The next morning.
Shion woke up and found herself staring blankly at the wooden ceiling of her inn room. It was a long time before she finally managed to push herself up from the bed.
Glancing at the dressing table not far away, her reflection in the mirror showed a completely flushed face and emerald eyes swirling with deep, unbearable shame.
Last night, she had a very strange, vivid dream.
The dream had faithfully recreated the exact scene of her first meeting with Regulus by the massive boulder. Only, in this version, there were no grotesque Mabeasts interrupting them, and no one else was around. Furthermore, Sphinx—who had originally been the heroine of that scandalous display—had been entirely replaced by Shion herself.
And then... she had willingly done some incredibly terrible, indecent things to him.
Although it had all transpired strictly within the confines of a dream, for a pure Elf Maiden who had never experienced such desires in her sixty years of life, it was shameful to the point where she wanted to dig a hole and die.
"Why did it turn out like this...?" she murmured, burying her burning face in her hands.
In her opinion, even if she had developed a mild, subconscious good impression of Regulus for saving her property, it shouldn't have naturally led to such a depraved dream. After all, she wasn't some kind of sexually frustrated woman. But now it had indeed happened, and in the safety of her sleep, she had been shockingly bold.
She couldn't help but recall the physical sensations of the embrace.
'Ugh~! Don't think! Stop thinking about these indecent things!' Shion immediately shook her head like a pendulum, forcefully cutting off her wandering thoughts and trying to compel her racing heart to calm down.
Unfortunately, her body refused to cooperate. Her scorching cheeks were so hot they felt physically uncomfortable.
"I need to go wash my face right now." Shion threw off the blankets and stood up from the bed.
But the moment her boots touched the floor, her eyes caught the state of her bedsheets, and even her own pajama bottoms. Shion felt her face explode with an even more intense heat, her ears turning a bright crimson.
Given her current... compromised situation, she didn't just need to wash her face. She urgently needed to take a thorough bath, scrub her clothes, and violently wash the sheets.
After spending a chaotic morning tidying up her room and thoroughly cleaning her laundry, Shion's frazzled mood finally relaxed a fraction.
'Alright, now I should focus on buying a separate carriage as soon as possible,' Shion muttered to herself, hanging her wet sheets to dry. 'I also need to dive into the local market conditions and see how much the price indices have changed since I was cut off from civilization five years ago.'
"Shion? So you're out here."
A smooth, casual voice echoed from behind her.
"I was originally going to look for you so we could have breakfast together, but when I knocked on your door, I found you had already left early."
"M-Mm..." Shion replied, her entire body stiffening as she quickly averted her gaze.
It was already awkward enough for her to be around Regulus after discovering that mysterious tattoo on her stomach, but now, because of that vivid dream, she felt an overwhelming urge to drop everything and sprint away.
Noticing that Regulus was still casually stepping closer to her, Shion's instincts took over, and she subconsciously took a sharp step backward.
This defensive reaction caused Regulus's advancing steps to suddenly halt.
Such an obvious display of avoidance was immediately noticed by Shion, who had been hyper-focusing her attention on his every movement. But this sudden distance did not bring her any relaxation. Instead, panic surged through her.
She immediately looked up, her hands flailing. "No! Please don't misunderstand! I-I'm not deliberately trying to avoid you, Lord Regulus! I just... I just..."
"You don't need to be so flustered. Of course, I understand your feelings," Regulus smiled pleasantly, crossing his arms. "But Shion, why are you suddenly using such stiff, formal honorifics again? Isn't that a bit too distant for our current relationship?"
"Our relationship?!" Shion squeaked, her heart leaping into her throat.
"Yes. Although it is technically a superior-subordinate contract, I'd much rather we be close, intimate friends than just rigid business associates," Regulus teased, taking a step closer. "After all, it would be a tragic shame for a pristine beauty like Shion to only interact with me through sterile paperwork."
"You...! That is blatant sexual harassment!" Shion gasped, her face flushing red.
"My apologies, my apologies~" Regulus chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender. "If Shion dislikes my compliments so much, I will definitely be much more careful with my words in the future."
"..."
Facing Regulus's smooth apology, Shion feigned an angry pout and did not reply.
