Chapter 50: Let No One Sleep (3)

“D-Demon blood?!”

Lily hastily covered her mouth, which had inadvertently let out a loud exclamation.

“Sir Yubin… you were a half-demon too…?”

Then, after meticulously scanning me up and down and seeing no horns or tail like her own, she looked puzzled again.

“Well… yes and no.”

At my ambiguous answer, Lily tilted her head in further confusion.

“Should I call it a peculiar constitution… where my demonic nature doesn't show?”

But this was the best explanation I could give right now.

I couldn't just explain about being the Demon King's vessel.

“A peculiar constitution…?”

“Anyway. So, just enough of my blood to not affect my condition will be enough to satisfy your hunger.”

It was like an energy bar with high calories in a small amount.

And as I said before, I am mostly immune to the status effects that succubi inflict.

In short.

“We have good compatibility, is what I'm saying.”

The boastful promise I made about taking responsibility was not just an empty boast.

“However… the fact that demon blood flows in me is something I haven't told anyone yet.”

At these words, Lily showed a very surprised reaction.

“Am I, the first…?”

“Yup. You're the first.”

I would have to tell everyone when the right time came, but for now, that time was not now.

“So for a while, let's make it a secret between the two of us. Alright?”

Lily, who had been looking at me with somewhat surprised eyes, eventually nodded her head slowly.

“…Yes.”

With a faint smile.

“A secret between just the two of us.”

Just like a nun trying to reassure someone after hearing their confession.

Well, she was actually a nun who had heard my confession.

“Then── here.”

The current situation, where I am offering my own neck to that nun to drink my blood… to be honest, it would be a lie to say there wasn't a part of me that thought, ‘is this really okay?’.

“Just close your eyes and bite.”

In any case, it was a necessary thing to do.

“…….”

Then, Lily, who had been hesitating again, eventually moved her knees hesitantly and came next to me.

And then.

“I-I'm sorry!”

With that one word of apology──

“…!”

──Chomp!

And, she bit my neck.

“…Ugh.”

I couldn't help but let out a groan at the sudden piercing pain.

At that, the startled Lily quickly pulled away.

“A-Are you okay?!”

“…Sorry. I was just a little surprised.”

No matter how much I prepared myself, the feeling of something entering my body is something I can never get used to.

“Don't stop this time.”

I said, pulling down my already-loose top even further.

At that, Lily nodded, and this time, she bit my neck very carefully.

Soft, hot lips met, and two sharp, cold fangs pierced my skin and gradually dug into me.

“…Yes, like that.”

I bit my lip to hold back another groan.

“You’re doing… well.”

Soon, a different kind of heat, different from the pain just now, began to spread throughout my body.

At the same time, I could feel my heartbeat getting faster and faster.

Lily's saliva had begun to be injected into my bloodstream.

But.

--

Resistance Success!

--

That was all.

This time, too, I succeeded in resisting with ease, and my heart, which had been beating wildly, gradually regained its composure.

Perhaps that's why, I felt the sensation of blood leaving my body even more clearly.

Not long after, Lily slowly pulled away from my neck.

Then she hastily covered her lips, which were stained with a streak of red blood, with one hand.

As if she didn't want to show something unsightly, her ears were beet red with embarrassment, and as I could see, she must still have a strong psychological resistance to the act of ‘drinking’ another's blood.

It seemed that Lily was still holding the blood she had drawn from me in her mouth, unable to swallow it.

“You have to swallow it all, Lily.”

At my words, Lily, after a moment's hesitation, nodded her head again.

Then, as if she had made up her mind, she squeezed her eyes shut and the sound of the swallowed blood going down her throat echoed, gulp, and at that very moment──

“──!!”

Lily's closed eyes flew open wide.

At the same time, her pupils dilated.

Then, Lily, whose slumped back had straightened up, tilted her chin and slowly leaned her head back, and then.

“Haaaah…….”

She let out a long, thin, trembling breath.

As if she were letting out something she had been holding back for a very long time.

Then, lowering her head again, Lily licked the red blood that was slightly on her lips with the tip of her tongue, as if she were savoring the taste.

“How is it?”

“In-Incredibly…”

At my question, Lily began to look down at her own hands and body with a look of utter disbelief.

“Energy… is overflowing.”

Then she lowered both hands and placed them gently on her navel.

“The emptiness inside me… feels like it's being filled.”

“Congratulations, Lily.”

To such a Lily, I raised the corners of my mouth and said.

“You have just had a proper ‘meal’ for the first time.”

You have satisfied your long-held hunger for the first time.

“This is, ‘essence’….”

Until now, Lily had been no different from a machine that had been forced to move even though its battery was dead.

In fact, you could say that it was a miracle that she was even able to move her body properly.

The reason she was able to stay alive was, ironically, because she was a half-succubus.

If she had been a full-blooded succubus, she would have withered and died long ago from not being able to drain essence.

