The night in the Demon Domain was never completely dark.
Nebulae were woven from shadows and streaks, like an upside-down colossal tree hanging in the sky.
Elsa walked toward the Demon King’s Castle, her heart a tangled mess of emotions.
In truth, back in the Church, there had always been voices of jealousy and opposition against her, claiming she was unworthy.
As the Grand Commander, someone who was supposed to bear a sacred mission and enjoy supreme authority, this was nothing new to her.
She had once poured her heart into saving many lost girls—just like her elder sister had done—pulling them, including Philina, from the abyss and guiding them onto the proper path of knighthood.
Yet later she discovered that it hardly changed anything at all.
She told herself not to care.
This world was full of dreams that could never be realized no matter how hard one tried.
But…
The Demon King’s Castle was different.
Her efforts were seen by the maids as diligence, her kindness was met with gratitude.
She had once opened her heart to a certain demon maid and found that, although their values were worlds apart, they still chose to show her the friendliest face possible…
She did not like demons.
Yet if she had to choose, it was indeed her elder sister’s maid corps that made her feel truly at ease.
In just a few short days, a strange sense of belonging had already taken root inside her.
As though that was the place she was truly meant to be.
While walking, perhaps because she had rejected humanity, the guilt that had accumulated in her heart turned into heavy lead, robbing the strength from her legs.
She felt she needed to find somewhere to properly vent her emotions, but the itching in her chest and the heat radiating from the curse pattern shattered her fleeting illusion.
The curse was acting up again.
She could endure it, yet this time she still let out a soft, coquettish moan—after all, no one would hear her.
“Aah… ah, nn…”
She clutched her chest, her hand slipping beneath the maid dress to caress the spot where the pattern lay.
The void left by the missing dark magic was stirred by the circulation of magic inside her body; the hunger was being satisfied little by little, yet it only made her yearn for even more fulfillment.
It felt good… yet somehow regrettable.
No, she couldn’t bring this feeling back to the Demon King’s Castle, or she would end up broken just like her sister.
But then Elsa suddenly remembered Liya’s words—why endure at all?
Liya’s figure lingered in her mind like a phantom, impossible to shake off.
It seemed that whenever she thought of Liya, the emptiness in her chest filled just a little faster.
“Ha, fu… ha, fu…”
Elsa’s breathing grew heavier and heavier.
Just when she thought everything would settle down, a figure appeared before her.
It was a maid.
The familiar presence made her lift her head and clearly see the other’s face.
It was Liya.
In the darkness, her violet eyes shone like another star in the night.
Beneath the starry sky, her long purple hair was as fantastical as the nebulae.
“Elsa, is something wrong?”
“Li… Liya? I—I’m fine.”
Her voice trembled.
“I thought you were in the kitchen with Tina. So you were here instead.”
Liya stepped closer, gently patting her head, and immediately noticed that something was wrong with Elsa’s condition.
She said nothing, only continued to soothe her. She knew the girl’s emotions just now had affected the growth of the curse.
Thus, she offered Elsa a shoulder to lean on.
“Are you still going to keep enduring?”
“I…”
Those words were like a wake-up call for Elsa.
She had already made her decision earlier.
She had rejected humanity simply because she loathed that place, that damned atmosphere.
“Lady Liya.”
Elsa spoke her name with a faint gasp.
She tightly grasped Liya’s slender fingers wrapped in white silk gloves and slowly guided them to the place where the curse lay.
“Nn~”
Was this the feeling her elder sister had once experienced?
It felt so good.
Starting from her chest, it spread to every corner of her body, as though she were floating in a vast ocean.
When that tingling sensation reached her head, her mind went completely blank—she could no longer think rationally.
Though Liya sometimes had mischievous ideas, she never crossed any lines and often comforted her like a close friend.
If demons were supposed to be cold-blooded monsters, then Head Maid Liya was the perfect counterexample.
It was precisely because of this that Elsa trusted her.
“Please grant me dark magic, Lady Liya.”
Liya merely gazed at the struggling girl and did not continue touching her.
Looking at Elsa’s expression—half self-abandoning, half submissive—a pang of pain welled up in her heart.
Liya gently caressed Elsa’s cheek and smiled.
“It seems you finally understand. Thank you for remembering what I said.”
“Gu…”
A wisp of shadow crept from Liya’s fingertip.
This was no ordinary dark magic.
Suddenly, the shadow burrowed into the pattern on her chest.
At first Elsa still resisted, but as the emptiness was gradually filled, she began to accept the tingling sensation of this dark magic flowing through her body.
Why resist? Why refuse?
Her blindfold was easily lifted by two fingers, revealing the demonic, deep azure eyes hidden beneath.
“Since you have chosen your elder sister, then continue following her, alright?”
“…”
“You’re not the first human I’ve brought to fall.” Liya lifted her head toward the sky and slowly said,
“Even you upon the throne should have sensed all of this by now, shouldn’t you?”
…
The wooden floor flowed with black liquid.
The damp room was thick with the scent of wine and an intoxicating sweetness.
Behind golden gauze curtains, a white bed loomed faintly.
Beneath gorgeous chandeliers, purple-red ghostly light added a touch of bizarre decadence to the depraved scene.
Two young girls holding hands knelt upon the bed, their sensual white stockings bound by icy shackles connected by chains, ensuring they would never be separated.
The girls were nearly bare, yet blissfully unaware—mere scraps of torn fabric clung to them as if they had endured endless ravishment.
Their sacred, snow-white silver hair was stained with dew and unknown fluids.
As their bodies trembled slightly, hollow yet feverish eyes suddenly blazed with desire.
They arched their backs, seized the offered tail, and scrambled desperately toward that bewitching figure.
“Demon King, my lord~♡”
“I need the Demon King’s love♡”
The demon called the Demon King gazed at them greedily, toying with their chins and slender necks as though savoring her playthings.
She skillfully stroked their wet cheeks and sneered,
“What kind of expression do you think the Holy Queen will make when she sees you like this?”
The scene twisted and dissolved amid the girls’ struggles.
The girl snapped her eyes open and tore free from the silk sheets.
“Ah——!”
She clutched the blanket tightly.
Terror filled her wide golden eyes as large beads of sweat rolled down.
She panted heavily.
One snow-white thigh had slipped out from the covers in her panic, gleaming like jade under the moonlight.
The fear and shock on the sweat-drenched girl’s face lingered for more than a minute before slowly fading.
She wiped her forehead, smoothed her wavy golden-blonde hair, and sighed in a nightingale-like voice:
“So it was just a dream.”