{Sue}

I was stiff as a statue by the time Jinma slammed the door and left me by my lonesome. The [Soundproof] bubble that surrounded this room popped upon his exit, but I replaced it with my own immediately after that to secure my privacy. My legs weakened and became jelly as I collapsed on the floor, absorbing what I had just witnessed and experienced. The pain from Jinma trying to pierce my shoulder with his fingers before he healed it, the ultrasonic vibrations from his tanto that could practically phase through my neck, and his livid threat that made my blood run cold.

But what really shook me to the very core was Jinma’s razor-sharp glare. To be more precise, how his right dark brown eye almost turned pure white while the sclera would have turned pitch black. These colors faded in and out in that eye as he stared me down before it stopped at his default.

“Wow … what a rush,” I panted between breaths, reaching my hand down into my shorts before touching my crotch, “... Holy fuck, I’m soaking wet.”

I could hear the wet schlicking noise of my middle finger slipping into my hot honey pot, leaking with nectar and other fluids. A sensual shiver went down my spine before I started pumping my finger in and out of my entrance.

“Ohhh, yeessss, right theeeere, fuck me like the bad bitch I … what am I even doing?! I don’t have time for this!” I screamed, snapped out of my senses.

Though I only saw half of Jinma’s [Devil Eyes] briefly, I found it very beautiful. It may sound crazy to hear from a human, but we Devils traditionally find our potential partners by looking into each other’s [Devil Eyes] after we’re experienced enough in the skill. We get a sense of the other’s inner strengths, passions, and resolve by looking into them. Sometimes, looking into the other’s [Devil Eyes] is such a turn on for us that things would heat up in bed really fast, if they even have a chance to make it there.

That’s what I had at least heard of the last statement, anyway. Maybe it’s because I was the Demon King, the most powerful Devil in the kingdom, that the [Devil Eyes] of males never clicked with me, especially knowing I could literally squash some under my boots within seconds. Not even Vask’s, the second-most powerful Devil, couldn’t make me feel anything before I found his true colors through my [Mind Read] skill. I was starting to get skeptical and thought it was a myth until I saw a glimpse of Jinma’s [Devil Eyes]. Even if it almost activated in one of his eyes, the intense power and animosity behind it instilled a fear in me that I had never experienced before. It was something that gave me a hell of an adrenaline rush that brought a sexual thrill in my womb, like it was calling out, “You are truly superior! Please, mark me, and let me bear your children!”

That was why I got so wet as Jinma left the room, and honestly, if he stuck around for a bit longer, the piece of consciousness that still remained wouldn’t be able to hold me back from taking him right there. I was both relieved and disappointed he ended the interrogation there, and somehow, I gained a better understanding of where Erizora was coming from with her masochism.

I pulled my wet hand out of my shorts before casting [Clean] on my entire self, wiping away any trace of my scarousal before smacking both my cheeks together, “Pull yourself together, Sue. Jinma only gave you ten minutes, you need to take this time to evaluate the situation and plan your next move.” After giving myself the pep talk, I jumped back up to my feet and started pacing around the room, thinking about the interrogation while considering my circumstances. I thought it best to start at the end and work backwards from there.

What I had just witnessed at the end was an attempt to activate the [Devil Eyes] skill, but it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. Why this was so shocking was because those who aren’t experienced in the skill yet have never shown such signs. They’d normally have it fully activated, but fall into a violent frenzy that could endanger anybody nearby as well as themselves. Though the skill doesn’t have levels of proficiency, Devils needed to learn how to master it in order to apply it efficiently in battle. Whenever someone first started learning to use the [Devil Eyes], they were usually restrained in some fashion while another Devil experienced with the skill was nearby for supervision. That’s how it was when my father helped me learn while I was around eight years old, immediately after the signs of me learning the skill were seen. These signs were usually seen when a young Devil is around ten years old, I was one of the early-bloomers. If Devils aren’t properly trained in keeping this skill in check, they’ll only become more dangerous as they grow older.

One of the things that makes the [Devil Eyes] skill so dangerous to possess is that it reacts to the wielder’s radical emotions and intensifies them upon activation, which quickly escalates to degrees that are beyond their control. Joy, sadness, anger, and fear, if one or more of these emotions are pushed to extreme levels, there’s no telling how an untrained Devil would behave once their skill kicks in.

