Chapter 4
Chapter 4♡
Watching Eric lie on the bed with his back turned, holding his breath as though trying to make himself vanish, Erica hugged a pillow tightly to her chest and worried her lips with her teeth.
The mind she had just stolen a glimpse of through magic was far crueler, more painful, and… chillingly more obscene than she had imagined.
In truth, Erica had spent a very long time alone in deep thought.
There had once been a bastard boy, crouched like a stray dog in a rotten bundle of straw in a corner of the count’s estate.
That was where it had begun: she had wandered over to the child everyone in the world treated like filth, simply out of boredom.
She went to the detached house day after day to tease him, to torment him, to look after him in her own way, and to make him stand guard after her magic training. Time slipped by before she knew it.
And then, before she had even realized it… Erica had naturally fallen in love with Eric.
Out loud she always called him a loser and a idiot, always acted infuriatingly smug, but at the center of Erica’s world there had always been only Eric.
In that cold, barren family where even the head of the house crawled before her dazzling magical talent, Eric alone had been her one refuge.
Erica had never doubted that Eric loved her too.
Those hot, heavy eyes that sometimes looked at her could never lie!♡
But then… why won’t he even confess, let alone sleep with me?!
Erica buried her face in the pillow and flailed silently.
No matter how openly she tempted him… Eric always shoved her away with a pained expression.
Am I really that unappealing? Is he actually impotent? Or does he just have some hidden fetish?
Her mind had churned through every absurd possibility during all those days she had stewed in frustration alone.
But at last, she had uncovered the secret behind that stubborn rejection.
The mark of winter, seared deep into Eric’s soul.
An overwhelming trauma over having precious things taken away.
Stupid Eric… idiot Eric…
Moisture welled in Erica’s red eyes.
He treasured her so desperately, so fiercely, that he feared he might claim her as his own only to have the world snatch her away. He was trembling because of that fear.
When she understood the shape of that clumsy, aching love, her chest throbbed with a soft, lingering pain.
But that pain lasted only a moment.
What flashed through Erica’s mind next was the that twisted appetite coiled deep in the very bottom of Eric’s unconscious.
A grotesque ecstasy blooming where possessiveness had been abandoned.
The filthy, glittering truth inside him—Eric, feeling the greatest pleasure as he imagined himself being completely ruined by another man!
“…Aha♡”
Erica’s fair cheeks, hidden in the pillow, flushed bright red.
Embarrassment and humiliation washed over her, but a sharp thrill and a strange, playful excitement bubbled up from one corner of her heart.
The brilliant brain worthy of a genius magician began to turn at terrifying speed.
Wait a second…? Isn’t this actually a good thing…?
Erica peeped out from the pillow and studied Eric’s back with glittering red eyes.
Eric was now suffering from the fear that if he possessed something, it would be taken away.
Then what if she used that warped desire in reverse and tempted him with it?
If she gave him the “performance” he wanted—something that looked like she was being stolen or defiled by another man…?
That would safely feed the twisted hunger inside him.
And by making him believe she was firmly in the realm of the “unpossessed,” she could also plant the certainty that no matter what happened, she would never run from him or be taken away!
If that melts Eric’s trauma away little by little… then, ah, doesn’t that mean Eric and I get to start a lovey-dovey newlywed life together…?♡
At that thought, Erica clutched both cheeks with her hands.
In her head, she was already imagining Eric making her breakfast with tender care, while she nestled in his arms and cooed, “Eric, you loser swordsman♡ Hurry up and kiss me♡”
Just the thought of falling asleep every night on his solid arm as a pillow made her toes curl.
The idea was perfect. The plan was impeccable.
…But there was one extremely fatal and enormous problem left.
…I still hate other men to death!
Erica frowned and puffed out her lips.
For all the talk of a performance, she was still an innocent virgin who had never once let the fingertips of any man other than Eric touch her body.
From the start, why would a noble, arrogant first-class magician like her ever hand herself over to some black-hearted bastard who wasn’t Eric?
Just the thought of other men touching her skin, or breathing their filthy breath against her, was so disgusting she wanted to burn their limbs off with high-tier magic on the spot.
To satisfy Eric’s twisted appetite, visual and auditory stimuli of “another man” were essential, but actually going through with it was not something she would do even by a hair’s breadth.
“Besides… I’m still a virgin, you pervert loser…”
Erica twisted the blanket in her hands and blushed all by herself.
Her precious first time had to belong to Eric and only Eric.
She desperately wanted to be crushed beneath that solid body and loved until she was a glorious, beautiful wreck, but…
She had no intention whatsoever of letting some filthy other man stain her innocence.
In the end, she would need a highly advanced theatrical setup that perfectly reproduced the pleasure of being “taken away,” while in reality making her a pure woman belonging only to Eric.
How on earth am I supposed to do that…?♡
Erica’s brain cells began to race. The shameful, cute agony of a virgin magician deepened into the night.
■■■■■■■
When morning came, I fled to the inn’s dining room on the first floor.
I had no idea how I was supposed to face Erica, and cold sweat was already sliding down my cheeks.
I was prepared to get slapped in the face at any moment, or to be met with the sort of icy contempt that would make her act as though she’d never call my name again for the rest of her life.
But the Erica that appeared before me was nothing like what I had expected.
“Here’s your bread, just like you ordered.”
“Waa, that looks delicious! Thanks, ma’am!”
Erica was eating a big bite of bread slathered with jam, looking exactly as she usually did…
No—she actually looked livelier than usual.
There was no sign of last night’s tears or that look of betrayal. When she turned her head toward me, her eyes were full of bright vitality, and a mysterious, sultry smile even lingered at the corners of her mouth.
