"Master, I was wrong—I shouldn't have said you were fast."
Lai Yi looked at Nanako, who had "toiled" all night; she was still talking in her sleep.
"Master is so amazing… In the morning, the 'World's Tallest Peak' even turned into the 'World's Second Tallest'."
Bright sunlight fell on the girl's flushed cheeks, making one want to take another bite. Lai Yi knew she would probably be unable to get out of bed for the entire day.
After a day passed, his "information network" automatically updated. He focused his gaze to read the new message:
[Your fiancée Satila has prepared a new magic potion for you.]
Lai Yi opened the door. Outside stood Ophelia, her expression bitter and resentful.
Her face was hideous, as if smothered in rotten mud, and two large dark circles under her eyes showed she had clearly not slept all night.
"From now on, stop showing me that ugly face of yours."
Ophelia immediately dispelled her disguise spell. Before him stood the elven princess, her beauty so breathtaking it was almost heartbreaking.
An air of detachment surrounded her—even the sunlight that fell on her seemed to soften into gentle moonlight.
"Kiss me," he ordered Ophelia.
The stunning girl had listened to the "noises" all night; her face was already as red as a peach. Her first kiss had long been taken by the man before her,
so she offered no resistance at all—she obeyed, leaning in to kiss him, her tongue fumbling clumsily as she sucked.
Lai Yi took the chance to slip a hand between her legs.
Her untouched virgin pussy was slightly damp. So after listening to those sounds all night and being drugged, he thought,
she finally reacts—even if she's the noble elven princess.
Only then did Lai Yi nod in satisfaction. This way, he would have an appetite every time he stepped out in the morning.
"Oh, and tell me—why didn't my father detect your disguise spell?"
Lai Yi suddenly realized a blind spot, like Watson uncovering a clue. If Ophelia could cast a disguise spell without a sound, wouldn't it be easy for her to cast other spells and kill him?
Bound by the slave contract, Ophelia had no choice but to explain: "The difficulty is different. This shoddy little spell requires very little magic power—your father can't detect it. But resisting the slave brand or casting explosive magic? Those require too much magic power; they'd definitely be detected."
Lai Yi nodded. Taking advantage of this rare moment of "sage mode" (calm rationality), he reminded Ophelia:
"The entire city is searching for you, you know? By now, they've figured out you might be hiding among slaves in disguise, and they're using detection spells to check each one."
Ophelia nodded. She had to admit—staying in the Greystone mansion was actually the safest place for her right now.
She thought it through: her shoddy disguise could even arouse suspicion in a regular person like Lai Yi, so how could it escape the eyes of the kingdom's mages with their detection spells?
It would be better to stay with Lai Yi for a while, wait for the commotion to die down, then make other plans.
"Your tasks today: take care of Nanako, keep me company for drinks tonight, and then guard the door again."
Ophelia gave a slight nod. Lai Yi had hoped to see her lose her composure like she had the day before, but she was still as cold as a block of ice.
As soon as Lai Yi walked away, Ophelia waved her hand lightly. A delicate magpie flew out, carrying an envelope as it soared into the distant sky.
"Someday, I'll make all these high-and-mighty princesses kneel at my feet " Lai Yi muttered, thinking of Ophelia's icy demeanor as he walked toward the Succubus Brothel District.
Just as he stepped out of his home—
"Moshi moshi~"
Lai Yi felt two playful pokes at his waist.
"Good morning, brother!"
It was a cute girl with bobbed hair, a faint purple tint at the tips. She wore a kimono patterned with butterflies and flowers, and two dimples danced at the corners of her mouth. Her bright eyes sparkled with a cunning glint.
"Shinobu, I don't like people sneaking up on me from behind and poking me," Lai Yi said, flicking her forehead without mercy.
Thanks to Shinobu's job as an Alchemist, she had analyzed the ingredients of the potions Satila gave him—allowing him to secretly build up a resistance to them. Without that, he would have long become a deranged fool addled by drugs.
Shinobu was one of the few people in this family who made Lai Yi feel a sense of kinship.
"What's the matter, big brother? These pokes are supposed to bring us closer! It's just like this that Father and Big Brother hate you,"
Shinobu pouted.
Lai Yi pulled up her status panel:
Name Shinobu
Class Alchemist
Level 20
Sanity 100/100
Vitality 90/100
Status Needs to drink more warm water
Talents ???
"Shinobu, remember to drink more warm water, and don't eat cold things," Lai Yi reminded her. But his words only earned him a retort.