When I investigated the aftermath of the raid in Dondegarm, I was honestly skeptical of how things went at first. Jinma shouldn’t even be aware of the skill’s existence, which means the moment that skill activated for the first time, he would have been more dangerous than a young Devil child on a temper tantrum. What’s more, he was at risk of getting possessed by the curse that dwelled in Nyra’s tanto, of which would also drive the wielder insane as they indiscriminately slash anyone in their sight with that powerful blade.

Despite all that, according to Dondegarm’s residents, it was as if the [Devil Eyes] served as Jinma’s defense system for the curse’s effects. He might have been on a killing spree soon after the skill activated, but he was still able to discriminate friend from foe, taking out the humans from White Rapture as well as the Bear Moles that invaded the city soon after. It was as if Jinma had already familiarized himself with the [Devil Eyes] skill long before he came to Dondegarm.

Even though I used my [Size Up] to confirm Jinma’s possession of the [Devil Eyes] upon our first official meeting, I was still skeptical that he actually had a grasp of that skill. After seeing his eyes from that moment, however, I now have some idea of what his position is with that dangerous skill.

Jinma may not have realized it himself, but he definitely considered killing me out of justified anger. It was something that he might have been repressing the moment I got caught, and he would have lost himself to that urge if it weren’t for whatever it was that held him back.

That was what I saw in his eyes, as well as the three different mana signatures clashing with each other above him.

“Two of them I can rule out as Jinma’s and Nyra’s signatures, so who the heck does the third one belong to? Why is it inside him? This wasn’t mentioned in the papers Father left me, but after having his blood and many things confirmed and checked twice, I now know with one-hundred-percent certainty that this is the Jinma Kotori I was expecting. Did something happen to him that was outside of Father’s expectations?” I asked myself while looking up, still pacing around the room, “It has been at least a decade since Father first spoke of him to me, so anything could happen during that time before Jinma arrived, but what could that even be?

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“Actually, Sammy mentioned there was an abnormality in his blood when she examined it. Could that be what it was? I should probably fill her in on what I found and see what she says,” I decided before taking mental notes on this chore, “Right, then. Let’s put that abnormality aside for now and address the bigger issue: Jinma’s lowered approval of me, as Sue and maybe even the Demon King.”

I was very careful with my wording and what I was comfortable revealing during that time. Sure, I’ve been using the [Deception] skill long enough to even fool his [Intuition] at max level, but during the interrogation, I intended to tell only the truth to him, as much as what I was okay with opening up. Part of the reason I made that one blatant lie about me being part of ‘The Dark Wind’ was so Jinma would know when I would lie again for anything else, but it didn’t look like he got the message. It was also very tempting of me to use my [Mind Read] skill to hear what Jinma and Nyra were talking about in his head, especially when I’ve used it so much on everybody I’ve met up to now. Putting [Mind Read] to work became an instinct before I realized it. It might have helped my case if I strategized what I should say in accordance to their thoughts, it’s not much different from what I’ve done with other nobles when reading into their intentions, but I feared I wouldn’t get my true feelings across if I changed it to something that would please the two of them.

As for why I wanted to be more of myself to Jinma than anyone else, well, when you’re the Demon King, you gotta be wary of anyone who tries to make a pass on you, no matter how ‘good-natured’ they seem. If you’re not careful, you’d be at their feet before you know it, leaving your throne open for them to steal and take your place as ruler. Until four years ago, Father was the only person I could fully trust before he entrusted the throne to me and ‘disappeared’. Now, the closest people I could consider as ‘allies’ at the moment were my secretary, Gloria, who was also my wet nurse back when I was born, and Sammy, who had worked with Father long before I came around. I valued Gloria’s devotion to me, but the relationship we have wasn’t something that I wanted to lean on when times are rough. Sammy … can be a bit hard to read at times, but I could tell she wanted to keep our relationship on a professional level as well. I didn’t even want to think about my own mother as a ‘trustworthy’ person after the things I’ve seen from her.

From what Father had told me, Jinma Kotori could be the only other person I can rely on as a confidant and more. He’s already proven to not be discriminating to people of different kin, has saved many lives, and is already friendly with the demons who looked to have accepted him as one of their own. So far, it didn’t look like Jinma wants to abuse the good relations he has for his own gains. Unless they picked a fight with him, he genuinely wanted to get along with them as equals. I wanted to follow my subjects’ example and put my trust in Jinma, to rely and lean on him whenever I get tired of carrying my title as Demon King, to have him be a valuable part of my life as a trusted family member. This was only the tip of the iceberg for why I’ve been so vested in him up to now.

