Chapter 142: The Hunter, Hunted
Moonlight poured like water over the entrance of the Asakusa Mansion.
The one who came to open the door was Pearl.
At the sight of Daki waiting outside, she couldn’t help but freeze in bewilderment.
She knew who this was, and it didn’t surprise her that the woman would show up at this hour.
She just didn’t expect THIS.
That the Oiran, who seemed so haughty during the day, would have this kind of face once she took off her makeup.
Also—what was up with that hair?
’Don’t tell me that after seeing me and Ivy... she dyed her hair to fit Marcus-sama’s tastes!?’
’Tsk... What a scheming woman!’
"I’m here to find—"
"I already know, you don’t need to repeat it!" Pearl cut her off brusquely. "Follow me."
Daki gnashed her teeth.
’Is she a lunatic? I haven’t done anything to her...! Everyone here is a lunatic!’
’First the gatekeeper and now this SERVANT!’
’Rude little brat! The moment I win Marcus over, I swear I’ll...’
’Wait...’
’I get it now!’
’She’s shocked by my beauty and she’s scared I’ll steal her master away!’
’Fufufu~! Well, I’m terribly sorry, because that’s exactly what I came to do!’
Without saying a single word, she followed her.
Under the moonlight, her long white hair swayed with each step, and the pink kimono made her look like a cherry blossom freshly in bloom.
Yushiro was glued to the window of the gatehouse, watching that silhouette disappear at the end of the hallway, his brow deeply furrowed.
"Another woman...," he grumbled as he pulled a small notebook from his chest to jot something down.
The notebook was crammed with heavily pressed handwriting, full of dates and names.
He’d always had the habit of keeping a diary, especially about Lady Tamayo.
On his most active day, he’d written ten pages.
The most recent line read: [Date]: a demon woman joined, one who calls herself Warabihime.
Beside it was another note in small handwriting: What an ugly woman! She can’t even hold a candle to Tamayo-sama!
He closed the notebook, tucked it away again, and went back to curling up in the gatehouse.
Further ahead, Pearl guided Daki toward the entrance of the house.
Daki’s gaze swept over the surroundings now and then... the perfectly manicured garden, the water fountain, the elegant three-story house.
It was even more lavish than she’d imagined. But... that was all.
Money was the thing she cared about least. What she cared about were the other things.
Muzan-sama had ordered her to infiltrate the inner circle and investigate everything connected to this mansion.
At the same time, she was to completely control and change Marcus.
Now, this first step was turning out to be far easier than planned...
A faint smile formed on her lips.
"We’re here."
Pearl’s voice cut through her thoughts.
Before she realized it, they’d already reached the third floor.
The bedroom door opened and a warm yellow light spilled outward.
Daki took a deep breath, and that timid, skittish expression on her face grew a little more natural.
She kept her head lowered and entered, following Pearl.
"Master, Miss Warabihime has arrived."
The moment she finished speaking, Pearl walked out and shut the door without pausing for even a second.
Daki lifted her head.
Marcus was seated behind the desk, a cup in his hand, seemingly looking over some documents.
Hearing movement, he raised his gaze.
And then...
He froze.
Daki could see with absolute clarity the fascination that flashed across his eyes.
It wasn’t the professional appraisal from earlier, but a genuine moment of stupefaction, struck by her beauty.
Daki pumped a fist inwardly. Proud.
’Just as I thought.’
Before, he’d acted indifferent only because her brother was there. Now that she was alone, Marcus was behaving like any other man...
Marcus’s gaze locked in place for three exact seconds.
The Daki in front of him seemed like a completely different person.
He even admitted to himself that this Daki was far more attractive to him than the Oiran from a few hours ago.
"Boss..." Daki whispered timidly. "I... I’ve come to apologize."
She knelt back on her heels, placed her hands formally on her knees, and lowered her head.
"What happened today... was my fault."
Then she looked up, revealing eyes that were slightly reddened.
"I already talked to my brother, and from now on, every time I’m with you, he won’t come along. So..." Her voice trailed off little by little as a faint blush tinted her cheeks. "Could you... not hate me?"
"..."
Marcus looked at her without saying a word.
At that moment, the system’s alert voice echoed in his mind.
[A high-potential female target has been detected!]
[Name: Daki — Ume: Demon]
[Strength rating: Upper Moon]
[Potential classification: Extremely high (can trigger level four analysis)]
[Analysis progress: 1.20%]
Setting the cup aside, he extended a hand toward Daki.
"Come."
Daki blinked in surprise.
She looked at the hand reaching out to her, and then at Marcus’s face.
On that face there was no longer any trace of the indifference and impatience from before; it had been replaced by... the kind of possessive look a man has when he sees a woman.
Daki felt relieved.
’This is how it has to be... everything’s back to normal.’
But for some reason, her steps were a little unsteady.
That fall from earlier in the day really had left a mark on her. It had done serious damage to her self-esteem...
"Come here."
Marcus’s voice sounded again, this time more dominant and unyielding than before.
Daki bit her lip, but in the end she rose to her feet and walked toward him step by step.
And just as she reached the side of the desk...
"Kyaa!"
Marcus suddenly reached out and pulled her firmly against his chest, settling her into his lap.
The warmth enveloped her at once.
Marcus’s arm wrapped around her waist, and her large rear pressed against his crotch, letting him feel EVERYTHING.
For some reason, her heartbeat quickened.
It wasn’t out of shyness.
