Sleep Comes First
Stanashila Pitra stared at me in sheer bewilderment, her trembling eyes betraying the tempest of emotion raging within her.
"W-Why would you take my curse...? What in the world have you done?! Even stupidity should have its limits!"
Hearing her panicked cry, I let out a quiet chuckle.
"I saved your life, and that's the thanks I get? How heartbreaking, Duchess. Shouldn't a 'thank you' come first in times like these?"
"Ah, ugh... T-That's...!"
She averted her gaze in mortification. Watching her squirm, I let out a weary sigh.
"Or were you planning to use this opportunity to just die?"
"......"
When she offered no reply, I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
"Were you really? *Tsk.* No matter how devastating it is to lose a son, thinking of throwing your life away like that... I'm a little disappointed, Duchess."
"...W-What could someone like you... possibly know...?"
"Nothing at all. I don't know a single thing... But that's all the more reason you need to stand firm as the pillar of this ducal house, don't you think? Were you seriously planning to leave everything to Father?"
I pointed right at Urtega, who still stood nearby stiff as a wooden post, his expression completely blank.
"Look at him. He's standing right there, listening to every word we say, and he still looks like a statue. Does that look like a functioning human being to you? Hand the household over to Father, and he'll run it into the ground before the week is out."
"......"
Urtega shot me a sharp, displeased glare, but I merely sneered back, wearing my mockery openly on my face.
"...You're right. Indeed... I certainly can't leave things to that man..."
Her lips parted and closed several times, as if she had more to say, before a sorrowful shadow washed over her features.
"Still, do I truly have the right? When I loved my family so fiercely, yet ruined every last one of them..."
"Then who does? If not you, Duchess, who on earth could ever claim that right?"
"......"
"I understand that it's painful. But please don't give up. If for nothing else, do it for my sake. I still intend to leech off this ducal house for quite a while longer."
"...Haha..."
A faint, self-deprecating laugh finally slipped from her lips, followed by a heavy nod.
"I see. Very well. I will wait... for the day you slay the Demon God."
"Hmm. Didn't you say you wouldn't believe me?"
At my teasing remark, color rushed to her cheeks.
"T-That... From now on, I will try to believe. Even if it sounds impossible, I will do my best."
"Splendid. Oh, as it happens, I have something that might serve as proof. Take a look at this."
Coating my hand in a faint trace of divine authority, I reached into the Subspace Pouch and drew out Annus's heart along with the Demon King's Essence. My divinity and authority had degraded so severely that just withstanding the aura of death radiating from the heart took a heavy toll on me.
"...What is that?"
As an accomplished mage, she recognized their true nature instantly. Her expression froze rock-solid.
"The heart of a Demon King, and a Demon King's Essence. Proof that I brought one down."
"......"
"That's one down out of the three. All that's left are two Demon Kings and the Demon God itself. I hope these give you enough reason to trust me."
"...You are... truly incredible. Truly..."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Smirking, I stashed the items back into the pouch.
"At any rate, I'll be in your care going forward, Duchess. That's fine with you, right?"
"...Yes. I should be the one saying that, Sir Kang Han-gil."
"Kang is my surname and Han-gil is my given name. Just call me Han-gil."
"Understood. Sir Han-gil."
"Right. Oh, and separate from all that, please don't treat me as your son from now on. As I mentioned earlier, I've decided not to carry any of Alzen's guilt or responsibility anymore."
"...That's..."
She hesitated, unable to answer easily.
Well, from her perspective, it wasn't a choice she could make on a whim. After all, half of me was still technically Stanashila Aljen.
"It might be difficult right away, but I'm asking you anyway."
"......"
She clamped her mouth shut more stubbornly than ever and looked away. As expected, her obsession with family ran unimaginably deep. It was frankly astonishing that she had managed not to cross the line with a fixation that intense.
"...Well then, I'm heading in to get some rest. I'm completely drained."
"Ah, yes... Please go ahead. You worked hard."
Giving a brief nod, I patted Cecilia and Arpe on the head.
