51. Falling Petals (14)
51. Falling Blossoms (14)
-Squelch, squelch.
Slither.
At the center of the Demon King's castle.
Black River water spread, and from within it, three figures emerged onto the ground.
Among them, the Eld Lich holding a staff spoke.
"Lilith, you used me just to kidnap that girl."
"Yeah, that's right."
"Didn't you clearly say you'd help me with important work for the Demon King-nim!"
-Thud!
The Eld Lich slammed his staff violently against the ground.
But Lilith, completely ignoring this, kept her gaze fixed on Jaina while meticulously stroking her hair.
Just as the Eld Lich was about to get truly angry at this sight,
"Old man, look at this."
Lilith pointed at Jaina's neatly arranged face and spoke.
Then she naturally didn't forget to add one more remark.
"She's perfect as the Demon King-nim's bride, isn't she? I'm sure the Demon King-nim will be satisfied."
Now, while the Demon King hasn't yet resurrected.
Ertus, the Eld Lich in overall charge of the Demon King's castle.
He shifted his gaze to the human woman under Lilith's touch.
"·········."
Lilith was also, strictly speaking, an executive of the Demon Army.
Surely she wouldn't have tried to use him just for her own satisfaction.
Indeed, as Lilith said, this kidnapped human female was quite, no. Extremely attractive.
A distinct and clear appearance, with breasts, pelvis, and buttocks so voluptuous it was hard to believe they belonged to a pure human bloodline.
Almost like an elf's figure, with a succubus-like volume, yet human.
"·······If you plan to offer her as the Demon King-nim's concubine, at least remove the Crotch Tattoo."
"I know~."
Indeed, to become the Demon King-nim's concubine, a female of that caliber would be satisfying, thought Ertus.
Just as he was gathering human souls and breaking seals to attempt a resurrection to gain the Demon King-nim's recognition,
Perhaps Lilith wanted to gain recognition by offering the Demon King-nim a concubine.
Ertus acknowledged the difference between himself and Lilith.
That must be her way of trying to get into the Demon King-nim's good graces.
Thus, Ertus decided to forgive her just this once.
After all, offering that human woman as the Demon King-nim's concubine, as Lilith said, would certainly be helpful.
Of course, that's assuming Lilith has properly performed the submission training on her.
####
"·····Ugh."
My head throbbed as if it would split.
What just happened.
I held my splitting head·····,
held my head·····.
I need to hold my head·····?
-Clink, clatter!
For some reason, my wrists were chained to the wall with iron chains.
Naturally, the other wrist was the same.
At least my legs weren't bound, but the problem was my arms were tied too high, preventing me from getting up.
Well, even if I did get up, the chains were pulled so taut my arms would hurt, so I couldn't do anything anyway.
"Hm? You're awake?"
Meanwhile, the Succubus Queen, who had been there since who knows when, approached me.
-Clink!
"Kuhk!"
"Ahaha! It's pointless to resist, right?"
My attack toward her failed.
No, could you even call that an attack from the start.
From the Succubus Queen's perspective, it probably just looked like I was flailing my arms, nothing more, nothing less.
"Haaa, I've been waiting for this day. Our princess❤️"
The Succubus Queen walked behind me and hugged me from behind.
"Kuhk, get off me, you unclean thing····!"
As the descendant of demons, filthier than demon beasts, pressed against me, goosebumps began to rise on my skin where it touched hers.
-Clink, clink!
"Ugh!"
Even as I struggled to shake her off, my tightly stretched arms restrained my body far too powerfully.
As if mocking me, the Succubus Queen instead hugged me even tighter.
-Sniff, sniff.
"You smell nice too."
"Kuhh···!"
The Succubus Queen's hands began to roam all over my body, savoring every part.
The feeling was close to the disgust of insects crawling all over my skin.
"Tell me if you're hungry, I'll feed you myself."
"·····Get lost."
"Heheh, don't be shy~."
The Succubus Queen continued groping my body until the very end, then finally let go.
"Phew, I'd like to do this all day, but I actually have preparations to make. You'll be lonely, but hang in there for a bit, okay?"
"·······."
