Chapter 132: You Love Me

“Huh?”

What just happened?

Why… why does my head…?

Crunch-

I couldn’t tell exactly how deep the stem had burrowed into my skull, but one thing was certain—it had spread dangerously far.

“Ah, s-stop, my, my head…”

Crack–

“Ah?!”

Whoosh—

A strange sensation, as if something was directly touching my brain, made my back arch grotesquely.

“S-stop, don’t touch my head…!”

My mind screamed that I had to rip this stem out immediately.

But every time I tried to move, Luella whispered sweetly in front of me.

[I love you, Tina.]

A tender confession of love.

That one sentence made my arms go weak, my whole body powerless. In the end, I could do nothing but watch as the flower’s stems dug deeper into my head.

“Ah…?”

A maddening itch began to spread through my brain. My convulsing waist and legs were no longer under my control.

“Th-this is weird, this feels… weird…”

The unbearable itch tormented me endlessly, as if someone was directly controlling my brain.

But I soon realized—this was only the beginning. The stem, now deeply embedded in my mind, started writhing and moving rapidly.

Squish—

A dull, wet sound echoed inside my skull.

“My brain, my brain feels… w-wrong?!”

Whoosh—

In an instant, my consciousness flickered out. A sharp ringing filled my ears, and rainbow-colored stars floated before my eyes.

“W-wait, stop, my brain, my head…!”

Squish—

“?!!”

Whoosh—

With the sudden eruption of an unknown liquid from all around me, my vision flipped again.

[W-what is this… Is this holy water…?]

The moment the liquid engulfed Luella, she let out a piercing scream. Her agonized voice seeped into my ears, but my brain no longer had the capacity to process it.

“No, no, not my head, not my brain…!”

I desperately struggled, pleading with the stems. But the flower had no way of understanding me.

“M-my head is burning—w-wait?!”

Whoosh—

“N-no, I don’t want this anymore, please, it’s too much—”

Whoosh—

“Hah, heuk… e-ehik…”

I thrashed desperately, begging the stems, but they couldn’t understand a single word.

As the ceaseless warning signals rang inside my head, my vision grew hazy.

My body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, leaving only my helpless fingers and toes twitching sporadically.

Just as my eyes were about to close, a soft white light leaked from the collar wrapped around my neck.

The pure white light transformed into delicate threads, resembling the flower’s stems, and began burrowing toward my ear.

“Ah?”

A fresh, stabbing sensation in my ear sent tremors through my body once more.

“W-wait a second…”

The slender threads dug deep, just like the stems, and started wriggling through my brain.

Squish, squish—

As if they were trying to heal the wounds left behind by the flower’s stems.

But whether this was an act of healing or not didn’t matter. To me, it was nothing but another unbearable agony.

“Ah? My, my head, stop?”

Squish, squish—

“N-no, stop, wa-wait, ah?!”

That was when the real hell began.

The flower’s stems and the pure white threads waged a fierce battle inside my brain.

Whenever a stem pierced into my mind, the white light would heal the spot.

Squish, squish. Pierce, heal. Stab the brain, then heal it again.

“Squish— Ah, this feels wrong— Squish— Stop, healing, ah, again, again something weird— Ahhh— Squish, squish—”

And caught in their war, my body was the only sacrifice.

Even though I no longer had the strength to move, my waist was lifted high and trembling as I struggled.

“Ugh… Ah…”

In the end, my brain, unable to endure any longer, began to shut down my consciousness.

Through my fading awareness, I vaguely saw Luella’s face.

Was it just my imagination? Her face was distorted more grotesquely than before.

It was as if it had lost its shape, half-melted.

[That damned saintess… What the hell did she do in the meantime?]

As she muttered harshly to herself, her gaze turned to me. Then, her crimson eyes widened in shock.

[T-Tina? Your nose…!]

A warm sensation brushed past the tip of my nose.

When I looked down, red blood was dripping from my nose.

[W-Wait. You’re not going to die, are you? Tina, look into my eyes.]

Luella was saying something urgently, but her words no longer reached me.

My broken brain no longer had the capacity to understand her.

In the end, I closed my eyes in the approaching darkness.

Surrendering to the slumber, I sank into a deep, silent sleep.

***

The years of being trapped, unable to move, suppressed by the saintess’s overwhelming divine power.

It was only after exerting all its strength to momentarily break through that vast divine power that the demon was finally able to escape from Tina’s body.

But the time spent inside was far too long.

The demon had no idea what had happened to Tina during that time.

