Time flowed endlessly. I continued a life that was neither dead nor alive. Life without hope was tedious and boring.

Could I really be called alive when I couldn’t choose death at will? I’d forgotten what my existence even meant anymore. My heart and soul had worn down so much they seemed to have become a handful of ash.

I wished thousands of times more that everything would just stop. I hated this world that wouldn’t end even when I closed my eyes—it made me sick to my stomach.

The scenery outside the window changed with each passing season, so why did I remain unchanged? I didn’t die even without eating, and I stayed alive even without doing anything. Could anything more agonizing exist in this world?

I hated Veriton for making me into this body. I resented him for making me live this kind of eternal life. More than anything else that existed in the world.

However, I learned that hatred and resentment, when they fade over long years, transform into longing.

“To think I’d miss that damned mage…”

Another day and night. Another tediously identical day. Humans constantly coming to find me. Obligatory procedures to ease the pain. Insignificant beings who crumbled to ash without leaving even a trace in memory.

Ah, what a disgusting life.

Then the same red moon rose like always. The woman who came to find me this time was different from the previous humans. She should have been unable to think straight, begging like an animal. She should have rushed at me asking to be tasted. Instead, she boldly questioned me.

“What exactly… did you do to my body?”

A terrified expression and trembling pupils. But her voice was clear without any trace of fear. That lasted only briefly—the eyes that met mine quickly lowered.

That sight quite stimulated my interest.

“I know it’s proper etiquette to look at the other person’s face when speaking.”

At my single word, her obliquely lowered gaze straightened toward me. Only then could I properly see the human’s face.

Her soft emerald eyes sparkled like they glowed proudly even in the darkness. Then I took in her small, round face, flushed cheeks, perky nose, and stubbornly pressed lips in turn.

“Now I’d like you to tell me what you did.”

“Why should I?”

“Because since meeting you… everything about me has become a mess.”

“What proof is there that it’s because of me?”

“The proof is… well…”

Her unwavering voice soon broke off like a wound-down doll. The beautiful eyes that had held light also lost their color and sank murkily.

I wondered what might be different about her.

Disappointment arose at the predictable sight that didn’t deviate from expectations by an inch.

“You seem to be misunderstanding something, but shouldn’t requests only be possible between equals in the first place? You’re just a lowly human who should lick even my toes like a dog at my single word.”

Even though my resentment toward Veriton had faded, my hatred for humans themselves hadn’t changed. Rather, I suffered from extreme revulsion. And this human before my eyes was one of the species I despised.

“Kneel.”

“Yes, Master…”

The human knelt at my feet like a dog. When I loosened my waistband, my pants slid down smoothly.

“You’re not so stupid that I need to explain everything step by step, are you?”

Even though I’d given the command, the human remained frozen with a stiff expression. The emotion flickering through those hazy pupils was definitely confusion. That sight made irritation surge.

“Do I really need to explain it to you? Stop staring and start touching it.”

The hesitating human caressed my member with her hand. It was a creepy sensation I could never get used to no matter how often I felt it.

Actually, I wanted to finish this tiresome act quickly. At the end of this meaningless behavior, only the terrible self-loathing that consumed me would remain.

The human before me seemed to think the same way. Her already pale face turned ashen. Deep fear dwelled in her trembling pupils.

‘Did the curse not work properly?’

It was interesting that this was the first human who obeyed commands but retained her own will. But that was all. Even so, nothing would change.

I didn’t know how to break a curse once cast, and this human would be no different. Rather, she’d fall into powerlessness at being unable to do anything with a sound mind.

“Now s*ck it. Think of it as the sweetest thing you’ve ever tasted.”

As expected, unable to refuse the command, the human brought my member to her mouth. Just as she opened her mouth to take it in, I heard a grinding scream.

“Ah… ugh… ah…!”

The human resisted with all her strength. Her struggling looked pathetic yet made me angry. And the way she glared at me with insolent eyes.

An arrogant human who didn’t know her place and acted up needed to receive appropriate punishment.

“Oh, you’re going to refuse? I’ve never had a human like this before—quite refreshing. Then I’ll make you wail and beg to be f*cked.”

I got up and pressed my body close behind the human. Then I gripped both her br*asts tightly with my hands. As I repeatedly applied and released pressure, increasingly rough breathing could be heard.

“Ugh… ah… hah…”

“For someone who acted like a v*rgin, your body doesn’t seem to be.”

However, despite speaking confidently, I didn’t know methods for arousing a human’s body. Until now, the humans in heat had taken care of it themselves without me needing to do anything first. I hadn’t felt the need to do anything.

Instead, I’d heard Veriton’s words to the point of exhaustion. The damned mage had to chatter until he was satisfied, whether I wanted to hear it or not.

“A woman’s body is no different from a musical instrument. You have to touch it very carefully and gently for beautiful sounds to flow out.”

“What to keep in mind here is that patience is needed. When? Until sweet fruit flows from the lower mouth.”

He was such a talkative mage. Just thinking of him after so long made my ears ache.

‘So I should do it like this?’

