Chapter 12 - Snowy Mountain (5)
Tremble, tremble.
Hornlake, kneeling on the floor, began to tremble.
In sync with those movements, tuduk-tuduk, clumps of snow erupted from her body.
"What are you doing?"
Agnes crouched down and met Hornlake's eyes.
And added pressure to her hand.
A very faint amount of force.
But to Hornlake, it was a pleasure that pierced through her entire body.
[Ngaaaah...!]
Tududuk!
Hornlake erupted with more snow clumps.
They splashed up to Agnes's cheek.
Agnes chuckled.
"How ill-mannered."
Agnes took her hand off Hornlake's shoulder.
And slapped Hornlake's cheek hard enough to make a puck! sound.
[Kkyaaaak!]
Hududuk!
The snow clumps that made up Hornlake's cheek collapsed.
Even with half her face gone, Hornlake was too busy convulsing.
[Kkeuk... heuk...!]
"How could you cum on someone's face? No, since it's snow, should I say you shot it?"
Agnes's voice dropped low.
Was it a hallucination that her elegant tone and the laughter within it sounded like a heavenly melody?
Hornlake felt her soul soaking into that voice.
[S-stop...!]
If things went on like this, she felt like she would lose her mind.
She felt like she would become an idiot because it felt too good.
Not just any idiot, but an idiot who would give everything to a non-virgin like her.
'H-horrible!'
Hornlake began to crawl away while prone.
It was an attempt to get away from Agnes, but it was a meaningless rebellion.
It would be fair to say it was a mistake made because she wasn't used to having a physical body.
Hornlake realized immediately after that crawling in the snow was a very stupid thing to do.
Puk!
Agnes's foot stomped on Hornlake's buttocks.
Hornlake's hip was deeply dented.
[Kkhiiiik?!]
Hornlake thrashed like a live fish.
The electric current that spread through her turned into pleasure and scorched her soul.
Hornlake felt her vision go white.
She felt like she couldn't breathe.
A thought occurred to her belatedly.
'I-I have to discard this body!'
It wasn't a thought born of normal reasoning.
After all, since pleasure welled up every time her body touched Agnes, there was no way the judgment to discard her body could be sound.
She wasn't just some ordinary person who couldn't touch Hornlake if she didn't have a physical body, was she?
Hududuk, the snow that formed her body melted away, and Hornlake turned into a spirit form.
Her spirit form looked even more human than when she had a physical body.
Agnes let out an "Oh" of admiration for a moment before grabbing the ankle of Hornlake, who was trying to leave.
[Kkiyoooooot!]
"My, how restless."
Hornlake shrieked and twisted her body like a pretzel.
At the same time, snow-like powder poured out of her body, creating a snowstorm.
It was a ridiculous and bizarre sight, but Hornlake wasn't in a position to worry about that.
[I-I was wroooong! Stop... stooop!! My head is going to break!!!]
"You're making me not want to let go."
[Kkheuk, kkeuk kkeooooook!!!]
It was a ghost's wail.
Hornlake's moans could only be described that way.
Was this enough?
Agnes judged so and let go.
Hornlake, who had been spinning and creating a snowstorm, turned into a tornado and shot up into the sky.
[Ugo-go-go-gok!]
It was a storm strong enough to blow away the fur cloak Deltain had put on her, but strangely, there was no burden placed on her body.
Agnes expressed confusion at this, but from Hornlake's perspective, it was only natural.
Hornlake was thinking that she didn't want to cause even a speck of harm to Agnes, and that she would rather cease to exist than do such a thing.
After a while, Hornlake's body, which had been twisted by unspeakable pleasure, began to unravel.
And so, she slowly descended.
The snowstorm faded, and all that remained was Hornlake, lying on the floor and panting.
Agnes smiled and said.
"Will you sign a contract?"
Flinch.
Hornlake's body trembled.
She felt disgust at herself for momentarily wanting to answer "Yes!" to that sweet temptation.
Immediately after, she shook her head vigorously, scattering ice crystals from her eyes.
[N-no! I said I don't want to!]
"Do you want me to touch you again?"
[Hiiik!]
Hornlake jumped.
Agnes felt a sense of playfulness at that lively sight.
This was the second time in Agnes's life that she had felt the urge to bully someone.
The first was, of course, Deltain, and while it wasn't as intense as the feelings she had for him, this was providing a quite pleasant level of stimulation.
"Why won't you sign a contract? If you're with me, you could live in this kind of pleasure every day."
[Th-that is....]
Hornlake rolled her eyes.
She didn't want to because she was a non-virgin.
If she said that, she would fall into the hell of pleasure again.
She didn't want that.
No, did she really not want it?
'I-I'm scared...!'
The feeling that she wouldn't be herself anymore was too terrifying.
She was afraid of becoming her doormat, no longer the Winter Spirit Hornlake.
As those thoughts continued, her hesitation deepened.
Agnes's patience began to hit rock bottom.
"Touch you?"
At those words, Hornlake was startled and blurted out an answer.
[Th-this is a double contract! I already have an owner!]
Immediately after saying that, Hornlake's eyes sparkled.
'This is it!'
It was something she said in a panic, but thinking about it, it was quite logical.
Hornlake continued with confidence.
