I rolled over and lay on my back. As my back pressed against the bed, pain shot through me and made me grimace, but thanks to the medicine, it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. Zetak frowned and tried to help me up, but I stopped him. I wanted to look him straight in the eye.

“When you cross the gate, head east. The thick fog will make it hard to see your direction, but if you go towards where the sun rises, you’ll be fine. Remember, the fog there is not like the fog in the human realm – you won’t be able to tell day from night easily, so be careful.”

I remembered the place where I had lived in my previous life.

“Go east and you’ll come to a swamp. In it you will find the Grey Marsh.”

It’s a place where demonic energy is concentrated, making it ideal for moulting. As it’s such a prime spot, it’s probably already claimed by another monster, but it might be possible to sneak underground and find a place to molt. In any case, any land good enough for moulting would already have an owner, so it’s a risk you’ll have to take.

“If there’s a stone over a swamp, don’t dig under it. Such places usually have a hidden owner underneath. If you do dig, make sure you dig as deep as you can. When you feel you can’t go any further, dig again. This way other monsters won’t be able to pick up your scent. Once you’re down in the mud, your body will automatically start to molt.”

As I continued to speak, Zetak’s expression became more and more rigid. I knew it. I knew that what I was about to say wasn’t something you could just read about in books. Nevertheless, I wanted him to moult in the best possible place. In his case, it was necessary to remove the dead parts of his body. As this wasn’t a typical moulting process, it was even more important for him to do it in the most suitable place.

I traced the scars that distorted his face. What did he look like five years ago? I think he had fine, gentle features then. But if you asked me if he looked feminine because of his beauty, he didn’t. If he had grown up without any changes, what would he have become? Perhaps he would have grown into a masculine figure. I tried to imagine, but nothing came to mind. Only the distorted face I saw in the future remained in my memory. Zetak clicked his tongue, pushed my hand away and lowered his head.

“You mentioned shedding the dead parts. If that’s the case…” 

Can this scar also be removed? I knew he would ask that. After all, he had expressed his wish to get rid of the scar before. It seems that a lot has changed compared to the future. 

“Yes. It probably can.” 

He ran his fingers slowly over his face. Was he perhaps remembering the time he had been rejected by me? I did not like the thought, so I grabbed his hand and pulled it away. As he leaned over me, he braced himself against the bed to keep his weight off me. He was watching my back. I found it strangely fascinating. 

He was as kind and gentle as ever. Of course he had been violent, but the one who was hurt was not me, but him. He once said that the day he would fully forgive me would never come. But maybe the day he would hate me so much that he would want to kill me will never come either. If he ever came back, I think he would be alive, loving and hating me, and we would clash as we lived. That is, if he came back alive.

“Dig as deep as you can.” 

“……” 

“This is swampland. Digging won’t be difficult. But that also means that others can easily dig into the ground and pull you out. 

“……” 

“So digging must not be noticed by anyone. Countless monsters die during the moulting process. It’s not because they can’t molt…”

The words were lost as he leaned down and kissed me. Sharp teeth nipped at my lips. He nibbled lightly, then tentacles slid across my lips, the movements not as violent as before. The tiny hole at the tip of his tongue suggested he shared the sensation. His movements were slow and deliberate, so much so that I felt a tingle down my side and sucked hard at his.

For me it would be a simple kiss, but not for him. For him, this is oral s*x, and the excitement of it should make my stomach turn. Maybe that’s why there’s something slimy on the tip of his tongue, but he never moves forcibly. His movements are soft and loving.

“If you ask me how I know these things…”

He nibbles my neck, then moves down to my collarbone.

“I will lie and say I saw it in a forbidden book.”

He says, feeling my chest. One hand rested on the bed with an elbow to keep his weight off me. My back tingled as his tentacles squeezed and licked my br*asts. The pain shouldn’t be an *rogenous zone. But strangely, even the pain felt pleasurable. The tip of the tentacle pressed hard against the lump. I pressed my hand against the other side and twisted it. My p*nis responded to the seemingly insignificant touch.

You can tell me if you want to talk.

Slowly a hand moved down my stomach and grasped my p*nis, the movement slow enough to feel deliberate. Maybe he’d r*ped me – I don’t think so, but he seemed to take it that way. Maybe it was r*pe to him, and this caution was a reaction to the way he’d treated me.

He grabbed my p*nis and licked the sh*ft. His tentacles rubbed and rubbed against it, wet with excitement. I moaned at the pain in my back and thighs, but I couldn’t tell if it was from the pain or the pleasure rising from my lower abdomen.

