Hyde, Subjected to All Manner of Temptations! #2
Milione Archibold hated hypocrites.
She especially despised people who played the saint to your face while committing unspeakable acts behind your back.
Better a villain. At least they're the same front and back.
That was precisely why Milione Archibold loathed the monk Hyde with such intensity.
Monk Hyde — this man opened his mouth only to speak what was right, and he tried to live by every word of it.
There's no way someone that good actually exists in this world, right?
To Milione, human beings were not to be trusted.
Everyone had a filthy side, and she was certain that clean-faced types like Hyde who put on such a spotless front must be hiding something even filthier beneath that thick-skinned mask of theirs.
Come on, then. Show me that dirty, ugly face of yours.
Bounce—.
Milione Archibold bared her chest toward Hyde. As her naked skin met the air inside the carriage, goosebumps rose across her flesh and she felt her nipples harden.
Well? How about that? You can't take your eyes off them, can you?
Milione Archibold.
This was the second time she had bared her skin to a man.
The first had been Hyde possessed by Rust, and the second was Hyde again.
Frankly, Milione hated exposing her chest in front of the likes of Hyde.
But her desire to tear off Hyde's mask and turn him into a laughingstock for everyone was every bit as strong.
She wanted to smash that hypocritical facade of his to pieces.
My breasts are a lewd F-cup. The Gwichukdo says F-cups are traps that pull a man's eyes right in. Hyde, there's no way a guy like you can look away.
If he reached for her chest, or if he couldn't resist the temptation and came at her, she would twist his hand until it broke and laugh her fill.
And that means I win the bet with Rust, too. I want to know the face behind that mask. Rust — that man is the only real man among men I acknowledge.
Milione.
Just thinking of Rust made her heart pound and a tingle run through her lower belly.
It felt almost as if they had already had sex.
So come on, then. Jump me. I'll twist you right up.
Milione sneered at Hyde inwardly.
But something strange happened.
Hyde did not so much as glance at Milione's breasts.
What's more, his lower half was completely still — not so much as a twitch.
Is this bastard a eunuch? Or am I just not attractive? Or… does he really love only Psyche so much that he won't even look at another woman?
And that wasn't all.
Hyde said, "My lady, you'll catch a cold," and even took off his own robe to drape it over Milione Archibold's shoulders.
He takes off his clothes for a woman who's bare-chested and trying to seduce him? What kind of guy is this?
Milione felt her values being shaken.
Of course, the prideful Milione would never admit it.
There's no way a saint like that exists in this world! Hyde, you bastard. I'll strip that face of yours bare! Let's see how long you can keep your hands off me!
The moment he laid a hand on her, she would twist his neck.
Milione swore it to herself.
"My throat's dry, so the milk tastes good."
Gulp, gulp—.
Milione drank milk from a leather waterskin, letting nearly half of it spill down her neck and into the valley of her chest.
What a messy girl.
What an idiot.
"Hyde, massage my feet a little."
Swish—.
Milione now stretched her feet out toward me, sitting in front of her. Her outstretched legs were white and smooth.
Of course I said coldly, "Remove those filthy feet."
Milione flared up at once.
"You're saying my feet are dirty? I bathe three times a day — morning, noon, and night! The dirty one is your heart, Hyde! That stinking, rotten inner self of yours!"
Milione was itching to devour me.
Why on earth was she doing this?
Did she really think a devout man like me would let his gaze be stolen by Milione's white soles, her slender ankles, the elegant curves of her calves, her firm thighs, or the undergarments visible between them?
Did she think I would so much as glance even once at the white freckle smaller than a pinky nail deep on the inside of her thigh?
Not a chance!
I was a devout man.
I would not carelessly ogle a woman's body.
And if my hand so much as brushed her by accident, she would throw a fit — "Hyde, you beastly bastard! How dare you touch my body when we aren't even married yet!" — and might well break my hand.
Milione — Las — would absolutely do that.
Did she think I'd fall for such an obvious trap?
Still—
Having Milione keep trying to seduce me like this was extremely annoying. And truly heartbreaking.
"Lady Milione. Women who have been violated sometimes give up on themselves, thinking they are already defiled, and treat their bodies carelessly."
"What?"
"Please cherish your body. Even if you were violated by Rust, Lady Milione is a noble person, born to be loved."
In truth, the claim of being violated was a lie.
Milione, you're a virgin.
What virgin goes around carelessly showing and offering her body to a man?
Especially the daughter of an archbishop, no less.
It seemed Archibold was outstanding as a priest and theologian but a disaster as a father.
My evaluation of Archbishop Archibold dropped by about two points.
"I've lost interest. You're a really boring, dull man."
Hmph—!
Milione snorted and finally turned her head completely toward the carriage window.
I felt quite pleased that she had stopped bothering me.
Time passed in that mood until evening.
Oldman, the bronze-badge veteran knight who had been escorting Milione from Fierenzo, spoke.
"Lady Milli, the Dark Forest ahead is said to be a place where the witches of Walpurgis appear. We should stop here for now and make camp."
"Do that."
The old knight Oldman was a man with a white beard grown long like the legendary Guan Yu. His skill looked solid, and his character was refined in keeping with his age — a knight who rather suited my tastes.
Following his suggestion, we chose to camp before entering the Dark Forest.
