Bloodline (8)
Soria's eyebrows trembled as she scanned the room. First, she looked at the wall by the window with a pained expression.
'That spot used to have that messy landscape painting I drew with her when we were kids...'
The painting was now lying on the floor, covered in dust. In its place hung a photograph of some black-haired pretty boy. She really didn't like it. People said black hair meant either a genius or a lunatic. At a glance, he definitely had the face of a madman. Soria muttered this while seemingly forgetting that she herself had black hair.
It looked like it had been secretly taken with a small magic camera—the quality and composition were terrible. And it wasn't the only one. They were plastered all over the room like tumors or mold, stuck everywhere. There was no doubt the young lady had put them up while missing that guy.
Still, Soria could tolerate this much. She could just think of it as the price for saving the young lady's life.
What truly shocked Soria was the object proudly displayed on the bed. It was a vibrator as thick as a child's forearm. Its purpose was painfully obvious. It looked like it had been used just moments ago.
When the maids following Soria began whispering about the masturbation device, Soria picked it up and smiled brightly.
"It's a toothpick. Young lady, why do you keep such a large toothpick?"
"A-a toothpick?"
"Um, Head Maid... I think you're refusing to accept reality and it's causing some error in your perception..."
"No, it's definitely a toothpick."
That was when the pink device began to buzz and vibrate. Soria had accidentally pressed the vibration button. Ren's face turned an even deeper shade of red. But Soria remained completely unfazed.
"Um, Head Maid. No matter how you look at it, this is a vibrating dildo..."
"It's a vibrating toothpick with a self-cleaning function."
"Her stubbornness... it's too strong...!"
"Head Maid, please face reality! This is the dildo the young lady was using!"
"No! That can't be! The young lady is a fallen angel who doesn't even use the bathroom! There's no way she would lie on her bed in broad daylight, moaning while thrusting this thing into herself because she can't get over a man!"
"W-why are you describing it in such a humiliating way! Give that back!"
Ren lunged forward to snatch the dildo, but Soria skillfully swung her arm, dodging every attempt. Then she said,
"Before that, I need an explanation. Why you've been shut up in your room for a whole month, what this device is, and what all those photos are about."
That was how they had arrived at the current situation. In the room where everyone else had left, leaving only Soria and Ren, Ren knelt down and began her explanation.
"A-after I absorbed the Succubus Queen's essence... those kinds of desires increased abnormally..."
At first, she thought it was only natural. After all, she had absorbed the queen of the succubi. She assumed it would subside quickly. But even after returning home, that boiling urge showed no signs of calming down.
With her mind and body already exhausted from the sudden disbandment of the party, resisting that intense reproductive impulse was simply too difficult for a young girl. So she had surrendered her body to sexual frenzy, like a peony bud opening to welcome the scent of spring...
"Why are you trying to make it sound so elegant? You just mean you stayed holed up in your room for a whole month masturbating, right?"
"C-could you phrase it a little more gracefully!"
"How am I supposed to phrase this gracefully!"
When she pressed the switch twice, the dildo began wriggling like a snake, thrusting back and forth. She had to admit it had quite a variety of functions. This had to be the contraband item bought from the lawless city through that secret service.
"And here I was, skipping meals out of worry for you! While you were lost in ecstasy using this horrifying thing! With that innocent, angelic face!"
Soria slapped the kneeling Ren's face with the dildo as she spoke. Ren's face crumpled as she apologized.
"S-sorry..."
Upon hearing the apology, Soria turned away coldly and shouted,
"This must be reported to the Family Head immediately!"
Ren's eyes widened at those words. She grabbed the hem of Soria's skirt and pleaded,
"I-it started after I ate the Succubus Queen's essence. I can't control it either. It hurts... this too..."
"I don't care!"
"Please don't report it... I'll really die of embarrassment..."
"Reporting the young lady's abnormalities is my duty as Head Maid! You said you adopted me precisely because you wanted a friend who would correct you without hesitation!"
Soria lightly slapped Ren's cheek again with the dildo as she clung to her. When she pressed the vibration button, the device began thrusting side to side on its own, poking Ren's soft cheek. Ren could only look teary-eyed, not daring to resist.
In the meantime, Soria's expression grew slightly dangerous.
'Huh... this is kind of fun.'
