HPV 68

I ended up going to the dining hall with my hair still braided.

The reaction from the others was more intense than I expected, making me embarrassed. Paronai said seriously that it looked pretty, which flustered me, and Penzey giggled uncontrollably. Bzhan, who at first looked a little shocked, later murmured so quietly it was barely audible, that I looked like an elf.

It was a relief that I hadn’t come wearing the flower crown as well.

I had taken it off and returned it to the young lady because, when I met Banwes’ gaze while wearing it, the ticklish feeling in my chest became unbearable.

Yurichen was the only one who didn’t react at all when he saw me.

As he lifted his veil and took out his glasses from inside his robes to put them on, his silvery hair swayed lightly.

“She wanted to braid my hair as well.”

“And?”

“I declined.”

Only then did I understand why the young lady had come to me with such a sullen look.

“That’s mean.”

“That’s so mean.”

“That’s really mean.”

Accusations poured down on him. Yurichen ignored them, burying his face in the Gaioh Doctrine book.

Suddenly, it struck me just how much Yurichen had changed compared to the beginning.

Months of living closely with common people rather than as a clergyman had softened and rounded him.

Among them, somehow, I too had ended up coming this far.

I was originally just supposed to be a mere extra.

The mansion was much larger than it appeared, and its master was extremely generous.

He even gave each of the six travelers a private room.

After bathing in the mansion’s bathhouse, I entered a small room.

The simple arrangement of a chair and bed without any gaudy furniture was to my liking.

A servant from the mansion tended the fireplace for a moment and then left.

I was left alone.

As I climbed onto the bed, I suddenly froze, every nerve standing on edge.

It felt as if something in the darkness was staring straight at me.

I looked around but saw no one.

The candles lit every corner of the room, so there was no way anyone could be hiding.

Besides, in the original story, there was no such event here.

‘…Are you seriously planning to say you’re too scared to sleep alone at night?’

Deliberately making a loud thud, I threw myself onto the bed.

As I buried myself under the blankets, my breathing became oddly strained.

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself.

Maybe I had used up too much stamina today, even though I had been carried most of the way…

With that short thought, I fell asleep.

***

The time before sleep would be the last peace I would know in this room.

In this small, otherwise unremarkable room, something unimaginable was about to happen.

It felt as though someone was clutching my lungs and heart while stabbing into me mercilessly with a long skewer.

I jolted awake as if convulsing.

Before I was fully conscious, I almost screamed, barely managing to stifle it with my hand, but in doing so, I swallowed wrong.

With my mouth pressed into the pillow, I choked and gasped, feeling like I was dying.

It felt like parasites were eating away at my flesh from the inside.

Instinctively, I summoned the pure, bright blue power of the spirit.

“Hahk!”

A brutal shock, as if my heart were about to burst, slammed into me.

Convulsing, I devoted all my strength just to breathing properly.

If I didn’t breathe, I would die.

But inhaling and exhaling hurt so much it felt unbearable.

Would it be easier if I broke a rib or two?

Pressing my chest with all my strength did nothing to ease it.

“Haa, ah…”

I struggled to muffle my sounds.

I needed to call for help immediately, but if I opened the door and went outside, everyone would find out.

If the mansion’s servants noticed, they would surely cause a huge commotion, rushing to fetch the doctor.

Could I sneak to Banwes somehow?

I couldn’t even think of stepping outside.

Curled up in a posture he hated to see, I trembled and tried to hold back my groans.

I clenched my teeth against the pain stabbing my lungs and, in the end, tears welled up from the helplessness.

‘If I fall off the bed, would Banwes hear the noise and come check on me by chance?’

It felt like my last shot.

Suppressing the agony, I twisted my body with difficulty.

How many more rolls until I hit the floor?

Was the bed always this wide?

Sweat poured down my body.

It felt like my head was about to split open.

I was in hellish pain.

Just then, the blanket was flung back.

My body was roughly pulled upward.

A strong, slightly rough hand laid me back down properly.

I hadn’t fallen off the bed yet.

I hadn’t even heard the door open.

“Why didn’t you say anything!”

The man, seeing me gasping and drenched in sweat, shouted fiercely.

