Chapter 214 - Not Bad
"......."
Lulu gazed up at Frey with eyes burning hot.
"Lulu?"
He quietly looked down at her as she clutched his arm preciously and nuzzled her face against it, tilting his head as he called her name.
"Haa..."
She stopped rubbing her cheek against him and let out a frail breath, her cheek still pressed to his arm.
"I love you."
Her voice was thick with tension as she said it.
"Your master—no..."
Frey's eyes widened at her words, and she grabbed his arm, yanking him forcefully toward the sofa.
"I love you."
Her eyes brimmed with longing as she whispered it once more.
"Uh, y-yeah..."
It had been quite a while since Lulu had called him something other than "Master." Probably not since all the servants had left the mansion.
"A mere pet like me dared to fall in love with my master."
"Mm."
"I'm just supposed to receive one-sided attention and love from you... but I went and made it mutual."
As Frey wore a strange expression, Lulu carefully rubbed her body against his arm, which had collapsed onto the sofa like it was falling.
"So punish me."
"What?"
She stared straight at him as she said it.
"Punish me harshly. Hit me, starve me, choke me—it doesn't matter."
"........"
"Come on, Master."
With that, Lulu squeezed her eyes shut and began to tremble faintly.
"Hmm..."
Frey stared blankly at her for a moment before a faint smile tugged at his lips, and he reached out to her.
"...Ow!"
A moment later, Lulu flinched as she took a flick to the forehead, cautiously opening her eyes.
"That's your punishment, Lulu."
Gazing at her, Frey whispered in a low voice.
"All done now? So let's get up. We need to prepare to greet our guest..."
"Master."
Rubbing her slightly stinging forehead and dazedly replaying what had just happened, Lulu asked,
"Is it... okay if I love you?"
Her expression trembled as she spoke.
"...Of course?"
Frey paused for a second at her words, then quietly nodded.
"Ah. A-ah..."
Lulu stared at him with quivering eyes.
"...K-krraaang!"
With an awkward bark, she pounced on Frey, who was leaning against the sofa.
"L-Lulu?"
".....♡"
Lick, lick, lick.
Undeterred by Frey's flustered expression, Lulu kept licking his face.
"M-Master..."
A moment later, still with her tongue out,
she began to speak slowly.
"The one who saved me... was you. You saved me. You kept me alive. You dyed me in your colors. So I'm yours. Only you can control me. Only you can dominate me."
"Uh, wait..."
"My life, my soul, my fate, my future, my very existence... it's all in your hands. I'll be your pet forever, belonging only to you."
"Mm..."
"I'll do anything. If you want me to take a curse for you, I will. Sell my soul? Done. Die? I'll go happily."
"......"
"I don't care how evil you are. Tell me to kill, and I'll kill. Torture? I'll make it agonizing. Fight the Empire? I'll fight. Is the hero party a nuisance? I'll infiltrate as a spy."
Her expression was one that would have had her tail wagging furiously side to side if she had one, as she whispered,
"Just as you swore to me, no matter what happens... I'll be your pet forever."
After her long declaration,
"...Haha."
".....!"
Frey's awkward smile made her tremble all over as she gazed at him, then whisper in a low voice,
"Master, I'm sorry..."
"Huh?"
And then, her Demon Eyes began to glow.
"Pet me... just a little more...! Lately, you haven't been petting me much...!"
Her face filled with guilt and a sense of impropriety, she whispered softly.
"".........""
And silence began to flow.
- Stroke, stroke...
As Frey frowned slightly and began petting her, Lulu tilted her head.
"Huh? What's this?"
She muttered in a small voice.
"...Why doesn't it hurt?"
The excruciating pain that always came when she used her Demon Eyes—the one Frey had deliberately never explained to her precisely—was, for some reason, absent.
"Th-this is weird...?"
Flustered, Lulu grabbed Frey and whispered,
"L-like me."
"Yeah."
But her eyes didn't hurt.
"L-love me."
"Sure."
Still no pain.
"Love me... as I am... truly love me!"
"...Got it."
Even as her growing anxiety made her shout it, her eyes remained painless. Frey looked up at her with a roguish smile and nodded.
"Uh, u-uw..."
Suddenly, she started to sob.
"M-Master. What do I do..."
Finally, with a terrified expression,
"M-my Demon Eyes... they must be gone..."
She looked down at Frey—her rightful master—and spoke in a trembling voice.
"No... I thought they could finally help you even a little... I thought..."
"...Your Demon Eyes look fine to me?"
"Huh?"
But as Frey calmly said it, Lulu slowly lifted her head to gaze at the window.
"Ah."
Her eyes were still glowing ruby red.
"A-ah."
And only then did she realize.
The reason none of her previous commands had worked.
"A-aah..."
No matter how she thought about it, there was only one possibility.
"M-Master."
Her rightful owner, Frey, already liked her—and loved her.
Not as a pet, but as she truly was.
"........"
Realizing that, Lulu's mind went blank.
She had already become utterly his, beyond anyone's power to change.
But she'd still thought their relationship was "abnormal."
A being like her, who would grow anxious and die without love.
And the spoiled young master who couldn't give genuine love to others, forced into twisted ways of showing it.
Even that relationship had satisfied her completely.
"...Eut."
But as she looked down at Frey, Lulu's gaze suddenly changed.
Because she realized she'd been mistaken.
Frey already loved her "as she was," "genuinely."
Her final, desperate wish—one she'd yearned for since childhood, when the stigma got her chased away by her parents with cold stares.
