Perhaps it’s because we’ve already had this kind of conversation once?

Espen didn’t react as sensitively as he did last time. Instead, he excessively teased me as if trying to scratch my nerves.

“Oh, is the problem in the choice of words? Then let’s say it’s for my satisfaction.”

“Espen.”

Playing with me like a doll was unpleasant enough, but what angered me even more was how he disregarded others for his own purposes. Clenching my fists, I spoke to Espen.

“Stop it.”

“What?”

“Stop whatever experiment you’ve been doing, apologize to the victims. Release those under your control, and—”

“What’s next?”

Ignoring my moralistic words, Espen cut in. He smirked at me.

“Will you be with me for the rest of your life?”

“Espen.”

“My fiancée is dead, and so is my family. Now, you have nowhere else to go. So, you should be by my side.”

“I can’t.”

I had already promised Hadel. To stay by Hadel’s side and support him with my power. It was also my will.

Hearing my response, Espen pursed his lips. There was no courtesy in his following words, as if he expected me to respond this way.

“Who are you to decide to do as you please? Since you have no intention of listening to me, I will do as I please.”

“Stop sacrificing others for experiments, apologize to the victims, and—”

“Then what?”

Despite my moral, ethical, and common sense arguments, none of them helped persuade Espen. His way of dividing the situation into losses and gains seemed inhuman.

There was no need to provoke Espen any further. Since words didn’t get through to him and had no meaning, I shouldn’t have said anything.

Knowing all that, I couldn’t help but confront Espen.

“Is this the way you want to live forever? Are you truly happy like this?”

Because I couldn’t bear to watch him ruin his own life like this.

But without allowing me any room to dig deeper, Espen cut my words sharply.

“I never wanted to be happy in the first place.”

His words sounded very sharp. I bit my lip. Although his answer was somewhat sad to me, Espen used to be my former colleague.

But even that little sympathy evaporated into thin air as he stared at me, looking like he wanted to lick me with his eyes.

Espen’s red eyes swept over me. Even though he couldn’t approach me since he couldn’t touch me, it felt like my whole body was being groped by his gaze alone.

“At first, I just wanted you to open your eyes. But now that I’ve faced you, I want to touch you… and my desires keep growing.”

Espen licked his dry lips. His intense obsession towards me seemed to drip from his eyes.

“Yeah, all I want to possess is you. Only you. You’re my desire.”

He laughed as if he just realized it.

“If this is happiness, then so be it.”

“…….”
Feeling nauseated, I blankly faced Espen. There was only one thought in my head.

‘He’s insane. Completely insane.’

Unless that was the case, I couldn’t comprehend any of the words he was spewing right now.

Pale-faced, Espen seemed pleased with my disgusted reaction, and he smirked as if he knew exactly what he was doing. Then, with an almost mocking step, he casually stepped back.

“Since you don’t seem interested in having a meal together, I’ll go back. Evelyn will be arriving soon, so make sure to eat well. During experiments, you might not have the chance to eat.”

“Evelyn is coming?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Espen answered with a smirk.

“I want to touch you?”

In the end, it was a statement that he would continue his experiments even on someone like me, who was a succubus.

Realizing this fact, my legs gave out, and I slumped down in shock. Espen left the room, laughing softly.

In a moment of disappointment, I impulsively grabbed whatever I could find and threw it towards the door he exited.

“Damn it.”

I missed Hadel.

I went to save my brother but unexpectedly encountered a demon.

‘Marian said demons are extremely dangerous.’

So, unlike other races, demons killed every visible race they encountered.

Honestly, looking at Dante who was smiling and laughing, it didn’t feel that way. Dante’s appearance, laughing cheerfully, was like an adorable little girl.

Of course, his way of speaking sounded very old.

“That scaredy-cat little one has grown this much and come back. Indeed, time flies fast. Humans seem to make the most of their short lives.”

His cheerful voice was very childlike, so Hadel frowned with an uneasy expression. Something not human wearing a human disguise was naturally repulsive.

“…When did you start pretending to be my younger sister? Were you the one who kicked me out of the castle?”

Hadel’s younger sister. The child who screamed that Hadel burned her beloved dog to death. That incident became a trigger, and Hadel was expelled from the Northern Kingdom.

‘No, she was my sister back then.’

It was a horrific memory, but Hadel desperately recalled that time when the wind was blowing.

“Not from the beginning. It’s been that way since your younger sister died. I don’t want to stick around with Espen forever, either.”