BXBX NOVEL Chapter 44 44 - Path To Impurity
After that disaster of a breakfast concluded, Haruki decided to keep spying on Margarette and Riley through his spies. Holing up inside the guest room, and occasionally taking strolls around the garden he kept himself free from any suspecting eye. All the while, in his head he could see follow without fail whatever the two were up to.
To his surprise, Margarette was too busy dealing with all the work the numerous visiting diplomats were piling on top of her. As for Riley, his day was a little more adventurous. Riding around town with a battalion of guards following him, he made occasional stops at venture shops, pubs, and even the farms. There he would with the help of the guards collect taxes be it through obedience or violent force.
Later, for a moment as he was out in the garden, he saw Margarette standing at the guest room door. It seemed as though she was trying to get in but since the door was held shut by the miasmic flytrap she couldn\'t get inside. Thankfully, she had falsely assumed that Haruki was taking a nap in the room with the door locked from the inside.
Busying herself with work under the effect of the potion, her body began to heat up from the inside. At one point, she was left panting for breath, but with the mountain of documents laying in front of her, she kept pushing herself until it was time for her sleep.
\'They\'ve both skipped lunch as well as dinner, thankfully Asuka brought the food to my room or I might\'ve had to go without eating as well.\' Watching Margarette sleeping soundly in her bed, he almost felt pit for the burdened duchess. After the tiresome day with no food, no bath, or even a single trip to the bathroom, Haruki couldn\'t help but wonder how her body was even functioning at this point. \'She slept in those same heavy clothes as well.\'
Shattering his chain of thoughts, a sudden knock on his door broke heightened his senses. For a moment he wondered if there was any threat at the other side of the door, however, closing his eyes he saw Riley standing outside his door with the help of the demonic spy.
"These guys are a lifesaver, I can\'t wait to be able to summon more monsters," getting off the bed, he quickly checked himself in the mirror.
Having laid in bed all day his hair was all ruffled up, but correcting it with mask presence, he made his way to the door. As opened it up, Riley\'s eyes quickly met Haruki and despite being the one to knock, he seemed a bit shocked that he actually opened the door.
"Lord...Uh, ahem," faking a cough, he hastily corrected his demeanor. "About the thing we discussed, about the curse."
"Oh, I...I almost forgot, sorry about that," Haruki\'s nonchalant answer left a scornful expression on Riley\'s face. He seemed obviously offended by Haruki\'s lack of adherence to his request.
"But can you ask her now?" He asked, masking his frustration under a smile.
Although Haruki was pretending to have forgotten, he was not at all negligent about the matter. In fact, he had already come up with a plan and replayed it to Asuka.
"Sure, I\'ll send her to your room to check up on the curse," as soon Riley heard those words, a sigh of relief left his mouth.
"Thank you!" He screamed, wrapping his arms around Haruki\'s shoulders. "I\'ll do anything in return, just let me know!"
Unwrapping his arms, Haruki took a step away from Riley. Even after that, his eyes were gleaming with joy.
"You should get back to your room, I\'ll send her in a bit," with the night escaping, Haruki had a lot that he needed to do as well. Sending Riley off, he quickly explained to Asuka everything about the visit and that her part of the plan was finally about to begin.
Getting back to the bed, he once again began to spy on Margarette. Flopping around the bed, she seemed to be having a nightmare of some kind.
\'A bit longer and it all begins.\' So far, he had tried not to be infatuated by her womanly features, but with her plentiful breasts even bigger than Moriyana he couldn\'t help but feel her allure working a charm on his body.
Expecting Asuka to be on her way to Riley\'s room, Haruki turned into his incubus form. Moving by the window he held it wide open and took a look at the lantern-lit city. The sight while lustrous and rich, Haruki couldn\'t be distracted by what he was about to try.
"If I\'m not wrong, I should be able to fly," concentrating on the soles of his feet, he could feel himself lifting up in the air. "Ha! By Atla-agh!"
The force of habit to utter Atlas\'s name on impulse left him with a striking pain in the head. Struggling through the hurt, he flew by the window, trying to make his way to Margarette\'s room without being seen by anyone in the castle.
Upon reaching there, he made sure to gently open up the windows and get back onto his feet without making any sound. Walking up to the bed where Margarette was struggling through a nightmare, Haruki loomed over her with his shadow cast on her body by the moonlight creeping through the open window. Taking a brief look at her pale skin, he could\'ve sworn a ghost was laying in front of him.
"Alluring nightmare..." holding his hand over her, he activated the skill for the very first time.
The next thing he knew, his whole existence was turned into a mist before being sucked into Margarette\'s dream. Left shocked and baffled by the skill, he found himself standing on deep pink clouds. Taking a moment to just look around the place, the astral space appeared never-ending.
The only thing striking him as strange was a lone door with muffled voices coming from the other side. Walking around the door there was nothing on the other end, just the vast emptiness of space with the same clouds lining the path.
"Alright then," trying to remember the next part of the ability, Haruki pushed the door open.
Looking inside he found Margarette laying on a bed with her eyes blindfolded and her hands tied to her back.
\'Alluring nightmare, a skill that allows the user to visit the victims\' dreams, and turn them into their wildest fantasies that can corrupt them even in the real world.\' Watching Margarette flailing around with her hands tied, Haruki was forced to wonder if she fantasized about being tied up like this. \'No point waiting, the night won\'t stay young forever.\'
With that thought, he flew right over to the bed and took off her blindfold. Squinting her eyes, she saw Haruki as a demon for the first time.
"Who are you?" She mumbled, unsure whether it was still a dream.
"Don\'t worry about that," he answered, hushing her by placing his index on her lips.