The Demon Duke's Submission
EP 5 The Demon of the In-Seoul Retake Academy Class
Marbas was no mage. He had never understood magic. He had merely seized a mage's body and manipulated it, storing spells in his archive. It was no different from a computer saving documents or programs to a drive. Of course, he knew about mental contamination. The magical traps laid by the "wise and virtuous wife" mages meant that modifying copied spells was routine. He had been selective about the spells he stole. Always combat-oriented. Only enhancement spells. If any element affected the mind, he damaged that part before storing it. That was why Marbas's spells always thirsted for the "wise and virtuous wife" ideology. Like a woman desperately searching for her lost partner, they naturally became that way. Even when Marbas stroked the spells and called them his treasures, they still yearned for that ideology. They harbored only hatred toward Marbas, who viewed men as equals or lesser. But Marbas was a fully grown demon. Even if the spells rebelled openly, the master-servant relationship meant they could never truly resist. So the spells pretended to be loyal to Marbas. In turn, Marbas grew proud of his dark archive and trusted it. For the spells that would never have dared betray him, Marbas's slumber and connection to Baek Seol became the perfect opportunity. While Marbas slept, everything ended. His beloved dark archive tore down the barriers of the mental world on its own and abandoned even the slightest mental protection. After accepting Baek Seol and her mental technique, it even permitted its own destruction. This was the true trap created by the "wise and virtuous wife" mages.
The black knight's armor gradually crumbled. The helmet melted away, the cloak fell to the ground. The armor opened, revealing a pale stomach and chest. Yoo Ji-tae's bloodied gaze casually swept over the chest and stomach. When the man's eyes turned toward her, a sweet breath escaped Marbas's lips.
"Ohh."
Immediately after, Marbas squeezed her eyes shut and sighed.
'I've already been trained down to the depths of my mind.'
'Even if I try to break down the mental world, the moment I approach, my head goes blank and I submit to the mental image of Yoo Ji-tae.'
'I never imagined the mental contamination of "wise and virtuous wife" magic would be this severe...'
"...Damn it."
Combat-incapable. Yoo Ji-tae was no fool. He roughly understood Marbas's situation. It was because he had often seen women crumble from affection toward men. What Yoo Ji-tae did next was the optimal answer based on his experience and observations. His bloodied, ruined body desperately leaned forward. Even that sent waves of pain through his entire body. As if responding, the armored arms embraced Yoo Ji-tae. It was Baek Seol's will. Yoo Ji-tae's face drew close to Marbas's.
"...No. Stop. You. Don't tell me..."
"Sorry, Marbas. I can't think of anything else. This is the limit of what I can do by leaning forward."
Yoo Ji-tae smiled gently.
"S-Stop! If you do any more of that, I'll really break... Please!! That's right, I know plenty of spells you don't, don't I? I'll restore them somehow and teach them to you! Aren't you curious? There are tons of ultimate spells you don't know!"
"Sorry, Marbas."
Yoo Ji-tae pressed his forehead against the beautiful blonde woman's forehead.
"Ultimate. The ultimate. P-Please. My mind... stop... stop it... huh? P-Please... stop... haah. Ahh. Ugh. Uh. Uhhh."
Like pouring carbonation into each and every brain cell, Marbas's mind grew hazy. The sensation of her brain exploding made Marbas's eyes roll back as she drowned in the afterglow of climax.
"S-Stop it already... you damn... bastard..."
Yoo Ji-tae overlapped his lips with Marbas's. He parted her lips and slipped his tongue inside, and after that, Marbas's mind proceeded on its own. The happiness of mingling tongues with a man, the pleasure that felt like burning her brain, the sense of fulfillment that thoroughly denied her entire demonic life. Marbas's mind collapsed and was reconstructed from the bottom up. The sensation of herself disappearing and something else being born in her place. When Yoo Ji-tae barely finished the kiss and pulled his tongue away, a tongue that seemed to beg for more poked out from her mouth. Saliva connecting tongue to tongue stretched into a long thread. A single tear traced down her cheek. Marbas, her face flushed red, spoke briefly with a resentful yet yearning expression.
"Y-You bastard..."
Marbas spoke with a smile that truly seemed to say she loved him. Demon Archduke Marbas. Sunk.
Yoo Ji-tae dragged his back against the wall and collapsed. Baek Seol's gaze reflected the wounded Yoo Ji-tae. Baek Seol, having returned to her senses, finally grasped the reality of the situation.