Whoosh—.
The crackling flames.
Servants cooking with ingredients prepared by the Agarpes.
Watching those flames, I asked Milione,
"Do you truly intend to marry?"
"What about it."
"Didn't you mock Psyche and me for fretting over marriage when we'd known each other less than a month? But Lady Milione and I have known each other less than a week."
Could she marry a man she'd known for a week—
That was what I was asking.
The penalty of two hundred gold that Archibold had demanded from Agarpe.
Now that Selim's chest had been found, Agarpe had the means to pay it, which meant I didn't necessarily have to marry into the Archibold family.
"That's what it means to be an archbishop's daughter. If he says marry, you marry. If he says don't, you don't. Do you think I can defy someone as great as my father?"
So that was how it was.
I thought I understood why Milione hated her father, Archibold.
It was fairly common for PKs — pastors' kids — to hate their own fathers.
"So Lady Milione's anger at the world comes from dissatisfaction with her father. Do you hate Archbishop Archibold? Because he's a hypocrite?"
A faithful pastor and a respected father.
Not many people could fulfill both roles perfectly.
So pastors' children sometimes went astray from the dissonance of thinking, When Dad stands in the pulpit he spouts all these righteous words so smoothly, so why is he such a mess at home?
I'd seen plenty of that.
Milione Archibold seemed exactly like that.
"What do you know to be running your mouth? Shut it."
But Milione snapped at me.
And this anger seemed to be the only genuine feeling Milione had shown me all day.
Las.
Come to think of it, I knew nothing about you and never even tried to learn.
Poor thing.
Looking at her now, she was a pitiful girl.
A little lamb I ought to guide onto the right path.
"Tsk—."
Of course Milione clicked her tongue.
Maybe I should treat her well starting tomorrow.
Night.
I was asleep when I felt someone pressing down on my throat.
Startled, I opened my eyes to find Milione, who had snuck into my tent, strangling me.
What the fuck is this—
"I'm going to use your life to summon Rust. Rust, possess this body again. You possessed him when I tried to kill this man before, didn't you? Hurry! Possess him again!"
You crazy bitch!
If this kept up, I was going to die.
I modulated my voice and opened my mouth.
"Milione, your impious heart has caused me to enter this man's body."
"Rust!"
Milione looked truly delighted.
Had she smiled this brightly even once all day?
"Why have you called me? The time I can descend into this body is only about one minute a day. So get to the point, you cunt."
"Cunt, huh—. Now that's a chilling insult. But it's not enough. If you were the real Rust, you would have squeezed my breasts the moment you saw me."
Suspicion flickered in Milione's eyes.
What would the real Rust have done?
Rust was a man who did things the devout monk Hyde would never do. Indeed, if he saw a woman with such lewd F-cups, grabbing her breasts first would be the proper sequence.
"You dare doubt this body of Rust, you slutty bitch!!!!"
I reached out and squeezed Milione's breasts hard. The plump flesh that sank under my hands made blood rush to my lower half.
But that wasn't enough.
"You dare summon me in the middle of the night?"
I flipped up Lady Milione's skirt right then and there.
Milione screamed "Kyaah!" as if truly flustered.
Looking at her now, Milione had a very prominently jutting rear.
"Ah… not my butt…!"
Milione tried to pull her skirt hem down to cover her rear, and seeing that 'shame' only excited me further.
"Milione, now that I look at you, you've got quite the lewd duck butt! Just walking around, that ass of yours would wiggle left and right, and every man who saw it would get hard!"
"Th-that's—"
I slapped her rear hard with my palm.
Slap, slap—.
Her buttocks flushed red.
"Augh! Kya!"
My hand hurt more, but it still felt like the frustration of dealing with Milione all day was being released.
"Do you believe I am myself now, you foolish wench!"
"I… believe you…! You're the real deal, Rust! For a person to possess another person's body — that's truly amazing. Only the all-powerful you could make something like this possible."
This is insane.
Soon Milione said,
"Rust, I called you because of that man Hyde. This hypocrite's mask won't come off. Rust, if you're all-powerful, you must know that man's weakness too, right?"
As if the perfect man Hyde would have a weakness.
But this was a good opportunity for me.
"Hyde — this man's weakness is that his heart melts at the smile of a pure and utterly chaste woman. Milione, if you want to corrupt this man, play the part of a pure woman."
"Like that Psyche?"
Milione becoming as kind as Psyche?
My, that would be a wonderful thing.
"Yes, a pure woman like Psyche is this man Hyde's weakness."
"Alright, I'll try acting it out. I'm confident at acting. Hyde, let's see who wins — you or me. You idiot. You're destined to lose to my temptation."
So said Milione, getting fired up.
Her face was remarkably bright and full of enthusiasm.
The next day.
When I woke in the morning, I was startled.
"Lord Hyde, morning has come. Please wake up."
Someone was waking me with a very soft voice.
When I came to my senses, a very demure Milione was looking at me.
"Lord Hyde, the morning air is quite lovely. Won't you go for a walk with me? The birds are singing and the flowers are blooming — it's so very beautiful."
Who is this?
It was truly astonishing.
Milione had been completely version-upgraded to match the phrase 'the archbishop's precious jewel'!
And I felt like I had figured out how to handle Milione!