Chapter 41: Diana Conquest Strategy (2)

Chapter 41: Diana Conquest
Strategy (2)

Diana
opened her eyes in bed as sunlight streamed in through the window.

Mornings
with the sun were unfamiliar to Diana, who always started her day in
the dark.

Her
mind felt strangely hazy. She felt like she was floating on a cloud.

Her
back felt damp, like it had been soaked with rain.

She
gingerly put her hand on her back and felt the mattress soaked with
something like water.

The
sleeping quarters felt strangely awkward, but it wasn’t Diana’s room.

‘I
even put a sealing spell on the room, but I managed to escape.’

Once
a quarter, when the curse rages, reason is blurred and only instinct
and primal lust remain.

It
meant she craved cock like crazy.

But
with all five curses intertwined in a magical way, no matter what she
did, Diana could never be taken by a man.

This
was the fundamental reason she had remained a virgin all these years.

Her
body desperately wants a man, but a combination of curses prevents it
from happening.

So
when the curses would flare up, Diana would lock herself in her room
for a week or so and m**turbate like crazy.

She
sends everyone out of the inn and closes the shop.

This
preparation has kept her out of trouble so far, but the different
location of the room she’s lying in seems to have made this time’s
outburst a little louder.

What
was different from the last runaway?

‘Balkan⋯’

It’s
probably because of the kid she recently brought in.

At
first, it seemed selfless.

She
served him soup out of pity for the way he was shivering in the cold
darkness of the Labyrinth City.

But
since then⋯
since the day he clutched at her chest, to be exact.

Every
time she thought of him, she felt her stomach flutter and her body
heat up.

The
curse’s outbursts come once a quarter, but once a week, there’s a
foreshadowing.

Hundreds
of times a day, her uterus would clench, turning her head into a
stupid deformity, as if to prepare her body for the big one.

Each
time it happened, Diana remembered the utensils he used, the towel he
wiped himself with, the bed he slept in⋯
but she endured it with desperate patience.

‘I
will not succumb to this curse.’

Despite
the occasional discomfort, she had managed to get by. She believed
that nothing would be too much trouble.

–
Heh, heh, heh, heh, Balkan, Balkan, Balkan.

But
that, too, was a foolish notion, for he hadn’t experienced the
outbursts since his arrival.

Diana
rocked frantically on his bed, wrapped in the covers she’d pulled
over her, her nose buried in the pillow he’d slept on.

Taking
a deep breath, the scent of Balkan paralyzes her. In response, she
rocks even more frantically.

She
smells Balkan again. She sways again. The cycle was complete.

She
didn’t remember much of what happened after that but the bed was
soaked, and she knew she must have m**turbated like crazy after that.

‘What
the hell was I thinking?’ She wondered, doing such an unforgivable
thing.

The
only explanation she can come up with is that she was acting on
instinct, following her primal libido.

‘I’m
the worst, I⋯’

Diana
felt a deep sense of self-loathing.

Disgust
with herself was one thing but what she hated most was that, even
after all she’d done, she still wanted to look good to him.

‘He
must never find out about this⋯!’

What
if he caught her masturbating on his bed?

It
was horrifying to think about.

The
labyrinth has many variables. He’s late from the second floor, but
Diana realizes he wouldn’t struggle there.

He’d
make it back safely so she had to get moving.

-Squeak!

“Hmph!”

Diana’s
mind was racing as she tried to get out of bed, but a vicious grip on
her chest stopped her in her tracks.

A
large, soft lump of fat squeezed in the large, firm hand, squeezing
back and forth between her fingers.

‘No,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.’

There
shouldn’t be a human by her side right now and she should never have
felt the touch of this hand.

A
large, thick, firm hand, with every finger, relentlessly leaving red
handprints on the woman’s soft chest.

How
could she forget the hand of the man who had convinced her
subconscious that she was a female?

Gritting
her teeth and ignoring her womb, which had begun to throb and tremble
again, Diana looked up at the owner of that familiar touch as
memories of last night began to surface.

Memories
of being forcibly embraced, molested, and pounced upon as he returned
exhausted from the Labyrinth.

A
frustrated groan echoed through his room.

