CHAPTER 46…..
Kant Mende
Belle hadn’t left for days. She was practically glued to the castle, and while many people whispered about it, no one actually stopped her. This was because Fionero, the head of the house, didn’t care in the slightest what Belle did or where she went, so long as she was Ruffian’s guest.
Every time Ruffian saw her, he’d send her a glare that all but screamed he wanted her gone. But Belle pretended not to notice.
Most importantly, she had the most powerful ally she could ask for—me, who desperately needed her help.
“Noona, that woman scares me!”
Haula, who had just barely escaped Belle’s grasp, came trembling to hide behind my back. I looked at him with the same kind of pity you’d give a woman whose clothes had been disheveled by some pervert—he was pulling his slipped shoulder strap back up, looking all forlorn. Normally he only did things that made you want to yell at him, but right now he just looked… pitiful.
“What do you mean, ‘that woman’? That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”
Like a predator tightening its circle, Belle walked toward us with a calm, leisurely pace.
“Lady Belle, aren’t you the owner of the merchant company? Shouldn’t you be going back?”
“Well, I’m only the owner on paper. I’ve got my own work to do, and it’s the kind I can do perfectly well while staying here. So don’t worry about me, Haula.”
“Aaagh!”
I’d thought Haula liked all demons without exception, but the way he panicked and ran away suggested otherwise. Maybe he instinctively sensed danger. Or maybe he just liked chasing things, not being the one chased.
Whatever the reason, the prolonged game of cat-and-mouse seemed to have made him see the situation clearly, and he suddenly came to a decision.
“I’m going back to the Academy.”
It was a drastic decision. Just like how he’d impulsively quit before, he decided just as quickly to return. This was the same Haula who had vowed to just freeload at the Cabre estate until he could get his diploma—and now he was suddenly packing up for the Academy.
Well, since Ulysses had gone back some time ago, there really wasn’t much reason for Haula to stay here. Still, if Belle hadn’t been here, I’m sure he would’ve clung to the Cabre estate until I kicked him out myself.
He must have really hated her.
Before leaving, Haula asked Ruffian to look after my sister Ailey. Ruffian just smiled without answering, and Haula promptly got a flick to the forehead that knocked him out cold for several minutes. He left for the Academy half a day later.
With the usual source of most Cabre estate commotions gone, things actually felt a little dull. I missed the constant chatter right at my side until I yelled at him to shut up. Now it was just too quiet.
It wasn’t like anything in the Cabre family had actually changed—only Haula was gone—but still.
I decided to think positively. After all, if things were peaceful enough to bore me, that was worth celebrating. Now I could finally read a book without anyone interrupting me.
At least, that’s what I thought—until I felt an arm wrap around my waist.
If it weren’t for the soft pressure against my back, I would have thought it was Ruffian. Belle appeared without a sound and pulled me close in an instant.
“Now that the nuisance is gone, it’s just you and me, Ellie.”
All sound around us was completely cut off. Sitting on the bed with me in her arms, she pulled me right into her lap. I clutched my book and looked blankly up at her beautiful face. Her eyes, shaded dark with makeup, curved in a sly, cat-like smile.
“That sounds like you chased him out on purpose.”
“Half right, half wrong.”
“If you chase him long enough, the way he shakes is just adorable.” Belle licked her lips and said something I couldn’t relate to at all. I just nodded with a sour look—by now I was starting to understand her tastes enough that arguing felt pointless. Maybe Haula’s dislike of her was just a form of self-loathing for his own kind.
“Tonight’s the night.”
Belle poked my cheek as she spoke. It had been almost a week since we made our plan. I hadn’t been stalling on purpose, but… when it’s something you don’t want to do, you put it off until the very last second.
But before Kant lost interest in me completely, I had to make a move.
“This year’s going to be a bountiful harvest. The Kingdom of Delicia—famous for its beautiful women—became a vassal state, remember? They’ll be putting forward only the finest quality. And there’s no way the young master of House Mende would pass up such a chance.”
Belle whispered like she was sharing a huge secret. But to me, it was obvious she was just enjoying herself.
From her perspective, seeing someone as hopelessly naive as me trying to seduce men for revenge was nothing but cute and funny. She eagerly offered to help, giving me little lessons on the art of seduction.
From tone of voice, to gaze, to facial expressions, to how to respond in conversation.
It required more acting skill and nerve than I’d imagined—I couldn’t even bring myself to try. Listening to her made me realize everything I’d done until now was basically a gamble relying on my face and my demon powers.
With Maximilian, I’d exploited his strong sense of sympathy, his responsibility, and his weakness for pretty faces.
With Dior, I’d taken advantage of his inferiority complex, his exhaustion from pretending, and his tendency to accept pity.
Exploiting those weaknesses was as easy as climbing a ladder to pluck fruit.
I’d planned to keep working the same way.
But Kant Mende’s weakness?
Unlike the two before him—full of cracks despite their pretense of being strong and upright—Kant was completely unhinged. Childishly selfish, violent, cruel, and purely driven by whatever caught his interest.
He was quick to notice things and not exactly lacking in understanding, either. He wasn’t a fool like Maximilian. I doubted he even had a weakness, and even if he did, I wasn’t sure my methods would work.
“To seduce a madman, you’ve gotta go just as mad yourself.”
That was Belle’s solution.
“I’m honestly scared. I’ve been on the receiving end of his violence—directly and indirectly—more than once. He even tried to kill me.”
“I get it. Demons are pretty weak when they’re young. Even after awakening, it takes a long time to get used to it.”
“Want me to do it for you?” she asked, eyes sparkling. I quickly shook my head.
She shrugged and asked what I was hesitating for, so I stammered with a face growing hotter by the second.
