“What’s wrong with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you sick? Or is there something bothering you…”

Barmas mumbled, unusually flustered.

He didn’t want to believe that her lifeless expression was his fault. Desperately, he tried to find external reasons for her condition.

Her expression matched exactly how she looked during those days when she slept for ten days straight, making him wonder if something was physically wrong with her. Perhaps she was protesting because he hadn’t considered her preferences during their two months together.

‘Yes. If that’s the case, I can understand why she doesn’t feel anything with me.’

Excited by the thought of possessing Romei and her requests for rougher treatment, he had acted too selfishly. Even though she served him, she would naturally have her own s*xual preferences.

Going forward, he could accommodate her preferences through conversation. He could certainly incorporate that much of her opinion.

Knowing this wasn’t the real reason, Barmas nodded with an awkward smile, pretending to understand.

“I seem to have neglected your needs. Of course, you must have your own preferences. From now on, I’ll make sure to fully consider your opinions.”

“…”

“Tell me how you want me to embrace you, Romei. I’ll grant all your wishes.”

Romei stared blankly at Barmas, who was acting generous while reflecting on his selfishness. Her eyes showed complete incomprehension at his sudden change in tone.

“I’m not upset because you neglected me.”

“…”

“I’m certainly not complaining that you didn’t reflect my preferences. From the beginning, you’ve always embraced me however you wanted, regardless of my wishes. I don’t understand why you’re suddenly showing remorse now.”

Romei’s words carried no emotion toward him whatsoever. There was no resentment, no sarcasm. She was simply stating an unchangeable truth.

While Barmas stood dumbfounded by her direct hit, she continued.

“I want Barmas to embrace me until I’m completely wrecked. Beyond that, I desire nothing.”

“…Didn’t you say you don’t feel anything with me?”

“That’s why we need to find a solution, right?”

That was her response when Barmas finally managed to reply. Romei tilted her head to one side with a faint smile.

It was a refreshing smile that seemed impossible for someone tied helplessly to a door.

“So I thought about mixing with other familiars or participating in orgies. But if you don’t like that idea, I won’t do it.”

“Then what do you plan to do?”

“I’m not sure. Perhaps we need to think about it more?”

“…”

“But for now, I’d like you to continue what you were doing. I didn’t realize it before, but I seem to enjoy being tormented while being interrogated by you.”

Romei smiled brightly with these words. It was a smile tinged with coquettishness.

Barmas loved that smile. Her smiling face fulfilled the emotions he had felt on the day he decided to possess her.

Normally, Barmas would have smiled with satisfaction and researched ways to provide Romei with more thorough torment and terrible pleasure using his experience and various instruments.

However, now that the veil had been lifted from his eyes, Barmas belatedly realized how seriously broken she was.

‘So that’s what he meant when he said something was strange…’

Barmas pondered the words Rajie had added when reporting the questions she had asked him. At the time, he couldn’t understand what Rajie meant.

Of course, he had felt something off about Romei. But that was now a distant memory, and Romei was actively enjoying his torment.

Barmas had thought Rajie’s talk of melancholy and emptiness was simply a misunderstanding or misinterpretation.

But Rajie’s eyes had been accurate. He himself had been wrong.

Moreover, considering Romei’s strait-laced personality, it was strange that she suddenly submitted to him and craved pleasure.

Despite seeing her n*ked countless times and embracing her, the Romei who used to tightly close her cloak out of embarrassment at showing her n*ked body to him—her behavior made no sense.

‘Why didn’t I doubt it for even a moment?’

Barmas found this fact most perplexing.

He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t harbored the slightest suspicion when the person least likely to change had transformed so suddenly.

‘Was I that stupid? Or did I let my guard down because she’s human? But how could I, the most cold-hearted and wickedly unparalleled among countless demons, make such a trivial mistake…’

Continuously reflecting on his actions, Barmas felt all his questions instantly resolved the moment he faced Romei.

‘Ah, I… I was enjoying Romei acting out the role I wanted her to play.’

He never tried to understand why Romei suddenly wanted him to embrace her, why she asked to be embraced. He simply enjoyed her saying and doing those things.

Therefore, Barmas didn’t think about or wonder about Romei’s hidden intentions or calculations. No, there was no need to think about them.

Even without going that far, Romei was already his, already submitting to him.

‘A demon feeling bewitched by a human—how ironic.’

Barmas swallowed a deep sigh rising from his core and rubbed his face with his hands.

Romei looked curiously at Barmas, who stood silently without saying a word. By this point, he would normally be wild-eyed, tormenting her with even rougher methods.

‘I wish he would keep scolding me like before…’

Only then could she erase the memories of that day still circling in her mind, and sleep well.

While she waited for him to torment her quickly, Barmas approached her and began to untie the ropes restraining her body one by one.

The pressure constricting her chest disappeared, allowing her ribs to rise and fall freely with her breathing. The rope that had passed between the split of her private parts, pressing against her cl*toris, also vanished.

Amidst the bewildering sense of liberation suddenly spreading throughout her body, Romei sat on the floor looking up at him.

“…Aren’t you going to continue?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s wrong. Both you and me.”

“I don’t understand what’s wrong.”

“Haven’t you been acting in front of me all along? You acted out the role I wanted so I couldn’t refuse your requests, and yet you don’t know what’s wrong?”

“…”

Only then did Romei close her mouth.

Unlike her previous expression that showed a kind of coquettishness, her face now became expressionless like a mask. Even a statue made of plaster would seem more lively.

Barmas asked. His question was filled with complicated emotions and sighs.

“Why did you do it?”

“…”

“Why did you deceive me by acting that way? Answer me, Romei.”

His face resembled someone betrayed by a trusted person. His red eyes, which always shone with cold cruelty and intense allure, demanded an answer from Romei.

Romei couldn’t understand why Barmas was looking at her with such an expression.

That was because Barmas…

“You enjoyed my acting.”

“…”

“You wanted me to be that way. I only did what you wanted, yet you’re questioning me like I’ve done something wrong.”

Romei said this and then let out a faint laugh. She seemed to find his behavior quite amusing, almost mocking him for having the audacity to question her.

Struck at his core, Barmas couldn’t say anything. After all, he had been so happy during these two months that life felt enjoyable.

Romei continued.

“I don’t understand why you’re so angry, both then and now. Are you angry because I used you?”

“…”

“If so, I could understand your anger. But I thought it was a good deal since you enjoyed it thoroughly, and I was sufficiently satisfied.”

“…Deal?”

“You gained satisfaction through the version of me you desired, and I obtained pleasure and deep sleep by acting out the role you wanted—a ‘deal.'”

“What good are pleasure and sleep to you? Are you sick or something?”

Barmas seemed unable to believe that Romei had deceived him and acted merely for such things. But for Romei, they were essential.

“Because when I woke up, breathing was painful.”

“…”

“That’s why I did it. Does that answer your question now?”

Romei’s voice carried no emotion whatsoever. She didn’t resent Barmas. With a face that showed everything about him exhausted her, she staggered to her feet.

The rope marks that had been clearly visible on her body had already faded, and her skin, which had turned purple from being bound for so long, had mostly returned to its original color.

Leaving Barmas standing rooted to the spot, she was about to exit the office when he suddenly grabbed her.

“Where are you going…”

“To the bedroom.”

“Why?”

“Because it seems we’re finished here. You said you won’t continue, and we’ve cleared up the misunderstanding about orgies with familiars.”

After answering, Romei tried to leave the office. However, Barmas caught her again and asked:

“…What made breathing so painful for you?”