"You two go get some rest as well. Good work out there."
"A-Ah, yes, yes... You worked hard too, Sir Han-gil."
"Congratulations on achieving such a legendary feat, Sir Han-gil."
"Think I pulled that off alone? I couldn't have done it without you two."
I exchanged smiles with the girls for a moment, then staggered up the stairs toward my bedroom.
"......"
Exhaustion was one thing, but truth be told, I had been on the verge of losing my mind trying to suppress the raging lust that had been surging up inside me since earlier.
No, seriously.
The Duchess was hot as hell. The sheer destructive power of a voluptuous, mature married woman was no joke.
"...This curse is way more terrifying than I thought."
Shaking my head vigorously to clear my thoughts, I hastened my pace into my room.
"Whew..."
Sinking deep into the plush sofa, I unwrapped the Silk of Atonement binding my left arm.
"Rubias."
—Yes. I hear you. You're curious about the curse, aren't you?
"Yeah. Why are the effects on me so completely different from what happened to Pitra?"
It was mostly overshadowed by this monstrous wave of lust, but even now, annoyance and anger simmered beneath the surface. Yet there wasn't a single trace of resentment or hatred anywhere in me.
—It is difficult to pinpoint a single cause. To my eyes, there are multiple overlapping reasons.
"Multiple reasons, huh... Lay them all out."
—First, there is your own nature.
"My nature?"
—Indeed. You are a stranger possessing that body. A curse is fundamentally designed to manifest against a single, unified target.
"Is that how it works...?"
I tilted my head, not fully following.
—Second, there is me.
"You?"
—Yes. More specifically, my blessing and that left arm of yours.
"Elaborate."
—You are the consort I proclaimed in my own name, having shared a portion of this very body with you. Your status and weight of existence are by no means low. Did you truly believe a curse from an ordinary demon could so easily violate that threshold?
"I never heard that the curse you call a 'blessing' came with perks like that."
—Heh, ku-kuh. Because there was no need to explain it. Besides, the warding effect isn't all that absolute. You did, in fact, still contract the curse.
"Right. Hmm... And the third?"
—The divinity and divine authority of the Beast God Kubel within you. On top of that, you bear the status and holy light personally planted by the World Tree... Your body and soul have even reshaped themselves to accommodate that divinity and authority. As a result, the curse was severely weakened and twisted.
"Weakened and twisted, huh... Is that why my negative emotions aren't getting amplified?"
—Precisely. And even if demonic energy does accumulate in that flesh... it merely serves as prime nourishment for your demonized left arm.
"So at the very least, I don't need to worry about dropping dead?"
Considering I had braced myself for death when taking the curse in her stead, this was fantastic news. Should I call myself lucky?
—In fact, it is an outright boon. Your body now amasses demonic energy even while idling.
"Isn't that only a boon for you?"
—If it is good for me, it is good for you as well. We are fated consorts who share life and death, after all.
"...Fine, but why the hell is my libido running wild like this?"
—That would likely be the influence of the Beast God Kubel. As you know, his authority manifests the symbols and concepts of beasts as real phenomena. And when one speaks of beasts... they are renowned for their boundless virility, are they not?
"Ah... So that's how it is. Good grief..."
I lit a hand-rolled cigarette and took a deep, long drag.
"Pheeew... Then I guess there's no urgent rush to lift the curse."
—There is no need to lift it at all. Power flows into you of its own accord even when you do nothing, so why discard such a wonderful thing?
"That's your perspective. Piling up demonic energy is going to cause me all sorts of headaches..."
For all I knew, Urtega might misinterpret it and slice me in half on the spot.
"Yeah... Got it. Thanks for the explanation. I'm hanging up."
—Ah, wait! What about our date sched—!
Click!
I severed the mental link without hesitation and sank limp against the cushions, blowing out smoke.
The rampant libido was real enough, but so was the exhaustion. I didn't want to move a single muscle.
Rattle!
"Lord Han-gil...!"
