Chapter 1: The Contract of Servitude

The boy, bound to a cross, hung his head limply.
Before him stood all the villagers of Lange Village.
At this moment, their once peaceful demeanor was gone; they were filled with rage, brandishing fiercely burning torches.
A few others raised blood-stained blades, swinging them in time with the others’ torches.

A drop of blood splashed onto the boy’s face.
It was the blood of his adoptive parents, still warm.

“Kill this demon!” the villagers roared.
“He has brought misfortune upon our village! We must kill this heretic in the name of the great god!”

One of the brawny young men holding a sword stepped out from the frenzied crowd and, without a shred of mercy, plunged his blade into the heart of the boy with whom he had lived for several years.
Blood with a slightly metallic scent spurted out, exploding into a grotesque flower of blood in the air, scattering upon everyone present.

“Hahaha…” The boy, his vitals pierced, seemed to muster his strength to lift his head.
His azure eyes were like the infinitely deep stars and stardust in the sky, and the corners of his mouth curled into a savage and disdainful smile at the villagers.

“He really is a demon!!!” Seeing the boy had not died from the stab to the heart, the villagers grew restless and furious.
“Oga! You must kill this demon!”

Oga gritted his teeth, raised his longsword again, and prepared to deliver another judgment upon this “demon.”

“Do you guys feel like it’s getting colder?” one villager shivered and said.
“It is a bit…” another person agreed.

The once comfortable temperature began to drop precipitously, and layers of frost started to form on everyone’s bodies.
Sensing something was wrong, Oga shivered, covered in frost, and hastily stabbed his sword viciously at the boy.

But before the tip of the sword could touch the boy’s forehead, Oga’s body, to his own horrified gaze, began to crystallize wildly.
In a fraction of a second, Oga turned into a glistening ice sculpture.

The boy had, at some unknown point, broken free from the cross that had bound him and now stood before the villagers, blood still gushing from his chest.
However, that continuously flowing blood was now congealing as he walked.

“Are you ready… to die?” The boy’s voice, seemingly weak, was like a demonic pronouncement from hell, chillingly entering the villagers’ ears.

The villagers’ eyes widened in terror as they watched an ice-blue wing of swords unfurl from the boy’s back.

And at that moment, thousands of miles away, a noble man standing upon a palace seemed to have a flash of insight.
He raised his head to look at the starry firmament above.
“Your Highness, the Princess… it is time to return to the throne.”

A black object floated on the water’s surface by the shore.
Under the intense sunlight, the unidentified object began to stir.
It was a person, or rather, a beautiful young girl.
The only drawback was that the girl was drenched from head to toe, and coupled with the tattered clothes she wore, she looked utterly destitute.

The girl opened her eyes.
She slowly sat up in the water, which was not deep, reaching only to her waist.
Her eyes, as azure as the clear sky above, surveyed her surroundings, filled with confusion.

‘Why… am I here?’

‘What on earth happened?’

“Eeeh!? My voice!?” The girl suddenly raised her voice, letting out a series of panicked cries as she looked at her reflection in the water.
She tugged at her wet, bluish-white long hair, her face a mask of disbelief.
“Th-th-this is me!? Are you kidding me?! Why are my boobs so swollen!?”

The girl, who seemed to have originally been a boy, let out another melodious shriek.
She raised a hand to cover her right eye, trying to block out the swath of red that had appeared before her without warning.
Accompanied by a splitting headache, the girl fainted once more into the water.

When she opened her eyes again, the blue sky and white clouds were gone.
In their place was a ceiling made of wooden planks.
The boy… uh… girl? was now lying on a soft bed.

“Where… is this place now?” Although the comfort of the bed made her reluctant to leave, the girl still stood up.
After all, her memory told her she had clearly been in the water just a moment ago.
Besides, in an unfamiliar place, she couldn’t afford to be so casual.

“Wait, my body!?” The girl’s eyes caught sight of a full-length mirror in the corner of the room.
Then, as if she had thought of something, she scrambled off the bed and crawled to the mirror.

