The encounter with the unknown sensation was the worst.
The tingling sensation, something I had never experienced before, was terrifying, regardless of whether it felt good or bad; it was a fear of being consumed by something I couldn’t control.
Yona fled from Alex’s room back to her own.
Her face was bright red, practically on fire, and the tingling in her lower belly showed no signs of calming down.
As soon as she entered her room, Yona locked the door and gasped for breath while grabbing the kettle from the table.
There was no time to pour it into a cup; she clamped her mouth around the kettle spout and gulped down water, wiping the stream trickling down her lips with her sleeve, then exhaled roughly, plopping down into the chair at the table.
“Damn, damn… what the hell is this?”
Hadn’t she ever touched her own body? Of course she had. It was her own body, after all; she had been touching it countless times while washing. It had been more than three years since she had turned into a woman.
There was no way she hadn’t touched it.
So she thought she had a rough idea about sensations.
No, not just a rough idea; she thought she understood it quite well.
She was well aware that a woman’s body tends to be sensitive to stimulation.
Yet today, this sensation was bizarrely intense.
The candlelight flickering at the head of her bed cast shadows that stretched darkly across the room, dancing and swaying like seaweed in the water whenever the candle flickered.
“What the hell…”
It was terrifying.
The sensation that drenched her whole body in an instant.
【What a remarkably strong-willed girl you are…】
“What…?!”
Yona shot up in surprise at the sudden voice that echoed through the room.
The chair she’d been sitting on toppled over with a loud thud, but she couldn’t care less about that at the moment.
The voice came from somewhere.
But it sounded so familiar that chills ran down her spine.
The shadow that had been flickering before her elongated in the candlelight.
Once a human form, the shadow stretched to an eerie length, transforming into something resembling a coiled snake.
The shadow rose.
It had to remain on the floor, always on the opposite side of the light, yet it stood up and faced Yona, now towering over her, looking down at her face.
As the light of the candle illuminated the shadow’s face, a woman’s visage finally emerged.
【I guided you so that you could mate naturally, yet you overcame it. You are stronger-willed than I expected.】
“Vervaria…!”
Slowly, very slowly, Yona began to inch toward the wall of her room.
With every half step, she took a breath.
If she could just knock on the wall to call for Alex.
If she could just summon Alex—
‘…No, is it right to call for Alex?’
That thought made Yona hesitate to knock on the wall.
Is that really a good idea?
Besides, Vervaria shouldn’t be able to harm Yona, at least.
The risk of calling Alex was greater than not calling him in this instance.
【All presence in this space has been blocked. No matter what you do, the people outside won’t hear a thing, so stop your foolishness.】
The presence of the essence was completely blocked. No matter what nonsense you try to do, the outside humans won’t hear a thing, so quit your foolishness.
“…What kind of crazy scheme are you up to now?”
Yona bared her teeth and growled.
She was sure that even with the abnormal essence dwelling within Yona, Vervaria wouldn’t dare to pull any tricks. Still, Yona pulled out the hunting knife strapped to her thigh.
“Stop it. I have no intention of harming you. I merely wanted to teach you pleasure.”
Vervaria slowly unraveled its coiled head and approached Yona.
Extending its long neck toward Yona, Vervaria’s face was that of a woman—very beautiful, but at its core, a Demon.
Yona, sweating coldly, pressed the hunting knife against its throat.
“There’s no need for that, right? I don’t understand why you think I’d harm you.”
Slish—
Vervaria slithered across the room.
Even though it had shrunk considerably from its original size, the sight of a human-faced snake wriggling about was chilling.
“I simply encouraged you to be more honest.”
It was then that Yona finally understood what this creature was babbling about.
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Literally. Isn’t it right for a woman to seek pleasure as a woman? Lust is, after all, the most fitting desire for humans. The man beside you is quite the robust specimen, more than capable of giving you pleasure—”
“Did you just say something ridiculous?!”
Yona suddenly realized what had gone wrong.
Her body had become overly sensitive.
Now she understood why it had turned even more sensitive than when she had touched herself.
“Your mouth is quite foul. To call me a ‘ridiculous creature’ when I’m one of the seven Archdukes in the Demon World.”
“You filthy snake!”
“Hah.”
Vervaria snickered.
While it squirmed around the room endlessly, its face remained fixed on Yona.
Yona felt a mix of fear and anger bubble up inside her at Vervaria’s brazen claim of tampering with her body.
“Don’t mess with my body…! This messed-up tattoo is already enough!”
“I didn’t do anything strange. I simply made your senses a little, just a little, more sensitive.”
“That’s what counts as a strange deed!”
“…I cannot comprehend human thoughts. Isn’t it just a matter of being true to one’s instincts? You should actually be grateful… what a ridiculously lowly vessel you are.”
“Vessel or not, don’t use weird titles!”
“A weird title, you say? Is that so? Do you still not realize?”
The interest in Vervaria’s face began to fade.
As it stared into Yona’s face, that expression progressively vanished, making Yona even more furious.
“What do you mean, ‘still not realize’ after saying nothing…!”
“Alright, let’s drop that topic for now. You’ll find out soon enough anyway.”
Vervaria’s body began to grow more transparent.
The emotionless face that had been looking at Yona also started to fade away.
Yona didn’t try to hold onto Vervaria.
She was left with nothing but anger at the fact that it had attempted to take control of her, trying to perform strange deeds.
