Chapter 36: The Women Under the Moonlight

‘The Riot Index finally…’

Seeing the inflated “100” on the panel rapidly drop to “20,” Lafeier finally breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Indeed, blocking is not as good as draining.’

‘Rather than scheming to suppress the riot, it’s better to honestly think of ways to solve the problem.’

After handling all sorts of aftermath matters, Lafeier finally returned to the Administration Building. As soon as he stepped through the gate, he felt a sudden dizziness.

The moment his tense nerves relaxed, the overwhelming fatigue nearly made him lose consciousness.

‘I really overused Pressure…’

The next second, a soft fabric with the scent of soap gently caught his drowsy head. Dimly, he only heard someone shouting.

“Lord Lafeier!”

And that fragrance, along with the heat steaming from the woman’s body temperature, wrapped around his heart.

Then he fell into a gentle, soft dreamland.

“Phew~”

Even breathing sounds.

Estina breathed a sigh of relief. “So he fell asleep.”

“But sleeping on my chest like this…?” Estina’s pretty face flushed slightly.

She was already 21 this year.

Next year she would have to leave the prison and find someone to marry. In these 21 years, she had never had such intimate contact with any man.

‘No, that’s not right. Maybe I’m too repressed; this level of contact for city people should… be nothing, right?’

‘The most important thing is that Lord Lafeier can rest well. Yes, that’s it!’

Thinking this, she shook her head violently. Lafeier had indeed done a lot these days, working so hard, and still caring so much about his subordinates…

‘A person like this, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him rare in the world.’

Estina supported Lafeier and slowly laid him on the floor.

‘Just letting Lord Lafeier sleep on the floor… Good heavens, Estina, how can you be this kind of person! Lord Lafeier has treated you well, how can you be so ungrateful!’

With a gulp, Estina gently lifted Lafeier’s head and rested her elbow under it. Sure enough, Lafeier’s complexion looked much better.

‘As expected of me, hehe~’

Half an hour later.

‘Damn, my arm is numb ૮₍ɵ̷﹏ɵ̷̥̥᷅₎ა!’

‘My waist is also sore, ugh…’

‘Lord Lafeier, this humble girl is useless—’

The moment she propped her other hand on her thigh, Estina thought of something.

She shifted her body and knelt beside Lafeier. With her numb fingers, she lifted Lafeier’s head, as if he had rested it there himself.

Instantly, Estina’s face blushed red. Lafeier’s sleeping face was fully exposed on her thigh. His features were already delicate; calling him handsome wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Moonlight spilled onto his face through the gap in the door that wasn’t tightly shut.

‘So handsome~’

Her heart fluttered, like a deer bumping around. Lafeier swallowed in his sleep, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

‘Wow, so sexy~’

Estina quickly covered her mouth to keep from drooling onto Lafeier’s face. Joy and excitement danced in her heart for a long time, then turned into immense sorrow.

Turning to look at the bright white moon in the sky, Estina knew that life would not always have a full moon. Most of the time, imperfection is the norm.

A year later, she would be married off by her parents to some potbellied middle-aged rich man, right? She was still somewhat confident in her appearance; this transaction was almost a sure thing.

For those “rich men,” having worked in the prison was actually a plus.

The prison not only exploited hybrids; this group of carefully selected pure girls was also part of the prison’s business.

‘If…’ she looked down at Lafeier, then shook her head.

‘How could someone from the House of Lancaster ever fancy a commoner like me…’

‘Don’t indulge in wishful thinking, Estina.’

‘Just do your job properly.’

Even so, ‘I…’

She timidly reached out and brushed Lafeier’s face.

‘Is it only because I don’t want to become a commodity that I have these thoughts?’

She murmured to herself, unable to understand, unable to figure it out. Sorrow wove into a huge, impenetrable net, covering her heart tightly.

When the morning sun rises, these sorrows will likely dissipate with the departure of the night.

But no matter what, once such thoughts appeared, they had already carved an indelible mark in her heart.

—

Under the bright moonlight, the black Cursed Seal on the girl’s body had disappeared.

Fatigue, exhilaration, unease, anxiety—all kinds of emotions intertwined, making her collapse to the ground as soon as she returned to her cell. In her palm, she clutched a piece of candy, which Lafeier had slipped into her hand when they shook hands earlier.

This kind of secret little luck made her heart surge with excitement and happiness.

‘Lord Lafeier…’

She buried her head, desperately inhaling the scent left by Lafeier on her coat, as if only this could calm her down.

In the prison cell, the dismembered limbs of those who had bullied her were all piled outside.

Maybe in one night they would all be dragged away by ghouls out foraging.

Now, in the cell, there was only her alone, quiet. She curled up and muttered to herself:

“Lord Lafeier, did I help you…”

The candy was sour as always, but it truly soured into her heart. The girl’s feelings intensified in the candy that mixed sourness and sweetness.

…

In the locked room on the second floor of the Administration Building, Sophia’s eyes still ached, but her Spirit Vision had slowly recovered a lot.

‘Lafeier…’

A surge of anger rose in her heart, but was quickly extinguished by the cold touch of the chains on her feet. Without her Magic Eye, she was already a failure.

No matter how she resisted, it was futile. And—recalling her face, hot and numb from Lafeier’s slap, his intimidating tone with a cold aura, and the magic that acted on her Soul Root.

Everything, everything prevented her from going mad during that brief time when she lost her sight. On the contrary, though unwilling to admit…

‘Pleasure… haha, hahahaha!’

‘I actually… actually feel pleasure because of this!’

‘Sophia, you really are a worthless cur…’

—

‘Ah, how many ghouls are there here…’

Liliya followed the instructions and came to this ghoul nest to rescue Rena.

She had been killing for a day and a night without stopping. As the lowest level of the Blood Race, ghouls mostly act on instinct. They can reproduce through mating or assimilate humans into ghouls by infecting them with curses.

Dirty, rotten, their entire bodies soaked in sticky green-brown fluids.

Eyeballs shriveled in hollow sockets, murky and black.

Hair hung like debris on their bare, rugged skin.

Although numerous, they were slow-moving, making them the least threatening species among the Blood Race.

If not controlled by high-level ghouls, these idiots would probably chase and gnaw on even fellow Blood Race like orcs and demon men.

The high-level ghouls in this nest had already been killed by Liliya. But…

“1342, 1343, 1344…”

“So troublesome, stop counting.”

“Ah, you idiot, how did you manage to climb all the way inside!”

Liliya couldn’t help but curse loudly. Inside the cave, on a high cliff surrounded by a swarm of ghouls, Chief Guard Rena hugging a jagged stone pillar, replied crying:

“I’m sorry!”

“I really didn’t mean to!”

“Sorr—y!!!”