Kroses felt a pang of regret.
She should have left the city the moment those assigned to watch her were taken away by the soldiers.
Ms. Mel’s influence extended only within Solus City; as long as she left, Mel wouldn’t bother scouring the entire world to find her.
Whether she could escape successfully, where she would go afterward, or how she would survive—these concerns paled in comparison to her own safety.
If she fled, she wouldn’t have to kneel here and endure Mel’s wrath.
But those were just ifs.
“What’s going on! Why were those people all taken away? Why was my clandestine brothel shut down? I brought you so many people, and this is how you repay me?”
Kroses had no answers.
Nor did she dare to speak.
Though those people were no good, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they were punished, the fact that they were caught up in this because of her was an injustice she absolutely could not admit.
“Forget it! I shouldn’t have counted on you! Pack your things. There’s a merchant family looking for a maid. You’ll go work there,” Mel said, her strength gone as she shook her head in frustration.
That was the official line—Kroses was certain she would never be sent to a merchant’s household as a maid, especially since she held the evidence of Mel’s involvement in Cecilia’s assassination attempt and had been tasked with assassinating Cecilia herself.
To outsiders, this might seem like a reprieve, but Kroses knew what awaited her was worse than death.
She crawled on her knees a few paces until she reached Mel’s feet. “Lady, please! Those people taken away didn’t know anything. Give me one more chance!”
“One more chance? Why? You made me lose a whole brothel! I’m short on manpower now. Why should I shamelessly give you a second chance?” Mel’s eyes blazed with anger.
“I…” Kroses racked her brain to come up with a defense, but when she looked up, she was struck dumb by a strange sight.
A swirl of pink mist spread from behind Mel, and a graceful figure slowly emerged from it, casually resting a hand on Mel’s shoulder in a familiar manner.
Even without having seen demons before, no other creature could have those wings and that swaying tail.
Mel, still fuming, merely furrowed her brow but did not try to shake the figure off.
“Oh? A brothel, some useless fools, and a little girl who can’t even hold a knife—this is what you want in exchange for the life of a future Holy Knight? If you can’t even balance that, and you call yourself a merchant? That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
The succubus patted Mel’s shoulder, her teasing tone dripping with mockery.
“That’s none of your business,” Mel shot the succubus a sharp glare.
“Oh, come on. Since you say that, then why, despite all the help from that lady—and me assisting you too—does that princess still have her head on her shoulders?” The succubus giggled.
Kroses knew Mel had been overreaching; she was in trouble merely because she had hosted Rita without recognizing her.
First, she was given an impossible task, and if she failed, punishment would follow—an unfair situation to the extreme.
But she was a subordinate with nowhere to defend herself.
Mel’s patience wasn’t endless.
She slammed her fist on the table. “I know exactly what you did in the city yesterday. Five victims in one day—you have quite the appetite!”
“Oh, stop it,” the succubus laughed as if Mel were complimenting her.
“Do you know how much effort I put in to cover up the fact that three people in the shop were attacked by a succubus yesterday? And you just walked away? I haven’t even come to settle accounts with you yet!”
“I’m right here. If you want to settle accounts, now’s the time. Oh dear, I’m afraid your brain isn’t quite clear enough to understand the score.”
“Enough! What exactly do you want? If you have nothing to say, shut up!”
“Human, watch your tone.”
A cold gleam flickered in the succubus’s curved eyes.
Her suddenly chilling voice silenced Mel instantly.
Kroses, watching the quarrel, dared not even breathe.
Conspiring with demons and plotting against the princess—either charge alone was enough to destroy Mel.
If Cecilia caught even the slightest hint, Mel would already be half-dead.
If a group of soldiers burst in now to take Mel away, Kroses wouldn’t be surprised.
In other words, just being Mel’s subordinate was enough to cost Kroses her life.
After a moment, the succubus spoke again, her tone light and teasing: “Alright, alright. No need to be so hostile. I was just bored, and yesterday’s fun wasn’t enough. You look so troubled, I thought I’d give you a little help.”
Mel immediately became wary. “What are you planning?”
The succubus didn’t even look at Mel, instead swaying her graceful waist as she crouched before Kroses and lifted her chin with a finger.
“Listen, little girl.”
Kroses’s heart felt like it was about to leap out of her throat.
She trembled as she was forced to meet the demon’s irresistibly beautiful face, her pupils shaking.
“Let me teach you something. Killing doesn’t always require a knife. For us girls, our greatest weapon is our own body.”
The succubus lowered her long lashes, tracing Kroses’s jawline with her finger.
The icy finger brushed over the tense girl’s throat, stroked her rising and falling chest, circled her navel, and finally stopped on her lower abdomen.
“For example, just like this.”
The succubus gently tapped the spot.
Though the gesture seemed ambiguous, Kroses felt a strong wave of heat flow from the finger, spreading throughout her entire body.
In moments, her bones felt as if half of them had been drained, and she collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud with a thud.
But this was only the prelude.
As a worker at a brothel, Kroses had experienced far more than most, yet her body had never reacted this strongly.
“Ugh… so… so uncomfortable…”
Her voice softened like whipped cream, so seductive even she found it hard to believe.
And all this was triggered by a single touch.
“Understand now?” The succubus flipped back Kroses’s sweat-damp hair, revealing a flushed cheek. “If you can make that woman called Rita feel like this, won’t she be completely at your mercy?”
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