Yes,
his room.

“I,
I, what the hell did I do⋯?”

A
helmeted, torn breastplate, half-naked, stunned man lay beside her.

***

I
used the Blessing of Radiance at full power and promptly blacked out.

When
I opened my eyes, I immediately saw Diana.

“Ahhhhhh…”

Diana
moaned in a daze.

I
stared at her, realized where my hand was, and unconsciously fidgeted
a few more times before collecting it.

My
sweaty hand was quite warm.

I
wondered how long I’d been sleeping, and I could still see my
handprint on Diana’s breast through her gray dress.

She
stared at me blankly, as if her mind had stopped working.

I
had a brain freeze, too. Waking up and seeing her gasping for air was
a little too much for my heart.

“Heh.”

“Ahhhhh.”

Our
words overlapped, and there was another moment of silence.

I
gesture for her to speak first, and she nods urgently.

“Uh,
the Balkan⋯
this⋯
situation⋯
uh⋯
so⋯
ah⋯”

Diana
is definitely not her usual self.

She
stuttered, as if her brain had shut down, and her normally closed
eyes darted around, scanning her surroundings in confusion.

I
finally broke the ice.

“It’s
the curse, isn’t it?”

Let’s
just look at the facts.

What
is the underlying cause of Diana’s outburst?

‘Well,
it must be the Curse of Decadence.’

Diana
is not the kind of woman who would do such a senseless act. There
must have been something at work, a curse, that paralyzed her reason.

Indeed,
I’ve seen symbols as obscene and ominous as that pervert’s.

“⋯⋯Yes.”

Diana
filled me in on the details of one of her curses.

She
didn’t tell me everything, but it was pretty much what I expected.

Once
a week, her libido would spike, and once a quarter, her sex drive
would explode to the point of unconsciousness.

“⋯⋯”

Diana
bowed her head to me like a sinner. She couldn’t even open her mouth
to apologize.

She
just stood there, speechless, her head bowed deeply, her eyes fixed
on me.

I’m
not trying to gloss over the situation with silence.

It’s
just that Diana, who is always quick to recognize her mistakes and
apologize, has become so hardened that she can’t say anything.

She
knows that what she has done will never be forgiven by the men of
this world.

“Such
a vile curse. It must have been hard for you, Diana.”

“Huh?”

But
I am not a man of this world. A beauty worthy of anyone’s admiration
comforted herself in my bed?

Honestly,
it was still too fantastical to be real.

And,
if we’re just talking about the good or bad of the situation, it’s
extreme because last night I was on the verge of losing it myself.

“If
only,” I thought, “Diana hadn’t regained consciousness
halfway through and stopped herself, I’d have been in the mood, and
I’d have packed her womb with my healthy, two-month-old concentrated
baby seed.”

The
fact that she stopped was proof that she was trying to honor and care
for me, even while she was being consumed by the curse and losing her
mind.

Because
of that, I want to do the same for her.

At
my mention of what she must have been through, she looked up, dazed.
She stared at me.

“Diana,
actually, I got a blessing from the labyrinth this time.”

From
the sounds of it, Diana had been a fairly accomplished explorer in
the past, and there were only two possible reasons she hadn’t removed
the curse.

‘Either
she couldn’t afford it, or the temple couldn’t remove it.’

It
seems unlikely that Diana would be short on funds. I’m guessing the
latter.

‘It
must be the darkness.’

That
uncomfortable, foreboding darkness. The darkness that enveloped and
threatened the unidentified [being].

Even
in the temple, I wondered how it could be untouchable.

“Do
you remember what happened last night?”

“⋯Ah,
yes⋯I
remember⋯”

“Remember
when I squeezed Diana’s lower belly, and the pattern disappeared?”

“⋯⋯!”

Diana
gasped and patted her lower belly.

Her
bare belly, covered by her gray dress, was now sigil-less.

The
blessing had worked last night.

Surely,
this blessing would help curb Diana’s runaway behavior.

“And
if you ever get horny again⋯or
if you ever go on a rampage⋯maybe
my blessing can help.”

Diana
stared at me blankly. She was a little embarrassed at this point.

