The True Identity
"Hmmm..."
Serena, stepping through the front door, fixed Lulu with a chilling glare.
"......"
Not backing down from Serena's icy stare, Lulu met it head-on. Their staring contest dragged on long after the front door swung shut.
"Hello..."
In the midst of that suffocating tension, Lulu was the first to bow her head.
"...Master's fiancée."
But her voice carried a sharper edge than usual.
"It's an honor to meet the fiancée of the master I serve."
"Hah."
Serena smirked, lifting the corner of her mouth as she eyed her.
"...So even your politeness is just loyalty to your master, is it?"
"....."
"You're amusing."
With that, she veiled her mouth with her fan and took a light step closer to Lulu.
"Thank you for the compliment."
"...Hah."
Serena shot a piercing glance at Lulu, who bowed her head once more in response.
"But amusing might not end well for you."
"Pardon?"
Serena whispered in a low voice.
"Would you like to know what happened to the people I found amusing...?"
She exuded an aura that would make most people's legs buckle.
"If you don't, then be boring in front of me from now on."
"....."
"No more wordplay I can see right through, no more half-baked staring contests... Just be plain. I might tolerate you to some degree then."
Lulu flinched slightly at her words, and Serena continued whispering softly.
"I don't know what you think, but this is mercy on my part. I'm the fiancée, and you're the pet. The hierarchy is clear."
With that final nail, Serena drove her point home.
"So decide whether you'll be tamed... or chased out into the yard..."
"...Serena, what are you doing?"
"Eek!"
But at that moment, Frey's irritated voice cut in from behind, where he'd been waiting impatiently.
"...Hehe."
Her eyes, which had been avoiding Frey, suddenly locked onto him, and her expression melted into a goofy grin in an instant.
"Frey... ehehehe..."
Whatever had her so delighted, she forgot all about disciplining Lulu and eagerly drank in the sight of Frey beyond her.
"Move."
"Eep."
She shoved Lulu aside and scampered toward Frey.
"Hug me..."
But just as she was about to throw herself into his arms, Frey stepped back with a cold expression.
"What's with you?"
He stared at her sternly.
"Master."
Meanwhile, Lulu sidled quietly up to Frey's side.
"...Lick."
She glanced timidly at Serena, then boldly lapped at his face.
"Slurp..."
Usually, to show her loyalty and submission, she'd give Frey a quick, neat lick.
But today, for some reason, her tongue lingered, slathering every corner of his face with long, sticky strokes.
Schlick, shlick...
A moment later, she swallowed the long strand of saliva dangling from his face, closed her eyes blissfully, and began rubbing her cheek against his with a melting expression.
"Then I'll... be going."
She stole a quick glance at Serena, then scurried up to the second floor.
".........."
Silence hung between the two for a moment.
"F-Frey..."
Serena timidly broke the quiet.
"I-I can lick well too."
"......"
"For real. I studied 101 Ways to Satisfy a Man... N-no, anyway, I worked hard at it. Really..."
With that, she edged nervously toward Frey.
"Ah, u-ugh..."
But as soon as she reached him, she started sweating profusely and hesitating.
It was the classic pattern of a bookworm who'd only learned romance and intimacy from texts—enthusiasm without experience.
"......."
But sensing a threat from Lulu's lingering traces of Frey's touch deep in her body and the skilled affection she'd just witnessed, Serena steeled herself.
"E-ebe..."
She squeezed her eyes shut, stuck out her saliva-slick tongue, grabbed Frey's shoulder with trembling hands, and cautiously leaned in.
"L-lick."
A moment later, Serena's tongue touched Frey's cheek.
"...Ah."
Instead of the salty or rough texture she'd expected, it was soft and tender, drawing an unwitting dazed sound from her.
"Lick, lick."
She quietly lapped at his cheek with the tip of her tongue, stealing glances at him.
"...Dirty."
"U-uu..."
Frey, inwardly finding her adorable, let it go for a while before swallowing his reluctance and glaring at her.
Swipe, swipe.
Serena rubbed her soft cheek against his, sniffling like Lulu had.
"I-I can do this too..."
"....."
"I can be a d-dog too. If you don't like fiancée, I'll be your dog."
"Hah."
"He... Woof!"
Frey eyed her steadily and muttered.
"One pet is enough with Lulu."
At that, Serena froze, her squishy cheek still pressed to his, staring at him intently.
"Th-then I'm still your fiancée, right? Right?"
"That's..."
"I l-love you, Frey. I really, really like you."
Out of nowhere, she buried her face in his chest.
"...But what were you doing with Professor Isolet?"
"What?"
Her voice suddenly dropped.
"Your scent all over... smells like more than just a pet."
To her, who remembered Frey's fragrance down to the tiniest detail.