I put my hand directly inside her clothes. I noticed that whenever my hand brushed the particularly protruding peak when touching the human’s br*ast, her body trembled finely. When I persistently tormented it with my thumb and forefinger, sharp cries burst from the human’s mouth.

“Huh… ahh…!”

One disappointing thing was that I couldn’t see her face because I was standing behind her. I was curious how the human’s insolent eyes had changed by now. Just imagining it brought a strange thrill.

Soon her stiff body collapsed and a sweet smell wafted to my nose. It was like a signal flare. When I checked inside her skirt, fruit was flowing just like Veriton had said.

“Your lower half is drooling like this saying it wants to be eaten, while you—it’s really laughable.”

“Huh… ugh…!”

A suppressed m*an. Her struggling appearance irritated me. I wanted to make this insolent human submit to my hands and turn her into even more of a mess.

‘All of this is what you brought on yourself.’

When I tore away everything that hindered my hands, moving them became much easier. I found the small bead below and rubbed it. The female body shuddered.

Not stopping there, I spread the petals wide left and right and crushed them mercilessly. With my other hand, I sandwiched the sensitive n*pple between my index and middle fingers and fondled it. Before long, a n*ked fountain burst forth.

“Huhhhh…! Ahhh…!”

Shhhh—

The stream of water thoroughly soaking my hand pressed languid satisfaction into my lungs. How long had it been since I felt such emotion? For the first time in ages, I felt alive.

‘By now this human should be clinging to me and begging too.’

But contrary to expectations, what I heard was sobbing. Tears that fell drop by drop wet the floor.

“Huh… huhh…”

My mood instantly became unpleasant. Even after I’d done this much for her, she didn’t know to be grateful and cried like she was wronged. The more I thought about it, the more it displeased me. Rather, anger surged.

So I ruthlessly shoved my fingers inside the narrow hole. 

Squelch, squelch.

The sobbing body shamelessly spurted streams of water.

“Huhh… ugh… ahh…!”

The sobbing voice with a face that didn’t know what to do was quite amusing. And simultaneously detestable.

“Which is more sincere—crying with that anguished expression or rotating your hips to match my fingering? Ah, but I don’t think you could fake gushing p*ssy juice like this through acting, right?”

I wanted to shatter that gaze filled with resentment, those eyes looking at me like I was filthy, and make her submit at my feet. Then this unpleasant feeling would wash away cleanly.

“S*ck this deliciously like it’s my c*ck. Then I’ll stop tormenting you.”

I held out to the human my fingers dripping with water from fingering her. A distorted face and an expression shrouded in disgust. Soon I saw the human give up, seemingly accepting reality.

Yes, you’re tired and exhausted now too. If you just listen to me, I’ll end it now.

But that was brief—the human began resisting with all her strength. To twist her unmoving body, she trembled her jaw and made beast-like screaming sounds. My mood fell endlessly into an abyss at the sight of the human who still had no intention of yielding.

“What are you so desperate about? Weren’t you humans originally selfish and only caring about yourselves? I’m saying I’ll give you a reward if you just do what I tell you. But still, why…!”

My twisted heart coiled without knowing limits. I couldn’t bear it without pouring out the boiling anger. When I tried to force my fingers into her mouth, the human screamed even more.

“Ahhh… ahhhhh…!”

Then suddenly, with a sharp roar, the room filled with bright light. What floated in the air was the formula Veriton used when casting magic. Intense energy shattered one of the curses entangled in my and the human’s bodies.

For a moment I couldn’t comprehend what had happened. I was so shocked that thinking seemed to stop. And unfortunately taking advantage of that gap, the human bit my finger and ran away.

“Ugh…!”

Sharp pain felt belatedly. Blood seeped from my finger. The red drops of blood wetting my fingertip seemed to tell me this moment was reality.

I had no idea whether to call this anger or bewilderment. Because of that, the fury that had boiled sky-high cooled coldly with nowhere to go.

“How did this happen?”

Countless humans had come, but this was the first time for something like this. Neither rejecting me nor breaking free from binding curses and running away had ever happened before.

Cold anger subsided and thoughts floating above my head swallowed me like waves. And at that moment, Veriton’s letter that had cast such magic on me came to mind.

‘Could it be…’

According to the letter’s contents, the way to break the curse on my body was to truly connect with his descendant. Unfortunately, even Veriton didn’t know how to recognize that descendant. So I couldn’t be certain yet whether that human was a descendant or not.

But perhaps.

Just perhaps, a faint hope that it might be so spread through my chest. Even though I’d learned painfully that nothing was crueler than impossible hope, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

‘Let’s not judge hastily. Let’s keep all possibilities open. Anyway, she can’t run far because of the curse, so let’s not be impatient.’

There was much I needed to learn going forward. I had to search for what else existed besides the letter Veriton left behind. Plus I needed to confirm whether the “connecting” he mentioned was simply s*x between men and women, or love beyond that.

And fortunately, I had more than enough time. I couldn’t waste this precious opportunity that appeared after 700 years, so I planned to move very carefully. I’d done enough waiting to be sick of it more than anyone.