Seeing her reflection with its slightly blue, snow-white long hair, the girl knew it was real, not a dream.
After a single night’s sleep, she had actually turned into a very beautiful girl.

It was just that this girl’s chest… was truly pathetic.

On the verge of tears, the girl incredulously kneaded her pathetic chest.
The strong sensation once again reminded her that she had become a girl.

“Waaah, wh-what is this stupid dress??” The girl’s hand, which had been kneading her chest, suddenly stopped.
She caught sight of something in the mirror, her face flushing red as she covered the low-cut dress someone had put on her, crying out uncomfortably.

The light blue dress, which matched her hair quite well, was very form-fitting, perfectly outlining her slender, youthful figure.
The neckline of

the dress was cut very low, revealing most of the girl’s pathetic yet snow-white chest, constantly drawing one’s gaze.

Just as the girl was at a loss for what to do, the door swung open with a bang, and a frail old woman in black, leaning on a cane, walked step by step to stand before her.

“Wh-what is going on!? Was it you!?” Upon seeing the old woman, the girl lunged forward, shouting excitedly at the woman before her.
Theoretically, the girl should respect her elders, but faced with the fact that she had turned into a girl, she couldn’t bring herself to do so.

“Oh, I saw you had fainted in the river, so I lent a hand and saved you.” The old woman’s voice was hoarse and somewhat grating, yet remarkably calm.

The old woman thought the girl was asking why she was here, but in reality, the girl was asking why she had been turned into a girl.

“Thank you…” The girl first subconsciously expressed her gratitude, then she paused, her volume clearly rising a few notches.
“Why did you turn me into a girl!? And why did you put me in clothes like these!”

“Your clothes were tattered and covered in blood. If I didn’t change them, they would have dirtied my bed.” The old woman looked at the girl strangely

“What do you mean, turned you into a girl?
You were a girl to begin with.
I’ve seen for myself.”

Seen… for myself?!
The girl froze.

“Such a pretty person, but she turns out to be an idiot?
Wouldn’t that be a huge loss for me?” the old woman muttered under her breath, turning her head away.

The girl quickly snapped out of it and prepared to bolt from this godforsaken place, but the old woman blocked her way.

“Where are you going?” the old woman asked.

“Away from this godforsaken place!” the girl said, her hand on the doorknob, turning her head back.

“Hmph, you can’t escape.” The old woman snorted coldly, her tone shifting.
A glint appeared in her eyes that made the girl very uneasy.
“Besides, you belong to me now.”

“What do you mean, ‘yours’!” The girl’s face showed her displeasure.
“Old lady, if you’re crazy, you shouldn’t be out scaring people!”

The old woman suddenly brandished a contract in front of the girl.
The paper was covered in densely packed clauses, and in the bottom right corner, there was a conspicuous red thumbprint.

“You pressed this yourself.” The old woman pointed to the thumbprint on the contract, a malicious smile spreading across her face.

“What do you mean, I pressed it myself!?
You clearly did this while I was asleep!” the girl shrieked.
But as if she didn’t take the contract seriously at all, she bolted out the door.
“Whatever!
I’m not playing along with you!”

From the old woman’s tone earlier, it seemed she wasn’t the one who had turned her into a girl.
In that case, the girl had no reason to stay here any longer.

“As if you could actually get away.” The old woman narrowed her eyes and smiled wickedly.
No sooner had her words fallen than the girl’s scream was heard from outside the door.
The girl hadn’t even made it a meter out the door before she was grabbed by the arms by two other old women.
And the strength of these two old women was so great that no matter how much the girl struggled, she couldn’t break free.

The old woman in black leisurely walked up to the girl and lifted her chin with a withered finger.
“Your looks are quite superior.
If you’re trained well, you might just become the top star of my establishment.”

“Trained!?”

The girl’s face instantly turned deathly pale.
“Don’t tell me this place is… an Eden Garden!?”

Eden Garden was a common name for places of carnal trade on the continent.

“No!I-I’m a man!A man!!”