The squelching sounds mingled with splashing noises. Rael had already climbed to several peaks of pleasure from the relentless waves of sensation washing over her.

“Hnn…gh.”

Her strength had drained to the point where she could barely grip the sheets. From the opening still being penetrated from behind, fluids of uncertain origin flowed out, soaking the sheets and making her knees sticky.

“Rubellan… enough…”

As she collapsed forward with a weak plea, Rubellan turned her body to face him. Her pale form flipped over helplessly at his touch.

“Are you tired?”

Despite his gentle question, Rubellan’s hips continued to move slowly without stopping. Rael was disgusted that their connection remained intact even after her body had been turned.

“I feel like I’m dying… ungh.”

“That would be troublesome.”

While saying this, Rubellan stared intently at his own manhood moving in and out of Rael. The sight of his formidable organ plunging into her delicate flesh was intensely stimulating, almost sadistic in the way it brutally crushed something so soft and tender.

When Rael sighed, his glistening member twitched in response to her low breath.

“…Ah.”

Even this languid release was exquisite. Unlike an explosive climax, it felt like a slow, continuous outpouring.

Rubellan propped himself on his elbow and gazed down at Rael. Her flushed cheeks, hazy eyes, and small lips gasping for breath—was there anything about her that didn’t captivate him?

“Why must you be so beautiful?”

Rubellan’s body tilted forward, nearly collapsing onto Rael.

“It makes me want to torment you more.”

Rael wanted to call him a crazy bastard, but her body was so close to complete exhaustion that she lacked the energy even to move her lips.

“…ck.”

Though she managed to gather enough strength to attempt speech, her parched throat couldn’t form proper sentences.

Seemingly proud of his inhuman stamina, Rubellan drove into her until she was completely spent—pouring out not just the desire he’d been suppressing recently, but what seemed like a century’s worth of pent-up passion.

Lying beside Rael, Rubellan slowly withdrew his member. As his seed flowed out along the path where his large organ had been, Rael’s body trembled. He gently stroked her quivering head with his large, cool hand, which still gave her pleasure despite everything.

As her eyes began to close drowsily, Rael muttered a curse.

‘I just woke up. Damn it.’

* * *

When she finally regained consciousness, Rael found herself half-awake, being led by Rubellan’s hand to the dining hall.

[Not knowing what would suit human taste, I prepared various dishes!]

A familiar creature greeted them, having arrived ahead of them.

“That… Yodel?”

[It’s Joseph! Human!]

Joseph stomped his foot indignantly at her casual mispronunciation of his name. He still looked like an adorable hamster floating in midair. Rael observed him with curiosity.

[Sigh, humans are truly troublesome. Having to eat food every single day!]

Despite his grumpy words, the table was extravagantly laid out. If it was such a bother, he could have simply thrown some bread and milk at her.

[No. There should be demons who eat food, you know. Still, since the Demon King insisted on preparing with care, I was torn between cooking blood-mole skin, tender hell-snake roast, or steamed man-eating flower.]

The color drained from Rael’s face. The thought that he might try to feed her such bizarre things made her determined to starve rather than put anything from that table into her mouth.

“How could I eat such things!”

[Huh? Some peculiar demons who occasionally tear into meat quite enjoy them.]

“I… I’ll pass. I don’t want to eat.”

Rael turned away from the table. She wanted to leave the dining hall altogether, but Rubellan’s hand supporting her waist made that difficult.

[Eck! How dare you dismiss my sincerity like that!]

Joseph said with a hurt expression.

I don’t need that kind of sincerity!

“Stop teasing her and speak properly.”

At Rubellan’s words, tinged with amusement, Joseph giggled and brought another plate of food. It looked like duck, but Rael remained suspicious, wondering if this too might be some hellish creature with a name like “infernal pit firebird.”

[It’s just ordinary duck purchased from a human village. The vegetables were also grown by human hands. Rest assured! Human! What’s with that expression?]

Joseph cackled at Rael’s suspicious look.

[Since we rarely entertain guests, I went through some trouble.]

Joseph placed the plate on the table and fluttered over to pull out a chair for her.

[Stop being suspicious and sit down, human!]

Rael moved toward the table, eyeing it dubiously for anything suspicious. Rubellan sat down across from her.

[Well then, Your Majesty, please enjoy your meal while noting how much care I’ve taken!]

“Alright, you may go.”

Despite being dismissed, Joseph twisted his body and hovered around Rubellan, clearly hoping for some reward. His transparent intentions were obvious even to Rael. Rubellan chuckled and flicked his hand toward Joseph, sending a round sphere flying from his fingertips.

