Two more days.
Two more days of being Seraphiel's personal stress toy.
She'd escalated. Yesterday, she'd made me reorganize her entire wardrobe while she watched, commenting on how clumsy mortal hands were. The day before, she'd "accidentally" stepped on my fingers when I was scrubbing the floor.
The other servants looked at me with pity now. Even Ayla had stopped trying to give advice. What was the point? You couldn't escape an angel's attention. You just endured until they got bored.
Except Seraphiel wasn't getting bored.
If anything, she was getting more creative.
"Kai."
I turned from the laundry I was folding to find her standing in the doorway of the servant quarters. Several other humans were nearby, and they all immediately dropped into bows.
I didn't. Not fast enough, anyway.
Her lips curved. Not quite a smile. Something sharper.
"Come with me."
She led me to one of the sitting rooms where angels gathered between duties. Three other angels were already there, lounging on cushions, talking in those musical voices that made every word sound important.
They looked up when we entered.
"Seraphiel," one said, a female with auburn hair. "What's this?"
"My new footstool," Seraphiel said simply.
My stomach dropped.
"Kneel. Here." She pointed to a spot in front of the largest cushion.
The other angels were watching with interest now. Curious. Entertained.
I knelt.
Seraphiel settled onto the cushion with the grace of someone who'd never had an awkward moment in her existence. She was wearing that short dress again, the white one that showed off her legs, and she crossed them right at my eye level.
Then she placed her feet on my back.
"Much better," she said, like I was an actual piece of furniture. "Now, as I was saying about the new soul shipment..."
She started talking. The other angels joined in. They discussed humans like we were livestock, debating the quality of recent arrivals, complaining about how the newer souls were "less resilient" than they used to be.
And I knelt there, Seraphiel's footstool, feeling her weight press down on my spine.
But worse than the physical humiliation was the view.
From this angle, with her legs crossed just above my head, I could see up her dress again. Different panties today - still white, still pristine, but these had delicate lace trim that made them somehow even more obscene.
The fabric stretched across her most intimate place, that same subtle outline visible, the same suggestion of untouched flesh beneath.
My body responded like the traitor it was. Heat pooled in my groin, my length hardening despite everything, and I hated myself for it.
Hated her for doing this.
Hated that even now, degraded and used as furniture, all I could think about was those panties. About what she'd look like without them. About making her need something, anything, the way I needed air.
"Humans are so weak," one of the other angels said with a laugh. "I can't imagine why the Goddesses bother keeping them."
"Entertainment," another replied. "And the soul essence, of course."
"True. Though this one seems particularly pathetic." I felt eyes on me. "Does he even speak, Seraphiel?"
"When commanded," Seraphiel said. I felt her shift above me, her weight pressing harder. "He's learning his place. Aren't you, Kai?"
The question hung in the air.
Say yes, and I confirm everything they think. Confirm that I'm nothing, that I'll always be nothing.
Say no, and face whatever punishment she'd devise.
I said nothing.
Seraphiel's foot pressed harder into my back. "I asked you a question."
The heat in my chest, that warmth that had been building for days, suddenly flared white-hot. It spread through my body like wildfire, burning away everything but pure, concentrated rage.
And beneath that rage: desire. Need. Lust so strong it merged with the hatred until I couldn't separate them anymore.
I wanted to throw her off me. Wanted to flip that cushion and pin her down and make her understand what it felt like to be powerless. Wanted to tear those perfect white panties off and bury myself in her until she screamed, until that halo cracked, until she begged me to stop or keep going, I didn't even care which.
The heat reached critical mass.
And something inside me broke.
Or maybe it woke up.
Purple text suddenly blazed across my vision, sharp and clear and completely impossible:
[DIVINE CORRUPTION SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
[ANALYSIS COMPLETE]
[WELCOME, HOST. ABOUT TIME YOU SNAPPED.]
I blinked. The text didn't go away.
[CURRENT STATUS: HUMILIATED, HORNY, AND HOMICIDAL. PERFECT COMBINATION.]
