Aphrodisiac
"...What did you say?"
"If you didn't hear me, I'll say it again. Tonight, I will be Master's—"
"No, no. I heard you. You don't need to say it again."
Lucy regarded me with that same deadpan expression, as if she had not the faintest idea what she'd just put into words. I looked at her and slowly raked a hand through my hair.
What the hell is going on here?
Her words had been a confession in all but name. I blanked for a second, then found my composure again. Why? Because the one who'd said it was Lucy, of all people.
Well... this is the same girl who gives me lap pillows without a second thought.
Lucy had always said and done things an ordinary person would never dare. On top of that, ever since I'd arrived in this body, the physical contact between us had been steadily increasing. Was it because she was so numb to her own feelings that she simply didn't know how to be embarrassed? For all I knew, "I want to be by your side" meant exactly that and nothing more.
Either way, this wasn't a conversation to keep having out in the open. Better to take it inside.
"Let's head in for now. I could use a moment to sit down."
"My apologies. I'll escort you inside at once. Lady Liliana, please follow us as well."
"Ah? Y-yes!"
Liliana, who had been standing there in a daze, scrambled to catch up. I passed between the rows of servants lined along either side of the garden path and stepped into the mansion.
Click, click.
I climbed the stairs to the rhythm of the two women's heels behind me. The crest of the Divelion family and the mansion's peculiar atmosphere greeted me like something I'd known for years.
Huh. There really are days when this place starts to feel like home.
They say leaving home is a recipe for misery... I hadn't exactly suffered out there, but I couldn't deny that the inside of this mansion felt far more comfortable. Maybe it was because I'd almost fully adapted to this body. It felt like coming home after a long trip.
I let that faintly unfamiliar sensation settle over my skin as we walked, and before long we were standing at the door to the mansion's study. I handed my coat to a maid who approached with a bow, then turned to Liliana.
"You should go to your room and rest. A maid will show you to the chamber you'll be staying in from now on."
"I-I'm fine, really..."
"Don't push yourself. You may have recovered, but you were injured. Don't do a thing today—just rest in your room. Understood?"
I left no room for argument. The image of my precious heroine lying wounded on the ground at the hands of those slave hunters still hadn't left my mind. Perhaps she felt the weight of that, because Liliana hesitated, then answered in a small voice.
"Nnnh... okay..."
"Good girl."
I set my hand on top of her head as she fidgeted through her reply. Liliana dipped her face slightly, and I caught sight of her ears turning red and froze.
Ah. I might have been a little too familiar there.
On the road to the capital, we'd gotten close enough to toss around light jokes. I'd been pleased to have built a good rapport with Liliana after Eustia. But thinking about it, being friendly didn't mean I should be putting my hands on her whenever I felt like it. I quietly withdrew my hand from her pale green hair.
"Ah..."
"Go get some rest, then."
"Okay. Um... what should I call you from now on?"
"Just call me Behirith."
"Yes! Lord Behirith. I'll be going on ahead, then...!"
Liliana bowed with a soft, crescent-eyed smile. I nodded to her without a word.
Once she was gone, I went into the study with Lucy and sank into a plush chair.
"Hahh."
A little of the fatigue melted away, and a sigh slipped out of me. My body felt like it was dissolving into the warmth. Come to think of it, the chair was still faintly warm, as if someone had been sitting in it only a moment ago.
Huh... that's odd.
Had someone actually been sitting here? The question crossed my mind, and I dismissed it just as quickly. A warm seat was a warm seat.
I let myself rest for a short while. Then I felt a gaze on me, and when I looked up, Lucy was watching me steadily.
"Is there something you want to say?"
"Well..."
Rarely for her, Lucy let the words trail off. She seemed to wrestle with them for a moment, then simply sat there working her mouth, as if she couldn't find a way to begin.
Huh? What is it, actually?
This was a side of her I almost never saw. The fact that she was acting like this only made me more curious.
"Tell me what's on your mind."
"The truth is... when I saw you stroking Lady Liliana's hair just now, my chest started to ache."
She hesitated, then opened her mouth the moment I asked, as she always did. Her bluntness left me without a reply. Unless she'd suddenly come down with a heart attack, that meant I'd made her jealous. While I was still searching for something to say, Lucy folded both hands against her chest and continued in that same even voice.
"It was the same at the mansion entrance. Whenever you looked at Lady Liliana, it hurt—as if something were crushing the area around my heart."
"...So that's why you made that request earlier?"
"You mean when I said I wanted to be with you tonight?"
"Ahem. Yes."
"That's correct. I said it because I wanted to be by your side instead of Lady Liliana."
Lucy nodded without a trace of shame. I looked slightly away from her and covered my mouth.
This... this is a full-on confession.
And an innocent one at that—the kind where the person saying it hasn't even recognized her own feelings. Her words pressed, warm and soft, against a corner of my chest, and my face burned. Lucy was one of the most beautiful women I'd seen since coming to this world. Sitting here receiving a confession from someone like her was enough to make anyone bashful.
At the same time, a small disappointment crept in.
So that wasn't her saying she'd come to my bedroom tonight after all...
I'd known there was nothing sexual in it, and some part of me had still been hoping. Cut down without mercy.
Right... this transmigration life of mine is rated for teens, not adults. I already knew it wasn't time yet for those dense, steamy breeding scenes. Dammit. I'd known that.
Kh...
I shut my eyes and wallowed in my own private grief. Even so, if Lucy had truly felt jealousy because of me, that was something to be glad about. It was proof that her heart was slowly mending. In the original story, nothing like this had ever happened between Lucy and Behirith. This was clearly a positive change I'd brought about. I found myself wanting to look after her properly from now on—so that she could feel happiness not only as my subordinate, but as a woman.