In
a situation where it wouldn’t be surprising for someone to run away
in contempt or exploit me to the bone for money, it’s odd.

“I
want to help Diana, I owe you so much.”

In
fact, she’s even covering for me so I’m trying to help her in
return.

“⋯Balkan.
I’ve hurt you, irreparably.”

“Oh,
that’s hardly a wound, and you just covered up one of mine.”

Diana’s
eyes narrowed. I think she realized which time I was referring to.

“⋯Balkan,
that one⋯”

“Again,
are you going to say ‘just because’?”

I
remembered my first meeting with Diana.

My
first murder, my first labyrinth and the people who would pounce on
me at every turn.

My
first meeting with her, when she handed me a hot bowl of soup and
gave me the keys to the inn as I shivered in the dark, cold streets,
trying to sleep.

“Just.
For no particular reason. For nothing in return. That’s what you said
even then.”

“⋯⋯”

“Then
I, too, just want to help Diana, for no particular reason. I just
want to help, so why not?”

I
locked eyes with Diana, who stared back.

Her
normally closed eyes were fully open.

I
stared into her amber eyes from behind my helmet.

Then,
a thin laugh escaped her mouth.

“⋯Really.
I’m no match for Balkan.”

Her
voice was a mixture of gratitude, guilt, and apology.

“Yeah,
well, I don’t think I’m going to be able to beat Diana either.”

I
smiled and squeezed Diana’s hand. We looked at each other for a
moment and laughed.

“⋯⋯”

After
a few moments of silence, Diana cautiously spoke up.

“Then,
I’m sorry, but ⋯
can I ask you a favor?”

I
smiled and nodded, grateful to her for saving me from a moment of
doubt that could have ruined the rest of my life.

“Sure!”

And
just like that, I would be helping Diana with her libido for years to
come.

***

“But,
Diana. What’s the name of that curse?”

Diana’s
smile hardened as she looked at me with a wry smile.

“Does
it have a name, or is it necessary to suppress the curse⋯?”

“No,
I’m just curious, because I don’t think such curses are common.”

After
a moment of silence, Diana blushed bright red and spoke cautiously.

“Uh,
mmm, la, lan, gol.”

“Mmirangol?
Is that the curse of Mmirangol?”

“⋯⋯⋯⋯
Mi, I’m sorry, go, I suddenly don’t remember much⋯”

Cutting
off the conversation in a hurry, Diana scrambled out of bed, grabbed
my bedding for laundry, and was downstairs in a flash.

Literally
in a flash. It was so fast that I barely saw the afterimage.

I
shrugged it off, toweling myself off for a brisk start to the day,
and thought to myself.

Curse
of Decadence from the Black Moon■

Obscene
Decadent Mark.

“Oh
shit.”

The
Labyrinth is so hard.

***

“This
boring academy. Finally out!”

“I
know.”

Around
twenty students, including a red-haired elf and a canine beastman,
were beaming with joy at the rare opportunity for an outdoor
assignment.

At
the words of Professor Mankostil, who was leading them, the students
turned to look at the red-haired elf, Ellie Ordia.

“Ellie.
I’m jealous ⋯
free time.”

“Another
genius recognized by a professor. I can feel the walls.”

“Tsk.
I’m just a commoner.”

“Don’t
you know, her mother is a genius?”

“⋯⋯Really?”

Pure
envy, envy of talent, admiration, jealousy.

Ellie
Ordia didn’t react much to the various stares, but the last words
were different.

For
in their words, there was a hint of disgust.

“My
mother.”

“No,
well, just⋯”

The
talent recognized by the entire faculty stepped forward, and the two
students who’d been chattering shut up.

“Tsk.
You can’t even talk in front of me.”

“⋯⋯”

Seeing
them avert their eyes, unable to overcome the pressure, Ellie clicked
her tongue.

She
kicked the ground as if to vent her frustration. In a fit of
frustration, she roasted the ground once with a fireball.

Ellie
Ordia.

Third
year at the Royal Academy. Top of the class. Prodigy wizard.

Such
titles paled in comparison to the enormity of her family name.

“⋯She’s
not my real mom.”

Ellie,
who hit puberty late, hated her adoptive mother.