Return to Male (1)

The encounter with an unknown sensation was the worst.

The tingling feeling she had never experienced before was, regardless of whether it felt good or bad, a fear of being invaded by a sensation she couldn’t control.

Yona returned to her room as if fleeing from Alec’s room.

Her face, which had turned bright red, was burning as if it was on fire, and her lower abdomen, which had been tingling since earlier, showed no signs of calming down.

As soon as she entered the room, Yona locked the door and, breathing heavily, grabbed the kettle on the table.

Without the leisure to pour it into a cup, Yona roughly put the kettle’s spout to her mouth and drank the water. She wiped the stream of water that flowed down the corner of her lips with her sleeve, exhaled roughly, and sat down on the chair at the table.

‘Shit, shit… What is this. What the hell is this.’

If asked whether she had never touched her own body, that wasn’t the case.

It’s a body she had touched countless times while washing, and it had been more than 3 years since she became a woman in the first place.

There’s no way she hadn’t touched it during that time.

So she thought she knew about stimulation, more or less.

No, not just more or less, she thought she knew very well.

She was well aware that a woman’s body is quite sensitive to stimulation.

But the stimulation today was strangely intense to an incredible degree.

The candlelight flickering at the head of the bed shone from behind Yona.

The shadow stretched long on the table was dyed black, swaying aimlessly like seaweed in water every time the candle flickered.

“What on earth is this…”

It’s scary.

The sensation that soaks the entire body in an instant.

【You’re quite a stubborn girl…】

“What…?!”

Yona stood up abruptly, startled by the sudden voice.

The chair pushed back by this movement rolled on the floor making quite a noise, but Yona had no time to pay attention to such things.

The voice that came from somewhere.

But because that voice was so familiar, Yona felt goosebumps all over.

The shadow in front of her, which had been swaying with the candlelight, elongated.

The shadow, which had been in the shape of a person, stretched unusually long and eventually changed into the shape of a coiled snake, no longer resembling a human form.

The shadow stands up.

The shadow, which should always be on the opposite side of light and unable to leave the floor, stood up and faced Yona, and now taller than her, looked down at Yona’s face.

As the shadow’s face was revealed by the candlelight, a woman’s face finally appeared.

【I guided you to mate naturally, but you resisted it. You’re a tougher girl than you look.】

“Berbaria…!”

Yona naturally moved slowly, very slowly towards the wall of the room.

One breath for each half step.

If only she could knock on the wall and call Alec.

If she could call Alec—

‘…No, is it right to call Alec?’

With that thought, Yona couldn’t bring herself to knock on the wall.

Isn’t it completely arbitrary?

Besides, Berbaria probably can’t harm Yona, at least.

The risk of calling Alec is greater than the risk of not calling him.

【All signs in this space have been blocked. No matter what you do, the humans outside won’t hear any sound, so stop your useless actions.】

“…What kind of mischief are you up to now?”

Yona growled, baring her teeth.

She was confident that Berbaria couldn’t do anything rash since she had taken residence in Yona, but nevertheless, Yona drew out the hunting knife she was carrying on her thigh.

【Stop it. I don’t particularly intend to harm you. I just wanted to teach you pleasure.】

Berbaria slowly uncoiled her coiled head and approached Yona.

Stretching her long, long neck and approaching Yona’s face, Berbaria’s face was that of a woman, and although it was a very beautiful face, her nature was that of a demon.

Yona, sweating coldly, put the hunting knife to her neck.

【I told you there’s no need for that. I’m also residing in your body, I don’t understand why you think I would harm you.】

With a slithering sound—

Berbaria crawled around the room.

Although much smaller compared to her original size, the sight of a human-faced snake crawling around the room was still chilling.

【I merely encouraged you to be more honest with yourself.】

Only then did Yona understand what this creature was talking about.

“…What do you mean by that?”

【Exactly what I said. Isn’t it right for a woman to pursue pleasure as a woman should? Lust is the desire most befitting human nature. The man by your side is truly a sturdy specimen, sufficient to give you pleasure—】

“You did something?!”

Only then did Yona fully realize what had gone wrong.

The overly sensitive body.

She now understood why it had become so much, so much more sensitive than when she touched her own body.

【Your language is very rough. To call the actions of me, one of only seven Grand Dukes in the demon world, ‘something’…】

“You damn snake bastard!”

【Hmph.】

Berbaria snorted.

While her body kept crawling around the room, twisting and turning, her face remained fixed on Yona.

Although Yona was frightened by this strange sight, she was also furious at Berbaria’s brazen words about doing as she pleased with her body.

“Don’t do weird things to my body…! Isn’t it enough that you put this damn tattoo on me!”

【I didn’t do anything strange. I just made your senses a little, just a little more sensitive, that’s all.】

“That is doing something strange!”

【…I cannot understand human thinking. You should just be faithful to your instincts. You should be grateful for this… What an absurdly low-grade vessel.】

“Vessel or whatever, don’t use such strange terms!”

【Strange terms, is it. I see. Do you still not know?】

Interest gradually disappeared from Berbaria’s face.

Despite staring at Yona’s face, her expression gradually faded, which made Yona even more furious.

“You don’t say anything and then ask if I still don’t know, what…!”

【Yes, let’s stop this conversation here. You’ll find out soon enough anyway.】

Berbaria’s body gradually became transparent.

Berbaria’s expressionless face, which had been staring at Yona’s face, also gradually disappeared.

Yona didn’t try to grab Berbaria.

She was only angry, angry at the fact that Berbaria had tried to do as she pleased with her, tried to do strange things to her.