"I know, big brother! You're so naggy—you're not my mom!"
Lai Yi shook his head and flicked her forehead again.
Once Lai Yi had walked far away, Shinobu's cute dimples vanished. Her shadow merged with the shadow of the house, and she spoke softly to the air, her voice as faint as a whisper:
" Brother is such a terrifying man. Any woman who looks down on him—no matter how strong she is—will feel the suffocating grip of a python, and eventually fall for him… Even me…"
Soon, the golden signs of the Succubus Brothel District came into view. Lai Yi noticed many new faces—dozens of elves with golden hair and beautiful features, all Ophelia's kin.
He navigated with ease to a corner at the intersection, where a man in a black robe stood, idly staring at a watch in his hand.
When the robed man saw Lai Yi, he began the first password check: "Dusk paints the wall?"
"Twilight holds the key" Lai Yi replied.
After hearing his answer, the robed man blindfolded Lai Yi, led him to another intersection, and there, another robed man waited.
"Recall the past, tears never dried," the second robed man said, starting the second check.
"Stars map the path?"
Lai Yi said after a moment's thought.
The robed man blindfolded him again, hoisted him onto his back, and hurried off, footsteps clattering.
"Uh, buddy—I think I messed up the password," Lai Yi said awkwardly.
"It's just a formality," the robed man replied, running as fast as if flying. "You're the only one who comes here anyway—how could I not recognize your face?"
Finally, they reached a third robed man, who stood guard at a hotel room door. Lai Yi's teeth itched with anger—he knew who was waiting for him inside: Satila, his fiancée.
Satila, the First Princess of Catisia, the "brightest pearl of the empire"—but beneath all those glowing titles, she was nothing but a pervert.
A pervert who liked to train him like a dog, who forced him to drink potions to make him dependent.
Lai Yi's Sanity of 49 was all her doing, thanks to this vile, twisted princess.
If he thought about it—both Satila and Ophelia had that same arrogant, look-down-on-everyone attitude.
"Heaven above, earth below?" the third robed man said, lowering his voice for the password check.
"Satila's a whore!" Lai Yi blurted.
"You got it wrong," the robed man said, standing his ground and blocking the door.
Lai Yi flew into a rage: "It's just a formality! I've come here so many times—how could you not recognize my face?"
At that moment, the robed man pulled off its hood, letting a cascade of silver hair fall.
Beneath it was a beautiful face that was no less stunning than Ophelia's. She took off her black robe, revealing a gothic-style black dress, and high heels on her small feet.
"What do you mean 'Satila's a whore'?"
Lai Yi immediately pulled up her status panel:
Name Satila
Class Witch of Cursed Potions
Sanity 20/100 (Note: Sanity below 50 = state of madness; below 30 = visions of indescribable horrors; below 10 = degeneration into a monster)
Vitality 100/100
Talents ???
Satila, now without her robe, stared fixedly at Lai Yi—who had suddenly fallen silent—and licked her slightly dry lips.
"Didn't you tell me the password was 'Pagoda suppresses the river demon'?"
Her gaze didn't seem like a question—it was more like she was sizing up where to cut to rip out his heart.
The atmosphere was stifling to the extreme, and Lai Yi's heart kept thudding steadily.
Lai Yi strived to remain calm and tried to explain.
If he hadn't stayed calm, Satila would have buried him in the ground long ago.
"'whore' is a compliment here. Satila, I've always admired you—so please forgive me for overstepping by changing the password on my own."
"Oh? Thank you for the compliment, Lai Yi,"
Satila said, her Sanity now at 29. She still remembered to smile politely, gracefully lifting the hem of her dress and giving Lai Yi a slight curtsy.
The lower her Sanity, the more "beautiful" her mental state became.
Lai Yi thought he was already perverted enough, but whenever he met Satila, he always felt he wasn't perverted enough to keep up with her.
Lai Yi calmly changed the subject: "Where's the thired robed man?"
"Oh, him? You were late, so I let him test the potion I developed first. He's already turned into a dead dog," Satila said. Then she grabbed Lai Yi's hand, swinging him onto the bed.
Her face was filled with a perverted sense of possession.
"He's not as useful as you—you've survived so many of my potions and still haven't died."
All around them were bottles and jars of potions bubbling with eerie fizz. On the floor lay a naked man's corpse, sprawled like a dead dog.
"After all… you're Mommy's most obedient little dog," Satila purred, licking her pale pink lips. Her eyes were filled with excitement and madness.