“…!”
Rihart felt the beastly howling that had been raging in his mind abruptly die down.
The world before him, flickering a bloody crimson, gradually returned to its natural hues, and the scorching heat wrapping his entire body subsided as if it had all been a lie.
The physical change was so abrupt that the strength drained from his hands and his knees wavered.
‘…What is this?’
Suddenly, the whole world fell silent.
The violent impulses that had been seething in his gut vanished along with it.
Just moments ago, Rihart had been drawing on the very mana core in his dantian just to suppress the urge to slaughter the little rat in front of him.
The only reason he hadn’t lost his mind completely was that the creature’s breathing was so faint and frail.
A monster’s predatory instincts did not react violently to a rabbit or a squirrel hardly worth hunting, which was the only reason he had managed to cling to the frayed edges of his sanity.
“…”
As the turbulent demonic energy that had been slashing at his body settled, his muscles relaxed rapidly.
Clatter—!
Without even realizing the sword he carried like an extension of himself had dropped to the ground, Rihart stood rooted in a daze.
‘It’s quiet.’
Ever since he emerged from Khaos, the world had never been this silent.
As he savored the long-awaited serenity, a woman as small as a rabbit loitered before him.
“…?”
“Ugh!”
Wondering what she was doing, he watched her strain to pull out the blade lodged in his abdomen.
Just moments ago, he had been consumed by the sole urge to annihilate this tiny rat….
Yet looking down at her small head, saliva gathered unexpectedly in his mouth.
His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed.
A sweet fragrance was wafting gently from the tiny woman’s body.
With every breath she took, the scent grew richer, and Rihart’s chest expanded as he unconsciously inhaled it deeper.
‘…Sweet.’
He felt like a human being again after so long.
It had been an eternity since he experienced such a sensation.
‘Has it been two years…?’
Ever since he had been swallowed by the vast void of chaos and his body was mutated,
his sense of smell had ceased to function properly.
The perfumes worn by the nobles had smelled as foul as sewage, grating on his nerves throughout the victory banquet.
Yet the creature standing before him did not set his nerves on edge; she smelled so delicious it made his head spin.
She seemed like a supreme feast he wanted to devour in a single bite.
Just then, with a wet slide, the blade embedded in his stomach pulled free.
The woman pressed a handkerchief tightly against the wound.
“…”
Distracted by the intoxicating aroma, Rihart obediently gripped the cloth, and the woman began to edge backward.
Where was she going?
Seeing the sweet creature drawing away, Rihart instinctively caught hold of her.
“…”
Each time she mumbled something, the sweet aroma teasing his nose grew stronger, prompting him to take an even deeper breath.
When her soft palm touched his arm, a pleasant, sweet tingle rose within him—so different from the violent frenzy—and his red eyes glazed over in a daze.
‘This feels good….’
Just then, that soft palm lightly cradled his face.
As if possessed, Rihart buried his nose into the crown of her head.
***
What on earth was happening?
Every time his hot breath brushed against her neck, her strength gave out and her vision began to spin.
Mona thought through her hazy senses,
‘H-how did things turn out like this?’
The situation had undeniably taken a lucky turn.
The crude perfume she thought was an incomplete prototype had actually suppressed its aggression.
Calling it a miracle wouldn’t have been an exaggeration.
So when heaven granted her an opening, she should have run.
The moment the blade aimed at her throat hit the cobblestones, she should have fled without looking back.
Yet Mona hadn't been able to.
Seeing it standing there so forlornly with a dagger stabbed into its stomach, the monster enthusiast in her simply couldn't turn away coldheartedly.
Someone might have pointed fingers and branded her a witch, but Mona didn’t think monsters were evil.
They merely favored disorder and chaos by instinct, much like following a mother. At the very least, they held no malice like humans did.
After a brief hesitation, Mona had pulled out the dagger lodged in the creature’s abdomen and plugged the wound with her handkerchief.
Regardless of species, monsters possessed high natural regenerative abilities, so this should have been enough.
“!?”
Relieved of her burden and ready to hurry home, Mona flinched.
The monster had suddenly caught her hem.
And with such a mournful look on its face, no less.