She was just angry at the fact that she was trying to do something strange.
But now, feeling powerless as she couldn’t do anything about Vervaria, Yona harshly tossed her hunting knife onto the floor.
“What’s up with you?”
Alex was taken aback when he saw Yona coming down from her room into the inn.
Yona used to sleep soundly no matter what, but her expression was anything but bright.
Her face was tired, and underneath her eyes were dark circles, making her look unwell.
Though she shook her head, insisting it was nothing, Alex couldn’t help but worry.
“I’ll just grab a bite and head out.”
Yona’s words surprised Alex once again.
Whether it was just a feeling or if Alex was being weird, Yona was clearly avoiding his gaze.
It wasn’t only because of what happened last night; Yona wasn’t really thinking about that anymore, but Alex had no way of knowing.
Therefore, Alex thought Yona was still concerned about that incident.
“…Yeah, whatever…”
Alex didn’t insist on following her.
From his perspective, it wasn’t exactly a good idea, and he didn’t have the desire to see Yona, who had turned into a guy, up close.
“I’ll be back.”
“Okay.”
Yona scooped up a couple of spoonfuls of stew and then put her spoon down.
Alex felt a twinge of worry and almost said something but decided to keep quiet.
Her face had that unmistakable “don’t talk to me” look, so Alex knew it was better to leave her be.
With a bag of gold coins slung over her shoulder, Yona waved at Alex and left the inn.
Alex watched her go, and after she had gotten a decent distance away, he slowly stood up and followed her.
‘How is she gonna handle a bag of gold all by herself… tsk.’
Alex licked his lips and chased after Yona.
From a distance, Yona walked straight toward the Mage Tower without even glancing around, while people nearby occasionally stole glances at her but didn’t approach her.
‘Something definitely seems off.’
The fact that she hadn’t slept well meant that something was going on.
However, Alex, who had been right next door, hadn’t sensed anything unusual.
Still puzzled, he followed her at a distance, thinking something was strange.
After walking for a while, Yona pushed through the entrance of the Mage Tower.
And then, Alebians, who had been waiting, instantly hooked their arms around her.
She vanished off to where they had ridden the griffon the day before.
Only after confirming that did Alex feel relieved and head back to the inn.
“Change into this.”
Yona accepted the clothes Esclara handed her and silently walked to a corner of the room to change out of her nun’s outfit.
The white pants and shirt vaguely resembled hospital gowns from her original world.
The sensation against her skin, clad only in underwear, wasn’t particularly soft, but Yona was too tense to even notice it.
“Come here.”
Esclara looked at Yona with a strangely sparkling gaze and pulled her closer.
She walked down the empty corridor for quite a while after leaving her lab.
It didn’t seem that wide at first glance, but inside, it felt like some bizarre magic had stretched it beyond belief.
“This isn’t a magic you can just throw around, you know. Understand?”
“…Yes.”
What could she do if she didn’t understand?
With that thought in mind, Yona walked along, hand in hand with Eschara.
After a long walk, they finally arrived in front of a room with a massive iron door.
Standing in front of it, Eschara pulled out a small wooden tablet from her robe and held it up close to the door. With a heavy, grating sound, the iron door began to slowly creak open.
And a chilling draft rushed out.
Yona shivered involuntarily, dressed too lightly for this kind of weather.
“It’s dark in there. Just wait a moment here.”
Eschara didn’t even wait for Yona’s response and stepped inside to do something.
The interior didn’t respond to claps or snaps, but as Eschara drew a star with her fingers, the lights in the room flickered to life.
“Come in.”
As Yona stepped inside, she noticed the space was indeed vast.
For such a large area, the layout was absurdly sparse.
A flat stone tablet, wide enough for two people to lay on, sat alone in the middle.
What was strange was the indecipherable black letters densely packed into a hexagram shape that was drawn underneath the tablet.
“Come here and lie down.”
Eschara beckoned, and Yona gulped nervously as she approached the tablet.
As she perched on the edge of the stone tablet, she shivered briefly from the chilling air and sighed deeply.
‘…I hope this goes well.’
It’s possible.
Possible.
Possible.
Three rounds of confirmation and reconfirmation.
Eschara was sure of it.
Her expression was undeniably confident, and it made Yona resolutely decided.
She had come all this way.
There was no turning back now.
Slowly, Yona lay down on the stone tablet.
As Eschara circled around, preparing something, Yona lay still and gazed up at the ceiling.
“Okay, I’ll begin now. It won’t hurt much. Just take a nap, and when you wake up, you’ll be a man.”
With those words from Eschara, Yona closed her eyes.
– …Don’t worry about that. Rest now. I’m a bit tired, so I’ll head to my room.
Why did that suddenly pop into her head?
The image of Alex’s back as he left Yona’s room suddenly came to mind.
That figure, that sorrowful back, it seemed to carry unsaid words.
“Wait, wait a minute.”
Yona sat up abruptly, asking to pause.
An inexplicable anxiety and discomfort stirred within her.
It felt like she was making the wrong choice, a troubling feeling bubbled up inside her.
And in the middle of that chaos, was Alex.
‘…I’m overthinking this.’
Yona shook her head, brushing off the thought.
After three years of adapting, abandoning her body just to turn back into a man must feel confusing.
She decided not to think too deeply.
Lying back down on the tablet again, Yona closed her eyes.
“I’m ready. Please do it.”
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