“Huh, loser? Why are you just standing there like you’ve lost your soul? Hurry up and sit down so you can eat.”
“Uh… ah, yeah.”
I sat down across from her, awkward and hesitant.
“Erica, about last night… I’m sorry. I think I lost my head a little.”
“Hm? Last night? Did something happen? Aha…♡ I don’t remember anything. Were you sleep-talking really badly or something?”
Erica gave me a sly wink and laughed it off as if it were nothing.
Her easygoing attitude loosened the knot in my chest a little.
Thank goodness. She wasn’t hurt because of me. I felt relieved beyond words that she hadn’t left me forever.
After breakfast, we left the inn.
Just as we were about to stop by the guild to check our next mission and head out of town, Erica suddenly came to a halt and tugged lightly at my sleeve.
“Oh, right. Eric. I can’t go out on missions with you for a few days starting today.”
“Huh? Why? Are you low on mana? Or are you hurt somewhere?”
Seeing my anxious questions, Erica let out an exaggerated sigh, then smiled sweetly.
“Nope, my body’s perfectly healthy. It’s just that… I got word from the main house. I have to go meet some people for that arranged-marriage thing…♡”
Thud.
It felt as though my heart had dropped straight through the floor.
“...An arranged marriage?”
“Yep! Apparently it’s a promise the families made ages ago, back when we were kids, regardless of my will. They’ve been harping on about how I absolutely have to meet him face-to-face this time.”
For a moment, my mind went blank.
Jealousy.
This vicious, cruel feeling surged hotly up my throat.
Was Erica going to become another man’s fiancée?
Was some guy I didn’t even know going to take away the one and only light in my world?
I wanted to seize Erica by the wrist and run anywhere, right this instant.
I wanted to shout that she was my woman, that I couldn’t give her to anyone. But the old trauma inside me grabbed my legs and held me still.
Don’t. Don’t covet her. The moment you try to make her yours, she’ll be taken away. Endure it.
I forced the jealousy that was about to burst out back down. Swallowing the blood that had risen all the way to my throat, I asked in as level a voice as I could manage, pretending to be calm.
“...Who’s the guy?”
“Mm, you’ll know him very well if you hear the name. He’s the eldest son of the count’s house and… Eric, your half-brother, Cayenne♡”
Cayenne.
The moment that name slipped from Erica’s red lips, the world tilted.
The Edelgard count’s family.
My biological father, and the family that treated me like trash.
And Cayenne, the legitimate eldest son of that house.
He was the very embodiment of hell, the one who had trampled and tormented my childhood to the bone.
That cruel half-brother who had laughed at me from behind bundles of straw even when my mother died, the one who had given me my deepest humiliation and despair.
Erica was going to be held in that demon’s arms.
Those merciless hands were going to rake over Erica’s white skin.
Just the vivid match of that scene flashing through my mind made my heart start hammering at an abnormal pace.
I should have been enraged.
I should have been overflowing with jealousy and hatred, on the verge of madness.
And yet… my lower body, my filthy instincts, reacted to that horrible image and began swelling with terrifying speed.
The front of my pants bulged as though it might split.
The intense fear, the jealousy, the possibility that Erica might be violated by my half-brother, that absolute sadist—those things struck exactly the warped nerve of my perverse appetite.
“...Haa. Haa!”
My breathing quickened, my face burning bright red.
Erica didn’t miss a single shred of that subtle reaction. She watched it all with delight, her crimson eyes narrowing beautifully.
Her gaze drifted lightly over my lower body, and the corners of her mouth rose in a wicked little curve.
“Loser? Why are you breathing so hard? And why is your face so red…? Could it be you’re angry? Or maybe… aroused?♡”
“Erica… stop joking around. You know exactly what kind of bastard that guy is.”
“I do. He’s got a rotten personality, acts like the whole world owes him, and he’s the man who tormented you terribly. But he’s got plenty of family power, and above all, he’s got the charm of a real man, doesn’t he? Not like some coward who runs away even when the stage is laid out for him to get fucked, like somebody I know from last night…♡”
“...Urk.”
“Maybe I should just settle down with him for good this time? Come to think of it, adventuring has started to get boring anyway. I’m an adult now, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to start enjoying life as a woman. Don’t you think?♡”
Erica tilted her head a little and pressed her lips close to my ear.
Her voice, sweet and lethal as poison, slipped into my ear.
“You know I’m still a virgin with no experience with men, right? But… I guess I’d just start learning one thing at a time from Cayenne-sama, little by little—how to use my mouth… how to use my pussy… all of it, in a complete mess…♡”
“Enough… stop it, Erica…!”
“Why? You’re curious, aren’t you? The man who takes my first time shouldn’t be some loser like you, but a strong man who knows how to handle me however he wants, roughly♡”
The tip of her tongue brushed lightly against my ear as she whispered even more intimately.
“Surrendering with your whole body to such an amazing man… hngh, that’s how you learn the pleasure of serving a man♡”
“...Ah, ngh!”
That naked, vulgar provocation shattered my reason into dust.
In my head, I was already seeing Erica being thrown onto a bed by Cayenne’s rough hands in real time.
My half-brother’s filthy smile as he mocked me and tore through Erica’s virgin barrier… and Erica’s voice writhing in pleasure.
“Hee… your mouth says stop, but your lower body is so honest. You really are a loser swordsman, aren’t you? Then I’ll go meet him properly… so stay home and wait quietly all by yourself, Eric? Ahaha…♡”
Without a shred of hesitation, she turned her back to me and walked away with light, buoyant steps.
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