However, feeling powerless that she couldn’t do anything to Berbaria in her current state, Yona roughly threw the hunting knife onto the floor.

*

“Did something happen to you?”

Alec was shocked when he saw Yona coming down to the restaurant from her room.

Yona was someone who usually slept well no matter what happened, but her expression was not good at all.

Her face was full of fatigue, and her eyes were sunken as if she hadn’t slept properly, making her complexion look bad as well.

Although she shook her head saying it was nothing, Alec couldn’t help but be concerned.

“I’ll just eat quickly and go.”

Alec looked at Yona again, surprised by her words.

Whether it was his mood or if Alec was being strange, Yona was clearly avoiding Alec’s gaze.

Of course, it wasn’t just because of what happened last night, and Yona wasn’t particularly concerned about that incident anymore, but Alec had no way of knowing that.

Therefore, Alec thought Yona was concerned about that incident.

“…Well, okay. If you say so…”

Alec didn’t insist on going with her.

It wasn’t a good thing from Alec’s perspective anyway, and he didn’t particularly want to go and see Yona who might become a man.

“I’ll be back.”

“Okay.”

Yona, who had only eaten a couple of spoonfuls of stew broth, put down her spoon.

Alec was inwardly worried about her and was about to say something, but then closed his mouth.

Her expression seemed to say ‘don’t talk to me’, and Alec knew that at times like this, it was better to leave her alone.

Yona, with a bag of gold coins slung over her shoulder, waved to Alec and left the restaurant.

Alec quietly watched her back, and only after her figure had receded quite a bit did he slowly stand up and follow her.

‘How could I let her go alone with a bag of gold coins… tsk.’

Alec clicked his tongue and followed Yona.

Yona, walking far ahead, went straight to the Mage’s Tower without even looking around, and although people around glanced at her, no one directly approached her.

‘It seems like something definitely happened.’

The fact that she didn’t sleep well means something did happen.

But Alec, who was in the room right next door, didn’t particularly sense anything strange.

As such, Alec, who had no way of knowing what had happened to Yona, kept thinking it was strange while following her at a distance.

After walking for a while, Yona pushed open the entrance to the Mage’s Tower and went in.

Then Alevian, who was waiting outside, quickly linked arms with her.

The sight of them disappearing to where they had ridden the griffin yesterday.

Only after confirming this could Alec return to the inn with peace of mind.

*

“Change into this.”

Yona silently took the clothes Escara handed her and went to a corner of the room to take off her nun’s habit and change.

The white pants and white shirt reminded her at a glance of the patient’s gown from the world she had been in.

The sensation against her skin, wearing only underwear, wasn’t particularly soft, but Yona was so tense that she didn’t even feel such sensations.

“Come here.”

Escara looked at Yona with strangely sparkling eyes and pulled her by the hand.

They left her research room and walked for a long time through an empty corridor.

From the outside, it didn’t look that wide, but inside, it was so spacious that one couldn’t help but wonder if some strange magic had been cast, making it so wide.

“This isn’t magic that can be casually performed, you understand?”

“…Yes.”

What could she do if she didn’t understand?

Yona thought this as she walked, her hand held by Escara.

And after walking for quite a while, the place they arrived at was in front of a room with a very large iron door.

Standing in front of it, Escara took out a small wooden tag from her bosom and brought it close to the door, and the iron door began to slowly open on both sides with a heavy grinding sound.

And the chill that came out from inside.

Yona shivered involuntarily due to her thin clothing.

“It’s dark in here. Wait here for a moment.”

Escara went inside without waiting for Yona’s response and began to do something.

The interior, which had shown no reaction to clapping hands or snapping fingers, only lit up when Escara extended her finger and drew a star.

“Come in.”

When Yona entered, the interior was also spacious.

The composition was absurdly simple compared to the large space.

A flat stone slab large enough for two people to lie on was placed in the middle.

The strange thing was that under the stone slab, there was a hexagram shape filled with unrecognizable black letters.

“Come here and lie down.”

As Escara gestured, Yona swallowed hard and approached the stone slab.

She shivered at the chill she felt as soon as she sat on the stone slab, but after a moment, Yona let out a long sigh.

‘Will… will it be okay?’

It’s possible.

It’s possible,

It’s possible.

Three confirmations, and another confirmation, and yet another confirmation.

Escara was so certain.

Her eyes were undoubtedly so, and because of that, Yona had made a firm decision.

And she had come this far.

There’s no turning back now.

Yona slowly lay down on the stone slab.

While Escara was preparing something, circling around the stone slab where she lay, and Yona was quietly looking up at the ceiling, at that moment.

“Now, I’m going to start. It won’t particularly hurt. When you wake up after a nap, you’ll be a man.”

At Escara’s words, Yona closed her eyes.

…I’m not worried about that. Then rest. I’m a bit tired too, so I’ll go to my room.

Why did that image suddenly come to mind?

The image of Alec’s back as he left Yona’s room suddenly came to mind.

That back, that sorrowful back, that back that seemed to have something it couldn’t say.

“Wait, wait a moment.”

Yona, who finally asked for a moment’s pause, sat up abruptly.

An unknown uneasiness, and discomfort.

A sense of foreboding, as if she was making a wrong choice.

These mixed together, creating a dissonance.

And in the middle of it all, there was Alec.

‘…I’m being oversensitive.’

Yona shook her head to shake off that thought.

It must be this unsettled feeling because she’s about to discard the body she had adapted to for 3 years and return to being a man.

Yona decided not to think too deeply.

Lying down on the stone slab again, Yona closed her eyes.

“I’m ready. Please proceed.”