Chapter 81: Just Like the Demon King

“I’ve kept you waiting.”

As those hands stroked the top of her head, Simona felt her cheeks burn like heated iron.

Memories of the past came flooding back.

After Liya had turned her into a kin, corrupting her mind and thoughts until she became a slave…

Liya had not been merely strict with her.

Occasionally, at night, they would talk.

Simona, retaining all her memories, would share many old stories with Liya.

Liya would do the same, confiding in her like a friend.

If one ignored the war, those nighttime hours made them seem like inseparable friends… or perhaps something even closer.

It was not false or pretentious, for Liya, having already controlled the Holy Queen, had no need to hide her malice.

Yet after tormenting her into submission, Liya began to water her wounded heart with gentle, sweet drops.

Liya was simply the demon most skilled at toying with hearts in the world.

Even now, when Simona believed she had long regained her reason, she still found herself yearning for that gentleness.

It was truly infuriating.

The feeling of being stroked was very comfortable.

Simona had to admit it.

….

….

After every mission, Liya would carefully caress her head and body, hold her in her arms, and perhaps even kiss her.

At those times, her body would crave the dark magic.

How could this be? 

How could I have fallen so low?

“After the rebels injured me, I no longer dared to search for you, or even face you…

All these years, I’ve owed you an apology.”

Liya spoke in a tone tinged with sadness.

She stepped in front of Simona, her tail coiling around the other’s white-stockinged thigh.

“Can you still accept me?”

Simona had even lost the will to oppose her—because in her pretense of being controlled, Liya was her gentle master.

When the tail touched her, Simona reminded herself that she absolutely could not lose to this woman.

Liya was treating her as the old version—the kin who had once stood by her side, fighting humans together.

She apparently believed Simona had never regained her human reason.

This foolish behavior, under Simona’s disguise, had become extremely dangerous.

Because to maintain the pretense, she had to submit, accept Liya’s desires, and indulge the loneliness Liya had felt these five years—to appear corrupted and extract more information.

Gabriella… weren’t you thinking the same thing?

“Master, I will accept you… nn.”

The tail coiled around her leg grew more aggressive the instant she said “Master,” the binding sensation making Simona unconsciously let out a satisfied, delicate sigh.

So gentle, truly…

The old Liya would only roughly let magic roam over her body with violence.

Even if her words and actions seemed somewhat gentle, when it came to the purity within her, Liya would take it without hesitation.

But the current Liya was different from before.

She was testing her feelings, like a girl seeking love.

Liya had changed.

She had become far gentler—almost like a different person.

She said she had been saved by Gabriella, the divine maiden, and that was why she had become like this?

Could it be that she no longer possessed the power to dominate her?

She could not take the risk.

“Master, you may enjoy me anytime.”

Simona pretended to be the same as before—still controlled.

She reached out a hesitant, trembling hand and placed it on Liya’s waist.

The latter smoothly sat in her lap.

This woman… had she planned this all along?

“Ah… nn!”

The moment Liya sat in her lap, those warm lips captured hers, and her shoulders were embraced.

Five years.

It had been so long since she was last kissed like this—deeply kissed.

Once Simona began accepting Liya, there was no turning back.

She was pressed down onto the sofa, the tail toying with her legs.

The so-called maid skirt offered no resistance against the frontal assault.

“Little Simona, you really are still the same as before—no change at all~”

Liya released her lips and revealed a vulnerable smile.

“I missed you so much.

Gabriella’s gentleness reminds me of you—there was once a poor girl, wandering among humans, unable to receive love.”

“How… nn?”

Liya gave her no time to prepare.

Dark magic surged into her body, like greedy little spirits trying to steal all her reason.

“No…”

Liya’s embrace was greedy yet carried a tender, doting warmth, leaving Simona unsure whether she was prey being slowly devoured or a chick being pampered.

“Liya, Mas…”

What shamed Simona even more was that her body was accepting this invasion of dark power.

Not resisting—in fact, eagerly absorbing the dark magic.

The burning sun-like holiness within her body, like a fig leaf, once completely stripped of its protection, allowed Liya to easily find her most fragile, vulnerable spot.

“Liya, Master… nn, no more… gu?”

The expected torment did not come.

Instead, gentle hands lightly stroked her shoulders and arms.

The torment she had anticipated did not arrive in the next second.

And her pitiful, defiled soul actually began craving more dark magic when it was not further indulged.

She suddenly recalled two years ago, using certain objects as substitutes for Liya to satisfy her inner dark desires…

Now, those filthy thoughts were being realized.

The more satisfied she became, the greater the guilt it brought to her pure heart.

Toward Gabriella, and toward humanity.

“Little Simona, it feels good, doesn’t it?”

“Haa… ah…”

I am the Holy Queen, the Holy Queen of humanity. None of this matters.

I’m only doing this to extract more information.

It’s merely offering a body that was already defiled.

Simona stopped her panting.

She stared blankly into Liya’s eyes, tilted her head, and let out a soft voice:

“Master Liya, what are your orders next?”

Yet what made Simona even harder to comprehend—almost causing her to break down—was that

Liya did not use her like a tool.

Instead, she continued gently stroking her face, without exploring further.

Unsure whether it was because her body’s craving remained unsatisfied or because she was bewildered by Liya’s strange behavior, Simona felt somewhat angry.

But Liya’s next words left her restless heart unable to calm for a long time:

“Become my spouse, Simona.

I no longer see you as a tool for battle.”

“Master…”

“I want, just like the Demon King, to obtain true love.

Is that okay?”

Simona’s pupils trembled.

How cruel.

She had once toyed with her as a slave, and now she wanted her to become her lover?

But if it was only pretense, if it was only to gather intelligence…

It should be fine, right?

Simona parted her moist cherry lips and let out a soft voice.

“Yes, Master♡”