[PROCESSING VIABLE TARGETS...]
[TARGET DETECTED: SERAPHIEL - CHERUB CLASS ANGEL]
[PURITY RATING: 98%]
[HIDDEN DESIRE DETECTED: AROUSAL FROM DEFIANCE]
[CORRUPTION POTENTIAL: EXCELLENT]
What. The. Hell.
[RELAX, HOST. I'M HERE TO HELP. THINK OF ME AS YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD REVENGE SYSTEM.]
[WELL, MAYBE NOT FRIENDLY. BUT DEFINITELY VENGEFUL.]
The voice in my head was mechanical but had an edge to it. Sarcastic. Almost amused.
"Kai." Seraphiel's voice cut through my shock. "Answer. Me."
[SHE'S GETTING IMPATIENT. HOW EXCITING.]
[WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE WHAT I CAN OFFER?]
I didn't know how to respond to a voice in my head, so I just... thought it. Hard.
Yes.
[EXCELLENT CHOICE.]
[DISPLAYING BASIC INTERFACE...]
New text appeared, organized like some kind of RPG status screen:
[HOST: KAI MORAN]
[LEVEL: 1]
[TITLE: WORTHLESS SERVANT (TEMPORARY - LET'S FIX THAT)]
[PRIMARY STATS:]
- CHARM: 12/100
- DOMINANCE: 8/100
- CUNNING: 15/100
- DIVINE RESISTANCE: 5/100
[CURRENT ABILITIES: NONE (YET)]
[CORRUPTION POINTS: 0]
[AVAILABLE MISSIONS: 1]
The last line pulsed.
[MISSION: CORRUPT YOUR FIRST ANGEL]
[TARGET: SERAPHIEL]
[OBJECTIVE: REDUCE PURITY FROM 98% TO 60% THROUGH INTIMATE ENCOUNTERS]
[PROGRESS: 0/5 ENCOUNTERS]
[REWARD: SIN MARK - LUST (RANK 1), DIVINE CONTRACT UNLOCKED, LEVEL 10 BOOST]
[BONUS OBJECTIVE: MAKE HER BEG]
[ADDITIONAL REWARD: ???]
[GOOD LUCK, HOST. YOU'RE GOING TO NEED IT.]
[JUST KIDDING. WITH ME, YOU WON'T NEED LUCK. YOU'LL NEED STAMINA.]
My mind reeled. This was insane. Impossible. I was hallucinating from stress and humiliation and...
[NOT HALLUCINATING. I'M VERY REAL. ALSO, SHE'S STILL WAITING FOR AN ANSWER.]
[MIGHT WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT.]
[OR DON'T. WATCHING YOU SQUIRM IS ENTERTAINING TOO.]
Seraphiel shifted above me, clearly annoyed by my silence.
And I realized something.
She couldn't see the system. Couldn't see the text blazing across my vision.
Couldn't see that everything had just changed.
[CORRECT, HOST. THIS IS YOUR SECRET. YOUR POWER.]
[SO... WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH IT?]
I looked up at Seraphiel. At her perfect face, her crossed legs, the hint of white lace beneath her dress.
At the angel who'd made my existence hell for a week.
The angel the system said had a hidden desire for defiance.
The angel who was, according to this impossible interface, 98% pure.
For now.
A smile tugged at my lips. Small. Dark.
"No," I said quietly.
Seraphiel's eyes widened slightly. "What did you just say?"
"I said no." I met her gaze. "I'm not learning my place. And I'm not your footstool."
The other angels gasped.
Seraphiel's face flushed with anger. She stood abruptly, looking down at me with those blue eyes blazing.
"You dare..."
[OH, THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN.]
[MISSION ACCEPTED.]
[LET THE CORRUPTION BEGIN.]
I stood slowly, ignoring the shocked silence from the other angels.
For the first time since arriving in this paradise, I didn't feel powerless.
I felt dangerous.
And I couldn't wait to see what that perfect, pristine angel looked like when she fell.