Living as an Incubus: Chapter 5
My whole body felt frozen stiff.
At least a stone statue by the roadside would have been easier on the mind.
Broken shards of the alcohol bottle rolled across the floor with dull clinks.
After releasing the locked breath in my chest, I slowly turned my head.
Because of the tension, my neck clicked like old machinery.
"That kind of tantrum happens only once. Come here."
A voice laced with pity and rage.
I lowered my head slightly and gave the gentle man a plea for help with my eyes.
But he only shot me a silent look of disapproval, his face twisted in anger.
I had no choice but to walk over to her, step by step.
Even though I moved slowly, my whole body felt heavier than a thousand pounds.
Slap!
My head snapped to the side on its own.
Even though my cheek was stinging, I didn't feel any pain.
It was too unreal, like a dream.
"Do you know who I am?"
I didn't know.
But was knowing who this woman was really important?
If so, did I have the right to treat people like this?
"Yeah. If I didn't know, I wouldn't have acted so familiar."
"……."
"Apologize. On your knees."
The haughty noblewoman gave the cruel command with a sneer.
She was clearly the young master, and the people around her only watched her with nervous glances.
Was it my fault?
"Oh no, young miss. She's a beginner. I'll switch her right away. What are you doing? Apologize already."
"Change her just like that?! I'm keeping this one. Do I look easy to you?"
Lee Seonghyun, the gentle man, strode over and pinned my head down with his hand.
I desperately wanted to hide in a mouse hole.
After forcing my lips apart, I finally managed to speak.
"...Sorry. I'm sorry."
"What was that? I didn't hear a single word~! How do you even train someone?"
Lee Seonghyun pressed harder on my shoulder.
According to the noblewoman, it meant to kneel, but his grip didn't break my will.
Actually, kneeling wouldn't have mattered that much.
But I had no room for that kind of luxury.
"Hah. Even if you're handsome, is it okay to have such a stiff neck?!"
The brown-haired noblewoman raised her arm again.
I squeezed my eyes shut, expecting the pain.
Boom.
The door to the room swung open at that moment.
The woman entering from the corridor was far too familiar.
My head automatically turned toward her.
Her neatly arranged fiery red hair and the elegant yet revealing dress made me mistake her for someone else for a split second.
It was a seductive image, but now she looked somewhat refined and aristocratic.
"Is this really what you want to do?"
Jane smiled elegantly at the noblewoman.
It was a cold smile, enough to make one doubt whether smiling was even appropriate.
I hurriedly looked away when my eyes met hers.
"I'm truly sorry for not educating her properly. But aside from that, if you try to touch our product, we have no choice but to make her leave. That's the rule here."
The female guards who had been hiding and waiting appeared.
Seeing their bulky figures, the flustered noblewoman shouted.
"You! If you know who I am, you can't act so rudely!"
"Ehehe~. I doubt it. I know exactly who you are."
Jane, with a cold expression, curved her eyes and smiled alluringly.
But for some reason, a chill ran down my spine, raising my tension.
"How could you not know? You're not the young lady of the Ortyni Duchy, are you?"
"How..."
I thought she was just some suitable young lady from a good family.
I never imagined she was a lady of the ducal family.
"So, I recommend you behave yourself. The incident today will be overlooked as compensation for touching our product. How about it?"
"...How much did I spend here? You're ordering me around?"
"Even if the duke hears about this, what do you mean?"
"Damn it. Fine. I got it."
The brown-haired noblewoman, no, the young lady, left the room with a flushed face.
The female servants who had followed her like shadows trailed after her in a group.
Only Jane, the gentle man, me, and the guards remained in the small room.
Situations seemed to be worsening further.
The alcohol bottles and scattered trash on the table were just the icing on the cake.
After glancing at the scene in the room, Jane muttered one word.
"Clean up."
Cleaning would have been more comfortable, but when I reached for the bottle, someone grabbed my wrist and stopped me.
It was Jane.
"Not you. You."
Her white fingers pointed at the gentle man.
Without waiting for a reply, Jane looked straight at me and said.
"You, come talk to me."
"...Yes."
I stared blankly at Jane as she pulled my arm.
When I glanced at the gentle man, he was bowing his head and pretending to be clueless.
Surprisingly, I didn't feel any betrayal at all.
Even though I sensed something was going wrong, I had no choice but to follow her orders.
⁕⁕⁕
"Everyone, step back."
With a tired voice, Jane gave the command, and the guards disappeared in an instant.
Inside the small reception room, Jane and I felt the awkward silence and watched each other warily.
"Sit down."
"Yes."
I hurriedly sat on the chair prepared for me by Jane's short and stern instruction.
With my heart pounding, I waited for her to speak.
"Hah? I'm right here. Truly. I'm disappointed in the young master."