I stared straight at him, unable even to blink.

“Now, that’s… that’s what’s happening…”

I stammered, and tears streamed down from the corner of my left eye.

He swallowed back whatever he was about to say and stared dazedly at my tears.

“No, it’s not because I’m scared, and it’s not because of the pain, it’s just, seeing you makes me…”

This wasn’t it either!

I fumbled for words, but eventually gave up and shut my mouth tightly.

The stabbing pain flared up again inside my body.

Though he was raging furiously, his kiss was gentle.

As if to draw the devil out from me, he sucked at my tongue tenderly.

“Haah, hup, hhh.”

Even as I gasped for breath, I responded actively. I was half out of my mind, desperate to escape this pain as quickly as possible. As our tongues entwined inside my mouth, the wet, sticky sound of it warmed the air.

It felt like he bit and sucked my lips until they were raw and swollen.

As the kiss dragged on, I found myself lying flat on my back, the crown of my head pressed into the bed. Banwes braced himself on one arm beside me and lowered his lips.

“Right now, the demon still isn’t letting go, is it?”

The time we spent kissing seemed to be growing longer and longer, and finally, it reached a state of despair. The demon, now so accustomed to settling in my body, refused to leave the comfort it had found.

Banwes gazed roughly into my eyes for a while, breathing heavily.

“I’ll tell the priest.”

Because of the binding magic, which I presumed to be Hancanera’s trick, I couldn’t speak about the demon. But if it was Banwes—

He looked as if he might lift his upper body at any moment and walk straight out the door. I grabbed his arm and shook my head quickly.

“No…”

Even if I told them about the demon, Banwes wouldn’t learn the truth about the real culprit—the Order. And without revealing the Order’s involvement, I risked being accused of having performed the summoning ritual myself.

Even if Yurichen seemed forgiving now, there were lines that could never be crossed.

“At least until the Black Dragon is dead… Can’t we endure until then?”

Pathetic as it sounded, this was my best.

After we dealt with the greater threat, I would have a little more leeway to find a way to expose the Order’s crimes to Yurichen.

I thought Banwes would furrow his brow and snap at me not to speak such nonsense. But unexpectedly, he only let out a small, grinding noise from between his teeth and fell silent.

It was the first time I’d ever seen him struggle to find his words. Maybe it was because I was in such a fragile state.

Or perhaps there was another reason.

“There is a way.”

“What is it?”

“The same as before.”

Feed the demon until it was full. Once satisfied, the demon’s power would loosen slightly, and it would be temporarily drawn toward Banwes, whose body carried the blood of monsters.

That was the method we had used until now.

“If we form a deeper bond, the method should work.”

For a moment, all the pain faded, and my mind blanked.

He was talking about a physical connection. About having intercourse with me.

I hadn’t even considered it.

But could I really refuse this too? If not this, the only alternative left was to inform the High Priest.

Ignoring the endless questions, confusion, denial, and acceptance spinning in my head, I did something I usually wouldn’t. I emptied my mind completely.

And when I did, the man in front of me came into clear view.

A man who, despite his strength, stood hesitantly before me, as if weighed down by guilt, waiting for my decision. As I slowly traced his thick eyebrows, straight nose, and firm yet graceful jawline with my gaze, he quietly accepted it, almost gratefully.

I had first discovered his innocence in the garden.

“…Can you do it with me?”

Feeling like a useless, inert object, I asked him.

Banwes gave a small, passive nod.

I knew almost nothing. All I had heard were filthy words from a clergyman who once harassed me.

The memory remained vivid because, unlike his usual behavior, the cult leader had not stopped him at that time. It was Hancanera who killed that clergyman afterward.

It was strange that physical assault and verbal abuse had been permitted, but lewd comments had not.

In any case, I vaguely knew that I would have to receive him—that much had been etched into my mind by the clergyman’s crude words. Beyond that, I knew nothing. Would it be good? Would it hurt?

Whatever pain it might cause, I could guarantee it would be better than the agony I was enduring now.

“I don’t really know what to do… Do you know how?”

Instead of answering, he brushed his fingers through my sweat-dampened hair and let it slip away. It seemed like a yes.