I gathered those thoughts, then rose from my chair and spoke.
"Get ready to go out. We're heading to the underground city of Orbit."
"Will you not rest a while longer?"
"I need to confirm that Lüdenburger properly cleaned up the Second Prince's faction. And you did say you wanted to spend the night with me."
"...Understood."
She hesitated, as if worried about me, then accepted it. I looked at that doll-like face of hers for a moment before I spoke again.
"Lucy. You don't need to go out of your way to say you want to be by my side. I'm the one who's grateful that you're always there."
"Ah..."
Her lips parted slightly at my words. Was it my imagination, or had a little more life come into her face?
"Let's go."
"Yes."
I glanced back once at Lucy as she followed, her silver hair swaying, and together we set out for the underground city.
"Ghhhkk. Goddammit...! Do you even know who I work for!?"
"Watch your mouth if you don't want to suffer something worse than death. This is someone the likes of you aren't even fit to look upon."
The top floor of Lüdenburger's brothel in Orbit. I sat on a long sofa with my legs crossed and looked down at the man he'd captured.
Vasquez—the man who led the Second Prince's faction here in Orbit. Before coming to the underground city, he had been a knight who pledged his loyalty to the Second Prince; some circumstance or other had left him stationed in this place, and he was strong. His beard was a scruffy mess, but the fierceness in his eyes hadn't dulled at all as they locked onto me.
"Here you are."
"Thanks."
I took the glass from Lucy without looking away from Vasquez. Lüdenburger had prepared a bottle of Dafhausen 30 Year. I slipped the whisky past the lips hidden beneath my mask, and a masterpiece of flavor unfolded—honey, vanilla, and the subtle complexity of sherry oak, all in exquisite harmony.
Ohh, that's a nice burn.
The high-proof alcohol hit my stomach with a pleasant heat, but I didn't get drunk. My body had reached a realm where it was all but immune to every toxin. I tasted the whisky once more, then turned my attention to Vasquez.
"Do I know who you work for? Of course I do. Was it fun, playing the Second Prince's dog and swaggering around the underground city like some noble?"
"H-how do you know that?"
The anger drained from Vasquez's face, replaced by raw confusion. Lüdenburger snarled at him.
"You'd do well to quietly hand over everything related to the Second Prince. Unless you'd like pieces of your body carved off, little by little, over the next month."
The words he leveled at the bound Vasquez were genuinely frightening. Damn. This guy is terrifying.
Vasquez's expression hardened. Then, as if resigning himself, he spat the words out.
"So you're a faction at war with my lord. In that case, you already know a great deal. But I will never hand over anything important to the likes of you."
A sharp crunch—something bitten through and shattered. In the same instant, smoke flooded the room.
"You son of a bitch!"
A thunderous crash. Lüdenburger roared and slammed Vasquez's head into the floor. Even with half his face buried in the marble, Vasquez kept talking.
"Kh-heh-heh... This smoke is laced with an aphrodisiac of terrifying potency... I used my mana to flood the entire room with it in an instant. I never thought I'd have to use this now, but with this, you'll grind your hips until you wither away and die."
He forced the words out with difficulty. Something meant for elf hunts and entertaining nobles, was it? Dammit. That hardly mattered now. If I didn't want to end up the way he'd described, the toxin had to come out immediately.
"You insane piece of shit!!!"
Vasquez had inhaled the smoke directly. His hips jerked madly as he lunged, and Lüdenburger's sword came around to meet him. An arming sword wreathed in gray aura flashed. Vasquez's head hit the floor with a dull, heavy thud.
I circulated the mana in my body, forced the toxin out in a single surge, and took stock. Aside from Vasquez, there were three people in the room: myself, Lüdenburger, and Lucy. Lüdenburger and I were both of a caliber that could drive poison from the body with mana, so I wasn't worried about us.
Lucy was another matter.
"Dammit! Lucy, are you all right?"
"Ah... ahh... M-Master..."
I grabbed her shoulders in a rush and checked her face. She was in no condition at all. Her skin was flushed a deep red, as if she'd been steeped in raw arousal. Drool trickled from her lips; she clearly couldn't control her own body. Her pupils had lost their focus. She was unmistakably under the aphrodisiac's influence.
Dammit!
I didn't even have time to regret bringing her to Orbit. Lucy kept calling my name, over and over, until her legs gave out and she sank to the floor.
"Stay with me! Lucy!"
"Ahhhnn... nnhhh..."
I shook her and called her name, but nothing resembling a human answer came back. Her body was soaked in the aphrodisiac, and she had no sexual experience whatsoever—she couldn't even rub herself properly.
I pulled off my mask and shouted at Lüdenburger.
"Get an antidote, now!"
"Yes, sir!"
Lüdenburger bolted through the door. I started to turn back to Lucy—
"Mmph."
As if she'd been waiting for the two of us to be left alone, Lucy's lips crashed into mine. Her tongue tangled with mine, slick and insistent. Hot breath ghosted across my skin. Like a woman dying of thirst, she drank in my saliva, and I found myself unable to pull away, trading it back in kind.
"Nnhmm—."
A deep, lingering kiss, lips sucking and pressing. Lucy's hands found my waist as if by instinct, and I answered by sliding my hands up to cradle her head.
A wet, obscene sound filled the space between us as our lips finally parted.
After a kiss that seemed to last forever, Lucy swallowed the thread of saliva still connecting us, her face burning red. I looked down at her as she leaned against my chest, catching her breath. She pressed herself flush against me, her full breasts crushing against my body. The doll-like composure she always wore was nowhere to be found. All that remained was a female in heat, helpless against her own arousal.