Chapter 12: Unyielding Will.

The Demon King narrowed her eyes and looked at Melorin and Sylvia with keen interest.

She raised her glass, took a sip of juice, and spoke with an indescribable hint of amusement in her voice.

“Is that so, Sylvia?”

“Yes! Yes!” Sylvia nodded excitedly at once, clutching her hands tightly to her chest, her eyes shining with fanatic light.

“I overslept! I was the one who dragged Lady Melorin down! Please punish me, Demon King! Punish me harshly!”

Morgana only let out a soft laugh, set her cup down, and a nearly gentle smile appeared on her face.

“Since… Melorin-chan has already explained the reason so honestly.”

Her gaze shifted to Melorin, a look that seemed to pierce straight through the soul.

“Then I won’t punish Sylvia. Come on, sit down and eat together.”

“Huh?”

The wild joy on Sylvia’s face instantly froze, replaced by an unbelievable sense of loss.

“N–not punishing me anymore?”

Melorin’s heart jolted as a powerful sense of unease surged up inside her.

What was going on?

She wondered in shock.

Morgana’s behavior was far too abnormal.

She clearly loved to seize on excuses and torment people invisibly… yet now she wasn’t angry at all, and even let Sylvia off?

This had to be a conspiracy.

She instinctively raised her eyes to look at the Demon King, trying to find even the slightest flaw on that smiling face.

And Morgana, at that very moment, was also looking at her.

The instant their eyes met, the Demon King’s lips curled into a wicked smile.

It was one that only a hunter would show upon seeing prey step into a trap.

After everyone had taken their seats, Morgana wiped her mouth and said brightly.

“Alright, regarding Melorin-chan’s honest behavior just now…”

She deliberately emphasized the word “honest,” carrying a hint of teasing.

“I’ve decided to give you two rewards.”

“Rewards?”

Melorin blurted out, her voice trembling in a way she herself didn’t notice.

She had never heard the word “reward” come from the Demon King’s mouth.

Especially not in a situation like this.

“Rewards?!”

Sylvia suddenly cried out, then burst into even stronger envy and excitement than before.

“Oh my god! Rewards are a hundred times happier than punishment! That feeling of being personally commended by the Demon King… Melorin-chan, I’m so jealous of you!”

Hearing this, a chill shot straight up Melorin’s spine to her brain.

Her heart nearly stopped.

Happiness?

Rewards?

No.

This wasn’t a reward.

It was a deeper torment.

She wanted to retreat.

She wanted to refuse.

But her body felt as if it were nailed to the chair, unable to move.

Morgana looked on with satisfaction as the color drained from her face, her smile deepening.

“Mainly, there are two rewards.”

She slowly stood up and walked to Melorin’s side.

She gently placed one hand on her shoulder.

The warmth of her fingertips made Melorin feel as if she had fallen into an ice pit.

“First, tonight… you will attend me in bed.”

Her voice was low and seductive, like a lover’s whisper.

Melorin’s whole body stiffened.

Her fingers dug hard into her palms.

“Second…”

Morgana bent down, her red lips nearly brushing Melorin’s ear as she breathed softly.

“I’ll let you experience ultimate pleasure through your senses.”

“Boom—!”

Melorin’s mind went completely blank.

Ultimate pleasure?

No.

That wasn’t pleasure.

That was a torture device meant to destroy one’s will.

A deeper abyss more terrifying than death.

Her body began to tremble violently without her control.

Her teeth chattered.

Her eyes filled with raw, primal fear.

“What’s wrong?”

Morgana straightened up, looking at her like this, her laughter joyful and cruel.

“So excited? Looks like you can’t wait~”

Before the words even finished.

“Snap—!”

A crisp snap of fingers rang out in the dining hall.

In an instant, the world collapsed.

Melorin’s consciousness was completely torn away.

She no longer had a body.

She no longer had memories.

She no longer had pain.

She no longer had hatred.

All thought, all emotion, all self-awareness were forcibly stripped away and purified.

Before her eyes remained only an endless, utterly pure white paradise.

Here, there was no past.

There was no future.

There was no “self.”

There was only… pleasure.

An irresistible, incomprehensible, indescribable pure pleasure poured in like a breached flood.