Jane sighed and gave me a cold stare.
Was it because my shirt was thin? It seemed colder now.
"……."
"Right. Can't you even do this much for me? Do you really think you're the young master? Be reasonable. Flexible. Do you even know your place?"
Her words weren't wrong.
But accepting the bitter reality was hard.
Still, this red-haired woman wouldn't understand.
"...I'm sorry."
"Hmm. Is it really that sorry? I can't say I believe you."
Jane tilted her head curiously and uncrossed her legs.
She walked over with light footsteps and lifted my chin with her white fingertip.
Because my head rose automatically, Jane's face came into view.
Under her thick eyelashes, a straight nose.
I faced a face radiating a decadent aura.
"If you keep doing things like this, there's nothing left but to treat you as an experiment subject."
"...I know."
"We can't do business that loses money, right?"
"...I'll do my best. Right? I'm sorry."
This was the worst choice.
I refused human experiments above all.
I had to endure.
Here.
As long as I could maintain contact from the outside.
I would definitely.
Return to the modern world I was in.
"Young master, stop daydreaming. Look here."
Had I really been lost in thought?
Soon, Jane's voice pulled me out of it.
"How am I supposed to prove that?"
"What?"
"That you're useful to this shop. How can I prove that?"
"...That's..."
There was no room for excuses.
How could I be so lacking in eloquence? I thought my PowerPoint presentations were decent.
"Our young master, do you perhaps not know how to speak?"
"...No, I'm sorry."
"Hmm. I'm asking because I actually want to know. Are you perhaps a virgin?"
"...What?"
Jane pressed her hand to her forehead as if tired.
But for some reason, the anger seemed to have vanished. Was it just my imagination?
"Hah. Impossible. A virgin with that face? Then everything changes."
Had I done something wrong?
Because of my virginity.
Would I not be able to go home and instead suffer in a foreign world?
My vision blurred automatically.
I was furious beyond anger.
"You, are you crying? For my sake?"
Jane tilted her head, as if she didn't understand.
The tears I was about to shed vanished.
"For now, young master, let's assume that setting. It won't last long, but a pure and innocent one sells better than a skilled one.
From what I see, that noblewoman from before seems likely to come back.
"……."
Jane's small hands rose and pulled my neck close.
Soon, her soft breathing reached my ear.
The changed atmosphere made me tense in a different direction.
"Until then, I'll have no choice but to teach you."
Our lips met right away.
I didn't know why this had happened, but I knew I couldn't make mistakes here.
"Open your mouth."
I had no choice but to obey and part my lips.
Inside our locked lips, only a sticky friction sound continued.
People usually say kisses are sweet or delicious.
But I couldn't empathize.
Because my future was at stake with this kiss.
The rough stimulation I felt for the first time made me dizzy.
Being devoured by a woman with a small and fragile body seemed more accurate.
But wasn't it too long?
An unknown scent, perhaps perfume or cosmetics, filled my nose.
And cigarette smoke.
But it somehow felt incredibly good, making my mind fuzzy.
"Haa... Haa..."
I had been holding my breath, thinking it would end soon.
But it was getting harder.
As soon as a brief gap opened, I tried to breathe again.
But a quick slap followed.
"You can't even breathe properly?"
"……."
"That's right. Breathe through your nose."
Jane's shoulders felt slender under my hands.
But she poured hot and intense kisses on me, hotter and fiercer than her red hair.
With a somewhat sensual sound, she slowly pulled her lips away.
When I opened my half-closed eyes, a string of saliva stretched from my lips.
Jane's expression after the kiss.
She had the most satisfied smile of all the faces I'd seen so far.
It felt strange, as if the raging beast from moments ago had suddenly become docile.
Regardless of the feeling, the anxious heart felt a little relieved.
"...Eh?"
Jane stroked my lip corner with her thumb.
As if wiping something away.
Then she grinned.
"Our young master, did you really not kiss before?"
"...Isn't that not allowed?"
My slightly messy red hair and the smeared red lipstick suggested she had wiped my lips from before.
My slightly widened eyes curved beautifully.
That smiling expression made me stare blankly for a moment.
"At first, you can be innocent, but later you can't. It's not just about having a good face or body here. It's different from other failing incubi."
"...Ah. I see."
Jane chuckled at my words.
"So, young master, I'll teach you. So come here every day from now on."
"……."
"Study hard and pay off your debt quickly. The way to make a woman happy."
I didn't know how to interpret this.
One thing was clear. It meant she wouldn't sell me to a rougher place.
That was a relief.
Jane looked at me and asked.
As if she needed to hear it for confirmation.
"Answer?"
"...Yes. I understand."
Did I even have a choice?
I nodded my head.
At her words that I could go, I slipped out into the corridor like I was running away.