"The Heartzard family, one of the great demonic families, has the duty to protect the heirs of the Supreme Lord, and in my generation, I was chosen as your assistant," said the young woman.
"Demonic families…!" Jaiden exclaimed, utterly shocked.
Looking closer, the young man noticed something else — the girl's ears were slightly more pointed than a human's.
He then looked at her strange outfit, which was far from ordinary, and at the top of her head. Those horns weren't just for show. They were the real deal.
Monsters in general were hard to find wandering the streets, and among them, humanoid ones were even rarer, only ever having been identified inside dungeons.
That's why he was so taken aback by her revelation. The idea that she was just an erotic cosplayer seemed far more believable than her actually being a demon.
"But it's strange… when a new heir is chosen, both parties are supposed to be aware of the contract, but that doesn't seem to have happened in your case," said Suzanne, a hint of curiosity in her voice regarding Jaiden's situation.
"So, I'm supposed to become your master or something?"
"Exactly. I'll be under your care," she said, giving a small bow.
Jaiden could hardly believe it. A demon girl wasn't being hostile toward him—instead, she actually wanted to be under his command.
'What's with her behavior, though? She says she's from some big family, but that overly polite attitude doesn't match the lack of clothing,' Jaiden thought, eyeing her from head to toe. 'Not that I'm complaining. She's pretty damn gorgeous anyway.'
But Jaiden remembered that strange dream he'd had — that bizarre experience that made it feel like his dick was about to fall off from the pressure.
The thought alone was enough to make him tense up in front of her, unsure if she was really someone he could trust.
"Suzanne, what were you doing in my room?" Jaiden asked, trying to contain his irritation.
"Obviously, I came to introduce myself to you, Sir," Suzanne replied, as if that answered everything.
"Sorry, I think the right question is: what did you do to me while I was asleep?" Jaiden corrected himself.
"It's one of my duties as your servant to stay by my master's side and assist him. When I finally found you, you were already asleep, so I thought using my powers would help you have a more peaceful rest," Suzanne explained.
"With your powers…?"
"Yes. With my powers, I tampered with your dream to make it more to your liking," Suzanne said in her robotic tone.
"Exactly. The blonde girl in your dream… my spell merely shaped it according to your preference," the girl said, emotionless.
"You talk like you actually did something good," said Jaiden, visibly irritated.
"My spell worked quite well at first, but something went wrong. I believe you must have rejected my spell," said Suzanne.
Jaiden remembered the beginning of his dream. It felt distant in his mind. The horror of what he saw afterward was much fresher, but he could still recall it.
The scent of Alice, the softness of her touch, the sweetness of her lips, and the warmth of her inner parts — it really had been a pleasurable experience… at first. But in the end, it turned into one of the worst experiences imaginable.
Jaiden stared at the girl in front of him. She looked apathetic, as she was devoid of emotion, but his guts told him she wasn't lying.
'So she really did that just to please me?' he thought, still trying to make sense of the whole situation.
'She's a demon, so maybe for her that's normal. Still, the situation itself was anything but normal,' the boy thought.
"But that still doesn't explain why you ran away from me," Jaiden asked in confusion.
"Eh?" the girl reacted, surprised by his question.
"Don't give me that 'Eh?'! Why did you run from me? If you're supposed to be my servant or something, there's no reason for you to run, is there?" Jaiden asked, his voice filled with anger as he waited for an answer.
The moment she heard that, Suzanne's expression changed. She looked down, avoiding Jaiden's gaze, as if she were afraid of some kind of punishment.
"Master, when you woke up, I found your reaction strange. I was told that a Supreme Lord should be able to feel a connection with their familiar, but judging by the way you acted, I believe that's not the case, am I correct?" she asked with a fragile voice.
Jaiden nodded, confirming her suspicion.
"But I'm certain you're my master. The chosen ones of the Heartzard family are bound to their master by a blood pact with the first Supreme Lord, so I can tell it's you without a doubt," the girl said with certainty in her voice.
Jaiden truly felt no kind of link with her, and since the system hadn't told him anything, there was really no way for him to know that.
"I went to you the moment I felt our bond being established. It's my duty to stay by my master's side, and I was instructed to do what I did to you — that it was my task," the girl said with a sad look in her eyes. "But you didn't seem the least bit pleased with what I did."
Jaiden's eyes widened in surprise.
"Are you telling me I scared you?" the boy asked.
The girl nodded.
"Servants usually share a life-and-death bond with their masters. If you ordered me to die or wanted to kill me, I would have to obey. I knew that could happen, but when you woke up and yelled at me, I…" her voice faltered.
Jaiden's brain was still processing everything he'd just heard.
'So, just like I inherited this power, she inherited the duty to obey me. She was told to tamper with my dream, and I reacted, scaring her into running away because she thought I'd kill her,' Jaiden thought. 'Am I really that scary?'
Jaiden sighed, trying to get his head straight. The girl watched him silently, waiting to see what he'd say next, though her eyes still showed fear.
"It seems it was all just a big misunderstanding…" said Jaiden, his voice drained of energy.
"Eh?"
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," said Jaiden.
But the girl still looked a bit suspicious.
'Can't really blame her, considering how I chased her like that,' Jaiden thought.
The boy was trying to figure out how he should deal with her from now on. She might be able to give him more information about his situation—but at that moment, he suddenly felt a strange presence behind him.
"...Aaaah… aaaah…"
A weird sound echoed from a distance—a kind of hoarse moan.
From the entrance of the alley they had come through, a man covered in blood was walking toward them.