[I'm under contract with the chief of this tribe! It's a contract that has been passed down for generations, so I can't just break it!]
"Why can't there be a double contract?"
[Why, you ask...!]
Hornlake was shocked.
How could she ask such an obvious question?
[Th-that's two-timing! A contract with two people at once, two-timing! It's so impure! It's filthy! I feel like I'm going to throw up!]
Was her sense of chastity really ruined because she was a non-virgin?
Hornlake shouted, trembling with fear.
But Agnes only tilted her head.
"So what. As long as it feels good, that's all that matters."
[Hiiik?!]
What an irresponsible thing to say!
To throw away purity for pleasure!
To commit infidelity!
Hornlake felt like she was going to lose her mind.
Even then, Agnes's urging continued.
"If that's the problem, then it's fine. Just sign a contract with me."
[N-no....]
Tuk!
Agnes poked Hornlake's glabella with her index finger.
[...Kkheuk?!]
Hornlake arched her back.
Ice crystals flowed from her mouth.
"You say you don't like it, but you're enjoying it. You look happy every time I touch you."
[N-no...!]
"If that's the case, why are you smiling?"
Deolkeok.
Hornlake's body froze.
She looked at Agnes as if asking what she meant, then touched the corners of her mouth with a "Could it be?" feeling.
'...Huh?'
The corners of her mouth were turned up.
'Am I... smiling?'
Upon realizing that, Hornlake's head went blank.
At the same time, Agnes's smile deepened.
"The body is honest. Right?"
[Wh-what....]
"Don't overthink it."
Agnes stroked Hornlake's cheek.
At that movement, Hornlake's eyelashes fluttered.
Snow powder fell.
Agnes leaned in and whispered in her ear.
"Just think about what feels good. You will be the happiest by my side."
Seureuk.
The moment Agnes's hand dropped to her neck, Hornlake's waist straightened.
Her head snapped back.
[Hyaak...!]
Hornlake's thoughts began to blur due to pleasure that was crushing her reasoning.
'I-it feels good?'
Will it be this happy forever?
Will it be full of things that feel this good from now on?
"I'll dote on you a lot. As long as you listen to me."
Lies.
That was a lie.
Hornlake could be sure.
After all, she had seen it clearly.
The look in her eyes when she gazed at the red-haired man, the emotions she showed while talking to him, and the stench that diminished only at that time.
'I, I won't be rewarded.'
To a spirit, a contract was like marriage.
It was a vow to look only at one person for the rest of her life and be faithful only to him.
But look at her.
Her heart was not with her.
She probably just wanted to please the man from before.
'I'm, I'm being used.'
The aftermath of being seduced like this and entering a double marriage was obvious.
She would eventually abandon the tribe and cling only to her.
Because she wanted to be a little more intoxicated by her scent, because she wanted her gaze to be directed at her a little more.
And because she wanted to be loved.
'But I won't be rewarded.'
At the end of it, watching her love someone else, she would realize once again that she was just a toy good for being used.
How would she feel in that moment?
What would she look like, struggling while intoxicated by her scent even in that moment?
Would I still be the Winter Spirit Hornlake then?
"Good girl, right?"
Even those thoughts soon disappeared.
"Let's sign the contract."
The devil whispered.
Hornlake nodded at that voice without even realizing it.
[Y-yes....!]
Thump.
Hornlake buried her head on the floor.
[I-I'll sign the contract. Please let me.]
Hornlake's shoulders trembled violently.
Her voice also trembled.
It was a sight that could be seen as resentment.
It was also a sight that could be seen as screaming in humiliation.
However, all those impressions would disappear if one looked at Hornlake's expression.
Heejuk.
Hornlake was smiling, dropping ice crystals from her eyes.
The negative thoughts that followed.
The pleasure that violated her mind even in the midst of it.
That sprouted a bizarre desire within her.
Hornlake was definitely broken.
There was no longer the Winter Spirit Hornlake.
What was here was just a foolish wench engulfed in self-destructive desire.
Agnes smiled.
"That's how it should be."
It was easy.
*
Deltain looked at the scene unfolding before him with suspicion.
Agnes was smiling.
Sitting with her legs crossed, using the prone Hornlake as a human chair.
"...What is this."
"I signed a contract."
"I mean, what is it."
"What could it be?"
When Agnes smiled slyly, Deltain felt a chill run down his spine for some reason.
He even thought it would be better not to dig into that.
Deltain entrusted himself to that intuition.
'Curiosity killed the cat.'
He recalled that proverb.
His head naturally turned toward the chief and Orga.
The expressions of the two were bewildered.
'...Well, true.'
Since the spirit they had revered as a tribe had been reduced to a mere human chair and was giggling, the shock must be immense.
No, setting that aside, Deltain learned for the first time that a spirit could stand in the subordinate position when contracting with a human.
"Sp-Spirit-nim...!"
A hint of crying could be felt in the chief's voice.
There was even regret buried in the tears of an old man who had lived enough.
The air was so sorrowful that Deltain shut his mouth without realizing it.
Hornlake flinched.
She lifted her head slightly and met the chief's eyes.
Hornlake looked at the chief with a trembling expression as if agonizing over something, but soon squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away from the chief.
[...What.]
Deltain closed his eyes.
'Is this right?'
He couldn't suppress that question.