Celia sat upright on the Slime Throne, maintaining a posture of looking down on all living things.
It wasn’t that Celia wanted to maintain this pose; it was because the sensation from her waist down was gradually disappearing.
The Alchemical Freezer’s cooling effect was far too excellent. Celia felt like a piece of pork belly forgotten in a freezer.
The parts where her buttocks made contact with the seat had lost all sense of pain, leaving only numbness.
The worst part was that as the cold air dissipated, the thin layer of frost on the slime’s surface began to melt, turning into a highly viscous, jelly-like liquid.
This liquid possessed an incredible suction force at low temperatures, welding the fabric of Celia’s clothes to the seat’s surface.
She couldn’t move.
If she didn’t use external force to stand up, the only outcome would be fragments of her clothes left behind on the chair, leaving her standing half-naked in the hall.
Elent stood by the throne with a solemn expression, guarding Celia like a warrior.
In the corner of the long table, Iris was huddled in a ball.
Every now and then, she would steal a terrified glance at the figure on the throne before quickly lowering her head again.
After an eerie silence, the door was pushed open, and Lynn walked in.
“Lady Celia, Master Elent?”
Lynn rubbed her sleepy eyes, looking at the strange formation in the hall—one sitting motionless, one standing still, and another trembling in the corner.
“It’s so late. Is everyone still doing special training?”
Celia’s neck turned slightly, as she tried to make her voice sound steady rather than shivering from the cold.
“Lynn, you aren’t asleep yet?”
“I heard some noise, so I got up to check.” Lynn took a few steps closer and then spotted Iris in the corner.
“Oh!”
Iris shrank further under the table, leaving only a pair of eyes to stare warily at Lynn.
Startled by this reaction, Lynn stopped in her tracks and looked toward Celia in confusion.
“Lady Celia, who is this?”
“This is Iris, the new handyman.”
“A handyman?” Lynn blinked, sizing up the girl who looked even younger than herself with some surprise.
“Is the Church hiring new people?”
“The Backyard is too large, and Elent is busy with his training. I was worried you couldn’t handle everything alone,” Celia explained briefly.
“Lynn, I remember there’s an empty room in the west wing. Take her there. Find her a set of clean clothes to change into as well.”
“Okay!”
Lynn immediately agreed. For this kind-hearted assistant, she would never refuse any arrangement made by Lady Celia.
Lynn walked to the table, softening her voice as much as possible, and leaned down to extend a hand toward Iris.
“Hello there, I’m Lynn. Don’t be afraid. Come with me; there’s a soft bed over there.”
Iris looked at the outstretched hand.
However, in Iris’s eyes, Lynn’s smile appeared exceptionally twisted.
The room in the west wing?
In the Demon Realm, the west was usually the direction of the dungeons used to hold death row prisoners.
Iris wanted to refuse, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Witch sitting on the throne watching her coldly.
‘If I refuse, I’ll probably be turned into slime food on the spot.’
Iris reach out a trembling hand and placed it in Lynn’s palm. Lynn’s hand was warm and dry, yet it sent a bone-chilling shiver through Iris.
“Th-thank you for the trouble.”
“You’re welcome!” Lynn happily pulled Iris up.
“Let’s go. Although that room hasn’t been lived in for a long time and might have some dust and spiderwebs, I’ll help you clean it up.”
‘Dust and spiderwebs? It really is a dungeon!’
Iris gave up on life, allowing Lynn to lead her toward the path to the dungeon.
As Lynn and Iris’s figures vanished, only Celia and Elent remained in the hall.
“Phew…”
Celia exhaled a cloud of white mist. Her previously straight back slumped, her hands clutched her arms, and her teeth began to chatter uncontrollably.
“I’m freezing to death.”
“Priestess?!”
Elent, who had been on high alert, was startled by this sudden change.
“Is the training over? Are you alright?”
“Over my foot! Elent, help me. I can’t get down.”
Elent froze for a moment, his gaze landing on the Slime Throne beneath Celia.
He saw that Celia’s clothes were completely soaked by the half-melted slime, adhering tightly to the surface.
“This?!”
If he simply pulled her up, the Priestess’s clothes would definitely be ruined on the spot.
“Priestess, your clothes are stuck.”
“No kidding! I know they’re stuck! Hurry up and find a way to get me out!”
“Yes!”
Elent tried to grab Celia’s arm, but he stopped halfway.
“Priestess, simply using force might hurt your skin or even tear your clothes,” Elent analyzed as he looked at the Slime Throne.
“Then raise the slime’s temperature! Are you the Hero or am I?!”
Celia felt like if she sat there any longer, she would be violated by the slime.
“Pardon me, Priestess.”
With that, Elent mobilized the Microscopic Perception he had only recently mastered.
A faint stream of heat gathered in his palm, and he pressed it against the boundary where Celia’s thigh met the slime.
“Mm!”
The moment the warm palm pressed against her skin through the fabric, Celia let out a soft groan.
“Endure it for a bit, Priestess.”
Elent’s palm moved slowly along the curve of Celia’s leg, continuously transferring heat from his palm.
The slime surface that had been gripping the fabric began to soften, turning into a slippery liquid.
“That’s it.”
Elent’s other hand didn’t remain idle, reaching into the gap behind Celia’s waist.
To maintain her sitting posture, Celia’s back was almost entirely pressed against the backrest.
When Elent’s large, warm hand touched the sensitive skin of her lower back, Celia nearly jumped.
“D-dummy, be gentle!”
“I am performing Fire Element Control, Priestess. Please do not move, or it will be easy to get burned.”
Beads of sweat formed on Elent’s forehead. This was more mentally taxing than killing a Crimson Giant Chicken; he had to precisely control the flow of heat.
He needed to melt the slime without scalding the Priestess’s delicate skin, all while ensuring he didn’t burn her clothes.
The sensation transmitted from his palm was soft and cool. The girl’s slender waist felt as though it might break with the slightest pressure.
As the slime melted, a slippery feeling traveled from his fingers to his brain, causing Elent’s heart to race involuntarily.
‘Calm down, Elent. You must stay calm!’
As each suction point was released, Celia was finally liberated from the throne that was cool but miserable.
“Alright, the last bit.”
The heat was injected, and the slime dissolved. Celia felt the seat beneath her vanish, and she slid down along the melted slime, crashing directly into Elent’s embrace.
Elent instinctively caught the Priestess.
Celia leaned against Elent’s broad, warm chest, panting heavily. Her face was flushed, and the stray hairs on her forehead were soaked with cold sweat, sticking to her cheeks.
“…”
Celia immediately pushed herself off Elent, acting as if nothing had happened.
“Cough. I slipped on purpose to test your reaction speed. Don’t misunderstand.”
……
Inside the room, Iris was pressing her ear against the door panel.
Though she couldn’t hear clearly through the door, fragments of phrases and strange noises from the hall still reached her ears.
“Endure it for a bit…”
“Be gentle…”
“Do not move…”
There were also sounds of liquid churning, followed by a short, sharp gasp at the end.
‘As I thought, that Witch is absorbing that man’s essence!’
No wonder that man was so strong yet obeyed the Witch’s every whim. It turned out his mind and body had already become the Witch’s playthings!
Iris huddled in the corner of the wall, trembling.
‘So scary. This is even more terrifying than the Demon Realm.’
‘Regarding this Contract I signed… am I going to become the Witch’s plaything later too?!’
She didn’t want to end up like that!
However, Iris glanced at her flat chest, then thought about the Witch’s figure from earlier.
‘Maybe… just maybe… I’ll escape that fate because I’m too thin and she’ll find me unappealing?’