17-266

EP.266 Omen (16) 

[What business do you suddenly have with a slave like that?] 

[No particular reason.] 

[You’re just doing this out of boredom?] 

[Yeah, of course.] 

And, just like Elina, she was terrible at acting her emotions were completely obvious in her voice. 

Thanks to that, I’d already gotten all the information I wanted. 

Until just a moment ago, I didn’t understand why Anne had leaked information to Frey about offering herself as a “sacrifice.” 

But after hearing the overly theatrical tone in Anne’s voice and the rest of the conversation, the purpose behind her actions, which had been a mystery, was starting to become clear. 

First, when she appeared before Aris and Elina in my mansion, extracting magic-laced milk and announcing the Demon King’s resurrection. 

Then, leaking information about the ritual to offer Aris as a sacrifice all of it was likely intended to draw me in. 

She wanted me to desire a new saint to replace Aris, so I’d seek out the Demon King’s location, and now she was pushing me to offer Aris as a sacrifice. 

Ultimately, it seemed the goal was to erase Aris, the obstacle, from this world. 

[So? Do you want me to kill Aris for you?] 

I heard Anne’s mouth click shut, followed by a faint, suppressed giggle. 

If she’d just laughed openly, I might have doubted her, but she was clearly trying to hide it from me, making me think she might be even simpler than Elina. 

[Answer me, Anne.] 

[……………No? Why would I want something like that from a slave like you? Right?] 

[Hmm. For someone who says that, you’ve done a lot of pointless things.] 

[Trying to find meaning in all that is why your girl can only live as a slave to a useless goddess like Elina.] 

[So I was just being stupid and misunderstanding?] 

[Of course you misunderstood. I’ll never ask you guys for anything like that, so cut the bullshit and get lost if you have nothing else to say.] 

[………………] 

Hearing her tell me to get lost after sneaking into my house and causing trouble almost made me laugh. 

Instead of answering right away, I kept silent for a moment to observe Anne’s reaction. 

The magic I originally intended to absorb from Anne would take time to utilize, but her current, openly revealed goal was something I could use immediately. 

Regardless of everything else, what I’d just learned about Aris would be very useful for my future plans. 

Anne had essentially proven herself that the contract she made with Aris was quite different from the contracts I knew. 

Until now, Elina had worked so hard to protect me not just because of her long-standing crush, but also because of the binding power of our original contract. 

Even goddesses with extraordinary abilities, compared to earthly beings, couldn’t easily give up on someone on the other side of a contract. 

I’ve heard that the risks of breaking such a contract are considerable. 

I don’t know all the details, but I could tell Elina truly wanted to keep our contract for life. 

For that contract alone, Elina had resolved to keep me alive on this earth forever. 

And this was very different from Elina’s usual personality. 

Unlike Anne, Elina didn’t enjoy making detailed plans, so if it weren’t for our contract, she probably would have tried to kill me soon after losing her virginity. 

Elina and Elisia  

These two goddesses, known for watching over nearly all the races on earth, could even influence souls after death. 

Just as Elina once snatched Yuliana’s soul from the afterlife and revived her in her temple, she could have done the same to my soul. 

She could have kept me in her temple in a powerless spiritual state, using me as a sex toy until my mind broke, or carried out her secret bucket list while slowly taming me. 

For Elina, who had only thought about fucking me from our first meeting until just before she became my bitch, that would have been the ideal outcome. 

No matter how optimistically I look at it. 

But it was that very first contract that brought us to this point. 

So I’d assumed Anne and Aris had made the same kind of contract as we did. 

Aris never specifically mentioned her contract, but Anne had come all the way to my mansion to check on Aris’s condition, showing a desire to protect her contract partner. 

So I couldn’t help but be sure. 

That’s why, after bringing Aris to this mansion, I left her management entirely to the female dogs, not doing anything myself. 

If I started touching Aris, I felt I’d quickly cross the line. 

Since almost everything had been going wrong since I started living in this mansion, the stress of having to take things slow was piling up. 

Because of that damned magic Aris had planted long ago, the process of making Prin a saint had been greatly delayed. 

Meril, who surrendered faster than expected, was still suffering aftereffects from being devoured by Aris’s magic even after becoming my bitch. 

She had frequent nightmares, and the side effects of the magic made her sex drive build up so quickly that if I didn’t satisfy her, she’d have to masturbate furiously all night just to calm down. 

She was basically half-broken. 

Given that, Prin might also suffer similar aftereffects related to sex drive, so I had to be extra careful. 

She might even suffer worse than Meril. 

Even in this situation, I had to make sure Aris’s lifeline didn’t get cut off. 

I didn’t need to worry much about Anne herself, but the one she served was the next Demon King, which couldn’t be ignored. 

I desperately wanted to continue my plans, assuming all my female dogs were safe. 

But if Aris’s life was in danger and Anne felt threatened, and if the Demon King still valued Anne as a useful subordinate, the Demon King’s side might do anything to rescue Aris. 

Losing Aris would be like the Demon King losing a valuable subordinate in Anne. 

But if Anne and Aris’s contract didn’t require both to survive, then I had no reason to keep Aris alive. 

She’d become a worthless existence I could kill at any time, and if Anne desperately wanted to be freed from her old contract by Aris’s death, then I’d have gained the chance to use Aris in a completely different way. 

If, as Bell suggested, Aris died during the ritual as a sacrifice, it wouldn’t be a problem. 

If Prin or Meril objected, I could just use the goddesses’ power to bind Aris’s soul in a temple. 

Just like with Yuliana, I could bring her back whenever I wanted.