“What was that?”

Rael was curious about what had been sent.

“A portion of my magical power, you could say.”

“Is it okay to give that away so freely?”

“It’s just a speck, so it doesn’t matter.”

Clutching that speck of magical power, Joseph hummed happily as he left the dining hall. His fluttering wings clearly expressed his joy.

“Please eat. Joseph seems to have put in real effort. Starting tomorrow, a cook will be coming. Though I dislike letting outsiders into the castle, I can’t let my senior starve.”

“You could just let me go.”

“I dislike that even more.”

Rubellan sliced pieces of duck with a long knife and transferred them to Rael’s plate. He apparently wasn’t eating, as there was nothing in front of him. All the dishes were clustered before Rael—fresh salad, smoked duck, fried rice, noodles with red sauce, soup, and bread—a diverse spread.

“Am I supposed to eat all this by myself?”

“Eat as much as you can. How much could fit in that small stomach of yours anyway?”

Rael tensed as his gaze traveled over her body.

“Do demons live without eating anything?”

Though she hastily changed the subject, she was genuinely curious about how they satisfied their hunger.

“We do consume something. It’s not food as such, though some occasionally enjoy eating like humans do.”

“What do you eat?”

Rubellan’s hand, which had been slicing the duck, paused at Rael’s question.

“What do you think?”

“Whatever it is, I’d rather not imagine it.”

It was painfully obvious that it would be something like human souls or something equally disturbing.

“It varies among demons. Some need to consume human blood, others feed on lust… Ah, these types are more common among lower demons. Typically, higher-ranking or pure-blooded demons enjoy human emotions like malice, greed, or despair.”

“What about you?”

She wondered if Rubellan also survived by devouring human souls.

“I told you. It’s merely for enjoyment. A demon’s body is sustained by magical power even without eating.”

“Huh, so you take people’s souls purely for fun?”

“Humans aren’t any different. They take, violate, and kill purely for entertainment.”

Rael was speechless. His words weren’t wrong. How were humans any different?

“For your information, as you know, I’m of lowly lineage, so I do enjoy lust.”

Each statement sounded like a murder threat. She worried whether she might end up having her life force drained completely.

Rael’s mouth felt dry again.

“You’re quite curious even in this situation, senior.”

“Let’s call it an occupational hazard.”

“Why did you become a mage again?”

After returning to her hometown, Rael had opened a potion shop to make a living. She was quite grateful that what she had learned at the academy had provided her with a means to survive.

“I turned out to be better at it than I thought.”

Moreover, as rumors spread about the effectiveness of Rael’s potions, she received a recruitment offer from the Magic Tower. She had no reason to refuse. At the time, she thought things were working out well, but in retrospect, she should never have set foot in the Magic Tower.

“How admirable. Our senior.”

As soon as the meat disappeared from Rael’s plate, Rubellan transferred more. By now accustomed to this, Rael speared the meat he served with her fork and put it in her mouth.

“What happened to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your brothers.”

She had occasionally wondered what had become of the brothers who had tried to kill him. Had Rubellan, with his immortal body, exacted revenge?

“Well, it’s been a while since I last saw them after tearing off their limbs and throwing them away.”

The meat she had been chewing suddenly slid down her throat. It felt like it had gotten stuck somewhere in her esophagus.

“People don’t usually tear off limbs and throw them away, right?”

“Hmm. Not for the past hundred years or so.”

Rael tilted her head at Rubellan’s words. A hundred years?

“How… old are you?”

A rather belated question about age.

“I think I’ve lived over 400 years, but I’m not exactly sure myself.”

“……”

Rael went blank as she put salad in her mouth. The demon before her was claiming to be 400 years old.

“What’s wrong, senior?”

A demon over 400 years old was calling her “senior.” Though momentarily dazed by the staggering number, she quickly recovered. Why should a demon being 400 years old be so surprising?

“Then 100 years ago?”

“That was an unstable period for me. I wandered a lot.”

Was it something like a demon’s puberty? Rael tried to imagine the turbulent period a 300-year-old demon might experience.

“…I see.”

Her speech unconsciously became more formal. This was when she truly felt that Rubellan belonged to a different species.

Rubellan gazed at her intently and smiled. He felt his senior had somehow become even more lovable.

“You’ve changed a lot.”

“You’re not the same as before either.”

Rael calmly retorted.

“Really? I was quite young back then.”

Rael snorted at Rubellan’s words. Young? At over 400 years old?