Dark Fantasy Normalized - Chapter 64
63 – Fienne Does Not Endure
That day.
Before visiting Lysir, Fienne stopped by her own place.
She stood before ‘that object’ she had been keeping in a corner of her room.
The handkerchief she had used to wipe down Lysir, soaked in blood from the overload.
Fienne felt extreme self-loathing.
To neither wash nor discard, but to keep a handkerchief stained with another’s blood.
It was something that only the bugs that chased after her, pleading for her attention, would do.
Fienne looked on with an expression steeped in disgust –
She brought the handkerchief near her nose.
Her small nose twitched repeatedly.
“…”
Pien, feeling a sharp wave of disgust, lowered her head.
The handkerchief, stained with Lisir’s blood.
The scent it carried, wasn’t much different from the young man’s blood she’d smelled before.
No. It was, if anything, even more acrid and repulsive. That’s what the smell of old blood was like.
And yet, why?
That scent brought Pien an unparalleled sense of bliss.
Just the mere fact that it was that man’s blood.
After that.
Sniffing the handkerchief became a way to relieve stress.
It was quite effective.
The problem was, it didn’t simply stop at easing the stress.
“Haa… Haa…”
With each passing day, the time spent inhaling the handkerchief’s scent grew longer.
The effort to suppress the desire intensified.
And correspondingly, the backlash from the suppressed desire grew even fiercer.
An endless cycle where an act meant to relieve stress was creating even more stress.
No.
I can’t do this.
If that man saw me like this now, he’d definitely despise me.
Like walking on a tightrope.
Pien was barely holding onto her sanity.
“I hear you’ve been going in and out of the mage tower a lot lately? You got an acquaintance there, or something?”
That was until the ever-present bug brought up his existence.
The intention behind his words was clear.
‘If you won’t see me, I’ll find out who your acquaintance is in the mage tower and harm them.’
Pien’s stress reached its peak.
Her craving, too, reached its peak.
Late night.
Pien fled into Lysir’s residence as if running for her life.
She immediately saw Lysir, sound asleep.
Pien finally lost her reason.
She went straight to Lysir and tried to bite his finger.
“…”
But then.
Something came to mind before the pleasure Lysir’s blood would offer.
It was the image of Lysir, always making silly jokes at her.
If.
If he saw her like this now, how would he react?
Would he still treat her the same?
No way.
He would surely despise her.
A monster lusting for human blood.
“No…”
Pien lowered his hand with a trembling one.
The rejected desire of a True Ancestor began to tear through her body.
A pain and urge equal to, or perhaps greater than, what a person on the verge of starvation would feel, dominated her body.
Pien, unable to hold herself up, fell onto the bed.
The presence she felt through the blanket seemed to slightly soothe the raging desire.
Pien climbed onto the bed and sprawled out on top of him.
Then, she took out a handkerchief, burying her face in it.
Please.
Please.
Let this pass.
Pien desperately pleaded.
Hoping he wouldn’t wake up.
“Pien…?”
Her wish went unanswered.
Pien flinched, pulling her face from the handkerchief.
Her eyes met Rishir’s.
“Rishir…”
In that moment, Pien forgot all pain and desire, and felt pure despair.
It’s over now.
Having seen her ugly true self, he would despise her.
Their relationship would be shattered.
Even the meaningless conversations,
the pretense of living as an ordinary human, would end.
‘Maybe it’s for the best.’
Pien thought she felt a sense of relief.
It was absurd from the beginning.
A True Ancestor like herself, trying to live like a human.
Despise me, if you want to.
What you think of me is none of my concern.
Pien tried to speak with bravado.
“I’m sorry…”
But what actually came out was a voice trembling precariously.
“I. For a moment, I thought I wanted to drink your blood.”
“…”
“Disappointed? That I’m not the person you thought I was.”
Pien squeezed her eyes shut.
Like a child confessing their misdeed and holding out their hand for the rod.
