Don't Look Down on Me! (1)
When she opened her eyes, what came into view was a luxurious, unfamiliar ceiling. Barely rousing her foggy mind, Emilia pushed herself up. Sunlight was already streaming brightly through the window, and she absentmindedly thought that morning must have passed long ago.
...Where... is this...?
Last night's events were still vividly etched in Emilia's memory. The succubus Mona. Melrn Count. The spell. The Lewd Curse. And... her first time.
"......"
A surge of frustration welled up, but it wasn't as intense as yesterday. It was probably because she was still half-asleep, and her strong will as a hero was holding her emotions in check, preventing her mind from unraveling like this. She could willfully harbor intense anger, hatred, and murderous intent, but she also possessed the strength to consciously regulate and suppress pointless emotional tremors when her judgment began to cloud or meaningless fluctuations tried to take hold...
Emilia had that kind of resolve.
In any case, she needed to assess the situation first. From the circumstances, she knew this was Melrn Count's mansion, but she had to quickly judge her current predicament and decide what to do next. Staying passive out of ignorance until she realized too late would lead to an irreversible state... As an adventurer who'd seen all sorts of things, that was a familiar tale to Emilia.
"You're awaaake, Liaaa~♪"
"?!"
Emilia reflexively clutched the blanket and recoiled on the bed in surprise. She nearly tumbled right off onto the floor. There had definitely been no one there. She couldn't have missed a presence right beside her.
Yet somehow, when she noticed, the succubus Mona was standing right there. Large glasses. Freckles. Plain hair braided into twin tails. And she was dressed in simple maid attire that made her seem even more unremarkable. If not for that leering, slimy smile as she looked down at Emilia, she would have seemed like just an ordinary maid not worth a second glance.
Emilia, suddenly reminded that she was naked, clutched the blanket tighter to cover herself and glared at Mona—a sharp look demanding to know what the hell she was doing. Mona murmured delightedly at the gaze.
"I waaatched over our sweet Lia sleeping the whole tiiime~ You looked just like an angel~ Hehe, even your angry pout is adorable, but sleeping so peacefully like a baby is just too cuuute~~~!"
"...Ugh! Don't look at me sleeping without permission!"
"Hehe~ But I caaan't help it~ I'm basically a dream demon after aaaall~ Watching people sleep is my hobby and my job~."
What a rotten hobby. People's dreams were beyond anyone's control, no matter how strong-willed. Peeking into them without consent was the height of perversity.
Ignoring Emilia's hostile glare, Mona casually snatched the blanket from her hands. Emilia's stunning nude body was laid bare, not a thread covering it. Sure, they were both women, so there was no need to feel embarrassed, but Emilia still felt a strange shame and humiliation as she huddled and covered herself with her arms. She shot Mona a resentful look.
Her lovely bare skin was sticky with remnants of last night's acts—dried bodily fluids clinging like stains. She even felt a slight oddness in her privates, in that adorable slit between her thighs.
"Hehe, let's get along, you and meee~ I don't have many servants or slaves~ But I don't have many pretty girlfriends like Liaaa~."
"...I'm never becoming friends with you. I don't want to be friends with someone like you."
"Aww, don't say thaaat~."
Despite Emilia's cold rejection, Mona kept smiling cheerfully. Every time she twisted her body in a tantrum or struck a meaningless pose, her ample breasts—too voluptuous to be fully contained by that plain maid outfit—jiggled with an assertiveness that flustered Emilia.
Though their conversation had reached some conclusion, there were zero practical gains. Mona showed no intention of explaining the details Emilia was curious about. She just said something like, 『Girls gotta mind their appearance~』 and forcibly dragged her somewhere.
That somewhere was the bathroom attached to the room where Emilia had slept. A lavish bathroom. In the center of the space—which seemed far larger than the one back at Edenberts Mansion—Emilia cautiously slipped into the pretty tub provided there.
Splash...
"Haa... ahh..."
