"Oh my, you noticed me that quickly."
Pink flower petals swirled together, and the white-haired Grand Sage emerged from among them, hood over her head and staff in hand. Grinning, Mari sauntered over to the table and familiarly reached for the plate of pastries.
Smack!
With a crisp slap, Mari pulled back her reddened hand.
Still unwilling to give up, she slipped around like an eel and sat beside Samael, casually draping one pale arm around the back of his neck as she shamelessly tried to cozy up to him.
"We're partners, aren't we? We've eaten and lived together for so many days. We've already built such a deep bond. What's yours is mine, so don't be so stingy."
"Partners? You certainly looked like you were having fun hiding in the back and watching the show."
Samael knocked away Mari's other hand as it crept toward the pastries and snorted coldly.
The Grand Sage had received news as soon as the others entered the city.
Yet she had lazily hidden herself in the shadows, snacking on seeds while enthusiastically watching them play mind games with Aurora.
"That was because, as your partner, I trust your abilities! After all, here in Britannia, aside from that King of Knights stationed in the North being somewhat troublesome, who could possibly hurt you? Right?"
Mari defended herself without so much as blinking.
There was not the slightest trace of remorse in her voice. If anything, she sounded even more shameless than that old fraud Merlin.
Before Samael could call her out any further, the Grand Sage's eyes darted around.
She quietly leaned closer and asked with obvious curiosity,
"By the way, why does Aurora seem so afraid of you? Given how fairies are, she shouldn't obey someone else that easily.
"What exactly did you do to her before? Come on, secretly tell me."
So that was it.
You finally stopped slacking off just because you were curious and wanted gossip!
Realizing the true reason this trashy woman had approached him only made Samael's mood worse.
He rolled his eyes and refused without hesitation.
"No."
"How about a fair trade? Who do you want serving you next? Your foster mother? Sisters? Maybe your foster daughter? A confidante? Or how about all of them together?"
Mari refused to give up.
Her dreamlike purple eyes blinked innocently as she tossed out one tempting offer after another.
Samael crossed his arms defensively and sneered at her with open disdain.
"That's it? Do you really think I'm that kind of person? And you still want to tempt me with something like that?"
Mari glanced at his subtly bobbing Adam's apple.
Understanding immediately appeared on her pretty face, and she sincerely raised the stakes.
"You can freely choose the setting too. A cave, the Boat of Heaven, a ship's cabin, a courtroom...
"Or I could add whatever style you like. Bondage, rough play, training, woman on top...
"If you're still not satisfied, I can expand the cast. For example, how about your current dear companion?"
"Tsk. A fake is still a fake!"
Samael's eyes went unfocused for a moment.
Then he snapped back to himself and rejected her with righteous indignation.
Unfortunately, the increasingly frequent movement of his throat as he swallowed betrayed him, while his expression carried an indescribable mixture of pain and regret.
Fine.
The conditions were definitely tempting.
But he had no interest in performing every imaginable practical exercise in front of Mari and giving this rotten woman enough material to mock him for the rest of his life.
After being rejected repeatedly, Mari rested her chin in one hand and thought for a moment.
Then a smile bloomed across her face.
Her pale fingertip tapped lightly against her cherry-red lips before she leaned close to Samael's ear and whispered seductively,
"That's fine. Big Sister can teach you the real thing."
As the Succubus drew closer, Samael instinctively tensed.
He leaned away, only for the back of his head to unknowingly bump against a pavilion pillar.
Her shamelessly sensual advance had quite literally cornered him.
That breathtaking face, combining the dreamlike beauty of an illusion with the natural allure of a Succubus, drew closer inch by inch.
A faint blush colored her cheeks, lending her an irresistible charm that sent his heartbeat racing.
"I'm very good at serving people, you know. Any position is fine..."
Samael's heart betrayed him with a series of violent beats.
His Adam's apple moved as he swallowed hard, and his suddenly dry mouth forced out a strained reply.
"Any... any position?"
"Of course!"
Mari drew out the last word and nodded with a delighted smile, like a fox that had successfully stolen a chicken.
"Then start by washing your hair while doing a handstand."
