Chapter 124
Ashtel wouldn’t be staying by his side all day, so he had to figure out a way to escape without drawing attention.
‘Pretending to be careless… might work.’
Pretending to accept his situation, pretending to be obedient— that was exactly what he’d been doing all along.
That’s why he was using polite language for a demon and behaving the same way he did when she was a maid.
Ashtel had fallen for it immediately, but she still didn’t release him from the restraints. Now, seeing that Payne was able to move, she quickly looped the chain around his neck and tied him to the bed again.
‘Would she let me go if I told her it hurt?’
He didn’t try to complain. But if he had said he was in pain, Ashtel would quickly apologize and get teary-eyed. Saying she was really sorry for hurting him.
He didn’t want to see Ashtel like that. Something….inside him recoiled at the thought.
Ashtel was a vile demon, so why does he keep feeling this way?
Payne wondered if this was what people called ‘body affection,’ pressing his brow down in frustration.
‘First, I need to find time to be alone.’
A month may be short, but if he had to stay cooped up in the house, it would feel like a long time. He didn’t intend to waste it rolling around in bed with a succubus.
Payne intended to keep clearing his mind and enduring this hardship. If he could return to Katzel Medialle… he could endure the pain of rut.
“Payne, I’m going out for a bit!”
The opportunity came faster than expected.
Ashtel finished her communication, quickly returned to her human form, grabbed a basket and some cash, and disappeared somewhere. She was probably going to the market to pick up supplies now that he was in the house.
Payne looked around the room and, with a sigh, pressed his lips together, unable to take even three steps because of the short chain.
He needed to gather strength, but only frustration continued to build.
“Human’s curse…”
He muttered in a low voice.
It was fortunate that Ashtel didn’t ask more about the curse.
Payne hated that the curse led him toward corruption, but more complicated feelings swirled within him.
Why did it have to be like this?
“Mother, did you hate me that much?”
But that question could never reach the other person.
The person who abandoned him, for they were already gone from this world.
* * *
‘Humans feel happiness through the various clothes they wear. Buy as many clothes as possible for your human and make him change often.’
Ashtel tried her best to follow Chacha’s teachings.
“Payne, look at this! What do you think? Isn’t it a pretty outfit?”
“What is this?”
“It’s a uniform that noblemen like. It was super expensive!”
“Where did you get the money… No, never mind. I don’t need any clothes.”
She had scattered the dazzling male clothing around, but it clearly didn’t suit Payne’s taste. He picked out the simplest tunic and pair of cotton pants and told Ashtel to leave so he could change.
Ashtel, left standing alone in the kitchen, moved on to the next step.
“And, you know, since you’re tied up like this, it might be uncomfortable to go to the bathroom. Do you want me to untie you for that? What do you think?”
“Huh? You’re going to untie me?”
Payne, who had quickly tied the strings and was adjusting his clothes, raised his head in surprise. Just one day into being here and already he was being offered some freedom; it was an unexpected benefit.
“Yes, just when you need to go to the bathroom.”
Or, maybe not.
“…Wait, so every time I go…”
“Yep. You’ll need to tell me, though. But don’t worry! I’ll always be right next to you. You can go freely!”
That wasn’t freedom. If that happened, Ashtel would have to stay in the house all the time.
That was something Payne definitely didn’t want, so he hesitated for a moment, then gently opened the door and asked, “Is there any way you could… untie this chain?”
“Uh, well, that’s a bit difficult…”
“…It’s just that it feels a bit uncomfortable since it’s around my neck.”
But Ashtel wasn’t easily swayed.
‘Sue, humans’ skin is more fragile than it looks. Anything that touches their skin should be soft.’
‘I understand, Sis!’
After hearing Chacha’s explanation, the first thing she bought at the market was Payne’s clothes and the restraints.
“Ta-da! Look at this. It’s made of silk. I found it at a shop in a shady part of town. Doesn’t it look cute?”
Out of the basket came a lace-covered, mysterious blindfold, a short necklace that tightened around the neck, and a long, ultra fiber rope.
Payne didn’t know much about the sinister objects from the outside world, but he could tell at a glance that these weren’t ordinary.
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