He could see that the blood that had dripped from his back was also smeared on his p*nis. Zetak licked it off, his hand making a slurping sound with each quick movement. It sounded obscene somehow.

A small moan escaped him at the heightened sensation. Just as I was about to *jaculate, he pulled his mouth away. “You could have let me enjoy this last moment. You always feed me, don’t you?” The words didn’t come out as I was more concerned with catching my breath and feeling the afterglow of my *jaculation. The stray c*m splashed onto my stomach. Zetak stared down at it. He reached out and rubbed it on my belly.

Because I wanted to see it properly.

“See ……. What do you mean?”

I asked, panting, and he looked down at my face.

“To really feel it.”

I don’t know what he’s talking about because I felt it the whole time. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, as if he sensed what I was thinking.

“Do I have to tell you that I wanted to see you get f*cked? From the front, really. I mean, I wanted to see you squirm like you’re doing right now. Oh, and I also wanted to see you m*sturbate too.”

“What the hell were you doing outside the palace that made you so foul-mouthed?”

The corner of Zetak’s mouth twitched.

“Well, never mind. Next time I’ll entertain you properly, and don’t look so begging.”

It didn’t look very pleading, but I wanted to say something, but Zetak’s mouth was too close to mine. It’s not fair, is it, to rob me of my last moments of pleasure and you get to enjoy them? I was horrified, but the movements of the tentacle were so gentle that I decided to let it go. I pressed my tongue against the tentacle and could feel the *jaculate spreading out. It *jaculated several more times in short bursts and slowly withdrew. I grimaced at the taste of the remaining sperm in my mouth. Zetak brought his palm to the corner of my mouth.

“Spit it out.”

The words came as a bit of a surprise. He basically wanted me to swallow them. I didn’t see why I shouldn’t spit them out. I turned my head and opened my mouth to his hand. I caught the sperm on my tongue and held it out, letting it pool on my tongue and slowly trickle down. Zetak watched, never taking his eyes off me, and judging by the amount of s*men on his palm, it was more than he’d expected.

Zetak went to the bathroom to wash it off. After what seemed like an eternity, he turned on the warm water and set it down on the bed. He was silent as he wiped me down with a washcloth. The towel was stained red as he wiped between my legs.

“Let me wipe it off again…”

He murmured softly.

“Let’s go to the temple.”

“Even though the priests made the medicine, it can’t compare to divine power. You should be treated properly.”

“But…”

“If it were me, I’d be fine.”

It couldn’t possibly be all right. I would surely be called out and reprimanded. If it reached my father’s ears, I might even be summoned to the palace. Despite knowing this, Zetak seemed determined to show me to the priests. After a moment’s hesitation, I nodded.

“Alright. Let’s go to the temple.”

If I said I was injured on official business, they would try to strip me for examination. Since my partner for the night was a monster, they would probably check the severity of the wound. And then it would be reported to the palace.

“If I say it’s hemorrhoids, at least they won’t try to undress me.”

His hands, which had been wiping my body, suddenly froze. After standing still for a moment, he slowly turned to look at me with a creaking motion.

“…hemorrhoids?”

For some reason he looked a bit disgusted. I thought it was a reasonable solution, but he didn’t seem to think so. I had never heard of a noble who had been treated for hemorrhoids in the temple having to undress. I had heard that divine power was granted over clothing because of the potential loss of honour. I wasn’t sure what hemorrhoids had to do with honour, but I understood that it had become a custom. So if I was to be treated in the temple, that would be the best way.

“Do you not know how shameful nobles find this disease? Once the rumours start, they’ll spread like wildfire.”

“I don’t care. I’ve lived with rumours that I’m a corpse. What’s going to change if another rumour is added about hemorrhoids?”

“I see. Hemorrhoids. I’d really like to believe that someone who can handle their energy well enough to unleash the Sword Aura could end up with haemorrhoids.”

“Well, what are you going to do if you don’t believe me? If the royal family came to be treated for haemorrhoids, would you dare to undress them to check, or would you write a petition to the emperor because they didn’t show you their haemorrhoids?”

“…”

“It seems the easiest way to get through this.”

“I see. Hemorrhoids.”

He mumbled the same words again. After rinsing the blood-stained towel in water, he pressed his forehead together, clearly disturbed.

“What on earth have I done to someone like that…?”

Is this what they call a “moment of realisation”? He murmured something incomprehensible, his face full of self-recrimination.