The last obstacle that made her an ill-fated heroine in Blacktail Fantasy 2, unable to survive any route.
It had just vanished completely.
"Ughuk, uwuwu..."
"L-Lulu? Crying?"
At least in this moment,
Lulu was held in his arms not as master and pet, nor dominator and dominated—but as two beings who truly understood and loved each other as they were.
"Uwuwuwu..."
Today, she was completely saved.
"...Master."
After sobbing into his chest for a long while, Lulu
prostrated herself before him, showing her submission and desire to be dominated, and said,
"I really love you."
"Yeah."
"Really, truly, truly really..."
"I know."
"If you die, I'll die with you."
"...What?"
"I'll go in the same grave. That's what pets do. They can't live without their master. They'll pine away forever and die, so I'll be buried beside you."
Hearing that, Frey
"...No."
said sternly.
"Say that again, and I'll really punish you."
"...Eut."
Lulu flinched at his words,
then
"Ah..."
realized he was worried for her.
"......"
He was concerned about what would become of her even after his death.
"...Master."
Her thoughts reached that point, and with a sullen expression, she muttered,
"I'm really sorry."
"What? Lulu, you..."
Frey thought she was trying to refuse his words and was about to scold her sternly,
but
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Lulu just kept muttering mechanically, covering her face with her hands.
I'm sorry...
Peeking at Frey through her fingers—he was looking at her with genuine concern—
I don't know why, but...
Lulu thought to herself,
Master doesn't feel like my master anymore...
Her face had turned bright red before she knew it.
Now you look like... a man to me...
After hiding her flushed face in her hands for a long while,
"Dominate me."
Her Demon Eyes glowed faintly as she whispered softly,
"Control me. Possess me completely."
Feeling the sinful thrill of giving an order to her owner,
"...Hold me."
She whispered without thinking.
- Rustle...
Frey carefully, gently embraced her.
"Eut, uwut..."
Held in his arms, Lulu felt the soft, warm sensation and thought to herself,
Ah, no...
Frey wanted her as a "pet."
And she too found joy and pride in being raised as his pet.
The thought of being treated that way forever filled her with immense joy.
But what was she saying now?
A pet's line toward its master should end at "love."
She mustn't wish for more.
Wishing for more could shatter their relationship.
And that meant...
"Uwut..."
Lulu's body began to heat up.
Why was this happening so suddenly?
A new emotion she'd never felt in her life was starting to dominate her.
- Stroke, stroke...
In that moment, Frey was simply "holding" her, as she'd asked.
Of course, even that was overwhelmingly gracious and joyful.
I'm sorry... Master.
But now, Lulu had become a bad girl.
A thankless wretch who dared want more than love from the master who saved her and completely dominated her.
"M-me, m-me...!"
Feeling guilt, sin, and trembling as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to say something to Frey—who was smiling as he held her—
- BOOM!!!
"Hik...!"
A sudden explosion outside made her jump up in terror.
"...What was that?"
Frey's eyes sharpened at the same time.
"St-stay there! It's dangerous!"
Worried Frey might be in peril, Lulu hid him under the sofa,
"What... the hell..."
felt her inexplicably heated body cool rapidly, fixed him with a cold glare using her Demon Eyes, and
"...Grrr."
growled as she stepped toward the slightly open window.
. . . . . .
Meanwhile, at that moment.
"H-hik!"
Rosewin, who had been hiding in the bushes quietly watching the mansion, leaped up in shock from the magic that struck her.
"N-no way..."
Realizing her hair was a mess and her clothes ruined, she paled as she recalled who often cast this spell on her.
"What are you doing there...?"
"......!!!"
As expected, Serena approached, and Rosewin froze, unable to even think of fleeing.
"Hmph..."
Serena looked her up and down.
"Heard you got dragged off by security last time for questioning? Something about trying to give him flowers..."
She whispered with an irritated expression.
"...Could you stop hitting on other people's fiancés?"
Hearing that, Rosewin started sniffling without realizing it.
"N-no, that's not... it's weird..."
"Hm?"
"Frey... he liked m-me..."
She'd been desperately convincing herself that Lulu's actions were forced by Frey's orders.
But witnessing their genuine affection just now had thrown her into panic.
"Why? What's wrong? This is weird... I don't get it..."
She tried to dodge the obvious conclusion, searching for another answer as always, but
"Exactly..."
Lulu appeared from the open window, glaring coldly at her as she whispered,
"...Why didn't you behave when you had the chance?"
"......!"
Rosewin froze on the spot.
"Ah."
And a moment later,
"Uwaaa..."
She bowed her head, sweating coldly, and bolted across the yard.
"......."
Serena glanced at her,
"...You should go too."
"Y-yes!"
She chased off Aishi, who had been watching terrified from the nearby bushes,
and pondered as she watched Lulu scurrying to the entrance.
'For a lapdog, she's pretty good.'
Unlike Kania, the thieving cat who tried to steal Frey from her at every turn,
she could tolerate keeping Lulu around after marrying Frey.
Perfect as a guard dog for the house—
Serena was giving Lulu a rather favorable evaluation when
- Creeeak...
"Hey, you..."
Lulu opened the front door, and as Serena started to speak casually,
"Ha?"
she stopped and began scrutinizing her.
"...Grind."
Frey's hair, scent, and traces lingered all over Lulu's body, from every corner.
"".........""
A moment later, Serena's moonlit eyes coldly met Lulu's ruby ones.