When Lucifer pushed his tongue into her wet folds and probed inside her opening, fragrant liquid immediately welled up. Simultaneously, he rubbed her hardened bud with his finger, causing Lala to cry out loudly with pleasure.

“Hng, ah! Aahn, haaah!”

Lucifer buried his face deeper while consuming the sweet nectar she poured onto his tongue. He took her water-and-fluid-drenched s*x into his mouth, thrusting his tongue inside to scrape against her innermost walls.

“Lala, who was that man back then?”

“Haa… ungh!”

Lucifer rose from the water and lifted her limp body. Placing her on his knees, he embraced her waist with interlocked hands until she nearly crushed beneath his grip.

“Answer me.”

He stroked the veins protruding on his p*nis while waiting for her response.

“Ah, haaa…”

When he slid himself into her moist inner walls, Lala trembled violently, seemingly having waited for this moment.

Yet Lucifer remained still, holding her quietly in the water. His mind whirled with uncontrollable confusion—anxiety, questions, unacceptable assumptions, and impure doubts. Why wouldn’t she answer?

He needed to know the identity of the man who had sprayed his fluids on her body before his arrival. He needed to understand why Lala had mated with that man and what relationship existed between them.

With his organ still buried inside her, Lucifer stared intently at Lala, who trembled finely. Was it fear? Anger? Or perhaps this too was love?

In the embrace of Lala whom he had missed so desperately, he experienced strange emotions. Intense desire and obsession burned his insides black alongside fiercely swirling feelings.

“Lala.”

If he didn’t get the answer he wanted…

“Answer me.”

Lucifer didn’t want to think about what might happen next.

“Lala.”

No answer came despite his urging. When he slowly moved his hips, she bit her lips tightly and placed both hands on his shoulders.

Why? Why can’t you answer?

With a feeling like he might cry, he pushed back her bangs and rubbed his hot lips against her white forehead. He felt uncontrollably angry and heartbroken. Though he wanted to roughly push Lala until she confessed, driven by his temperament, he knew it would hurt her. She already feared him, calling him a monster.

Though she pretended otherwise, she often looked at him with eyes that couldn’t fully hide her fear. Such symptoms typically appeared in vulnerable prey and sharply provoked a beast’s murderous instincts and appetite.

Lucifer both wanted and didn’t want to see Lala’s suffering face. Especially when having s*x with her, contradictory emotions mixed violently.

He wanted to bite into her delicate neck until bones broke and blood gushed while mating with her. He shuddered at his own cruelty—wanting to watch her die wrapped in pain and pleasure.

Nevertheless, there was only one reason he could suppress his primal murderous instinct and appetite toward his prey: because he loved this woman who had imprinted on him instantly the first time they mated.

She was his one and only companion whom he wanted to protect with body and soul and share love with for a lifetime. Demon beasts naturally became unable to escape from a woman once enchanted and remained fiercely devoted. That’s how pure-hearted their kind was.

He didn’t want to hurt Lala.

In truth, since becoming imprinted on Lala, he had lived so completely forgetting his once-ferocious appetite that he couldn’t even remember having it. He stopped indiscriminately slaughtering his own kind and felt satiated eating small animals for meals.

After learning Lala was a rabbit-cat beastkin, he felt guilty and stopped even that. Incredibly, he ceased eating meat altogether and instead ate honey, tree fruits, and freshly caught fish with Lala.

When he absolutely couldn’t bear it, he would occasionally go far away to tear apart wild beasts. This was only possible while he remained with Lala.

Though unaccustomed to becoming docile like Lala, he felt happy about it too. Don’t they say you grow to resemble those you love?

But now everything changed. Learning his woman had mated with another man caused all his thought processes to halt completely.

“Lala.”

If she would just make an excuse, he would believe her and move past it. If she would just say it wasn’t her will, that the man forced her to mix bodies with him, he could close his eyes and pretend it never happened. That she wasn’t at fault but rather that satan who deserved to be torn apart.

Tell me the one who should be punished is that bastard, Lala.

Yet the gentle, overly kind rabbit still couldn’t even make excuses. Or perhaps she hadn’t fully grasped the situation.

Lucifer held Lala’s body preciously like a child while moving his hips up and down, whispering with feigned tenderness.

He felt disgust toward himself for feeling uncontrollable desire for her even while his blood ran cold with anger.

“I missed Lala so much that I changed my form and went looking for you. Following your scent for a long time, I discovered traces of you in the imperial palace garden.”

The breath that blew into her ear made her tremble with pleasure. Her br*asts covered in soap bubbles, her thighs, soft shoulders, and slippery limbs—every point of contact proved maddeningly stimulating.

Wetting Lala’s lower back with the warm water filling the tub, he continued thrusting rapidly like a person starved.

“I’m sorry for deceiving you with my appearance. But I truly… couldn’t wait any longer. When I found you and held you in my arms, I smelled another male… another man’s scent all over your body.”

“Hnng, ah, ahh, ha, ungh!”

“Please explain what happened. I’ll believe whatever you say unconditionally. Just tell me honestly…”

White foam burst as water splashed around them. Wrapped in ecstasy, neither realized the water’s surface gradually darkening with poisonous demonic energy. The longer Lala delayed her answer, the more the boy’s pupils transformed into those of a monster.