It was... nervousness. ’Is he going to throw me off the third floor!?’
But Marcus didn’t throw her.
He simply held her, lowering his gaze to study her profile.
Daki’s ears were small and translucent, showing a faint pink tint under the moonlight.
Her white hair fell freely over her cheeks, giving off a singular fragrance that seeped into his nose.
Marcus’s breathing grew heavy.
Daki noticed it right away.
The arm around her waist tightened slightly.
The air he exhaled against her earlobe felt somewhat scalding.
And since his chest was pressed against her back, she could feel the powerful pounding of his heart.
A faint smile formed on her lips.
’He took the bait.’
She shifted her head a little, letting her earlobe almost brush against his lips.
"M-Master..."
Hearing it, Marcus’s mind wavered.
He knew perfectly well that she was acting—he knew she was getting close to him with a hidden agenda!
But that "Master" made his heart slam hard against his ribs.
’It’s no wonder she’s an Oiran who’s lived for hundreds of years!’
That ability to weave her way into a man’s heart was truly impressive.
Even so, he wasn’t someone easy to manipulate either.
His hands began to turn playful.
While one arm held her by the waist, the other hand gently caressed her shoulder and slid down slowly, following the line of her collarbone.
Daki’s body tensed for a brief instant, but then it relaxed just as quickly.
’Hmph! All men are the same!’
’Playing the gentleman a second ago, and look where his hand’s going now?’
Although...
"M-Mmm~"
She had to admit it, much to her own dismay: Marcus’s moves were devilishly good.
His palm left her collarbone and slid down, cupping the curve of her breast over the fabric.
He didn’t squeeze.
He only let the heat of his hand seep through, while his thumb traced a slow circle that made her arch her back.
Her own breathing began to turn ragged too.
Marcus’s warm breath grazed her ear, and she felt him smile against her temple. His free hand rose up the nape of her neck, buried itself in the strands of white hair, and tugged just barely, forcing her to tilt her head back, leaving her throat exposed.
!
Her eyelashes trembled.
A pleasurable shiver ran down her spine, and her body leaned back against his chest completely unconsciously.
’Wait... this is part of the plan,’ she reminded herself, though the assertion sounded weaker and weaker. ’I’m the one seducing him. I’m the one in control.’
The temperature between the two of them climbed higher and higher.
A dense, passionate atmosphere flooded the study, charged with ragged breaths and the rustle of fabric against fabric every time she stirred in his lap.
Daki knew the moment had come.
’Time to stoke it further.’
She lifted her flushed face and, in the most fragile, pleading voice she could fake, whispered: "Master, p-please... have mercy on m—"
Halfway through the sentence, a dense pink mist surged over her, spraying across her face.
At that precise instant, she was drawing in air to finish speaking, so she ended up absorbing the vast majority of that haze in one gulp.
Had it been any other moment, had anyone dared make her breathe in something like that, her first reaction would have been absolute fury or even a murderous strike.
Yet at this moment, she couldn’t find a single shred of anger inside her.
That pink mist smelled far too good...
It was an intense, seductive aroma that made her relax completely, sent her heart racing, and tickled at her crotch.
Daki’s mind went blank.
That mist seemed to hold some kind of magic.
The instant she inhaled it, an overwhelming sense of security flooded through her. Like a lone ship that has been adrift for a hundred years and, at last, finds a harbor to moor in.
And immediately after, atop that calm, desire rose up.
A thick, hungry desire that climbed up from her belly.
She wanted more.
More of that aroma. More of that warmth. More of him.
Her eyes filled with tears for no reason, her pupils dilated until they swallowed the color, and her breathing quickened as though she were burning with fever.
Her belly clenched in waves, each one more urgent than the last, and the ember between her legs had turned into a throbbing emptiness that demanded to be filled.
Her small hands clung tightly to Marcus’s firm arms, to the point that her nails dug into his flesh.
And then, without hesitating a moment longer... she kissed him.
Her tender lips joined with his, charged with a burning heat.
This time Marcus didn’t push her away.
He pressed her even tighter against his body and responded, claiming her mouth with an intensity that made her moan.
Their tongues tangled, their breaths melted together, and she found herself leaning into him, chasing his mouth every time he pulled back a millimeter, unable to get enough.
Daki’s body trembled from head to toe, shaken by a sensation so intense and so unfamiliar that she didn’t know whether she wanted it to stop or to never end.
Little by little, the pink mist covered every corner of the study. It grew so dense that the walls, the desk, nothing could be made out anymore; only the two of them existed, wrapped in that sweet, cloying aroma that thickened her thoughts until it erased them.
Daki’s body was already BURNING. She nestled against him, writhed in his lap, and without realizing it began to move her hips intensely, grinding against the hard bulge she felt pressing beneath her.
Each friction wrung a shiver out of her that left her hungrier, more desperate, blindly seeking a relief her body was screaming for and that her mind no longer even tried to deny.
A stifled moan escaped her against his lips.
Her consciousness was dissolving. Marcus’s figure blurred before her tear-flooded eyes.
But she didn’t want to stop.
She wanted to keep going.
She wanted more.
SHE WANTED IT ALL!
And just as the two of them sank deeper and deeper into that moment, as she surrendered completely...
Marcus’s eyes snapped open!
He gripped her firmly by that delicate neck and yanked her back a few centimeters, holding her up in the air as he looked at her with burning eyes.
"You wanted to bite me?"
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Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎
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