Chapter 87
Now, Ashtel was certainly not foolish enough to shout out loud, ‘Yes! I’m Sue!’ But she also lacked the composure to hide her true expression.
Perhaps it was the toll of hard physical labor affecting her.
Ashtel looked at Payne with a startled face, one that seemed to say, ‘Huh, how did you know?’
“Umm, no?”
She stammered, awkwardly rolling her eyes like a child trying to deny having broken a toy.
‘That can’t be. I can’t be Sue. Why does he think that?’
Even as she repeated these thoughts in her mind and tried to act, Payne had already seen through her. It wasn’t just her expression of ‘I’ve been caught!’ that gave her away.
Even now, with the familiar succubus beside him acting coy, everything matched perfectly with Sue’s charm.
There was no way he could be mistaken. He had witnessed her display of sweetness firsthand.
Payne was frozen in shock, staring at Ashtel.
“…Wait, Payne? I told you it’s not me! Didn’t you hear me?”
The once-calm priest had lost his composure.
The thought that Sue was actually a succubus made all the pieces fit together like a shattered puzzle, but what shook him more was the realization that the playful, enticing Sue who had once calmed his desires and showed him affection was now gone from this world.
The succubus before him could easily be banished if he wanted, but how could he rid himself of the memories she had left behind?
He trembled with an indescribable feeling of confusion and the sharp sense of self-loathing that arose within him, realizing that he had been attracted to Sue, even if only slightly, and had felt affection for her.
He had promised himself not to fall for such feelings again. Yet here he was, grappling with the very emotions he had tried to suppress.
Struggling against the turmoil inside, Payne finally managed to ask, “Why me?”
“…What?”
“Why did you choose me?”
Ashtel’s innocent eyes widened in realization, and she understood that Payne didn’t believe her.
‘Ah, I’m really in trouble!’
Deep down, she had sensed that this moment could come eventually.
The harsh environment for demons, along with the ever-watchful paladins and the terrifying exorcist priests, made Medialle a place where entering was easy, but surviving seemed impossible.
So, Ashtel decided that after she healed Payne, she would quit her duties as a maid and keep her distance while watching over him from afar. Sometimes she would appear as a penitent in confession, other times as a yellow bird singing sweetly.
Even if she was discovered as a succubus, she hoped there would be another chance as long as she wasn’t destroyed. After all, she had the power of perfect transformation at her disposal.
“Um… you’re not assuming that I’m not Sue, are you?”
“There’s no assumption.”
“Ugh.”
Payne’s response was curt. It was blunt enough to lack politeness, and the lack of politeness brought about a strange feeling, as if she was meeting him for the first time. This was new, but Ashtel preferred the composed Payne who couldn’t push her away.
He would sigh when she got close, and when she moved, he would be awkward, unsure of how to respond. His face looked sorrowful. As he didn’t say anything, Payne pressed the blade closer.
“If you won’t answer…”
He then removed the cross from around his neck and gripped it in his other hand. Just by looking, she could tell he was planning something, so Ashtel hurriedly shouted,
“No! I actually have my reasons!”
But even though her heart raced, the words didn’t come out.
‘What if I say it’s my fault that Payne is like this?’
Ashtel had indeed wanted to claim him. That was why she entered his dreams and approached him. But that didn’t mean she wanted to turn him into a lustful creature like the human men Moablon played with.
She couldn’t stand by and watch as Payne suffered because of her pheromones, which was why she infiltrated Mediale.
And Payne… as someone who had observed and loved him from afar, she thought he would listen to her if she explained her circumstances.
However, Ashtel overlooked one crucial detail: this was only true for humans.
“You’re not speaking. Then I will end this here.”
Payne coldly retorted. The expression and tone he used were unfamiliar, causing Ashtel to falter and cease her excuses.
As the cross in his hand began to glow with pure divine energy, she felt that something was going horribly wrong.
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