The Ring of Bondage - Chapter 3.16

“What woman?”

“I saw her just now. Some woman was peeking out from behind that wall!”

Silence continued for a moment. Mikhail was probably looking in the direction where she was hiding. What would he say? Whatever it was, he couldn’t tell the truth. Then what lie would Mikhail Becker choose? How would he introduce her to that woman?

“What I do, or who I associate with, is none of your concern. Go back, Lena.”

Mikhail chose the simplest and easiest answer. Considering his usual attitude, perhaps it was only natural. He was the kind of person who only said what he wanted to say and avoided every question he disliked. She knew that.

And yet one corner of her chest felt strangely tight, so Leticia drew in a deep breath. Even after taking in as much air as she could and exhaling it slowly, the stifling feeling didn’t disappear.

“So, did you enjoy watching?”

“Eek, you startled me!”

At the whisper that suddenly sounded by her ear, Leticia jumped in fright and shoved Mikhail away. As she forced her pounding heart to calm down and looked near the entrance, there was no one there. It seemed the woman had left while Leticia had been lost in thought.

“You’re complaining when you were the one secretly peeking?”

“That’s, well… It seemed like something serious.”

“It wasn’t anything special. Anyway, it’s quiet now, so let’s keep doing what we were doing.”

Mikhail looked the same as before as he stroked her cheek with a lewd smile. But Leticia felt a strange sense of dissonance. She didn’t know whether his attitude had changed or whether her own feelings had, but she didn’t want to have s*x again as if nothing had happened.

“Who is she? She’s pretty.”

“You can even get jealous? Cute.”

That wasn’t an answer to her question. He was changing the subject. Just as he had avoided answering that woman about Leticia’s identity earlier.

Thinking that made her feel uncomfortable again. Somehow, it felt as though that woman and she were being treated similarly by Mikhail. Or perhaps it was even worse.

With an uneasy feeling, Leticia mulled over the conversation she had just heard. A man who had been unfairly advised to withdraw, left the theological academy, and then made a wish to a demon that brought him no benefit.

There must have been more than one or two things he had left behind at the academy. Faith, future power, and perhaps even the woman who had just come looking for him.

She had heard that such people existed sometimes. Humans who, in a state of despair, made contracts with demons not so much for a wish as for self-punishment. When Mikhail first saw Leticia, he had said he had no wish. Leticia had dismissed those words as a joke, but perhaps that had been Mikhail’s true feeling.

Of course, all of this was only conjecture.

“You. Why did you choose something like my love as your wish?”

“You’re curious about that now?”

“I am. It’s a wish that doesn’t benefit you at all.”

“That’s my problem. It shouldn’t be something for you to worry about, should it?”

Mikhail was right. No matter what wish he made, Leticia only had to focus on taking Mikhail’s soul. Cursing him for putting cunning wordplay into the contract while somehow loving him or pretending to love him. That was Leticia’s job.

“I… just want to know. Why the person you chose was me. It could have been that woman from earlier, couldn’t it?”

“She already loves me, so why would I need to make a wish for that?”

It felt as if someone had bound her heart in chains and was pulling it. A woman who loved Mikhail Becker. Mikhail, who didn’t doubt in the slightest that she loved him.

“Then what about you?”

Leticia carefully studied his expression. She wanted to know his feelings. Whether Mikhail also loved that woman. Whether the two of them had feelings for each other. But this time too, instead of answering, Mikhail asked a question.

“Why are you curious about something like that, Leticia?”

Mikhail’s head slowly tilted toward her. His face, close enough that he might kiss her, held a captivating smile.

“Don’t tell me you really do love me?”

The breathy whisper sounded more cunning than any demon’s offer. But at the same time, Leticia sensed it. If she answered here that she loved him, he would believe her. She would finally complete the contract and be able to take his soul to Hell.

“I…”

His eyes, tinged with laughter, curved prettily. If she only answered, she could have his soul. Of course, the ownership wouldn’t belong to her, but be bound to Hell.

To fill the number of slaves reduced by the war, his soul would be consumed in the most atrocious ways even in Hell. Once he was worn down by torture and labor until he even lost his sense of self, he would be used as expendable material for the next war.

Even the God he had knelt before would turn away from Mikhail, and the angels would tear his soul to shreds and cast it aside.

It was a sight she didn’t want to see.

“I, I…”

Have I come to love you? Leticia swallowed the question she couldn’t bring herself to say aloud. Had it really happened? Since when? Her head throbbed. She had only wanted to take his soul. Then making love to Mikhail had become enjoyable, but that was truly all it had been.

“Answer me, Leticia.”

At the low voice, Leticia flinched. Everything was confusing.

Leticia shoved Mikhail away and ran out of his house. She needed time to think. Somewhere he was not.