“So what you’re saying is, we’ll do it after we get back?”
Celeste paused her movements, seemingly weighing her options.
Mephia immediately seized the opportunity, making a quick, low-voiced promise, “Yes. Once we return, once we are back in your Sleeping Palace, you can… do whatever you want with me.”
Her tone carried a rare, coaxing quality, much like a concubine acting spoiled while wheedling an emperor.
Almost no one could have resisted her charm in that moment.
However, this submissive coaxing seemed to trigger the most primal sense of possessiveness and dominance within Celeste. \
She narrowed her eyes, and a hint of danger flickered within her crimson pupils.
“Mm-hmm?!”
In the next moment, Mephia let out a soft whimper.
Her delicate body trembled, and the mask of eternal frost on her face finally developed its first clear crack.
A vivid flush spread rapidly from the base of her ears to her cheeks.
She pressed herself tight against the wall, her thighs trembling slightly as if she had been hit by an unspeakable shock.
She looked at Celeste with eyes full of disbelief.
“Are you the master, or am I? Hmm?”
Withdrawing her left hand from the Absolute Territory and savoring the perfect sensation lingering on her fingertips, Celeste gave a cold snort.
It was as if everything that had just happened was a warning.
Soon, however, upon seeing Mephia’s stunned expression, she couldn’t help but break into an evilly radiant smile.
She let out the classic laugh of a Villainous Demon King:
“JIE JIE JIE! Mephia, a disobedient maid will not come to a good end!”
Just as her voice fell, the entire space began to vibrate unstably.
Fine dust trickled down from the domed ceiling, and the sound of shattering glass echoed from every direction.
Mephia suddenly pushed Celeste away.
Blushing, she smoothed out the corners of her skirt, took a deep breath, and stood straight once more.
The expression on her face gradually returned to a state of calm.
“…When did you realize this place was fake?”
Her voice was colder than usual, the end of her sentence carrying a nearly imperceptible tremor.
Her gaze was locked onto Celeste’s playful face.
Celeste let out a light chuckle.
She spun in place, her Witch Robe rippling in dark waves following her movements.
She tilted her head, her blood-red pupils flashing with a light that saw through everything.
“The moment I realized you were still a virgin.”
“Why?”
Celeste let out a faint, mocking laugh.
She looked Mephia up and down with a mix of wanton derision and realization.
“It’s completely illogical. You’ve been my maid for twenty years; how could you possibly still be a virgin? With my personality, I should have laid hands on you a long time ago.”
Another crack seemed to appear on Mephia’s cold, elegant face.
However, the crack mended quickly.
After a moment of silence, she shook her head with a hint of helplessness.
‘I didn’t expect to lose in a place like this.’
Indeed, ever since Tia had been targeted by the Witch Council, Mephia had set her sights on Celeste.
She wanted to use this plan to find where Celeste was hiding in the real-world.
To that end, she had specifically prepared an Illusion to suppress Celeste’s original memories, allowing her to rely on her deepest instincts to lead her back to the Sleeping Palace from her memories.
The Sleeping Palace in the Illusion would inevitably correspond to the place she was hiding in reality.
Unfortunately, despite all her calculations, she hadn’t expected that Celeste wouldn’t even wait to return to the Sleeping Palace before wanting to get intimate.
That was where the flaw was exposed.
After thinking it over, Mephia spat in a low voice, “Lustful Witch.”
“Ha?”
Celeste arched an eyebrow and wagged her index finger in front of Mephia.
“This isn’t being lustful! It’s simply an appreciation of beauty.”
As she spoke, the vibrations in the surrounding area intensified.
Because the captive’s consciousness had awakened, more and more cracks appeared in the space.
Seeing this, Celeste mocked, “It seems your Illusion can’t hold on much longer, Mephia. Haven’t you just lost the battle and the war? Not only did you fail to learn my location, but you even let me feel how soft you are.”
She paused, her tongue lightly grazing the tip of her index finger as if reminiscing.
“Even though it was fake… it was warm enough.”
This action caused the bashfulness that had just faded from Mephia’s face to return instantly.
Her legs trembled slightly, and she glared at Celeste several times.
Then, as if realizing something, the corners of her mouth curved up mysteriously.
“Is that so?”
Her voice was light, yet it eerily drowned out the noise of the collapsing space, drifting clearly into Celeste’s ears.
“Don’t forget, I am the one who cast this Illusion.”
As the words fell, the aura around her shifted.
Her black-and-white maid uniform seemed to move without any wind.
The last ripple of emotion in her eyes vanished, turning into two bottomless abysses of frost.
She slowly raised one hand toward Celeste, her five fingers curling slightly.
“In here, I am King!”
The relaxed smile on Celeste’s face suddenly froze.
Along with the closing of Mephia’s fingers, although the space continued to break apart, several invisible tentacles coiled around Celeste’s limbs, hoisting her into the air.
“What—What are you trying to do?!”
She tried to manifest her Magic Power, but within the Illusion, she was nothing more than a helpless, ordinary girl at the mercy of another.
“What am I doing?”
Mephia stepped forward until she was right in front of the immobile Celeste.
They were so close they could hear each other’s breathing.
Then, she reached out and gently stroked Celeste’s cheek.
The corners of her lips curled into a slow, cold arc.
There was no desire in that smile, only absolute dominance and a biting sense of revenge.
She leaned down, pressing close to Celeste’s ear.
Her breath was icy, carrying a faint scent of orchids.
“Since the Illusion hasn’t completely collapsed yet, I’ll simply satisfy your desires.”
Celeste’s face turned pale.
She struggled with all her might, but finding it futile, she let out a couple of dry laughs.
“Ah, haha… No, there’s no need, right? I, I actually don’t really like playing like this.”
*Rip!*
Without any warning, the Witch Robe on her body was torn to shreds.
The Crown on her head was tossed who-knows-where.
Her pale, fair body was thus exposed to Mephia’s eyes.
“I couldn’t tell, but it seems what you really like is white.”
After glancing at the girl’s lingerie, Mephia offered a critique.
Then, with a wave of her hand, an invisible tentacle hooked onto a slender string and gave it a gentle tug.
Like snow falling on a winter night, two piles of snow lay quietly atop the dark purple Witch Robe scattered on the ground.
A nightingale flew through the sky, leaving behind a few stray chirps.
The space was collapsing rapidly, but no matter how fast it was, it couldn’t outpace the speed at which a flush spread across that snowy-white skin.
Although she tried to control herself, the girl’s eyes continued to roll upward.
Finally, accompanied by the tight entanglement of the dark chaos and Magic Power surrounding the space, the Illusion shattered completely amidst a fit of violent trembling…