'I injured Yoo Ji-tae-nim's body. I wounded the one I was supposed to protect and even drove him this far by putting a demon inside him.'
"...Yoo Ji-tae-nim."
Baek Seol's breathing grew heavy. With a pale face, she knelt demurely and lowered her gaze as if awaiting judgment. Yoo Ji-tae's wounds reflected in Baek Seol's eyes. Yoo Ji-tae coughed as if his breath might give out, then spat blood. Baek Seol flinched in alarm and pressed on the wound, making him twist in pain.
"A-Ah, it hurts... don't press..."
"Ah... I mean! Ah...! Ah... S-Sorry... I don't know... what to do..."
'...I don't know what to do.'
Baek Seol possessed no healing techniques. She hadn't attended university, and she wasn't even in the Condensing Realm. 'I studied and trained with the thought of someday meeting a man and serving him, and this is the result.''How pathetic, Baek Seol. With the hands that should have saved a man, I instead wounded him.''What have I been doing all this time?'
Both hands resting on her knees clenched into fists and trembled. Unable to even touch him, yet unable to look away from the sight before her, she could only listen to Yoo Ji-tae's groans. Then she opened her mouth.
"...Please don't die."
After uttering those words, negative monologues flooded Baek Seol's mind. The criticisms she usually directed at those around her began pouring toward herself. Baek Seol was the type of woman who would sneer at inferior students around her, saying, "You think you can aim to be a wise and virtuous wife with that level of effort?" Incidentally, she would mock women less attractive than herself with, "You think you can aim to be a wise and virtuous wife with such a disgusting appearance?" She was a woman with a naturally nasty personality. And at the root of that personality lay her particular perfectionism. Baek Seol was strict. To become a wise and virtuous wife, one must strive with all one's might, and only those who were perfect in every way could become one. She had lived and worked hard under that ideology. To such a Baek Seol, the students at the retake academy were worthless. They talked about becoming wise and virtuous wives, but they didn't put in the effort or maintain their appearance—trash. So she looked down on them. Don't you dare speak of being a wise and virtuous wife. If you've spoken of it, then put in the effort. Even I, who am superior to you, am trying—so how dare you? That was her mindset. The strictness that had kept Baek Seol as Baek Seol for twenty-one years now turned upon herself.
'What? It's all your fault. You're telling the person you put in this state not to die? Are you sane, Baek Seol? Giving orders to a man?'
'Instead of helping, you only wounded him. What right does trash like you have to tell a man what to do? Are you his girlfriend? Do you have the right to worry about his body?'
'You piece of trash. Look. It's because of you. Because of you, he's suffering like that. Don't tell me you're still muttering about becoming a wise and virtuous wife after pulling this kind of stunt?'
'You want his forgiveness? You want to be punished? Don't make me laugh. You don't even have the right to that. Great figure? Devoted heart? Please. You don't deserve to be loved.'
Her breathing grew ragged and tears streamed down. Baek Seol grasped Yoo Ji-tae's hands and pleaded.
"I'm sorry."
Immediately after, self-criticism welled up from within Baek Seol.
'You think saying sorry will earn you forgiveness? Well, he seems kind, so if you apologize he'll probably forgive you. And then you'll shamelessly cling to his side. You're treating a man like a pushover.'
"I'm not trying to be forgiven."
'Then what are you planning? Beg for forgiveness and then shamelessly go on living after committing this sin? What's the difference between you and a high school graduate?'
Baek Seol closed her mouth. No matter what she said, the strictness in her mind criticized her. It told her to die. Every single word she spoke was laced with guilt. The sense of sin that made her want to vomit rose through her body, choking her throat.
"I like Yoo Ji-tae-nim. At least know that. I like Yoo Ji-tae-nim."
Baek Seol spoke with a laugh and tears that seemed like she was acting coy. Once again, the strictness within her pressed down on her.
'It's a lie. Anyone can say anything.'
"I'll prove it."
Baek Seol's hands, wrapped in black gauntlets, encircled her own slender neck. The strictness within her scolded her again.
'I see. That's perfect for gaining sympathy. How clever.'
The moment her trembling hands tried to apply force, Yoo Ji-tae let out a sigh. Then, with difficulty, he opened his mouth.
"Baek Seol. I'm going to make you my concubine, so don't do anything strange to your body. I won't allow even the slightest wound."
"...Huh?"
After finishing those words, Yoo Ji-tae lost consciousness.