Chapter 91
Regardless…. Ashtel was able to resolve the situation with Carmen’s full support.
— I’ll finish the experiment and come right away. It should be by morning.
Carmen said this and then cut off the communication.
Ashtel felt relieved, as it wouldn’t be a problem to have her arrive tomorrow morning.
‘Now I just need to figure out what to do with Payne.’
Humans required a lot of attention. They needed three meals a day, regular bathroom breaks, and sleep scheduled at the right times—there were many things to take care of.
That’s why she wasn’t planning to leave him in the human realm and instead wanted to take him to the demon world.
‘If I leave Payne here, he might starve to death.’
She wasn’t entirely sure, but she had heard that even if a human didn’t eat, they absolutely needed to drink water. Otherwise, they could die within a few days.
‘So fragile, so fragile.’
Ashtel shook her head and approached the bed where Payne lay.
Fortunately, he seemed to be sleeping soundly, as the blanket she had covered him with was still in place.
“…Huh?”
Then she noticed something odd and quickly flipped the blanket.
‘There’s nothing here?!’
Indeed, there was nothing. A few of her soft, plush pillows were on the bed instead of Payne.
Ashtel quickly turned and scanned the small house. It was a cramped space consisting of a kitchen and a single room. Where could Payne possibly hide in here?
Moreover, he should have been tied up.
“Payne? Payne!”
As Ashtel was about to move, searching for him like one would for a lost puppy, something quickly snagged her ankle.
She fell backward with barely a scream escaping her lips.
Almost immediately, Payne crawled out from under the bed, his hands still bound, and grabbed her neck.
“Ugh…!”
The grip around her throat wasn’t very tight, but it was enough to instill a sense of fear, making Ashtel struggle to break free from the man before her.
“Wait, just a moment…”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Ah!”
“Answer me!”
Payne felt a sense of emergency.
Moments after he opened his eyes, he heard Ashtel’s voice trembling in distress.
Reacting instinctively, Payne lifted his head, thinking it was Sue crying, but quickly checked the situation after feeling the thick ropes binding him.
That wasn’t the maid. No, Sue was a nonexistent person to begin with.
This was a demon, a succubus, a being here to harm him.
His heart raced.
He reflected on where he was and how he ended up in this place. The conclusion was straightforward.
Was this a succubus’s lair? If so, the voice he was communicating with was likely from the same kind of demon.
Bolstering Payne’s suspicions, Ashtel whispered.
“Thank you, Sis Carmen.”
It was then that Payne realized something. The maid he had seen earlier, Sue’s sister, Moablon, could also be a demon.
‘No, it’s certain. She must be a demon too.’
A sense of betrayal washed over him belatedly.
Sue was a nonexistent person. The woman who had pounced on him, saying she would accept his body or anything else, was someone who did not exist in this world.
So what did the struggles he had faced up until now meant?
He had been plagued by intense guilt for attacking Sue, confused by feelings he shouldn’t have felt at her declaration of affection.
All of it was an illusion. It felt like a damn nightmare.
The most painful and horrifying part was that this absurd dream wasn’t entirely terrifying.
Payne did not view the days spent with Sue as a nightmare. Rather…
“P-Payne… I can’t breathe.”
With a delicate voice, her long eyelashes fluttered.
He concealed his turmoil and looked at Ashtel.
Sue… that is, the succubus in human form, still had a beautiful face, round eyes like a rabbit’s, and luscious lips that tempted him.
No wonder he couldn’t take his eyes off that face. It was because she was a demon.
“First, answer me.”
“Ugh, I was going to take you to the demon realm…”
“Why?”
“Just let me go for a moment!”
In truth, Ashtel was unaware that Payne’s grip had slowly begun to loosen since she had asked to be let go while in Sue’s form.
A strange sense of guilt, which Payne himself was not fully aware of, had been building up inside him ever since she began to plead.
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