"But it's all for you, so you have to endure it bravely~."
-Mwah.
The Succubus Queen spouted a bunch of meaningless talk and finally left after giving a kiss on the forehead to me, who was still restrained.
"·····Ugh."
That skeleton next to the Succubus Queen before I was kidnapped.
Who was that person, and where is this place.
And most importantly, are Bistern and the knight order members safe.
With the sudden incident and the overwhelming amount of information flooding in, my head was spinning.
But the fact that all I could do even at this moment was truly just struggle was utterly horrifying.
'········Divine Sword.'
Speaking of which, where is my Divine Sword.
Surely it's a sword that only imperial women can wield, so they couldn't have touched it.
Straining with all my might, I scanned the entire secret room, but as if proving it was a prison with absolutely no dreams or hope, not a single object was visible.
"·····Fuck."
A curse word I'd never spat from my mouth before came flying out.
Even when I was first captured, I was gang raped by goblins for days.
Furthermore, since I even gave that succubus an unforgettable kindness and escaped, I couldn't even dare to imagine what would happen to me next.
-Clink.
Was there truly no way to escape from here.
As if to deliver despair to me while I pondered this, the iron chains wrapped around my arms didn't budge an inch.
####
"·····Captain. I think it's still·····."
"Shut up."
Ebram couldn't open his mouth any further after Evernoir's intense one-liner.
In a way, since Ebram and Evernoir were still in a hostile relationship, he probably shouldn't have cared any further.
But Ebram's eyes were drawn to Evernoir, who had stopped eating and drinking, kneeling on the ground and just waiting all day.
And above all, the words Lilith left for him.
That letting her capture the princess was useful.
Why was Lilith so serious about kidnapping her.
What happened that made her say she would positively consider the contract he discussed with her tribe just for kidnapping the princess.
"Sigh, then at least you folks behind her, come inside for now."
Ebram let the order members fidgeting behind the young female knight captain enter the village.
Thinking of the past when they shot arrows at their feet and stood guard, it was something the residents of Bistern never could have imagined.
Left alone like that, Evernoir's shoulders slumped.
"·····Your Highness."
It all happened so instantly.
Was the promise I made to protect her even at the cost of my life just empty words? I couldn't do anything while Your Highness was being kidnapped.
In the end, all that remained here was a single Divine Sword that Your Highness dropped while being kidnapped.
Not a single trace was left behind except for the Divine Sword.
Where she was taken.
How she was taken.
Nothing at all.
Plop.
Pitter-patter.
Whoosh·····.
As if speaking for Evernoir's gloomy and despairing heart, streams of water suddenly began to fall from the sky.
***
"···Damn it!"
The weather, clear until just moments ago, darkened as if lying, and it even began to rain.
The imperial knight order members had taken shelter from the rain inside buildings, but the noble captain outside was not among them.
Ebram immediately grabbed a bamboo umbrella and headed toward her.
Given her personality, she probably wouldn't move even if it rained.
So he rushed over urgently, but someone had already arrived there before him.
'·······Mine?'
The person who had arrived first was none other than Mine.
Mine was already holding an umbrella over her.
I didn't notice at first, but upon closer look, Mine was wiping her eyes.
'·····What, is she crying?'
Ebram couldn't intrude on the unusual atmosphere between the two.
"Unnie········Will I never see her again?"
"No, I will rescue her. Definitely···."
"··········."
Only then did Ebram realize something was unusual.
It felt like his head was clearing up immensely.
At that moment, a certain fact flashed through Ebram's mind.
The imperial princess was kidnapped.
If they wanted to kill her, they could have done it right then and there.
And the kidnappers were executive-level members of the Demon Army.
That meant there was a reason they kept her alive.
Even if that reason was torture.
-Crack.
The handle of Ebram's umbrella crumpled.
Even if she was an enemy, she was a woman he had spent the night with, a woman he had touched.
··········And possibly, a woman who might be carrying his child.
"Sigh."
If only we had never met from the start.
If we had remained complete strangers, I wouldn't be this concerned.
Ebram lowered the umbrella deeply.
He didn't know what expression he was making.
Not even he himself knew.