For instance, it never imagined that such pure holy water would be contained within Tina’s body.

An inexplicable, sudden surge of mysterious liquid.

The beautiful water that flowed from Tina looked so sweet that it made the demon’s throat dry, but the moment it touched the demon, it mercilessly burned its flesh.

The pain of being torn apart.

Because of that agony, the demon had failed to notice the strange phenomenon occurring within Tina.

The moment it saw the blood trickling from Tina’s nose, the demon’s eyes trembled as if shaken by an earthquake.

“Tina, Tina! Are you okay?”

The demon shook Tina several times, but there was no response.

If the brainwashing had gone smoothly, this would have never happened.

That damn necklace around Tina’s neck—it must have interfered with the mind-control process.

“Tina…!”

Her breathing was rough, but fortunately, it didn’t seem to pose a significant threat to her life.

For now, it seemed best to observe her condition until the morning.

Hoping that the brainwashing had successfully completed, the demon was just about to retrieve its scattered power when—

Tina, who had been fast asleep, suddenly grabbed the demon’s wrist.

“Tina?!”

Her wide-open eyes still shone beautifully.

“T-Tina, are you alright?”

“…What happened to you?”

Tina asked, and the demon instinctively swallowed hard.

‘Did it work?’

According to the Dream Demon, by now, Tina should have become a submissive female who obeyed its every command.

But if the brainwashing had failed, things would become extremely complicated.

The demon quickly examined Tina.

Her eyes carried a different energy than usual, but she didn’t look like she was under hypnosis either.

“Luella? Don’t tell me—you killed her and took over her body?”

“I simply made a contract. She’s still safely asleep inside.”

“…Then that’s fine.”

Tina’s tone was firm.

The demon’s mind began to race.

No matter how it looked, Tina was not acting like someone whose mind had been successfully controlled.

That meant she would eventually push it away. There was no way she would want to lose the stability she had finally regained.

But right now was a golden opportunity.

At this moment, when she had no doubts and allowed it to stay by her side, it had to do whatever it took to make her its own.

It didn’t want to resort to this, but… there was no other choice.

Tina would have to suffer a little.

“Tina, I’m sorry, but—”

“The words, ‘You love me’—are they true?”

“Huh?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Luella blinked blankly.

Tina was staring at her directly, her eyes unreadable.

“You said you love me. That’s why you keep following me. Is that… really true?”

“Uh, yeah. You didn’t know…?”

At Luella’s unwavering response, Tina’s lips trembled slightly. A brief silence followed, then she let out a quiet, intrigued sound.

“Hmm… So you do love me.”

A smile spread across Tina’s lips.

But it wasn’t just sweet. It was seductive, with a dangerous, almost intoxicating undertone.

“I love you too.”

Her voice was soft, yet unmistakably clear as it lingered near Luella’s ear.

“Huh?”

Before she could refute the suspicious words, Tina gently took Luella’s hand.

Then, she slowly lifted it and carefully placed it against her chest.

Luella stared blankly at where her hand had landed, unable to say a word.

“How is it…?”

Tina asked.

“Huh?”

Tina tilted her head slightly, her voice flowing softly.

“You said you love me. So… I thought you might like this too…”

Her voice was low and sultry.

As Tina applied slight pressure to Luella’s hand, her fingers instinctively tightened around the softness beneath them.

“Eh? Eh?”

The sensation beneath her palm sent indescribable emotions surging through her.

Was this how Adam felt when he first held the forbidden fruit?

A thrill, an irresistible temptation, spread from her fingertips.

Tina’s body trembled slightly. A strange blush colored her cheeks.

“Ah… mmh… I like it…”

Her eyes shimmered with an emotion impossible to describe.

If the one you love looked at you with such eyes, no one would be able to suppress the fire rising within.

Especially not a demon with no prior knowledge of such things. The stimulation was too overwhelming.

“Eh? Ah? Uhh…?”

It was hard to even maintain consciousness.

And in that moment, Tina stepped even closer. Her warm, soft breath tickled Luella’s ear as she whispered:

“You’re… my precious friend… So, I like it…”

Luella swallowed hard at Tina’s hushed words.

Then, Tina opened her lips once again.

“I want to eat you…”

A shocking statement, completely beyond anything Luella had expected.

A temptation so deadly, it shattered the last thread of reason.

As Tina’s hot breath grazed her neck, Luella’s mind went completely blank.

And the moment her final shred of rationality crumbled—

“Hueh?”

Her vision spun, and Luella collapsed on the spot.