Under the velvet cloak of night, Shadowmoon Manor stood bathed in moonlight.
In the grandest, most opulent master bedroom, a golden-haired maiden, breathtaking in her beauty, sat perched on a plush sofa beside the manor’s lord.
She wore an exquisite black maid’s dress, its delicate fabric clinging to her form.
Her expression was a delicate dance of shyness and grievance, her cheeks flushed with a quiet storm of emotions.
Around her slender neck was a cold, black collar, studded with glittering gemstones.
What should have been a regal adornment instead served as a shackle, a cruel contrast to her ethereal beauty.
It bound her, a chain that seemed to mock the radiance of her presence.
Yet, even in this humiliating confinement, Su Nian shone like a star blazing in the darkest night, her allure undimmed, her spirit unyielding.
Her lips parted slightly, and with a hesitant grace, she let the tea she held in her mouth flow gently toward the vile Horned Demon.
Her eyes fluttered shut, sensing the tea’s warmth diminish as it passed from her lips.
Just as she thought the ordeal was over and moved to pull away, a sharp tug on the collar yanked her back.
The sensation gripped her swan-like neck, pinning her in place before the man who held her leash.
It was as though fate itself had seized her throat, rendering her immobile.
She could only submit as the Horned Demon savored her soft, tea-scented lips, drawing in the delicate trace of her essence with unrestrained greed.
When the tea in her mouth was nearly gone, he tugged the collar again, a silent command to take another sip and continue feeding him.
Su Nian’s heart seethed with curses for the wretched creature before her.
This grudge, she swore, would be etched into her soul.
When she ascended to the Saint rank, she’d force this Horned Demon to choke down a hundred pots of tea!
Ten minutes later, a chime echoed in her mind.
“Ding-dong: Humiliation Points +8342.”
“Ding-dong: Annoyance Points +8342.”
“Daily Task: Kiss the Horned Demon 1/1, 5000 Humiliation Points (completed).”
“Ding-dong: The Horned Demon has consumed 12 cups of tea. The host has earned a total of 24,000 Humiliation Points.”
Su Nian touched her lips, swollen and tender from the relentless kisses.
Her emotions swirled in a turbulent storm, impossible to untangle.
This act of “serving tea”—or rather, this near-maddening dance of kisses—had once again plunged her into a strange, unspeakable sensation.
Her heart thundered like war drums in her chest, and to her horror, a faint thread of anticipation stirred deep within her.
This betrayal of her own will sent a chill of panic through her veins.
She interrogated herself fiercely.
‘This Horned Demon is my sworn enemy, the one I despise with every fiber of my being. His kisses should fill me with revulsion, with disgust—why, then, does my body react this way?’
This could not go on.
Forcing herself to calm, Su Nian searched her mind for answers.
Two possibilities emerged.
First, it could be the cursed bond of her servitude, combined with her body’s Masochist Constitution, that twisted her emotions against her will.
Second, it might be the primal pull of biology—a natural, involuntary closeness that even strangers might feel after nights of intimate contact.
After all, even if they were strangers, a man and woman kissing passionately every evening would inevitably stir some instinctual response over time.
And the Horned Demon was cunning—too cunning.
Though he was her lifelong foe, she couldn’t deny that his human guise was striking.
Commanding, charismatic, and infuriatingly handsome, he resembled the idealized figure of her dreams from her past life.
But it was all a lie.
Beneath the facade, he was nothing but a lowly Horned Demon, his charm a mere trick to ensnare her.
‘It’s fine. It’s fine.’
As long as she understood the truth, her iron will would keep her from losing herself.
Her goal remained unshakable: to destroy this Horned Demon.
Chu Tian, the Horned Demon, watched the dazed girl before him, a playful glint in his eyes.
“Lost in thought again? Relishing the memory of that kiss?” he teased, giving the leash a light tug.
“Relish it? Never!” Su Nian snapped back, startled out of her reverie.
“Ding-dong: Humiliation Points +1492.”
“Ding-dong: Annoyance Points +1192.”
‘Relish it? What nonsense!’
Even if she thought of him, it was only to imagine her triumph—whether she’d force him to kneel or make him choke on a thousand cups of tea after she defeated him.
“Since you’re so spirited, take a look at these financial documents tonight. Calculate some figures,” Chu Tian said, his tone shifting to business as he handed her a stack of papers.
The documents were important, and entrusting them to Su Nian gave him leverage over her—a way to keep her in check.
Su Nian blinked, caught off guard.
‘Financial documents?’
This was the first time she’d heard the Horned Demon speak of something so mundane.
Calculating data from ledgers wasn’t exactly pleasant—it felt like being forced to work for him—but compared to the humiliating tasks she’d endured, this was almost a relief.
She took the files and flipped through them.
They were ordinary ledgers, detailing transactions involving a fair number of people and sums of money, but the calculations were straightforward.
Ironically, in her past life, she’d been a finance worker—a scapegoat accountant for a startup, to be precise.
Her role could be summed up in one sentence: “Risk slightly lower than the company’s legal representative, pay slightly higher than the janitor.”
She’d hoped that crossing into this world of swords and magic would let her escape the drudgery of number-crunching, that she’d grow stronger and carve her path through adventure.
Yet here she was, back to balancing books.
As she delved into the ledgers, a realization struck her.
One of them detailed the finances of Shadowmoon Manor itself.
In other words…
These were the Horned Demon’s financial records.
The second ledger was more complex, recording transactions far beyond the manor’s scope.
Did this mean the Horned Demon controlled territories beyond Shadowmoon Manor?
The discovery unsettled her, but it was also a golden opportunity.
She couldn’t afford to miss any critical information that might tip the scales in a future confrontation.
Another loss to him would be unbearable—she could already imagine his smug, taunting words, accusing her of losing on purpose just to be near him.
For now, her plan was clear: gather intelligence, accumulate Humiliation Points, and when she reached Saint rank, devise a foolproof strategy to defeat him.
If there were discrepancies in these ledgers, they could serve as evidence to bring him down.
While she planned to confront him directly once she was strong enough, having an extra ace up her sleeve never hurt.
As Su Nian focused on the ledgers, Chu Tian stepped away briefly to relieve himself of the tea he’d consumed.
Returning, he found himself bored, watching her work.
With his only real task delegated to her, his thoughts turned to mischief—teasing Su Nian to rack up more Annoyance Points.
He gave the leash another playful tug, earning a sharp glare from her.
“Ding-dong: Absorbed disdainful emotion bojangles, Annoyance Points +117.”
To Su Nian, his antics were like those of a childish boy tugging a girl’s ponytail in class.
Except this boy had grown up to tug her collar instead.
‘How utterly infuriating!’