That might be part of why I brought up the possibility of Vask staging a coup towards me. Though it was an idea I thought up on the spot, I honestly didn’t want Jinma to get further involved than he already is, especially when it should be my responsibility as a Demon King to handle. Still, if we worked together, we can snuff out the threat right at the source before it could begin. By then, Jinma and I would have more room to breathe, relax, really start getting to know each other in a controlled space, and I’d spoil him rotten while properly welcoming him to my kingdom. That’s my ideal outcome, anyway.

Then again, after what I did last night, I can’t expect Jinma to agree to my offer right away. His hostile suspicion towards me was not unfounded. I would very likely be in the same state if I was in his position. Thinking back on it now, my judgement throughout yesterday wasn’t sound. I was too excited, too impatient to get my findings confirmed by taking his blood sample the way I did. I’m happy for what I found last night, still very much so now, but the situation now wouldn’t be so complicated if I hadn’t altered Jinma’s and Nyra’s memories. I wanted to trust them, but I ended up losing some of their trust in me.

After reflecting on all this, I’ve regretted my actions toward them last night, but what’s done is done.

“If my relationship with Jinma doesn’t change by the time he finds out who I really am, things will be awkward, and he may come to trust me even less,” I said aloud, pacing around the room again, “I gotta work to earn back his trust and then some if I want things to work between us. Which means that this is my chance to put everything I’ve trained for to the test. Other than Umeiyon and his familiars, it seems Jinma will keep his word on not letting the others know about me. I can take this chance to try and get on their good side and see if they could help me out. It will definitely be a challenge to convince Umeiyon I don’t mean any harm. I’d need to have a private talk with her so I could plead some of my case. Finally, I have to make sure Jinma knows that I really do care for him, that he’s my main motivation to keep the peace treaty between the three kin intact while improving my own kin’s relations with them. I’m sure that Father worked so hard up to that moment as the previous king for the same reason.

“I can’t assume everything will go smoothly, of course, I gotta consider the worst-case scenario … like Jinma taking my body before I reveal who I really am,” I said, feeling my form deflating at the thought.

I rested a hand on my bosom, specifically where the necklaces Father and Sammy gave me. They were the very items that helped me hide my true identity from everyone around me, praying they were somehow here with me in spirit. I didn’t feel much better as thoughts of Jinma having his way with me filled my mind. I then tried to take a deep breath to calm down.

“It’s not how I would want things to go, but I won’t fight it,” I said to myself, “He has every right to aim his hostility toward me after what I did to him and Nyra, and if taking my virginity helps calm him down, that’s fine with me. I’ll just have to make sure ‘Sue’ and the Demon King aren’t one and the same when Jinma meets the latter, and we never reveal who we really are to him. I can’t imagine how he’d react to the truth after the deed has been done, it would be best for everyone that he’s kept in the dark.

“This would also mean I’d have to …” I trailed off, choking up from finishing the sentence.

A crushing pain formed in my chest, I hunched over before tears formed in my eyes. This was from the thought of me never seeing Jinma Kotori again, even after training and waiting for him all this time. Earlier, the anxiety and guilt that was built up through the interrogation were shoved aside by my scarousal. It quickly became too much to bear as it all came rushing back to me.

I collapsed on all fours, trying to fight off the fear and sadness of being alone plaguing my soul, but I couldn’t hold them back any further. Though I was by myself in the room, I curled into a ball, making sure nobody would see me grossly sobbing. Through years of practiced control, I used my [Devil Eyes] to help vent some of my feelings.

“I’m sorry … I’m sorry … I’m sorry …” I cried over and over to Jinma who wasn’t here, letting go of the anxiety and guilt-filled tears that I had been holding back. I didn’t feel right when I thought of crying in the middle of the interrogation, so I did my best to push it down until I had a moment to myself. Since I won’t be left alone again for a while after my ten minutes were up, it seemed as good a time to let it all out as any.

“I can’t … I can’t let that happen! I won’t!” I cried again, practically screaming to make a statement more to myself than anyone else, “I won’t let Jinma be off by himself in this world! I promised! I swore that I would do everything in my power to make sure he’s happy and safe! I want to be with him! Forever and ever! Because he’s my …!”