The Incubus Archduke Dreams of a Pet Human - Chapter 11

“……What?”

At the repeated question, Asmod furrowed his smooth brow.

“Do you not understand what it means to go home?”

Telling her to go home after forming a contract. Wasn’t that the same as telling her to die?

Theticia raised her arm in alarm, her face aghast.

“How can I go home with this on me? Why are you telling me to go home? Y-you said we’d keep going until you were satisfied!”

Her reckless outburst turned her cheeks a deep red.

“You’re not even undoing the contract…! T-then take responsibility! It was my first time!”

It pricked her conscience to use the purity she had discarded like a day laborer’s wage as leverage, but her life was on the line. Embarrassment didn’t matter in the least.

“I absolutely won’t go! I refuse!”

Her outburst was followed by a light chuckle. When she cautiously opened the eyes she’d squeezed shut, Asmod was slowly approaching.

“What a very amusing thing to say.”

Neatly arranged fingertips lifted Theticia’s chin. At the sight of her glassy eyes trembling, Asmod’s lips curved in satisfaction.

‘She’s not even under a charm spell, yet she doesn’t want to leave my side. Does she really like this face that much?’

Even so, if he brought her to the Demon Realm carelessly, this precious mana vessel might not withstand the air and die.

His fingertip tapped her small chin with elegant precision.

“I have to return to the Demon Realm. Humans can’t endure its air, so I can’t very well take you with me, can I.”

At the mention that he could take her, Theticia swallowed hard. The land visible beyond the window was bleak, lined with dead trees.

“Didn’t you say you were going to cross this forest and head for Kraven? Live as you wish. Wherever you are, I’ll find you through the contract. You only need to provide me with mana periodically.”

“E-even so, if this brand remains, I’ll be accused of demon worship and killed!”

To Theticia’s desperate protest, Asmod let out a light scoff.

“What do you take me for? Hiding a contract like this is child’s play.”

“There’s… a way not to get caught?”

Theticia’s eyes lit up. Now that she thought about it, there were cases even within the Imperial Capital where people were punished for contracting with demons. That meant others had managed to hide it until they were discovered.

Asmod gently brushed her wrist. The brand, responding to the contractor’s mana, gave off a cool glow.

“Of course. Did you really think I’d send you off without even that kind of precaution? I’m the one who doesn’t want to be apart from you, not even for a moment.”

The sweet tone, like one meant for a lover, sent heat all the way to Theticia’s earlobes. Every time this demon spoke such inexplicably saccharine words, her heart thumped without the slightest shame.

‘……It’s not all that bad.’

Swept up in the mood, Theticia began imagining what life might look like from now on. Selling herbs while hiding the brand, researching new flora and fauna.

‘And… sleeping with this demon periodically…’

Just the thought of it made her face flush hot, but she quickly pulled herself together.

‘T-this is part of my research. If I can regularly meet someone whose face I can see, it might help me find a cure for my chronic illness. Observation is the foundation of natural history.’

Her chastity was already taken without issue, and if she could return to Kraven with the contract hidden, there could be no better outcome. Pressing down her pounding heart, Theticia nodded, perhaps a bit too eagerly.

“Then it’s fine. Please cover this quickly and send me on my way!”

At her bold response, Asmod’s brow suddenly furrowed.

‘…What is this reaction? Just a moment ago, she acted like she couldn’t stand being apart from me. Wasn’t she falling for me?’

His composure shattered in an instant. Even as the King of Incubi, this was his first time using his power on a human.

Most humans couldn’t endure his mana and would either faint or lose their minds.

As Theticia watched Asmod’s displeased expression, she glanced past him.

“By the way…”

Her gaze turned to the faint shadow behind Asmod. Now that her future was settled, she could finally voice the question that had been on her mind the whole time.

“Who is that person standing over there?”

“…What?”

“That person standing behind you. I couldn’t ask earlier because you were talking about something important, but they’ve been staring at me too intently. Are they a demon too?”

“You… you can see that one? Since when?”

At Theticia’s pointing finger, something shifted in Asmod’s eyes. His voice carried a rising excitement.

“Huh? Yes. I started seeing them after you touched the brand, Lord Asmod.”

When Theticia replied in confusion, Asmod gave a dry chuckle and gestured toward the shadow.