Logically, at a time like this, her pride as an independent merchant should have firmly rejected this frivolous, smooth-talking man who treated her so lightly. Yet, why did her throat seize up, choosing to remain in a passive, submissive silence instead?
Shion felt incredibly frustrated and confused by her own weak attitude.
Regulus, observing her internal conflict, couldn't help but smile inwardly. The sole reason he dared to utter such highly suggestive, teasing words was entirely because his Authority. He knew exactly where her boundaries lay, and he knew his words wouldn't cause a real issue.
'The subliminal effect of that absolute submission crest is truly excellent,' Regulus thought with deep satisfaction.
Even if the magical mark currently only planted a faint, subtle hint in her psyche rather than directly forcing her to fall in love, it was more than enough to completely shatter her logical judgment and boundaries whenever she faced him. Right now, it was just a gentle subliminal prompt. But once the crest transitioned into its next, deeper stage of assimilation, her absolute devotion would naturally manifest.
"I... I have urgent market business to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave first!" Shion blurted out, choosing to flee the courtyard entirely.
She hadn't yet figured out her own chaotic feelings, and the man in front of her already had a beautiful fiancée whom he was actively traveling to marry. In this standard scenario, even if she harbored any improper thoughts, they would surely come to nothing but heartbreak.
Watching her hurried departure, Regulus stroked his chin.
'Should I try a smooth night raid on her room tonight?' he considered idly. 'I have a feeling she would verbally refuse out of shyness, but her body wouldn't actually resist too fiercely.'
'No, there's no rush for now,' Regulus decided, turning his head to look at the shadow behind him.
Sphinx materialized silently from the hallway. The petite Witch didn't object in the slightest to Regulus seeking out other women to expand his harem. Especially not women who would later be single-handedly responsible for securing the vital trade routes between her Demi-Human alliance and the human Kingdom.
In Sphinx's practical calculation, having one of their own controlling the flow of gold was infinitely safer. As for how to definitively determine if a human merchant was entirely on their side? There was only one foolproof method: ensuring the girl had dedicated everything to Regulus.
On the other side of the town.
When Shion finally arrived at the bustling commercial market, her decades of professional experience as an itinerant merchant allowed her to temporarily compartmentalize her romantic panic.
She hadn't originally intended to stay in this border town for a full day. The sole reason she had requested a temporary halt to the caravan was to conduct preliminary price investigations for the future commerce routes. If a merchant couldn't accurately grasp the current localized market fluctuations after a five-year gap, it would be absolutely impossible to succeed in high-stakes international trade.
However, just as she was meticulously recording the grain and iron prices into her ledger...
"Miss Shion?!" a frantic voice called out from the crowd.
"Huh?!"
The sudden, familiar shout made Shion look over in deep confusion. She had been missing from the continent, trapped in a monster-infested forest for five years, and she had never even stayed in this specific border city before. How could someone here possibly recognize her?
"Over here! Over here! I'm right over here!"
Following the frantic waving, Shion finally spotted the speaker weaving through the merchant stalls, and her delicate eyebrows couldn't help but twitch.
Standing there was the exact human culprit who had caused her to be trapped for five years and lose over a third of her life's savings.
The woman quickly pushed through the thick crowd and panted heavily as she came to a halt right before the elf.
"Miss Shion! It really is you! Long time no see!" the woman gasped, wiping her brow before a triumphant smile broke across her face. "By the way, I've finally managed to gather the twenty Holy Gold Coins! I'm here to honor our contract and redeem my metallic sphere!"
"You've... already gathered them?" Shion whispered, her jaw dropping.
"Yes! I utilized the initial capital from the two Holy Gold Coins you generously gave me five years ago to start a small logistics business. It was hard work, but now I can finally make an excellent living!"
"I see..." Shion stared at the human woman, her mind short-circuiting.
The person standing before her was completely different from the ragged, starving, down-on-her-luck girl she had met on the road five years ago. In fact, given the passage of time, she could no longer even be called a girl, but a fully matured woman.
'Twenty Holy Gold Coins...' Shion calculated rapidly, a wave of relief washing over her.
If she could actually secure that massive amount of coin right now, the agonizing financial losses from her ruined caravan would be entirely recovered in a single afternoon.
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