Isolet's unique body odor, her favorite perfume, and the saliva near his knee were all too clear.
"Pardon?"
It was enough to irk one of the few heroines whose kindness stat was below zero.
"Whatever I do or with whom, it's none of your business."
Frey faltered briefly at her visibly chilling demeanor, then replied coldly.
"Uwaaa..."
He pried her off his chest, and she flailed her arms as she was pushed back.
"Hah."
Frey nearly chuckled despite himself, quickly turning his head and sighing. Serena bowed her head, thoroughly cowed.
"...Hah."
Miho, who had been standing frozen in the entryway watching it all, finally spoke up.
"Human... why do you grovel only for that man?"
"Hm?"
"Thugs, high nobles, underworld bosses—no one fazes you. You even toy with the empress on the sly. So why show weakness only to him?"
Usually choppy with her imperfect imperial tongue, she now ranted at length in excitement.
"Got a weakness on him? Mind-controlled? If not, what's the reason? Tell me, human. I'm curious."
Serena answered with an obvious look.
"Because I like him."
"What did you say?"
Miho gaped in disbelief, but Serena shot Frey a fond smile and repeated it.
"Dunno, just seeing him makes my heart melt. I like him. Like-like-like."
She caught her breath, then.
"...G-gonna use the bathroom."
Staring into Frey's eyes the whole time.
"Method 67... Use scents to seduce a man... Spray the pheromone perfume I ordered from the Magic Tower... Gotta erase that spinster stink first..."
She dashed to the bathroom.
"Grrrr..."
Miho growled lowly, glaring at Frey.
"Human."
In a flash, she shoved him against the wall and hissed savagely.
"I remember everything you did to me. All of it."
"......."
"Roughing up all those slaves, twisting my neck while threatening me, commanding me to submit—I remember every bit."
Even as Frey met her gaze calmly, she ground her teeth.
Schlick...
Grabbing his collar, she brought her sharp fangs to his throat and whispered.
"I could rip your throat out. With these fangs. Right now."
"Hm."
"Not joking. If I transform, I could swallow you whole. Deliciously. No evidence left."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. If I weren't under surveillance. And if you weren't that socially inept genius. I'd gulp you down alive right now."
Of course, she'd freak at wild beast blood, let alone human flesh, and get scolded by her chieftain father—but to scare the hated man before her, Miho gave it her all.
"Don't wanna end up in my gut, do you? It'll be tight. Damp. Dark."
"Hey..."
"So if you don't want to crawl into my belly..."
Stroking her stomach, lightly nipping his throat with her fangs, drool dripping as she slurred to hammer it home—
"...Get down."
"Hap!"
Lulu's cold voice from upstairs, her Demon Eyes gleaming, made Miho drop with Frey's throat still in her mouth.
"Sp-spit it out! Spit out what's in your mouth!"
"...Ptooey."
At Lulu's flustered second command, she spat Frey out hastily.
"...Master, shall I kill her?"
Lulu raced downstairs and asked coldly, seeing his throat intact but slathered in another's saliva.
"No."
"Then make her a slave? Or prepare her to your taste..."
"H-hiiik..."
Miho, actually quite timid, began trembling.
"...Five tails?"
Frey tilted his head, inspecting her.
"In the original ending, max was four...? What's this..."
"Torture her? She dared harm Master. Show her a lesson. Shall I do it?"
Frey shook his head with a wry smile at Lulu's ruthless words.
"No, she's useful. Might even extend my life. So..."
"Pardon?"
"What?"
Noticing their reactions, Frey backpedaled quickly.
"...Anyway, she's Serena's. Don't touch."
"Master, what did you just—!"
"What's going on?"
Lulu fired up at the unbelievable remark as Serena appeared behind Frey, drenched in expensive perfume.
"...Talk later."
Frey cut off and headed to the sofa.
"......"
"Hiik."
Lulu eyed Miho with a strange glint.
".....???"
Serena, buzzing with anticipation to make Frey swoon, tilted her head blankly.
Time neared noon.
......
"Ahem, ahem!"
"......."
Serena sorted documents eagerly while Miho looked terrified in my view.
"...Grrr."
Miho bared her teeth briefly upon meeting my eyes.
"...Huh?"
"Kiiing..."
But Lulu, rubbing her cheeks against me on the floor, glared coldly, and Miho tucked her head down.
"Found it!"
Serena, wafting a dizzyingly alluring scent, handed me a sheet.
"This is...?"
Seeing it snapped my perfume-fogged brain awake; my eyes widened.
"So... what is this?"
I asked softly, and Serena replied.
"What you commissioned."
I gazed at her quietly, and for the first time in ages, she answered with a serious expression.
"The identity of the youngest Holy Knight."