But since Lily was a half-breed, she had somehow managed with the energy that ‘humans’ needed.

Just… enough to somehow stay alive.

Of course, since she couldn't live like that forever, her survival instinct had kicked in.

“I…! I've never felt so light in my life…!”

Of course.

As I said before, Lily was in a state like a machine that was forced to move even without a battery.

In other words, she had been moving her whole body ‘manually’.

Even breathing.

Even the natural breathing that is usually done unconsciously, Lily had been conscious of it all this time.

Can you even imagine that?

At least I can't.

I don't even want to.

Just the thought of how I was breathing just now is enough to drive me crazy.

But she had lived in that state from birth until now, and she had finally been freed from it.

How would she feel?

“That’s a relief.”

Lily hadn't just filled her stomach.

It was no different from being freed from a long-held restraint.

“See, I'm fine too, right? So from now on, if you feel your energy draining, don't hesitate to come to me…”

“…S-Sir Yubin!”

Just then, Lily suddenly cut me off and grabbed one of my hands with both of hers.

Of course, she was surprised herself and let go of my hand right away.

“Huh?”

Then, as if to prevent her hands from moving on their own again, she fiddled with her clasped fingers, and as if she couldn't meet my eyes, she lowered her head, and then.

“Ju…”

“Ju?”

“Ju-Just one more time, please let me drink…!”

“Ah…”

So this is how it goes.

The current Lily was, so to speak… like a baby who had tasted sweetness for the first time.

Moreover, my blood was like chocolate, high in calories for its amount.

And high in calories means, it's damn delicious.

“W-Would that be, okay…?”

In other words, this meant that even though she was completely mesmerized by the high stimulation of the chocolate she had tasted for the first time in her life, she was still asking with such restraint(?).

Honestly, if it were me, no, probably most humans would have just bitten without asking.

And most importantly.

“I-It would just be a little, I think…”

How could I refuse when she kept glancing up at me with such… desperate eyes, in the hope that I might say yes.

“…Just for today, okay?”

In the end, after letting out a small, bitter laugh and replying like this.

“…! Yes!”

Lily's face lit up and she nodded her head vigorously.

Then she immediately moved towards me, not just cautiously bringing her face to my neck from the side like before, but this time, moving her whole body in front of me.

Then, with a slurp, as if she were drooling, without a moment's notice──

“──!”

Kwajik, she sank her fangs in.

Unlike the first time, which was careful and gentle, out of her own resistance and to not hurt me, this was a much rougher penetration, solely focused on the desire to taste me.

Perhaps that's why, blood trickled out from the pierced area.

“Ugh…”

At the same time, another groan escaped me without me realizing it, but Ibi, who was already engrossed in devouring me, didn't stop this time.

Instead, she climbed onto my lap as if she were embracing me.

“Lil…”

My hand, which had been fumbling for something to grab to endure the pain, naturally went to Lily's head, and as it did, Lily's veil, which had been pulled, slipped down.

Even though her hidden horns were completely revealed, Lily didn't care at all and pressed her body even closer.

Like, a snake coiling around its prey.

Instinctively wrapping her arms around my body so that I couldn't escape.

Slowly squeezing me, she completely buried her face.

My ‘devil on my shoulder’.

* * *

“──A strong and powerful morning!”

The next day, a roaring morning greeting filled the campsite.

“G-Good morning…?”

Even Miki, who had the same disposition(?) as the vigorously rising morning sun, was slightly flustered and taken aback by the very energetic greeting.

Until now, it had usually been Miki who was in charge of such greetings at the campsite.

When I and Ibi, who were weak in the morning, would stagger out of our tents like zombies with half-opened eyes, Miki, who had already woken up and been doing his morning training, would greet us with a sunny smile and say, “Good morning!” while scattering refreshing sweat drops and waking us up completely.

Today, that role was taken by Lily.

“Doesn't it feel like it's going to be a really good day?”

Lily said, showing a dazzlingly bright smile.

But this might not just be a metaphor, but a reality, because Lily's face was so glossy and shiny that it seemed to be reflecting the sunlight directly.

“S-Sister?”

One thing was for sure, the Lily of yesterday and the Lily of today looked like completely different people.

“By any chance, did something good happen…?”

Perhaps that's why, Miki asked Lily, whose smile was still not leaving her face, somewhat cautiously.

“──Huhu.”

At that, Lily, even though she covered her mouth with one hand, replied with a laugh that clearly showed she was excited.

“It's a secret.”

“……Hey, was she always that kind of character?”

At that, Ibi, who still seemed to be half-asleep, approached me and asked, scratching her stomach which was exposed by her rolled-up clothes.

“…I guess so.”

At that, I slyly averted my gaze and pretended that it had nothing to do with me.

--

[Deception]

Success

--

As long as Lily kept my secret, I also had a duty to keep hers, didn't I?

…And well, even if there was no promise to keep it a secret, it wasn't something I would go around telling others anyway.