I received Princess Kesera’s permission to move Narcissus to my room. She looked startled when I told her he was ill.

“Him?”

“Yes. He had a high fever when I found him. I don’t think he can be brought to your bedroom tonight.”

I slightly exaggerated Narcissus’s condition. Fortunately, the princess didn’t seem interested in checking on him personally and nodded, trusting me completely.

“It can’t be helped then. You take care of him.”

The princess stated flatly. Following her instructions, I returned to my room, fed Narcissus healthy food, and dressed him in freshly ironed clothes. I also made sure to wipe his sweat-soaked body with a dry towel beforehand.

“Stay in this attic room for now. I’ll be leaving the palace soon anyway. It’ll be much more comfortable than where you were confined.”

While talking, I treated the wounds marking his body. Blood seeped from the reddened gashes, staining the white cloth crimson.

“By the way, you don’t have to go to the princess’s bedroom tonight. Just rest quietly here for the time being.”

His face immediately contorted at the mere mention of “princess,” showing how much he dreaded the word.

“Rest?”

“Exactly. You’re sick.”

“You told the princess that?”

Yes, I personally informed Her Highness that you were in grave danger. Well, not quite that serious.

I simply shrugged and calmly continued cleaning the unfinished parts of the attic. Behind me, I felt his unwavering gaze following my movements.

* * *

As the secret night deepened in the imperial palace, I prepared to leave, leaving Narcissus passed out in the attic room. Today, instead of serving as the princess’s night attendant, I needed to accompany her to the underground prison.

The demons dwelling in the northern forest—Princess Kesera had captured a peculiar specimen from among these grotesque creatures, and we were going to see it. What could possibly make the princess’s eyes shine with such anticipation? When she wore that expectant expression, there was usually only one reason…

“Ah, Momo! You’re here. Let’s go quickly. You’ll be amazed by my new collection.”

Sure enough, Princess Kesera looked thoroughly delighted with her newly discovered plaything. Trying to suppress my growing uneasiness, I followed her into the prison located deep underground.

“Here, look.”

A reddish light, reminiscent of the sensual lighting in those establishments where men and women engage in intimate activities (calling it a butcher shop would be strange), illuminated the prison. Looking inside, I gasped loudly, my lips frozen in shock.

“It’s a Taracan, the highest-ranking demon among demonkind. I just named him Deon.”

A devil’s name.

“But Princess, if I’m seeing correctly, isn’t this just a monster? How merciful of you to give a human name to such a creature.”

My terror-stricken lips moved of their own accord. I couldn’t even understand what nonsense I was babbling. What stood before me was a pitch-black mass that could hardly be called human in form—no eyes, no nose, no mouth.

Moreover, tentacle-like appendages drooped across the stone floor, creating a nauseating, bizarre appearance. The tentacles had translucent, mucus-covered blue protrusions that rhythmically contracted and relaxed like breathing holes.

“Isn’t it a magnificently fresh demon? You wouldn’t believe how much magical power we poured into the restraints to seal this monster.”

“But why are you so pleased about this, Princess?”

“I want to tame it.”

“Pardon?”

“Momo, demons can take various forms. These tentacles are just part of this demon’s transformation. This is close to its true form, though. It can also transform into a human.”

“How?”

“Right now, it’s sprawled in this terrible state because the strong magical power flowing through the restraints has rendered it senseless, but with time, it will transform into a human.”

I glanced sideways at the revolting creature that made me nauseous just looking at it. Though the main body appeared unconscious, dozens of tentacles continuously undulated and crawled across the floor like living entities.

“W-when will it return to human form?”

“Who knows? Unfortunately, we captured it during mating season when it was desperately searching for a female. With abnormally high s*xual hormones combined with the magical power from the restraints being forcibly injected into its body, it will take time to calm down.”

“The bars seem a bit wide apart.”

“Do they? Perhaps they just look wider because of your small stature.”

“That could be it.”

The prison floor was completely soaked with secretions from the disgustingly writhing demon. Despite being quite close, I couldn’t smell anything—was it colorless and odorless? While I was lost in useless speculation, the princess satisfied my curiosity.

“That’s the demon’s bodily fluid.”

“Ugh.”

