Chapter 5

Chapter 5: In the End, You Will Become My Possession

Lilinai looked at the tabletop.

There was likewise a plate of breakfast in front of her, laden with fruit, cheese, and bread, along with some sort of unidentifiable jam.

Compared to everything else in this mansion, the Witch’s breakfast was rather simple.

“Don’t you have anything you want to say?”

The white-haired girl spoke in a casual tone.

Lilinai furrowed her brow slightly, but Airiya wasn’t looking at her. The white-haired Witch was pinching a length of grape stem between her fingers, examining it with rapt attention, while letting a silver fork spin in her other hand. Her fingers were long and nimble, and the silver fork seemed to come alive in her hand, like a dancer clad in silver pirouetting at her fingertips.

“It seems you’ve already accepted reality,” Airiya continued. “That’s very good, Lilinai. Accepting your identity as a slave and plaything early can only benefit you.”

The purple-haired girl’s cheeks instantly turned scarlet.

“What exactly do you intend to do with me?”

“Which aspect are you referring to?” Airiya turned her head with a smile. “As for what a slave ought to do, I’m sure Misite taught you all of that long ago at the slave trading house, so there’s no need for me to belabor it. But to become my plaything—not just anyone is qualified, or shall we say, privileged enough for that. Fortunately… at least for now, I’m reasonably satisfied with you. Incidentally—your sweet moans yesterday were far more pleasant to the ear than I’d imagined. I’m quite satisfied, you see?”

“…Airiya!”

Indignation and shame surged up in her heart at once, and for a moment Lilinai lost control of herself.

She shot to her feet, slamming both hands on the table, glaring at the Witch who sat motionless with a smile all over her face.

“I know what I did to you, and I know you’ve borne a grudge over it for a long time…

“Now I’ve fallen into your hands, and you humiliated me like that yesterday—is that still not enough to satisfy you?

“In that case, wouldn’t it suit you better to just kill me outright? Because as long as I’m alive, I will never submit to you—”

The moment those words left her mouth.

Lilinai saw the Witch’s smile vanish abruptly, her eyes narrowing slightly at her.

“Is that so?”

She raised her hand and made a gesture.

“I don’t think so.”

“Ugh…!”

The girl’s body went limp, and she collapsed onto the tabletop.

At her neck, the slave collar’s effect went to work once more.

Lilinai felt her body gradually losing strength, her vision blurring, her breathing beginning to grow hot: her temples throbbed, her ears buzzed; she felt drowsy, along with an irresistible sense of weakness. Yet at the same time, a lust arising from within was wrenching at her body, stiffening her neck and weakening her knees.

She remembered this sensation—yesterday in the carriage, Airiya had cast this very same spell on her before humiliating her.

“As you can see,” the Witch’s cold voice came from beside her, “I can cast spells on you at a whim, hypnotize you, or plunge you into a trance. I can numb your body, strip you of your clothes, and then force you to obey, making you come please me of your own accord. For a plaything, doing so is nothing if not fitting, wouldn’t you say?”

“You… nngh…”

Lilinai couldn’t hold herself up and tumbled from the chair to the floor.

Airiya lowered her hand, and that sensation vanished instantly.

“Cough, cough…”

Lilinai gasped for breath and lifted her head. Airiya sat upright in her chair, watching her.

“You said just now that I’ve already humiliated you?”

The white-haired girl shook her head lightly.

“No, no. My dear Miss Lilinai. What you said isn’t right—at least, not entirely right.”

She bent toward the purple-haired girl kneeling on the floor, reached out, and lifted Lilinai’s chin with one jade-like finger, looking down at her from on high.

“Listen well, my adorable Miss Lilinai:

“My revenge isn’t so cheap, nor will it end so easily.

“You say you won’t submit to me? I say you’re wrong. In the end, you will become entirely my possession… it’s only a matter of time.

“I’ll make you unable to live without me, make you sink completely into me. And when that time comes, you’ll realize—the one who ought to fear being abandoned isn’t me, but you, Miss Lilinai.”

She withdrew her finger.

Lilinai clutched her chest and slowly climbed up from the floor.

An intense despair spread through the girl’s heart.

She understood now what the Witch intended to do to her.

As long as Airiya remained her master, she couldn’t resist the collar’s control.

And given how well Airiya knew her, she certainly wouldn’t remove her collar so easily.

For Lilinai, her current situation was no longer a matter of standing at the edge of an abyss—she had long since been inside hell itself.

But—

“…I won’t give up.”

“Oh?”

The Witch gave an amused smile.

Lilinai raised her head, her gaze unwavering.

“This heart of mine will never bow in submission to you.

“Go ahead and take your revenge, Airiya. That’s your right.

“But you had better stay on guard at all times, trembling with fear every moment.

“Because the Kaoenxier family has a sharp blade of vengeance of its own. The instant you slacken, it will arrive as promised.”

For a moment.

Lilinai felt as though the air in the dining hall had nearly frozen.

But she didn’t shrink back, instead forcing up her courage and meeting the Witch’s eyes head-on.

This was the last shred of dignity she held as the only son of the Kaoenxier family.

This one thing alone, Lilinai would never lightly cast aside.

“…”

The Witch narrowed her eyes, looking the purple-haired girl up and down.

Within those violet eyes was hidden a meaning Lilinai couldn’t read through.

“—Hmph. Suit yourself.”

After a long moment.

The air resumed flowing, and Airiya gave a scornful smile.

She took a hot towel from a dish and elegantly wiped her hands.

“Later I’ll have Aoleila come and show you around the mansion. Starting today, as my slave and plaything, you may go on living well and ignobly in this mansion—after all, from now on, the meaning of your life is no longer yours to decide.”

“Tch…”

Lilinai didn’t answer.

Bracing her weakened legs, she slowly sat back down in her seat.

The collar’s power, paired with Airiya’s magic, had an effect that penetrated to the marrow, nearly enough to melt her mind.

“As for what you think, or whatever plans you may have… to be honest, I don’t care in the slightest.”

The white-haired Witch rose gracefully from the table and tossed down her napkin.

As she passed by Lilinai’s side, Lilinai’s body stiffened for an instant. But the Witch did nothing to her, merely whispering with a smile beside her ear:

“In any case, your will is of no consequence.

“You are my slave, my plaything. That is a fact, and it cannot be changed.

“There are long days ahead. You surely understand, don’t you? Lilinai—the ‘pleasures’ between us… are for the two of us alone to enjoy~”

“…”

After Airiya strode away.

Lilinai abruptly exhaled and hugged her own body tightly.

She had felt it with perfect clarity—just how terrifying a Witch’s hatred could be.

Then…

What awaited her next… would be?

Airiya—this girl who had once been her maid and was now her master—what sort of retribution would she unfold upon her?