Chapter 44: I Love Myself.

Phantom walked slowly to Merorin, who was lying prone on the ground.

She squatted down, her fingertips carrying an almost pathological gentleness as they lightly brushed across Merorin’s cheek.

“Don’t be afraid,” she said softly.

“Even if everyone else leaves you, even if the whole world betrays you… I will always stay with you, always be with you.”

“Hmph!” Merorin abruptly turned her head, trying to avoid the touch.

Her eyes were full of anger and distrust.

“You think I’ll believe you just because you say that?”

“You’re just looking for a chance to merge with me as soon as possible!”

“You’re nothing but a big bad villain!”

She suddenly raised her hand.

Smack.

She slapped Phantom’s hand away with force so strong that the recoil made her own body wobble.

“Stop pretending to pity me!” she panted.

Her voice trembled with agitation.

Phantom was pushed aside, yet she didn’t seem to care at all.

Instead, she laughed.

The laughter echoed softly through the empty dreamscape.

“Don’t think of me so badly,” she said, tilting her head.

A sly glint shimmered in her eyes.

“After all… I am you.”

“Isn’t it perfectly normal to care about yourself a little?”

“Hmph, I don’t need your concern at all!” Merorin turned her head away again.

She buried her face into her arms.

As if trying to shut out this irritating presence.

Phantom, however, only pressed her advantage.

She gently shifted closer.

She leaned toward Merorin’s ear.

Her voice carried a seductive lilt.

“Then who do you need?”

“Sylvia?”

“Ferrier?”

“Or… Lilith?”

The moment the name “Lilith” left her lips, Merorin’s body stiffened visibly.

Unbidden, Lilith’s gentle smile surfaced in her mind.

She remembered Lilith wiping away her tears.

Helping her get dressed.

Holding her tightly when she was on the verge of collapse.

A long-forgotten warmth, one that did not belong to a succubus, quietly welled up from the depths of her heart.

It spread instantly through her entire body.

Phantom keenly caught this subtle change.

A knowing smile curved her lips.

“What’s wrong?” she laughed softly.

Her tone carried teasing amusement.

“Weren’t you always loyal to Sylvia before?”

“And now you’ve developed feelings for Lilith?”

“Should I call you disloyal…”

“Or should I say you’re already beginning to accept everything here?”

“Shut up!” Merorin suddenly looked up.

She shoved Phantom hard to the ground.

“Lilith treats me so well!”

“So what if I like her a little?”

“Is that really so strange?!”

She shouted back.

It sounded as though she were arguing with Phantom.

Yet also as though she were trying to convince herself.

Phantom lay on the ground, smiling.

In the next instant, her figure flickered.

She appeared behind Merorin.

One hand gently caressed Merorin’s cheek from behind.

The other wrapped around her waist.

“But,” Phantom whispered close to her ear.

Her breath was warm.

“I think what you feel isn’t just ‘a little liking.’”

Her fingers tightened slightly, as if testing her reaction.

“It seems you feel something… special toward her.”

She paused deliberately.

Her voice dropped even lower.

“How could you feel that way, though?”

“After all… she belongs to the Demon King.”

“Everything she does is to carry out the Demon King’s will, isn’t it?”

“So what if she belongs to the Demon King?!” Merorin spun around abruptly.

She grabbed Phantom at the waist.

That was one of the most sensitive areas of a succubus body.

“There are good demons and bad demons!”

“And Lilith… Lilith is clearly one of the good ones!”

She almost shouted the words.

“Ugh—!”

Phantom’s body instantly went limp.

As if all strength had been drained from her.

A sweet, breathy moan escaped her lips.

She collapsed onto the ground.

At the same time, Merorin felt the intense sensory feedback surge through her.

Her legs gave out.

She knelt beside Phantom.

Her face flushed red.

Her breathing grew erratic.

Phantom lay on the ground, panting.

Yet she was still smiling.

Her laughter was broken but filled with pleasure.

“Hahahaha… honestly…”

“What’s so hard to admit?”

“Why must you treat yourself like this…”

She lifted her head.

Her long hair was disheveled against her face.

Her eyes gleamed with a light that seemed to see through everything.

Merorin looked at her.

Even sprawled weakly on the ground, Phantom still wore that infuriating grin.

Ashamed and angry, Merorin couldn’t help but growl.

“You don’t understand!”

“You don’t understand at all!”

“I don’t understand?” Phantom slowly climbed up.

She suddenly lunged forward.

She pressed Merorin down beneath her.

One hand braced beside Merorin’s head.

The other gently lifted her chin.

She forced Merorin to meet her gaze.

Eyes filled with struggle and confusion.

“I don’t understand, that’s true,” she said softly.

But the smile on her lips deepened.

“Yet I understand you very well.”

Her voice became like a spell.

It whispered into Merorin’s ear.

“I know every time your heartbeat quickens.”

“Every time your breathing goes unsteady.”

“Every moment when you want to pull away in Lilith’s arms, yet can’t help leaning closer…”

She leaned in even more.

Their lips were almost touching.

“Because… those are my feelings too, my dear.”

“Don’t say such strange things…” Merorin turned her head away in embarrassment.

Her cheeks burned hot.

It felt as though her most secret thoughts had been laid bare.

Phantom blinked.

She put on an innocent expression.

She chuckled lightly.

“Is it really that strange?”

She tilted her head and thought for a moment.

Then she shook it.

Her tone suddenly grew light and airy.

“Actually… it is a little strange.”

She slowly stood up.

Her figure began to turn transparent and unreal.

Like morning mist dissolving into the darkness.

“Sigh, looks like the time’s up,” she murmured.

That mysterious smile still lingered on her lips.

“Until next time, my dear self.”

Before Merorin could respond, a formless drowsiness washed over her consciousness like a tide.

The world before her eyes suddenly collapsed.

Her awareness sank into endless darkness.

When she opened her eyes again—

Merorin felt a tightness in her chest.

Breathing was a little difficult.

She looked down.

Sylvia and Cassie were clinging tightly to her.

One had an arm wrapped around her waist.

The other was using her arm as a pillow.

Both slept soundly.

They pressed in from either side.

She was trapped in the middle, nearly unable to breathe.

She was about to gently push them away.

Then she suddenly felt something warm and wet on her cheek.

Turning her head, she saw Cassie.

Her eyes were closed.

Her small mouth opened and closed.

Her tongue unconsciously licked Merorin’s cheek.

As if savoring something delicious.

“Mmm, so fragrant, big candy…” Cassie murmured in her sleep.

A trace of drool glistened at the corner of her mouth.

“Ah! I want to eat more big candy…”

Merorin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She raised her hand to push Cassie away.

But when she saw Cassie’s face, filled with pure happiness even in sleep, her hand froze in midair.

“Forget it,” she sighed inwardly.

“I’ll just let her have a little more.”

Just then, she felt something tightly coiling around her leg.

The grip wasn’t weak.

It was something soft yet strong, wrapping around her again and again.

She lowered her head to look.

It was Sylvia’s long succubus tail.

It was firmly wound around her leg.

As if afraid she might escape.

“Your sleeping habits are really terrible,” Merorin couldn’t help complaining inwardly.

Yet as she looked at the two of them, defenseless and content as they nestled against her—

That irritation quietly melted away.

“Whatever…” she sighed softly.

A faint smile rose unconsciously at the corner of her lips.

“Like this…”

“This is actually… pretty nice.”