Maid Chief Hilde, A Fleeting Peace (2)
Clink... clack...
"My love, how was your time with Hilde? I told her to take good care of you. Was anything uncomfortable? Any problems? Anything annoying? Anything lacking?"
"Right now, you're the most annoying and uncomfortable thing."
Emilia cut into the veal steak in front of her with precise movements, her words clipped and sharp. She'd finally gotten to move her body after so long, and it had put her in a good mood for once. But the moment she laid eyes on Count Melrn's face, it all came crashing down.
Her heart was now a pitch-black void, clouded over. Die, you pervert. Die, you trash.
"Ahh, so beautiful... that furrowed brow, that pert little nose... haaa... so lovely... so lovely..."
Count Melrn took the piece of steak Emilia offered him on her fork, then speared a tomato with his own and fed it to her. She had no choice but to accept it, humiliation burning in her chest.
Even as they ate, Count Melrn groped Emilia's body, cradled in his lap, savoring every curve. The dress had deliberate slits that seemed designed for this—his hand slipped through one, kneading her developing feminine flesh...
...Something... feels rougher than before...
She couldn't pinpoint why, but from the moment she'd first seen him today—and especially just now—he felt different from usual. Maybe it was just her imagination. Or maybe not.
"Ahh, Emilia... Emilia...!"
As she pondered this during their meal, Count Melrn suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace and buried his face in the nape of her neck. What the hell? Had he eaten something bad? Was that why he hadn't come this morning—stomach trouble?
"G-Gross! Get off!"
His breath on her nape was unnaturally hot, sending chills down her spine. And in that moment, she realized something new: until now—up until last night—he'd been touching her with surprisingly gentle hands, considerate even.
Squeeze...!
"...Ugh...!"
It hurt. As the hero, Emilia's body was stronger than a normal person's. But without mana reinforcement, she was just a bit healthier and tougher than average. She could probably take an adult man barehanded, but...
Right now, Count Melrn's arms crushed around her, his grip on her shoulders painful, squeezing her with brutal strength.
"It... hurts...!"
"Haa... haaa..."
She tried to pry his hands off, but they wouldn't budge. Mana... she couldn't use it. His fingertips dug into her shoulders like claws, and his embrace grew tighter by the second.
As she squirmed against the force, a sharp pain stabbed her nape.
"N-Ngh?!"
Chomp. Count Melrn had bitten into the nape of her neck.
"Emil... ia... Emilia...!"
What's wrong with this guy...? He's acting weird...?
Glancing back, Emilia caught sight of his eyes—blood-red, like crimson pools. He was clearly not normal.
The only thing that came to mind was his contract with the succubus Mona, a demonkin. Where was Mona? He was obviously off—what should she do?
Slurp— "Eek... ah, ah...!"
From the bite between her nape and shoulder, Count Melrn sucked her blood. Just a little, but she could vividly feel it being drawn out, him slurping it down like a beast.
And with it, a bizarre euphoria surged through her.
——Vampires who bite...
She recalled a legend about vampires, though she wasn't sure if it was true. They said a vampire sucking a young maiden's blood would excite her, plunge her into ecstasy. Or turn the victim into a familiar.
She had no idea which was right, if any.
But right now, as he bit her nape and drank, an inexplicable thrill dominated her.
"Ah... aah...!!"
Until now, no matter how Mona remade her body or Count Melrn defiled her... she'd never lost herself. She'd never forgotten who she was, that she was the hero, that he was her hated enemy.
But now... as his bite tightened, as he drew more blood sip by sip, she felt her sense of self fading. It terrified her, this fear gnawing at her core.
Her identity as Emilia was being pushed aside. Her body hijacked by this inexplicable arousal...
"Slurp... haa... Emilia... Emilia...!"
"......"
"Ahh, my love. My precious love..."
Finally, Count Melrn released her nape. But he hadn't shaken off whatever possessed him—his eyes still glowed red, and he exhaled a clearly inhuman breath across her nape and cheek.
...My head... feels... weird...
What... is this...?
His breath made her shudder, dragging her deeper into the strange arousal and ecstasy overtaking her mind and body. Her vision blurred, her thoughts melting into sticky sludge...
"Emilia... Emiiiiiliaaaahhh...!!"
Crack. Count Melrn's mouth gaped unnaturally wide—not human at all—as he lunged to bite her nape again.
——This is dangerous.
——If he drinks more now, there's no turning back.
Her instincts screamed it, but Emilia—limp as a doll in his arms, her head lolling, dazed—couldn't dodge.
His breath drew closer. His teeth poised to sink into her soft skin.
Ah... no... this is... dangerous...
"Master, please calm down a little. You'll lose someone precious at this rate."
In that unknowable but undeniably perilous moment, a slender arm wedged between Emilia's shoulder—about to be bitten—and Count Melrn's gaping maw, his fangs sharpened to razor points.
The soft, supple arm was bitten hard, like a gag in his savage jaws. Yet it neither pushed him away nor offered her own flesh in sacrifice.
The arm between them belonged to Hilde, the maid chief who'd been attending their meal from the side.
* * *
"Ah... haa... wh-what...?"
"Lady Emilia, please pull yourself together a bit. You wouldn't want to look unseemly."
"Uh...?"
Her mind was a sticky whirl, her vision hazy. Hilde's sharp words snapped her back to some clarity.
Ugh... ugh... huff... huff!
Right behind her, Count Melrn gnawed on Hilde's slender, feminine arm, snorting like a steaming beast. His handsome face now radiated feral savagery, chilling her to the bone.
"No need to be so alarmed. After rituals, yin energy floods his body, causing these outbursts now and then. Oh, it's fine—even if you don't understand yet, Lady Emilia. You can learn slowly."
Hilde spoke calmly, her voice steady even as her arm was gnawed. No—strangely, as she gazed at the bite, she seemed faintly pleased. A blush tinged her cheeks, her lips curving ever so slightly... like a mother watching a mischievous child.
"Lady Emilia, Lady Emilia—snap out of it."
"Ah..."
"To calm things down now, it seems you'll need to step in, Lady Emilia."
Me...?
To her puzzled look, Hilde gave simple instructions: serve Count Melrn, comfort him, relieve him. She explained how, but Emilia had no reason to obey. Forget that Hilde was just a maid—why would she do anything for her enemy?
...She shouldn't have...
...Huh...?
But when she came to, Emilia was on her knees under the table—Hilde shielding above—curling up as she tugged down Count Melrn's trousers with her own hands.
Not because of the Spell of Submission, but purely of her own will.
Ah, right. Yes. Ever since he'd bitten her neck and drunk her blood, this relentless, swirling euphoria had been driving her...
"Ah......!"
His trousers down, a dark-red thing—familiar yet grotesque—sprang free. The meat rod, engorged beyond limits, looked more vicious than ever...
Gulp.
Facing it, Emilia swallowed thickly. Her heart pounded like she'd just finished an intense duel.
She didn't know it, but the yin pattern beneath her dress glowed wickedly, fanning her arousal, infusing her body with heat...