“I told you they’re in heat, right? Demons coat their female partners’ bodies with this slippery fluid before beginning f*replay with dozens of tentacles. It’s doing this now because it has no partner.”

“It’s just like how you oil men’s bodies before bringing them to your bedroom, Princess.”

Is it like prec*m for humans?

I felt like I’d overheard something I really didn’t want to know.

“Those secretions are heavily laced with the demon’s pheromones. Interestingly, despite their hideous appearance, they emit a sweet scent. They use it for various purposes—attracting females, stimulating s*xual arousal, marking territory, and so on.”

“Not much different from animals.”

“Indeed. However, they have better stamina than any living creature on earth. They’re also extremely violent—some even feed their females painful pleasure throughout mating and devour them after ej*culation.”

“What?”

This thing is completely insane, a total psychopath!

“You can’t judge them by human standards.”

I backed away, trembling violently. At times like this, I found my rabbit-like tendency to startle easily quite annoying.

“It probably has no self-awareness right now, so be careful. Demons are attracted to shiny objects.”

The princess continued speaking while pulling out a pocket watch that gleamed like a jewel from her garment.

“Now then, I’ll go check on the newly captured demons in another section. Wait here for a moment. It won’t take long.”

“Should I come with you, Princess?”

“I’d like that, but the passage from here is quite narrow, so it’s easier if I go alone. Keep the basement lock open until I return. Once locked, someone has to open it from outside.”

“Understood.”

I stood quietly in the damp, enclosed space, waiting for the princess. The inaudible ticking of clock hands seemed to echo in my ears like an auditory hallucination. The fishy smell peculiar to prisons and the damp moss scent penetrated deep into my nostrils. Shivering slightly in the cold temperature, I crouched down, wrapping my arms around my shoulders.

It’s definitely chilly down here in the lowest basement level… I would have been freezing without the thick layers of clothing covering my body. I deliberately turned my back to avoid looking at the frightening demon and faced the wall instead.

One sheep, two sheep, three sheep…

After counting about fifty sheep while singing to myself, I suddenly heard the sound of something wet dragging across the floor, reaching my sensitive ears.

Slurp.

Immediately afterward, a round, slippery flesh mass soaked in some viscous substance wrapped around my ankle.

Whoosh!

“Ah!”

Before I could scream, I was instantly dragged to the front of the prison. Thanks to my layered clothing, my skin wasn’t scraped against the floor, but I hit my head once and felt disoriented. A powerful force pulled me into the prison. My small body easily slipped through the widely spaced bars.

“Ah, aaah!”

Only then did I grasp the situation and let out a suppressed scream. A tentacle emitting a sour scent immediately invaded my mouth. The sensation of having a sock soaked in unknown liquid stuffed into my mouth made me want to vomit. Tentacles dripping with s*xual fluids began mercilessly wrapping around my flailing limbs.

Two tentacles moved downward, violently writhing as they lifted my ankles. My shoes and socks were removed one by one, leaving my slender ankles dangling in the air. Around one ankle was the jeweled anklet Rictusa had given me.

Completely flipped upside down in midair, I screamed silently. It was terrifyingly frightening. The tentacles that had been lying lifelessly on the floor, merely dripping fluid, began regaining strength one by one. Like meerkats raising their heads to survey their surroundings, the uplifted tentacles remained motionless for a while, with me at the center.

Eventually, having completed their exploration, the tentacles twisted lewdly again. They groped my entire body, trying desperately to remove my outer shell—my clothes. The tentacles wrapped several times around my arms and legs secreted so much fluid that my face, hair, exposed hands and feet, and even my clothes were completely soaked.

After repeatedly failing to remove my clothes, the angry tentacles dropped me to the floor in apparent frustration. Then dozens of tentacles began pressing down on my body from above, seemingly intent on tearing off my garments.

“Ah! Ah! Aaah!”

Finally, with the tentacle that had been gagging me joining in, my clothes were roughly torn away. As a tentacle wrapped around my round, exposed br*ast and a slippery protrusion touched its peak, the monster’s movements instantly transformed into something far more passionate than before.

“Aah! Aaaah!! Help me! Princess, Princess!!”

I screamed with all my might.