Like that, she braced herself for the coming scorn.
“No, I mean, isn’t it obvious?”
“…Huh?”
“Pien. You’re a True Ancestor, right? It’s natural for a True Ancestor to want to drink blood.”
Taken aback by the unexpected response, Pien blinked blankly.
Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating Rishir’s face.
His expression was no different from Pien’s right now.
A vacant face, like he’s saying, “Well, duh.”
It wasn’t contempt born of resignation.
Just total understanding.
Rishir was taking Pien’s bloodlust in stride, as if it were nothing.
“No…”
Pien was at a loss for words.
His unbiased attitude often threw Pien off, but this was especially jarring.
“…”
Then. Rishir noticed the handkerchief in Pien’s hand.
Followed by her pale, worn-out face.
“Oh, dear.”
A sigh escaped Rishir’s lips.
Right now, Pien looked to him like a pitiful child who hadn’t eaten in days.
“Why, why did you endure it until you got like this?”
“Well! You told me not to hurt the humans!”
“No, I said not to harass innocent people…”
Pien was dumbfounded.
Even in this situation, his expression was now laced with guilt.
No.
Why are *you* feeling guilty?
Pien ultimately let out a chuckle.
After a brief moment of thought, Rishir spoke.
“Pien, the act of drinking blood… what kind of effect does it have on the other person?”
It was a laughable thing for others to hear, but the true-blooded Pien didn’t know much about the act of drinking blood.
From noble mtl dot com
Being originally human, she had an aversion to the obsession with blood.
She would dominate the other person through mind control, then make a small cut on the tip of her finger.
And let that blood touch her own skin.
That was the ‘drinking of blood’ that Pien had done until now.
“The way I do it… it only causes a little bit of fatigue, though…”
“Oh, is that so?”
Rishir said, offering his neck.
“Even…mine?”
“Kyaaak!”
Pien shrieked, tumbling off the bed.
“Wh-what, what, what are you doing, you shameless man! Cover yourself at once!”
Her face flushed bright red, even in the darkness.
“?”
Rishir, bewildered, covered his neck again.
“What. Isn’t this how it’s done? How does Pien usually do it, then?”
“Y-you… do you even know what you’re saying right now?”
“So, I don’t know?”
He chuckled and said,
“If you’re going to do it anyway, isn’t it better to do it to me?”
Instead of recklessly trying to take blood from someone else and causing problems, it’s right to suck my blood, the one who completely understands you.
That was Rishir’s intention.
I want to be your only target.
That was Pien’s interpretation.
“Ah, ugh…”
Pien covered her small face with both palms.
“Shameless man… how can you say something like that so casually…”
“?”
A moment later.
Pien lowered her palms slightly, revealing her eyes.
With a sidelong glance, she carefully observed Rishir’s reaction.
“R-really…? Are you sure you won’t regret it…?”
“…Just how much are you planning to suck-”
“That’s not what I meant!”
Once more.
Pien, with a sidelong glance, carefully observed Rishir’s reaction as she spoke.
“So… you’re not gonna change your tune later, right…?”
“Eh. You think I’d ask for the blood I already took back?”
“That kind of talk… no. Never mind.”
You’re not going to look down on me later for this, are you?
Pien decided to shelve the question.
Judging by Risher’s reaction, it seemed like an unnecessary one.
“…”
Pien carefully reached out and took his hand.
“Y-you’re really going to do it!? If you’re going to back out, now’s the last chance!?”
“Aigoo. The food’s gonna get cold.”
“…I don’t know anymore.”
*Chomp.*
Pien put Risher’s index finger in her mouth and bit down.
“…!”
In that instant, her eyes widened.
Like a baby tasting something sweet for the first time.
*Tap. Tap.*
Her tongue cautiously touched his finger.
Soon, her tongue became actively entwined with it.
And just when the bleeding was about to stop—
“Sluuurp…”
Pien gently began to suck on his finger.
