The Ring of Bondage - Chapter 3.15

A pampered young human master who had even attended theological academy wouldn’t know such things. Even if she told him, it seemed like it would only get in the way of the contract, so Leticia roughly played along with him.

Only then did Mikhail begin dressing himself. Even with nothing more than neat trousers and a single dress shirt, he looked refined.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you dressed.”

“If you like it, I’ll f**k you like this when I come back.”

That wasn’t what she had meant. Instead of correcting his words, Leticia watched Mikhail’s back as he walked toward the noisy visitor.

Come to think of it, if he looked that beautiful even to her eyes, he must look charming to other humans too, so it was strange that there had been no visitors while she had been staying with Mikhail. Wasn’t he at the level where people would flock to him, cling to him, and refuse to let go?

Leticia quietly got up, picked up her clothes and put them on, then followed after him. The visitor happened to be a woman too. She might be able to see something interesting.

Hiding behind a wall and peeking out, she saw Mikhail’s back as he stood in front of the entrance. As the door slowly opened, Leticia waited with anticipation for the other person to be revealed.

“Mikhail, you really were here.”

The person standing beyond the door was a slender human woman. Dressed as a theology student like Mikhail when Leticia first met him, with her silver hair neatly pinned up and her hands clasped before her chest as if in prayer, she was clearly a devout servant of God at first glance.

Her calm but resonant voice and each of her reverent gestures were both interesting and unpleasant to Leticia.

“I came because I have something to say. May I come in?”

“No. Say it here. What is it?”

The woman hesitated for a moment. It seemed what she had to say was extremely secretive, or she was displeased that he wouldn’t let her into the house.

Of course, from Mikhail’s position, it would be troublesome if she came inside. A demon was sitting brazenly in his mansion.

“I know you dropped out because you were falsely accused. Why did you leave without saying even a word in your defense?”

“The temple already firmly believes I tried to steal the formula for the censer. What use would an excuse be?”

“You can just say it isn’t true. I’ll go with you and defend you.”

“How exactly?”

As mockery mixed into Mikhail’s voice, Leticia was busy piecing together the information she had overheard. The censer must certainly be referring to that addictive smoke or whatever that had been spreading a stench around this area all along.

Mikhail knew quite a lot about the components of that scent. And Leticia had heard that he had dropped out of theological academy, but she hadn’t known the reason.

It felt as though the puzzle was gradually coming together. It seemed Mikhail had been falsely accused, or perhaps he had been advised to drop out while investigating the temple’s corruption.

He must have met her on the day he returned home like that. A demon who told him she would grant his wish, so he should hand over his soul. Perhaps the scent of sin that had been coming from him was also connected to that incident.

“Stop doing pointless things and go back.”

“Mikhail!”

The woman resisted, forcibly pushing against the door Mikhail had been trying to close.

“I, I… want you to come back.”

“That’s your own greed.”

“Am I not allowed to be greedy? It’s not as if I’m wishing for something bad. I just want you to be at the academy, by my side!”

The conversation had suddenly taken on the atmosphere of a lovers’ quarrel. Leticia leaned her head out a little farther and spied on the two of them. She couldn’t see Mikhail’s expression while his back was turned, but the tears gathering in the woman’s eyes were clear.

Leticia wanted to see Mikhail’s face. She wanted to confirm what sort of expression he was making as he looked at the frail woman with tears in her eyes. But no matter how far Leticia leaned out, she couldn’t see his turned face.

“Lena. If the theological academy finds out you’re doing this, they’ll expel you too.”

“I don’t care! I just want you to…”

The eyes of the woman clinging to Mikhail in tears suddenly turned toward Leticia. Startled, Leticia hid behind the wall, but she couldn’t erase the gaze that had already met hers. At least it was fortunate that her single horn had been hidden by the wall. Surely, with only their eyes meeting for a moment, she wouldn’t have realized Leticia was a demon.

“…Mikhail. Who is that woman?”

Just as Leticia had expected, the woman didn’t ask why there was a demon in his house. Of course, that didn’t mean her reaction was mild. The woman’s cold voice was quite sharp.

Who is that woman, she asked. Were they in the sort of relationship where she could question him like that? Leticia touched her horn and listened closely to their conversation.