Indulgently warm water. Emilia sank her lithe body up to her neck and let out a sigh. Sure, using water and heating it with commonplace magic tools was less hassle than the old days of fetching and boiling it manually, but it still consumed mana—a luxury not every household could enjoy casually.
The scent... it's nice...
But it's a smell I've never encountered before... This incense too, it's unfamiliar...
While savoring the herbal aroma and warmth that melted away her rigid tension, Emilia eyed the floating incense curiously and picked it up for a closer look. She wasn't an expert on herbs, but it didn't match any plant in her limited knowledge. Considering Mona called herself a demon from the succubus race, it might be a plant from the demon realm.
That thought made her wary of unknown effects, but she had no intention of getting out of the tub.
Still... something...
A slightly slimy, clinging feel... From the incense? Or the water...?
"Yoo-hoo~ How's the bath I prepared for you, Liaaa~?"
"......Stay away. Get out. Please leave."
"Aww~ Why so meeean~ Noble ladies like you always had maids attend their baths, right~?"
Mona burst into the bathroom with a bouncy whoosh of air as Emilia soaked in the tub. Of course, back at Edenberts Mansion, Emilia had bathed with maid assistance too, so she didn't mind maids in general. But just being in the same space as this Mona? Unbearable.
Until now, Emilia had reserved her singular hatred for "that man" etched in her memories—Melrn Count. But after last night, Mona had risen to equal loathing. An ally of her enemy, after all. With that vulgar speech and behavior, there was no way Emilia could like her.
"Aww~ Bathing alone is boooring~ Let me help wash youuu!"
"......You're a demon, aren't you? So why are you trying to play maid?"
"Hmm? It's not like I'd do it for just anyone~ I wanna do it for Liaaa~!"
Mona said it with pure, unclouded cheer.
"And it's fuuun~! Hehehehe~!"
Fun, fun, fun. For some reason, the echo grated on Emilia's nerves. Her misfortune, this utter ruin of her life, all the schemes and plots—it felt like mere entertainment to this frivolous demon, nothing more.
"So~ Let me help you, Liaaa~ ...It'll definitely feel goood...♡"
Mona's insistence overrode Emilia's refusal. Useless anyway—the spell bound her to obey both Mona and that detestable Melrn Count. In the end, Emilia had no choice but to entrust her body to Mona while still in the tub.
Mona cleaned every inch of Emilia's body, massaged her thoroughly... and by the time Emilia noticed, she'd teased and stimulated her lewd, sensitive spots countless times, toying with her relentlessly. That was her "help" with the bath.
――After the bath.
Wearing clothes Mona had prepared—just like with the bath—Emilia was led to the dining room. In a pretty dress that fit perfectly except for being a tad short, she walked the corridor with an unsteady sway.
It had been a while since she'd worn heels, but they were low and shouldn't strain her. With her exceptional balance, she shouldn't have trouble walking in them.
The reason was simple: something was wrong with her body.
Haa... haa... haa...
Something... since a little while ago... my body's getting hot...
Her head spun like she might faint, vision blurring. She'd felt something similar last night from the Lewd Curse, but upon waking, everything had been fine. So not the same cause.
The only other suspect...
The bath...
Mona, who had attended her the whole time, groping her excessively. Maybe her touches, or the water's composition...
"Oh deaaar~? Liaaa~ You okayyy~? You look kinda rough~!"
As Emilia leaned against the wall in the corridor, panting to cool her rising heat, Mona—who'd been leading—turned with a smug face and looked down at her.
――It pissed her off. From start to finish, one to ten. Yesterday, today. This woman, that Melrn Count.
"Need a hand?" Mona reached out.
Though her head still reeled and the heat lingered, Emilia coldly slapped the hand away and lifted her chin.
This much dizziness was nothing to be troubled by. Just this much. No problem at all.
"......Trash."
With her delicate brows furrowed, Emilia muttered that at Mona before her—and at the man somewhere in this mansion. Then, as if nothing had happened, she strode past Mona with dignified steps.
......As if she'd yield to the likes of you... to pranks like this.
Don't... look down on me...