Watching Ren blush with shame, tears welling in her eyes, something tickled in her chest. Just as Soria was on the verge of awakening to a dangerous new taste, salvation arrived.
"No need to report it. I already had my suspicions."
"M-mother?"
"Family Head!"
Having heard the news, Ren's mother—the current head of the Silver Lily Hall—had arrived at the doorway, leaning against the frame. She covered her mouth with the fan she always carried.
"Come along. Your father is waiting as well. We have something important to discuss."
After delivering the message, the Family Head immediately turned and walked down the corridor. The sound of her high heels clicking against the floor echoed for a long time.
Ren hung her head low and followed like a cow being led to the slaughter.
'Seriously, what is going on? It's like I've caught some kind of disease...'
The reason she couldn't answer Jain's question right away on the day the party disbanded was because of this strange impulse. When Jain had asked, he hadn't asked if she was a virgin—he had asked if she still had her hymen.
'How could I tell the person I like that I secretly did it alone at camp and ended up losing it...'
That was why she couldn't answer immediately. Only later did she realize the urgency of the situation and confess desperately, but by then the train had already left the station halfway.
The thought that she would now have to face her parents' scolding because of that impulse made tears threaten to fall. Imagining what kind of reprimand awaited her, Ren opened the door to the heavily guarded Family Head's chamber.
"Congratulations!"
And then she was completely bewildered by the completely unexpected reaction. A cake had been prepared in the room, and her father was even setting off some kind of firecrackers.
"Our daughter has finally taken her first steps toward becoming the head of the Silver Lily Hall!"
"H-huh?"
"To madly love one man—that is the condition for becoming the head of the Silver Lily Hall."
Her mother covered her mouth elegantly with her fan as she spoke. But Ren's mind still hadn't fully processed the situation.
As Ren sat down with a dazed expression, her mother asked solemnly,
"I want to hear from your own mouth exactly what happened in the hero's party. Tell us everything."
Ren had no right to refuse. She began to stammer out everything that had happened. The only part the Family Head was hearing for the first time was what occurred during the raid on the Succubus Queen's fortress. The rest of the information had already been obtained by the Silver Lily Squad, but the events of that day were known only to the two of them.
When she finished telling the whole story, the Family Head and her father looked at each other in admiration.
"I may need to reevaluate the Warlock class. People call it a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none, but if a genius chooses to become a Warlock, their achievements might reach near-divine levels. That fellow is truly remarkable."
"He must know about it, then. The secret of the Silver Lily Hall. How on earth did he find out? It's a fact passed down in absolute secrecy even within the family..."
"Hmm. If he didn't know, he wouldn't have come up with the method of feeding her the Succubus Queen's essence to cure her severed veins. So, what will you do?"
"About what?"
"Wasn't the family precept to assassinate any outsider who learns the secret by any means necessary?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Would we risk the destruction of our house? Besides, with luck, he might not remain an outsider. He could become our son-in-law."
In the midst of their quiet conversation, only Ren was left out. Noticing this belatedly, the Family Head and her father scratched their heads awkwardly and said,
"Ah, yes. It's about time we told our daughter as well. The secret of our family."
"What... secret?"
"You know the legend, don't you? That a noble being who joined the hero's party and shared the purest love with the hero founded our family."
"Yes. And it's one of my favorite stories. I've always wanted to become like our ancestor, so I admired her and decided to join the hero's party."
"The true identity of that noble being is..."
When her father hesitated, scratching his head, the Family Head said bluntly,
"The Succubus Queen."
"Pardon?"
"A peculiar Succubus Queen who betrayed the Demon King's army and sided with humanity for the sake of love. That is the true identity of the noble blood flowing through our veins."
"Ah!"
Upon hearing those words, something suddenly made sense. In the ruined fortress, every door protected by the highest-grade magic had opened at her mere touch. If the condition for dispelling that magic was 'contact with someone possessing the blood of the Succubus Queen,' then it all fit.
Thinking back, the Succubus Queen that Jain had captured was also silver-haired. Just like her. If all Succubus Queens had silver hair, that would explain it too.
"I will tell you the full truth of our family."
As Ren trembled in shock at this sudden revelation about her birth, the Family Head continued speaking indifferently.
"Long ago, there was a peculiar Succubus Queen. And that Succubus Queen..."
"...longed for pure love."
The Family Head said it in a calm voice.