"Huh?"
"You can't even do that? Hanging upside down, handsprings, a Thomas spin. Pick one, at least."
"..."
Samael now sat there with his arms crossed, sneering at her with complete disdain and amusement.
There was no trace left of the dazed, captivated expression he had worn moments earlier.
Mari's lips twitched violently.
She had never even heard of most of those "positions."
After being speechless for quite some time, the white-haired older sister who had failed before even getting started finally admitted defeat.
She reluctantly suppressed her urge to tease her master, adjusted her mood, and glanced toward one of the secluded, quiet rooms in the courtyard.
"It looks like I'll have to trade my trump card for your secret..."
"Tsk. What trump card could you possibly have?"
"Want to know what's been bothering Morgan?"
Samael had initially dismissed her words.
But the moment she mentioned the very problem that had been troubling him lately, his interest was immediately piqued.
"You really know?"
"Dreams conceal the deepest secrets of all living things."
Mari answered meaningfully.
Her gaze was clear and open, her tone confident.
The two exchanged a look and nodded, silently completing their under-the-table deal.
Since it was only some insignificant business from the past, Samael decided to speak first and satisfy Mari's burning curiosity.
"Actually, I never did anything to Aurora myself. I just asked a friend to weave an illusion for her..."
"What kind of illusion could make her that obedient?"
Mari became even more interested.
Her blinking eyes practically shone with anticipation, and without anyone noticing, the pastries on the table had somehow already ended up in her hands.
"I distorted all five of her senses and made her watch her beautiful face and flawless body rot and mutate inch by inch, while slimy flesh proliferated uncontrollably..."
Samael paused and frowned as he searched his memory.
Then he continued,
"In her eyes, she probably looked something like this.
"Her golden hair turned into purplish-black tentacles. Her body became covered in tumor-like masses of flesh. Countless emaciated legs covered in round suckers supported an enormous milky-white body. She had no arms, only three sharp spinal projections buried deep into the ground.
"Her head was even more disgusting. Layers of white gelatinous matter piled upon one another, covered in swollen, round eyes. In the center was an octopus-like mouth filled with sharp teeth...
"That disproportionate head constantly writhed and trembled. The swollen eyes stared in different directions, and every time she moved, pieces of rotting flesh fell from her body, each one giving birth to new insect-like life..."
The Ancient Serpent carefully searched his memory and described the creature with great enthusiasm.
In short, it was thoroughly grotesque, the kind of thing that could make someone lose their sanity just by looking at it.
"Ugh! Stop! Don't say any more!"
Mari had a vivid imagination.
The instant she managed to form even a rough image of the creature in her mind, chills ran across her entire body and a wave of nausea rose from somewhere deep in her soul.
Samael nodded cheerfully and added one final detail.
"Oh, right. To make sure she could admire her adorable new appearance at all times, the illusion was surrounded by mirrors in every direction..."
Mari imagined it.
Her entire body shuddered.
Her eyes widened in horror.
"Looks like the effect was pretty good. The illusion only lasted three minutes, yet she still remembers it so clearly..."
Samael stroked his chin and muttered thoughtfully.
"Although I did tell Aurora that if she refused to behave, that place would become her permanent home. But surely she didn't need to take it that seriously?"
For Aurora, who treasured her appearance more than anything else, that kind of punishment naturally produced immediate results.
No wonder the mighty Wind Clan Chieftain became more obedient than a rabbit the moment she saw this man.
And he even told her, "That place will be your permanent home"?
That kind of psychological trauma was enough to last a lifetime after experiencing it just once.
A demon!
This bastard was practically a demon that had crawled out of hell and now walked freely among mortals!
For the first time in her emotionally deficient existence, Mari experienced something that could genuinely be called fear.
The gaze she directed toward Samael now held a trace of indescribable dread.
"Now it's your turn. What's bothering Morgan?"
"..."
"Hmm? You're not trying to trick me, are you?"
A brilliant smile spread across Samael's face.
Under his meaningful, increasingly dangerous gaze, cold sweat began forming on Mari's forehead.
Her body trembled involuntarily.