“It’s just… your seduction techniques… I don’t think they suit me.”
“With a demon’s looks, playing the innocent, sweet girl is like a lion eating grass. And with the Mende heir, unless you’re vicious, you won’t reel him in. Approach him with innocence and you’ll be nothing more than a toy.”
“But, like, making sexy faces and stuff—!”
“…”
Belle, who had been squeezing my warm cheeks, suddenly stopped and stared at me in surprise.
“Sweetie, how exactly did you seduce those young masters before?”
“…If I had to say, just with my face?”
“No, I mean, you must have done something else too.”
“At first, nothing planned. Later, I just acted innocent, fragile, delicate…”
“That’s it?”
“…I also made a connection with them?”
“Connections can be made between friends.”
“I comforted them? Helped them take one more step toward the future?”
“…Sweetie. Are you trying to be their mom?”
Her face turned serious, like a strict teacher checking homework. I floundered in confusion.
“In the end, I guess I exploited their weaknesses?”
The more I explained, the worse her expression got, until she finally turned me to face her and said seriously:
“Seduce me. Right now.”
“What?”
Pretending not to hear was useless—she meant it. But that was impossible for me.
I could act confident with noblemen, relying on my face and powers, but trying to seduce Belle—the embodiment of seduction herself—was absurd.
And of course, I had to remember that one time at the banquet when I tried pushing Dior physically and got rejected with just a look. I’d given up then and just patted his back instead.
The pressure made me want to die.
With trembling hands, I grabbed the hem of her dress, looking up at her with tearful eyes—not seductive at all, just childish.
“Don’t be mad at me…”
My pitiful tone and expression made Belle’s face melt instantly. She hugged me tightly and sighed.
“God, you’re cute.”
Belle and Ruffian shared a weakness—they couldn’t handle my childishness.
To humans I might be an adult, but to them I was still a much younger member of their kind, so they dropped their guard completely.
Belle squeezed me breathless before finally letting go.
“You’re like a baby begging for milk. So adorable.”
“Glad you think so.”
“But you know if you act like this, I’ll tease you mercilessly.”
“I know. I only do it with you.”
“Such pretty words. I wish you’d always stay like this.”
She mussed my hair, then suddenly grabbed my cheeks, muttering to herself about how dangerously unguarded I was.
“Well, I can see you have zero resistance to sexual appeal.”
“I do try, though.”
“How?”
“By imitating Ruffian, maybe?”
She burst into laughter, and I pouted in her lap.
Even the way she casually tossed her hair back was full of allure—her pale neck peeking out from crimson-black hair, her eyes lazy and dark.
It wasn’t even deliberate—like Ruffian, she just was like that.
I realized that maybe those instinctive movements were more important than anything I’d been copying.
Belle, now serious again, said, “With your face, I doubt anyone could resist anyway. But triggering a man’s sexual fantasies is another way to get him hooked—especially if you want more than friendship.”
“That’s… disgusting.”
I quickly clarified before she misunderstood: “I mean, the idea of those noble brats feeling lust for me is disgusting.”
“Mm. But sweetie, you are trying to seduce them. No matter how polished they look, men all think the same. If they like you, they’ll want to be closer, touch more… and then they’ll want other things.”
I knew that much. That’s why I’d been willing to go as far as kissing—though I’d backed off because of Ruffian.
Not that I could have gone further anyway; the thought was just too revolting.
I thought back to when I first decided to seduce them.
I’d wanted to be like Lydia—to be their goddess, their sun. Someone they couldn’t live without.
So that crushing them would feel all the sweeter.
But was I that to Maximilian or Dior now? It felt different from Lydia.
What had Lydia done to make even lunatics like Kant or Eilhart adore her?
The five of them were rivals for Lydia, but also symbiotic. I’d never seen them fight or get jealous. They had a deep bond, rotten to the core beneath human skin.
But with me? Maximilian had grabbed Dior by the collar and clung to me, and Kant had gone out of his way to find me in the garden after stirring trouble between them.
I was definitely not another Lydia.
I didn’t know how to make them treat me like a princess… but maybe that wasn’t the point. Maybe this way, I could shake them even harder.
“Belle.”
“Ah! You scared me!”
Belle yelped at Ruffian’s sudden voice. I, lost in thought, also jumped.
He was leaning against the door, head tilted lazily, but I could see the vein in his smooth forehead.
“I told you if you taught her anything weird, I’d kick you out.”
“I didn’t teach her anything!”
“Then why do you always block the sound? If you have nothing to hide, there’s no reason to.”
“Oh please, since when is it okay to brag about eavesdropping on a lady’s private conversation? Clingy men aren’t attractive.”
“The more you try to hide something, the more obvious it is.”
I slipped away to Ruffian at his beckoning. Honestly, I could probably learn seduction from him too—though he’d never agree as easily as Belle.
Seeing Belle’s defeated sigh made me feel a little bad.
“Tch. Such a lovesick fool.”
I glanced at the large hand gently holding mine. After fidgeting a bit, I looked up to meet Ruffian’s eyes.
The usual gentle smile was replaced by something more mischievous, with a dangerous gleam I’d only seen at night before.
Belle’s words came back to me:
“If someone loves you, they’ll obsess. They’ll want to possess you completely. And if that obsession gets too extreme, they’ll cut off everything else around you. That’s why your job—winning all five of their hearts at once—is harder and more dangerous than you think.”
As Ruffian led me away, I glanced back at Belle.
I expected her to pout or look hurt, but she was smiling brightly, mouthing words I could read even from here with my demon eyesight:
If you’re uncomfortable, try it with Ruffian. That’s what I taught you for, anyway.
“Eh?”
At my baffled reaction, she winked.
