This was a child who had suffered at my side for four years. Before he came to me, he had been used as a kind of experimental subject. How could I ask him to endure any more?

Zetak remained silent. When I moved to wipe the water from his face, he took a step back.

“It’s filthy.”

“An amusing statement. Didn’t you just grab my hand to stop me?”

“…”

“It’s all right, it’s already on me.”

I brushed his wet hair back, revealing his red eyes. The drops from his hair fell onto his shoulders.

Suddenly I thought this might be a good opportunity – a chance to see his body. Surely there were traces of the experiments somewhere.

Maybe the scars were hidden beneath the burns, or maybe I hadn’t noticed anything before because I hadn’t been suspicious. Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to confirm it now.

“When we get to the dormitory, take your clothes off.”

“Yes, I suppose so. Getting out of these clothes is definitely a priority. Then we can go to the orphanage.”

“No, we won’t be going to the orphanage.”

Unless Zetak wanted to tell me his secrets himself, I wasn’t going to dig into his past or his wounds by visiting the orphanage now.

“You undress and I’ll watch.”

“Excuse me?”

Zetak stopped walking and looked up at me with a strangely twisted expression. Until now, I had spared him the indignity of undressing to protect his pride. But this time I would see everything.

“I’ll look down too.”

“Are you out of your mind? What on earth do you think you are doing, having this conversation like this?”

His voice cracked slightly, clearly upset.

Considering we’ve already had something close to s*xual intercourse, I don’t understand why he’s reacting like this. He clearly desires me, that much is clear.

Is he embarrassed? Or is this what they call…

“Are you playing hard to get?”

“What the hell, hard to get?”

Judging by the informal language, he must be angry. But judging by his reaction, I may have been wrong. He must be embarrassed.

Despite his largely human mindset, he was still a demon. No matter how much pride he had in himself, the reality was that it was rather small – like a little finger – so it must be embarrassing to show it to someone else.

“Don’t be ashamed. That’s the way it is when you’re young. You are…”

He stopped talking. He hated radishes. Instead of radishes, I tried to think of him in the future. I couldn’t think of much, because I’d been tormented by him for four days and four nights, but I’d never really seen his.

All I remembered was that every time he lifted his waist, the blood gushed and splashed down his thighs.

I also remembered the blood dripping down my back when he pulled his out. He had. He’d torn the hole open with his finger because it didn’t fit, and I realised there was a reason I was bleeding so much.

It probably wasn’t small. Even if he hadn’t prepared me properly before entering, he wouldn’t have had to tear anything if his size was small. I looked at Zetak and nodded. That must be it. These words would probably give him some hope.

“Don’t be ashamed of your size. Your future is promising. It may not be as big as a radish, but it will certainly be comparable in size”.

“Sigh… What exactly do you want me to be? Some kind of… genital monster? Why are you so convinced that mine will grow that much?”

From the look on his face, it looked like he was going to slap me, depending on how I answered.

I lost myself in thought for a moment. I had never told anyone that I could see the future, especially not Zetak. But maybe sharing it could improve our relationship.

I couldn’t tell him the truth, of course. I considered lying – saying that I had seen a future where he and I were happily together.

That’s how psychology works, isn’t it? If you believe something is going to happen, you subconsciously guide yourself towards that outcome. If I used that, I might be able to avoid the future I saw for myself.

“I have a secret that I’ve never told anyone.”

There was no harm in trying. This thought had already crossed my mind when I started to speak. I lowered my voice deliberately, as if telling a secret.

I could see curiosity flicker across Zetak’s face. He tried to keep a neutral expression, but his ears pricked up slightly.

“It was during a prayer session in the temple. I’ve kept it a secret until now, but I once had a vision of the future while I was praying.”

“A vision?”

He looked doubtful, staring at me as if to see if I was lying. There was nothing to hide. Everything up to that point had been true.

Zetak seemed to sense this as well and his expression changed to one of confusion. It made sense – prophecies and visions didn’t come to everyone.

Saints, holy people, those chosen by the gods, those who communicated with the divine – these were the typical recipients of prophecy. Even then it happened perhaps once in a century. It wasn’t unusual for individuals to receive visions, but it was extremely rare.