It flooded every crevice of her soul.

It completely drowned her.

Her consciousness drifted in that white light like a feather.

It was lifted higher and higher by endless bliss.

Until it… dissipated.

The Demon King looked at Melorin slumped over the dining table.

Her eyes were unfocused.

She looked like a doll whose soul had been removed.

The Demon King raised her hand.

Her fingertips brushed across Melorin’s pale cheek.

The Demon King smiled and said.

“I really am a benevolent king.”

Lilith stood to the side.

Her gaze slowly shifted from the Demon King’s delighted profile to the trembling figure on the table.

That figure’s breathing was barely perceptible.

In that moment, a faint yet painfully real flash of anguish and tenderness crossed her eyes.

But she immediately lowered her head.

She buried all emotion deep in her heart.

“Lilith.”

The Demon King’s voice rang out, interrupting her thoughts.

“Today, teach little Melorin properly, and Sylvia as well.”

“Yes, Demon King.”

Lilith replied with her head lowered.

Her voice was steady as ever.

“Little Sylvia.”

Morgana turned to the golden-haired maid, her smile gentle.

“I’ll leave Melorin in your care.”

“I guarantee completion of the task, Demon King!”

Sylvia was so excited she nearly jumped up.

Her hands clenched into fists.

Her eyes burned with fanatical loyalty and a sense of mission.

“I’ll protect Lady Melorin with my life! I’ll make sure she feels the Demon King’s grace every day!”

“Very good.”

Morgana nodded in satisfaction.

“Go ahead and eat. Remember, don’t let Melorin-chan go hungry.”

She cast one last meaningful smile at the figure still collapsed on the table.

Then she turned and left.

After the Demon King departed, the dining hall fell into a strange silence.

Sylvia looked at Melorin’s lifeless state.

Instead of worry, she revealed boundless longing.

“Just now… Lady Melorin’s reward was really wonderful… that look in her eyes, that trembling… even her breathing became so beautiful…”

She cupped her cheeks with both hands.

Her body trembled slightly.

“I want it too… I really want to feel that… to be personally granted ultimate pleasure by the Demon King… ah… just imagining it makes me feel like I’m melting…”

Hearing this, Lilith’s fingers tightened slightly.

Her nails nearly dug into her palms.

She looked at Sylvia’s obsessed expression.

Only deep pity remained in her eyes.

It was pity for this soul that had long since lost itself.

And for the girl who was still struggling to survive.

After a long while, Melorin’s body finally showed faint movement.

She slowly opened her eyes.

Her vision was blurry.

Her limbs were weak and sore.

It felt as if she had just escaped from an endless nightmare.

She could feel traces of that pure pleasure lingering deep within her soul.

It corroded her will like poison.

“Awake?”

Lilith’s voice sounded by her ear.

It was calm and gentle.

Melorin barely lifted her head.

She saw Lilith holding a bowl of warm porridge.

Lilith gently blew on it.

Then she scooped up a spoonful and brought it to Melorin’s lips.

She obediently opened her mouth.

She let the warm liquid slide down her throat.

Damn Morgana…

She gritted her teeth inwardly.

Always looking for excuses to bully me…

Do you think this will break me?

Using fake rewards to numb my will?

No.

My will is far stronger than you imagine.

Just as the flame of resistance ignited in her heart—

A phantom quietly appeared at the corner of her vision.

The phantom leaned against the void.

Its arms were crossed.

It grinned.

“Yes, that’s it. Be angry. Use your anger to tear that woman apart! Let her blood stain this Demon King’s castle red!”

Melorin snorted inwardly as she looked at the phantom.

You really change your tune fast.

Weren’t you the one telling me just days ago to submit to the Demon King?

Didn’t you say resistance would only bring more painful torment?

Didn’t you say I should just accept my fate?

Why are you telling me to defeat her today?

How do I end up with such a fickle personality?

Hearing her inner questioning, the phantom’s smile instantly collapsed.

It rolled its eyes irritably.

Its tone turned awkward and annoyed.

“I… I just don’t want to watch myself get bullied like this!”

It turned its head away.

It refused to look at Melorin.

Its voice lowered slightly.

“It’s not for you… I don’t care what happens to you.”