“Settle this peacefully? At this very moment, Miss Blood Clan, are you joking with me?”
Camilla leaned on that massive two-handed sword with one hand, the other planted on her hip, a voice laced with teasing echoing from beneath her helmet.
Sarina Lyles’ eye twitched, fighting the urge to just turn and run, clinging to the last remnants of her grace.
“It’s all just a misunderstanding, beautiful lady. I was simply… taking a nighttime stroll, and happened to be drawn in by a unique aura leaking from your window, so I couldn’t help but come over and say hello.”
As she spoke, her feet slid ever-so-slightly toward the edge of the windowsill.
Camilla wasn’t buying any of it. She took a step forward, her armor letting out a deep, imposing rasp of metal with her movement.
“Trying to slip away after a bit of trickery? Do you think my place is some public restroom?”
In the original game, if players stayed up at night, they could encounter this Princess of the Blood Clan, triggering a special encounter. Depending on the outcome, two different story branches would unfold.
Normally, Camilla would probably let Sarina go. But unfortunately, she was in a foul mood tonight and needed someone to “let off some steam.”
“Tch, what a pain!”
Sarina clicked her tongue in annoyance, manipulating her blood into a crimson blade that slashed at Camilla. The latter didn’t dodge, meeting the attack head-on with a swing of her sword. Before the deadly Blood Blade could even reach her, it shattered.
Clang—!
The clash of weapons rang out into the night. Sarina summoned a blood-red Blood Scythe to parry Camilla’s strike, but her opponent’s strength was beyond anything she’d imagined—she was forced down on one knee in an instant. Camilla seized the chance to kick her hard, sending her crashing into the wall.
What the hell? Isn’t this supposed to be the Summoner’s dorm? How could there be such a monster here!
Pinned down in close combat by Camilla, Sarina was on the verge of breaking down. Before she could recover from that heavy, almost sacred kick, Camilla rushed up again, now holding a bundle of Demon-Sealing Rope.
“You…”
Before she could finish, Camilla had already tied her up expertly, arms twisted behind her back, the sturdy rope wound around her in a pattern resembling a tortoiseshell.
“Despicable! Let me go, you vile human!”
Sarina struggled desperately, dark red Blood Clan energy boiling out from within her like a seething mist. She even unleashed her clan’s ancestral secret art, Blood Burst. Veins bulged on her slender arms as she tried to snap the rope, which radiated a loathsome holy aura.
But even with her power surging from the secret technique, she was horrified to find that she couldn’t budge the rope at all, much less break free from the person holding her down.
“My, you’re stronger than you look.”
Camilla raised an eyebrow, ignoring Sarina’s protests. She easily pressed the now-immobilized Blood Clan girl face down onto the chair she’d just been sitting in.
The pose filled Sarina with shame and fury. She was a Princess of the Blood Clan—when had she ever been humiliated like this?
“Lowly human! Do you have any idea who I am? How dare you treat the noble Lyles line—”
Smack—!
A slap—neither too hard nor too soft—landed on Sarina’s shapely bottom, swathed in her elegant dress, cutting off her powerless threat.
Sarina went rigid, as if struck by lightning, her mind going blank.
In the next instant, overwhelming shame and rage erupted like a volcano. Her pale cheeks flushed scarlet, even the tips of her ears turning rosy pink.
“You… you actually… hit me… there?!”
Her voice trembled with humiliation.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Her only answer was three more slaps, each perfectly measured—not enough to injure, but leaving a sharp sting and… an unspeakable sense of shame.
“Ugh, n-no, stop hitting me! Y-You villain, how could you…”
Sarina’s voice grew tearful as she twisted in her bonds, trying in vain to escape those humiliating strikes. The rope dug deep into the fabric of her expensive dress, outlining the youthful curves of her body and making her humiliation all the worse.
“Oh my, weren’t you awfully arrogant just now? Who knew a few spanks would make you cry? Pathetic!”
“You—!”
Silver hair clung messily to her damp forehead and flushed cheeks. Crimson eyes shimmered with tears, brimming with humiliation and fury.
Facing Camilla’s taunt, Sarina was about to retort, only to see Camilla raise her hand again as if to spank her once more. She shuddered in fear, shrinking her neck and falling silent.
She bit her lower lip so hard she nearly drew blood, finally squeezing out a few words between her teeth.
“…Do you even know who I am—”
“Your name is Sarina Lyles, the Princess of the Blood Clan.”
Camilla cut her off without hesitation, her fingers lightly tracing the shameful pattern the rope had drawn across Sarina’s back.
“A troublesome girl who was ‘too much of a nonconformist’ and got half-exiled by her family to a human magic academy. So drop the princess act. It won’t protect you here.”
Sarina’s pupils contracted sharply. Not only did the other know her name, but even her awkward situation within the clan! The last of her confidence evaporated, replaced by a helpless terror at being seen through so thoroughly.
“Who… Who are you really…”
Her voice carried a barely noticeable tremor. She seriously suspected she’d walked right into a trap.
“Just an ordinary student you happened to harass late at night, who’s in a very bad mood right now.”
Regardless of what the other thought, Camilla leaned down, whispering with a smile in Sarina’s ear. The warm breath brushed her sensitive pointed ear, making her shudder involuntarily.
“Now, shall we discuss compensation? After all, I was startled, my summoned beast needs comforting, and you’ve wasted my precious… hmm, creative time.”
Camilla’s tone was playful.
In the game’s encounter, if the player lost, they would suffer the Negative Status: Weakness the next day. If they won, they could, just like this, demand compensation from Sarina.
Either way, win or lose didn’t affect the romance route—only decided who would be on top in the future, winner above, loser below, a one or a zero.
Of course, Camilla wasn’t interested in romance options. She just wanted the compensation.
“Com… compensation?”
Sarina was so angry she almost laughed. She was the one getting beaten and humiliated, and now she was being extorted?
“What else?”
Camilla’s hand pressed lightly on her still-burning bottom, thick with menace.
“Princess of the Blood Clan, surely you wouldn’t want it known far and wide that you got pinned down and spanked, would you? After all, I’ve got a Recording Stone right here.”
“Huh?”
Following the direction of Camilla’s finger, Sarina spotted the sapphire slime curled up in the corner, its tiny ‘tentacle’ holding a fist-sized white crystal.