Just then, the door burst open and Pashtra stumbled in, tears pooling in her eyes as she threw her entire body over mine.
As always, that outrageously voluptuous mass of soft flesh pressed flat against me. The plush, squishy impact instantly sent my already-throbbing lower half into overdrive.
"Ugh...!"
I reflexively reached out to grab a handful of her bountiful chest, but paused and frowned when I noticed the state she was in.
Scratches covered her body, and her gear hung in tattered shreds.
"What happened to you? Why do you look like this?"
"I'm so sorry... *Sniff.* I... I wasn't able to help at all..."
"...Don't tell me. Were you on the battlefield?"
"*Sniff,* yes... Just to be of some small help, I went to the front lines where Lord Urtega was commanding..."
"*Haaah*... I told you all to just stay put... Wait a second. If you were out there, don't tell me Vivian was too?"
"Well... I tried to stop her, but..."
"...Vivian didn't get hurt, did she?"
"S-She wasn't hurt badly! I protected her! B-But she did get a few tiny scratches..."
Watching her glance at me anxiously, I stroked her hair and let out a long sigh.
Come to think of it, expecting those girls to sit quietly just because I told them to was foolish from the start.
"...As long as she isn't badly injured, it's fine. I appreciate that you wanted to help me, but next time, just do what I tell you. Got it?"
"Y-Yes..."
To soothe her deflated spirits, I stroked her head, stubbed out my cigarette in the ashtray, and wrapped my arms tightly around her curvaceous body.
"Um, but, Lord Han-gil..."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Well... down there... something really big and hard is pressing against me..."
"...Things turned out that way."
Just as I gave a sheepish, bitter chuckle, Muriel appeared at the head of the couch, staring down at me with an expressionless face.
"I overheard the entire conversation, Lord Han-gil."
"...Huh?"
"In short, you are currently in a state where your sexual desires are exceedingly difficult to endure."
"Well, yeah, but..."
"In that case, you may simply use me."
Swoosh!
Shedding her garments in the blink of an eye like a cicada slipping from its shell, she stood completely naked, her eyes glittering with quiet resolve.
"K-Khmm! Lord Han-gil, humble though I am, I shall also lend my aid."
"Master-ya! Are we finally doing it? Huh? Are we?"
"Lord Han-gil! You are more than welcome to make use of my body as well!"
Before I knew it, Rebecca, Cacciola, and Latipi had surrounded me, rapidly peeling off their clothes one by one.
Thank goodness Tsarkhella wasn't in the room right now.
"Uh, wait... Hold on a second. Lust is one thing, but I'm completely wiped out right now, so doing that is a bit... Can't we just sleep first and do it after I wake up?"
I was dead serious.
When a man was genuinely drained of every drop of stamina, no matter how much lust flooded his veins, sleep took priority. I was experiencing that profound truth firsthand right this second.
My desire to do it and my desire not to do it were slamming into each other head-on, sending my brain into utter chaos.
"Hmm... I see. Admittedly, I am quite fatigued as well."
Nodding with surprising ease, Muriel scooped me up into her arms—along with Pashtra, who was still draped over my chest.
"Then we shall take our rest together."
"...I feel like that's going to make it even harder to sleep."
"You have no say in the matter, Lord Han-gil. Sleep first and do it, or do it first and sleep. Those are your only two options."
"...You do realize I'm technically your master, right...?"
"And the man who will soon become my husband."
Flump.
Muriel deposited me onto the expansive bed, wriggled into the space beside me, and wrapped her arms around my torso. Seeing that, Rebecca, Cacciola, and Latipi swiftly claimed their own territories—front, back, left, and right—leaving me instantly enveloped by soft, fragrant female warmth.
It was heaven, sure... but the suffocating pressure was no joke either.
"*Sigh*, whatever..."
Giving up halfway, I closed my eyes. Despite the raging heat pooling in my groin, a miraculous wave of drowsiness crashed over me with startling speed.
...I'm not going to have a wet dream, am I...?
Harboring that lingering dread, I succumbed to sleep without a fight.