And I was one of those rare cases – a vision that was brought down because I would cause the death of every living being in the realm.

“All right… I’ll believe you. So, what was it about?”

“It was about our future. You and I – we have always been together.”

Zetak’s expression remained unchanged. He still seemed sceptical and curious about the supposed prophecy. It didn’t matter if he didn’t fully believe me; as long as he subconsciously thought. ‘This is how it’s going to be,’ it would be enough.

“You and I really were lovers in the future.”

“Hah. Lovers, you say.”

“Whether you believe it or not is up to you. But in the future I saw, you cared very much for me.”

I told him a story that contradicted the future I’d actually seen. In that vision he had laughed as he cut me to pieces.

Even though he was smiling, there was a strange emptiness about him. I remembered what he had said before he killed me.

“No matter how far I go, it’s impossible to get any real emotion out of you, isn’t it?”

Just like always. That was what he had said, if I remembered correctly. I suddenly wondered something. After he killed me, he ordered the demons under his control to raze the Empire to the ground.

That figure of him, screaming as he left, was the last sight I had of him. What path had he taken after that, I wondered?

It was something I had never thought about before, but now I was curious. It was pointless, but I imagined his actions afterwards.

Perhaps he lived happily ever after. After all, he had achieved perfect revenge, just as he wanted. He had fulfilled his desire, so maybe his life ended like a fairy tale – “and they lived happily ever after”.

Thinking that way, I felt a sense of relief. He had been a child who only knew suffering. If he found happiness later, even in this way, perhaps that would be enough.

But if that were true, wouldn’t changing the future mean ruining Zetak’s happy future?

“In the future I saw, it seemed as though I liked you too. We looked quite happy together.”

I said something plausible. Zetak still looked sceptical, but he didn’t seem completely disbelieving either. Perhaps because prophecies and visions were so absurd, he didn’t know whether to be suspicious.

If I had been lying, I might have come up with something more realistic. But since it was such an outlandish claim, it might just be true – that seemed to be the uncertainty I could see in his eyes.

“Well… let’s say it’s true. How does that have anything to do with turning me into a… genital monster?”

“Didn’t I already say? I saw the future.”

Zetak’s expression hardened slightly.

“Could it be true…?”

He murmured, half convinced. A lie alone lacks credibility. Mix in some truth and it sounds more believable.

Although I hadn’t seen Zetak’s g*nitals in the future, I could make an educated guess as to their size, given the circumstances.

“When you penetrated me, blood splattered everywhere. You’ll grow to that size, so there’s nothing to be ashamed of now.

“Blood everywhere.”

Zetak’s face seemed to pale. He looked down at his lower body, then at my hips. I thought I heard him mutter something – something like ‘bloody radish’. He seemed disturbed, rubbing his forehead in frustration.

“…tentacles.”

After a long moment he spoke, almost as if talking to himself.

“I will use tentacles to embrace Your Highness. I think using my… g*nitals might not be the best idea.”

“Is that what you prefer?”

There are demons who prefer to use their tentacles rather than their g*nitals. While the sensation can be shared and feels similar, there is always a slight difference. Zetak seemed to be a tentacle user. Personally, I preferred to use my g*nitals, although given my size, I often used my tentacles instead.

“I’ll just… sigh. Damn it. I’ll work on my self-control. Let’s stick to tentacles.”

“If that’s what you want, then do it. But until you gain control, immediate movement will be difficult. Let’s start by inserting it and just holding it in. I’ll tighten and you’ll have to hold on without moving. Gradually, over time, you can work on moving the tentacles up and down.

Zetak’s face twisted, and for some reason he looked around with a tense expression. Then he stiffened and stared in one direction.

Following his gaze, I saw a maid standing there, completely frozen. Her face was bright red and her mouth was opening and closing like a goldfish.

When our eyes met, she let out a strange squeal and ran off in a hurry. She mumbled something as she ran, but I couldn’t quite make it out.

Something about ‘backfishing’? It was the only word I could make out, and I still didn’t understand it.

Among the few words I managed to catch, I heard ‘bet’. It seemed that the maids had made a bet on my relationship with Zetak.