her shock.
‘He must be so traumatized... And for a man to even think of selling his body, just how difficult must his circumstances have been...’
Hilda felt pity for him. She saw a reflection of herself in his likely complicated family history, yet she felt sorry for him because, unlike her, who could forge her own path, he had been forced into such a shameful choice.
"Come, let's go together. I'll help you, so why don't you look for another job? If it's money you need, I can even lend it to you."
"O-oh, no, you don't have to go that far..."
Jaejin tried to stop her, figuring she had misunderstood his situation, but her stubbornness was a perfect match for her father's.
"No. How can I call myself a knight if I can't even help a person in need right in front of me? First, let's go to the brothel you were at and make it clear that you're quitting."
Hilda took Jaejin's hand and asked which way to go. Jaejin had no choice but to lead her back the way he had come, but...
There was one thing he was overlooking because he wasn't used to it.
Unlike the noblewoman who had no immunity to Charm, Hilda was a trained knight with some resistance, so Jaejin treated her 'normally.'
Neither of them realized that through the physical contact of holding hands, she was slowly falling under his Charm.