*Haahm.*
*Haahm.*
A wet gasp escaped Pien’s lips.
“…”
Risher closed his eyes.
For a different reason than Pien.
‘Damn it. This is way more suggestive than I thought.’
Pien was purely(?) just sucking blood, but he felt like he was on the verge of having depraved thoughts because of it.
This can absolutely not happen.
‘FBI OPEN UP…!’
Lishir, feeling the urgent need to shake off his torment, decided to actively utilize his past life’s memories.
It just so happened there was a method that would come in handy in this situation.
Imagine a person furthest removed from s*xual feelings wearing a bikini.
‘Who is there?’
Fortuitously, the first image that popped up was of some old man with dreadlocks.
‘KREEEaaaK!!!’
Lishir, in exchange for completely ridding himself of his torment, suffered a profound blow to his soul.
“…?”
Pien stared blankly at Lishir’s finger.
Why did it suddenly get so cold?
***
*Plop.*
That was the sound that echoed in the darkened room the instant Pien took Lishir’s finger out of her mouth.
A transparent thread, connecting the two, slowly sank down.
“…”
Pien hurriedly wiped his hand with a handkerchief.
Not a blood-stained one, but a clean handkerchief.
“Pien. Don’t tell me you… that drool-covered handkerchief too…!?”
*Thwack.*
Pien threw the handkerchief at Lishir’s face.
And then, with her head bowed, she hastily left the room.
Soon.
A small voice could be heard from beyond the door.
-…You stupid man.
*Tap tap tap tap.*
The receding footsteps were infinitely light.
***
“Miss. It’s dangerous to wander around at this hour. Huh? Just who is in the Magic Tower for you to be out in the dead of night-“
On the way back to my place, after parting with Rissir.
There were those who blocked Pien’s path, feigning coincidence.
It was Tord and his crew.
And I was in such a good mood too.
The moment Pien’s elated expression threatened to twist,
“…”
The words Rissir had spoken earlier suddenly surfaced.
-No, I told you not to bother innocent people…
Pien stared at the insects before her.
Were they really innocent?
-Pien-nim. Please, don’t get involved with them… So many people have vanished after getting mixed up with those b*stards…
Following that, the words of a prostitute who followed Pien came to mind.
“Ha…!”
Pien burst into laughter.
“What, Pien? What’s so fun? Are you so happy to see me?”
“…Yes, I am.”
Because, they showed up at such a perfect time, in such a perfect place, all on their own accord.
Pien had wanted to stand on her own two feet in Bondales.
Because she didn’t want to be a burden on that man.
Furthermore, because she wanted to become someone worthy of his acknowledgement.
Perhaps, by building a high social status.
-No, I told you not to bother innocent people…
Pien, who was particularly in high spirits and motivated, realized that there were more than one way to go about this.
“Tord. I have a question for you.”
“Finally?”
The moment his eyes were about to glisten with lust,
In the darkness, a Trueblood’s eyes began to glow.
Her pure white eyes were stained crimson like wine.
***
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[Subject is dominated by incantation]
[Subject: Tord (Lv. 35)]
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***
The next morning.
Rishir’s ceremony for his appointment as Honorary Magician was held in grand style.
He was showered with congratulations from countless mages, reborn as a full-fledged mage of the Gray Magic Tower.
And then, the night.
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[Subject is dominated by incantation]
[Subject is dominated by incantation]
[Subject is dominated by incantation]
[Subject is dominated by incantation]
[Subject is dominated by incantation]
…
…
…
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The back alleys north of Bondales were undergoing a sudden shift.
***
Lately, unsettling rumors had been circulating in the back alleys of Bondales.
That the owner of the back alleys north of Bondales had changed –
and that nobody knew who the new owner was.
“So it is, Rishir. If you happen to pass through that area, be careful. Turn back as much as possible.”
“Humph, the world is a grim place.”
***
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▷Fate 86: The Dealmakers – Deactivated
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