“If you don’t answer me until the end, I will.”

Demon beasts inherently possessed significantly lower empathy and emotional control abilities. Though his temperament seemed to have softened through his bondage to Lala, reverting to his original nature happened quickly and easily.

When fixated on someone, he gave unlimited affection and trust, expecting the same amount in return, which made his antipathy even fiercer. Infidelity remained absolutely unacceptable in Taracan social structure. Though Lala wasn’t a demon beast, surely other species felt the same?

He firmly grasped her br*asts beaded with water droplets. They felt larger and fuller than when he’d touched them before, filling his hands completely. With his lips buried in her collarbone where water had pooled, he scratched her n*pples with his nails, making her slender waist squirm in his arms.

Unable to restrain himself any longer, he arched his back fully and took her protruding flesh entirely into his mouth. He nibbled gently around the ar*ola with his teeth while circling her n*pple with his raised tongue. Grabbing her waist curved in an arch, he pressed his lips against Lala’s as she cried out in pleasure.

“I love you.”

You whom I cannot yet kill.

Lucifer smiled as he pushed a finger into the vaginal opening where his organ was already inserted.

“Ungh! Ah, hng, ha, ack!”

Though he could only insert it halfway because Lala was in pain, he compromised by raising his middle finger to gently stimulate her bud. Immediately after, he pounced on Lala as she screamed in climax, grabbing her waist and began thrusting his organ violently.

The sound of flesh and water slapping together drowned out her cries of pleasure. He wanted to bury himself inside her like this and inject not only his s*men but also the demonic energy pooled within his body.

Though he’d never attempted it before, would she become a demon beast like him? When he could no longer control his surging emotions, malicious demonic energy flowed out. Not only did it make the water cloudy, but it also turned Lala’s peach-colored nails pitch black.

Normally he would have suppressed his urge to ej*culate to please Lala more, but this time he didn’t hold back and immediately sprayed his s*men on her face.

Though he wanted to burrow deeper and thoroughly wet her uterine walls, he didn’t violate his promise with her. After satisfyingly observing her lips stained with love juices and the whitish s*men covering her red tongue hanging between them, Lucifer soon raised himself.

Then he lifted Lala’s body out of the dirty water. With his p*nis still deeply inserted, he left the bathtub and made her lean against the cold glass wall.

When her skin touched the cool glass surface, Lala suddenly opened her closed eyes, seemingly coming to her senses.

“Lucifer.”

“Yes.”

“Since when have you been in the imperial palace? Have you been deceiving me by pretending to be a puppy and constantly hovering around?”

“I’m sorry.”

Unlike before, his apology sounded calm, without any trace of guilt.

“But you also need to explain to me in a way I can understand. What relationship you have with that man I saw in the imperial garden.”

“He was someone I liked.”

Lala replied honestly. Lucifer already knew they had kissed in the alley and likely suspected they had s*x. Rather than risking the Eros mansion being reduced to ashes by provoking the beast’s anger with lies, speaking plainly seemed the better course of action.

Lucifer would certainly be furious, but she couldn’t postpone this any longer. She didn’t know how long this unstable and dangerous relationship would continue. Therefore, she needed to clarify things now.

‘Is this what they mean by a life-or-death gamble?’

With her b*ttocks firmly gripped, unable to move, Lala looked down at their connected parts with a distant gaze. She had the ominous feeling that he wanted to remain connected to her always.

“Lucifer, you said demon beasts select just one male through group orgies, right? Humans are similar yet different.”

Lala took a deep breath before selling her conscience and morality. She needed to persuade this young demon beast who reduced everything to ‘s*x for species prosperity,’ even if it meant spouting nonsense.

“Why would I do such a thing? Females must choose the strongest individual among numerous males to pass the most superior genes to their offspring. It’s a kind of survival law.”

Of course, humans considered other conditions and made compromises too. But I explained diligently within the range a demon beast could understand. Whether it worked or not, Lucifer put me down with a serious expression and exhaled a tense sigh.

“Lala is right. The strong get chosen. So are you currently comparing several options? Deciding which groom to choose?”

Though she had neither the intention to compare nor the thought of choosing, she nodded firmly while forcing a smile.

“Yes, and in the middle of that, I was kidnapped by you and forced to accept you. Lucifer, this isn’t fair competition. Don’t you want to compete fairly with other suitors and claim me proudly?”

Of course, there were no other suitors. Lala poured out lies smoothly while emphasizing fairness.

“I’m extremely strong. Though I haven’t told Lala, I’m destined to inherit the throne and continue the Taracan lineage.”

Who doesn’t know you’re strong?

Lala buried her true thoughts deep in her throat and looked across at the pale demon beast with a face full of disappointment. Sure enough, the ‘fair’ competition must have ignited fire in his heart.

“…Everything Lala says is right. I want to be chosen honorably. What should I do now?”

Though I wanted to yell at him to return immediately to the Taracan habitat, he probably wouldn’t comply obediently. What could I expect from a demon beast who couldn’t even wait a month before rushing back?

“This is a problem.”