Of all things, the cunning creature had taken the form of the empire’s greatest beauty, making that sorrowful gaze remarkably persuasive.
Feeling almost as if she were committing a crime, Mona bit her lip.
To think… it would hold onto her.
‘It seems the perfume worked a little too well.’
Well, the ancient text did state that two or three drops were plenty, and she had spilled the entire concentrated essence….
The pungent scent of the raw extract was even affecting its maker.
Inhaling the sweet fragrance that drifted persistently from her drenched skirt made her light-headed.
Before she knew it, her neck and cheeks were burning, prompting Mona to hurriedly rub her heated skin with the back of her hand.
‘I'm so dizzy….’
The reaction felt nearly identical to the time she downed three consecutive shots of tequila without knowing her own tolerance.
What was this? It didn’t feel right.
‘Don’t tell me I'm suffering side effects from an experiment again?’
She really needed to go home….
Her rational mind knew it.
Yet the warning alarms briefly triggered in her head grew muffled under the relentless, sweet scent tickling her nose.
Before she realized it, Mona reached out toward the creature holding onto her clothes like a child.
Was she drunk on the scent?
Since things had already come to this, an urge flared to examine the beautiful being before her even further.
When would she ever get another opportunity like this?
A doppelgänger would vanish come daybreak….
Mona patted its arm as though soothing a slime and began to observe the monster.
‘Except for the red eyes, you'd never guess it's a monster just by looking at it….’
Would it feel different to the touch?
Swallowing dryly, Mona gingerly reached out to touch its cheek.
Her hand was suddenly seized, and hot breath bathed the crown of her head.
Mona gasped as the creature began to deeply inhale her scent.
When she stepped back reflexively, it followed her by a step, this time burying its nose into the crook of her neck.
What on earth was this situation?
As the bridge of its nose rubbed against her sensitive throat in a bizarre, unfamiliar touch, her head began to reel.
Her words slurred heavily, yet the moment she managed to mumble them, the creature looked back at her with plaintive, glistening eyes.
Those eyes were no longer the crimson of a predator; they resembled the deep nighttime sea, rippling with the reflection of moonlight.
Without realizing it, Mona reached out to trace around the monster's eyes.
They changed….
The quiet, low voice brushing her ear sounded strangely lonely to Mona.
When she shook her head, the monster pulled her hand and pressed her palm against his broad chest.
Feeling the heartbeat and searing heat thrumming through her skin, Mona muttered blankly,
A doppelgänger couldn't be warm.
Naturally, it shouldn't have a heartbeat, either.
How strange.
Just then, an even hotter tongue grazed her palm.
Though her palm burned as if seared by fire, the scorching sensation slowly dragged up toward her wrist, blanking out her thoughts.
The heat radiating from her palm traveled through her wrist, quickly spreading through her entire body.
In an instant, an ache pulsed through the long-healed burn on her shoulder.
Yet the pain was promptly forgotten under the intense warmth meeting her lips, leaving behind only a luscious sweetness she had never tasted in her life.
With the soft sensation of lips slowly claiming hers, the sweet fragrance radiating from his body filled every breath between them.
Her toes curled repeatedly, and her body felt as if it were floating on air.
At this sensual stimulation experienced for the very first time, a persistent thirst parched her throat.
Enfolded in the man's burning embrace as though spellbound, Mona draped her arms around his shoulders, eagerly drinking in his sweet saliva.
***
Chirp, chirp.
The sound of birds chirping drifted from somewhere.
Ugh! My head…!
Mona snapped her eyes open to a throbbing headache that felt like a hammer striking her skull, paired with a dreadful thirst.
The moment she opened her eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling tilted at an awkward angle filled her vision.
‘Wh-where am I?’
The moment she tried to sit up, the wood groaned with a sharp creak.
Checking the bed, Mona gasped in horror. One of the bedposts had completely splintered, leaving the mattress tilted severely to one side.
What was worse, the floor was littered with shattered belongings in complete disarray.
It looked as though a full-blown war against a monster had taken place….
‘…Wait, a monster?’
Her breath caught as she turned her head, and her thoughts ground to a complete halt.
Beside her, bathed in dazzling sunlight, an impossibly handsome blond man lay sleeping like a painting.
