The Ancestor's Forbidden Desire
She was the child born between the Succubus Queen—who oversaw the succubi and incubi within the Demon King's forces in that era—and the Demon King himself. By the time I actually laid eyes on her, she was already participating in the war. From what I heard, she had risen to become one of the legion commanders.
"Yes. Her name was... it must have been Azrael. She was exquisitely beautiful, I must say."
Yet as Evelyn began describing Azrael, I started to feel a strange sensation stirring inside me.
"True to the Succubus Queen's bloodline, the girl possessed skin and hair as white as fresh snow, along with dazzling red eyes that stole the gaze of all who beheld them."
"And those black horns sprouting from her head, paired with the small, perky wings on her back... they drove me utterly mad."
The way she spoke of Azrael sounded almost like... she was in love. No, it felt like something even deeper than love. And it was not my imagination.
"Indeed. I fell for her at first sight."
"As if possessed, I approached her, knelt, and confessed. I asked her to become my lover. To stand by my side."
"But she rejected my confession, as one might expect. Our positions within the Demon King's army differed, the fact that we were both women posed an issue, and she claimed to have no interest in humans. So I resolved to use my final method."
"Don't tell me that final method was...?"
"Precisely as you suspect. I attempted to hypnotize Azrael so she would fall in love with me."
Her idea sounded even more unhinged than I had anticipated, and I felt a brief headache coming on. It stood to reason that the creator of hypnosis magic was not entirely sane. To think that my distant ancestor, known as the traitor of humanity, tried to hypnotically brainwash the Demon King's own daughter. The story was dizzying, even if its roots lay in an adult game.
"The outcome was, naturally, failure. Whether it was the shock of rejection in what I had felt as my first love, or simply that I was too impatient, I cast the spell without proper preparation. I should have taken more time and proceeded with care..."
As she traced those memories, she paused for a moment before continuing.
"In any case... I was arrested on the spot and faced execution for treason within the Demon King's ranks. Whether one might call this fortunate, I cannot say, but at that precise moment, the hero's party arrived at the Demon King's castle."
"Afterward, as you know, the hero's party defeated and slew the Demon King. Most of the demons who stood against them were slaughtered, Azrael vanished without a trace, and I—the traitor—was taken captive."
"Then what happened? How did you end up trapped inside this book?"
"Hmm. This part diverges somewhat. In the physical sense, I did indeed die."
"What?"
"It is precisely as it sounds. The sins I had accumulated while serving under the Demon King were considerable. War, after all, is not a matter of mere days."
"Even conflicts between local territories can span years. A war between the demons and every other race was on an entirely different scale, so it naturally became a prolonged struggle."
"In such grand conflicts, individual power and collective strength mattered, yet strategy held even greater influence. Capturing prisoners and extracting information from them was therefore of utmost importance."
"Now you understand why the Demon King's army required my services?"
"Yes. Magic that specializes in hypnosis and brainwashing would be unparalleled for drawing out information."
"Back then, everyone was obsessed with raw firepower, desperate to kill even one more enemy efficiently... yet I was the only mage capable of tormenting foes mentally and forcing them to confess everything."
"Well. I carried out my orders, and I certainly enjoyed certain benefits while beneath the Demon King's banner. Many victories were owed to me, after all. As a result, my name became rather... widely known across the continent."
"Was that when the title 'traitor of humanity' was born?"
"Yes. Precisely. I suspect the fall of the Darkwood family may also trace back to my influence. After all, I fought on the side of the Demon King."
"Regarding that... does it not trouble you?"
"Ah. You speak of guilt? Hmm... truthfully, I cannot say it does. I bore the Darkwood name, yet I fled home at a very young age. And honestly... our family was far from normal. They taught even small children how to kill, and if one could not fight properly, they were denied proper meals."
"Is it any wonder I ran away at such a tender age? The amusing part is that once I escaped, the family made no effort to find me. They were likely relieved to be rid of a problem child. Besides, after leaving, I did not go about using the Darkwood name. In truth, I found the life of an adventurer far more comfortable than that of a noble."
"In any event, while researching and wielding hypnosis magic under the Demon King's forces, my spells grew ever more refined. I also indulged in considerable amusement along the way."
The "amusement" she referred to carried an unmistakably sexual undertone, and it was not my imagination. Anyone who set their sights on the Demon King's daughter could hardly be called sane.
"Yet after the hero's party slew the Demon King and dragged me away, I realized that if matters continued as they were, execution was inevitable. I was not the only traitor who had sided with the Demon King, after all. The others had all been beheaded and cast outside the castle as fodder for the demonic beasts."
"So I devised a scheme of my own. I mentioned that I stood at the pinnacle regarding all matters of the mind in those days, did I not? While pondering my options, I recalled tales of objects infused with ego. Thus, I chose to preserve only my consciousness and transfer it into an object."
"Something like an ego sword?"
"Exactly. Before the kingdom could execute me as a traitor, I succeeded in using magic to shift my mind into this book, which contained the very essence of all my sorcery."
"The others could never have imagined it. Even then, the true nature of ego weapons remained unclear. The kingdom probably assumed the traitor had simply fainted from terror of death. There were indeed cases like that."
"But how does that connect to being trapped in this book? Did you not make any plans after transferring your soul?"
"Indeed. I had not thought that far ahead. Death seemed certain within a day or two, so time was scarce, and transferring one's mind into an object was no simple feat. The target had to be something meaningful to the caster. In my case, it was this grimoire."
"I had, in my own way, set security magic so that only blood relatives connected to me could converse with me."
"The problem arose after my death, when every record related to my magic was burned. Fortunately, this grimoire had been reinforced with every preservation spell I knew, so it survived the flames... As you can see, that woman Sylvia—a great mage of the era and member of the hero's party—wondered what to do with a tome that would not burn and that none could read. In the end, she simply sealed it away so no one could touch it."
"Thus, trapped within this grimoire, I bided my time and plotted my revenge. Yet it seems my family had fallen completely, for none of my bloodline ever entered this space. As the years slipped by, five hundred of them passed before I knew it."
"Then, quite suddenly, you became ensnared by my magic. And so we arrived at our current situation."
From Evelyn's explanation, it was clear she desperately wished to escape this place. Anyone sealed motionless for nearly five centuries would obviously yearn for freedom.
"Then... if I were to release you, what would you offer me in return?"
Yet I could not release her rashly. Her tale held no obvious falsehoods, but it might simply be a ploy to escape. Of course, the story had also revealed a rather shameful sexual preference of hers.
At my question, Evelyn instead began to laugh, as though delighted.
"Yes. You should not simply trust my words and free me. Whoever instructed you did an excellent job."
"Well, I am an orphan, after all."
"Oh dear, my apologies."
"No, it's quite all right."
Evelyn's soft, knowing chuckle faded, and then pitch-black smoke billowed forth from the dark book. The smoke slowly filled the space between the tome and me, gradually coalescing into a human shape.
"If you release me from this place..."
It steadily took on a more human appearance, transforming into pale white skin and long black hair that cascaded to her waist. A woman in a sensually designed negligee extended her hand toward me.
"I shall give you everything I am."
The woman possessed the same dark, profound gray eyes as my own.