Chapter 65: Irresistible Scent
Standing with her chest puffed out and with her hands on her hips, Hilda pouted with dangerous levels of concentration.
Bzz...
Her ruby-red eyes shot towards her left, landing on the annoying little thing.
'Got you!'
Pouncing at the annoying, buzzing fly, she clapped at it with a reverberating, loud noise.
Opening her hands to check-
"Hmph."
-she pouted once again once she realised that the corpse wasn't in between her palms.
It had escaped her grasp!
'I'll get you this time!'
Licking her lips, she listened closely again.
Bzz...
Clap!
Her palms smacked together on her right-hand side this time around, and, slowly peeling her palms, she...
"Yay!"
She bounced on the spot with glee written all over her face.
"Got you!"
That was the sixth fly of the day; they kept on pouncing on her. By this point, she was wondering whether she smelled good to flies. That would be funny if it were the case.
Squatting down, Hilda briefly looked over her shoulder, checked for any gardeners and then washed her hands in the stream.
She really shouldn't be doing that...
'But it feels naughty.'
Giggling, Hilda stood back up and patted her wet hands on her apron.
Technically, she was meant to be on duty as the little dummy's Sword Maid, but the little dummy had dismissed her when the Head Maid came knocking.
And she'd rather not stick around when the Head Maid was there.
That lady was famous for being strict. But, Hilda and the word strict cannot be put together in the same room, otherwise she'd end up on the receiving end of a spanking for being a bad maid.
---
Bzz...
Slap!
Grumpily wiping the dead fly onto another tree, Hilda finally had had enough.
"That's the twentieth fly!" Annoyed, she lifted the collar of her shirt and sniffed it. She even peeked inside and took a look at her white underwear, 'Did I get it dirty?'
But there was no smell; she was diligent with keeping herself clean. Her Mommy wouldn't let her take a step out of the house if she smelled bad, after all.
Now that she was thoroughly ticked off, she gave up on pretending to work. She didn't want to be told off for slacking off, but enough is enough!
Harumphing, Hilda trudged through the palace grounds back to her home. It took her half an hour at a fast walking speed, and another seven flies' worth of kills, before she finally arrived at her cosy, wooden, hillside home.
Opening the front door, she tapped her shoes at the doorstep, took them off, and slipped her feet into frilly, Remmy mascot slippers.
Click.
Just as the door quietly clicked shut behind her, a warm, soothing voice came from the direction of the kitchen.
"Baby? You're back?"
"Yep, Mommy..." Hilda, nervous that her Mommy would be disappointed at her for skipping, held her head down.
Smush.
Instead, all she received was the loving warmth of her mother's touch.
Caressing Hilda's head, she moved her fingers down to her face, cupped her chin, and-
Chu.
-gently kissed her cheek, her ruby-red eyes and fresh silver hair glittering with warmth.
"Welcome back, baby. How was work today? Did you take care of the Lady Alora? Did you have fun?" Her Mommy asked with a tender smile on her face.
She was only a little bit taller than Hilda; most of Hilda's height genetics came from her Papa's side.
"Mhm."
"I'm glad!" Chuckling, her mother tapped her cheek and said, "Go on then, wash up. I can see how desperate you are."
"Okay!"
Rushing by her Mommy's side, she was too preoccupied to miss her mother's gaze on her back.
She was too preoccupied to miss the endless, overflowing love of a mother.
But that was what it meant to be a mother.
To watch over, to care, and to guide their children to a bright future.
Cupping her cheek with a gentle smile, Jennifer chuckled as she watched Hilda hop up the stairs with a skip in her step.
"Cute. My baby is the cutest."
But.
At that same time.
There, in the corner, it watched.
A fly watched.
Silently.
Sorrowfully.
...Longingly.
-----
The creature suffered for days.
It starved, bled, and broke apart.
It had been days for the creature, but for the outside world, not even 4 hours had passed.
And now, I lie here in this hazy layer of mist; I observe and follow this saccharine trail of care oozing from Hilda's pores.
I fly through the skies, attempting to reach this source of care; this sweet, irresistible trail.
But.
SPLAT!
It hurts.
I can't get near her.
I must reach her, yet I cannot.
To my dismay, the creature is unfit to deal with this punishment; it requires emotion after all, and the creature...
Well, the creature is a hollow animal.
"..."
Still, I don't understand what this punishment is.
"..."
No, I do understand.
"..."
I would simply rather not.
The many sensory receptors lining this body twitched as the sweet scent drifted away with each step Hilda took up the stairs; the temptation to chase and fly like a moth into the flames was almost irresistible.
But I have to resist.
That's the punishment.
I must resist the nigh-irresistible.
I must watch on as Hilda flourishes in the sweetness of love, joy and happiness; I must endure the agony of inhaling that sweet, sticky scent;
And I must not approach.
Because that is my role.
That is the role of this Perfect Cursed Doll.
The Perfect Cursed Doll must endure for the sake of the one she loves the most.
This punishment is to improve that endurance.
How fitting.
"..."
Now, the scent had furthered in distance, and the temptation-
That tantalising, practically orgasmic smell-
...It happened again.
My brain fell into euphoria, my tiny wings flapped as I zipped across the house and past Hilda's mother.
I flew directly at Hilda's back, my wings buzzing and inducing sound.
Then, again, Hilda turned to my direction.
Frustrated, she grimaced and-
I witnessed a glimmer of her miraculous power for the first time.
SPLAT!!!
Clicking her teeth, Hilda swung her dirtied hand and returned up the steps towards the bathroom.
"So annoying."
-----
It's agonising.
The scent is too powerful; no matter how far away I attempt to fly, it inevitably lures me back in.
I've died 37 times already.
Every death hurts more than the last.
But, what can I do about it? I'm powerless, a stupid fly that flies incessantly into the flames of Hilda's glorious Blessing.
I've grown accustomed to the sensation of flying, but fortunately, my vision remains as clear as usual. I didn't have the weirdly coloured and distorted vision of a fly.
This time around, I sat on the ledge of Hilda's windowsill. She was sitting at her desk, going through papers containing a multitude of study material ranging from mathematics, language, history and philosophy.
She was dressed in her Remmy mascot pyjamas and occasionally twitched and tried to reach for the sword leaning on the side of her desk.
But, every time she reached for it, her other hand would slap the reaching hand, and she'd admonish herself-
Slap!
"Work harder."
She was quite dedicated; I hadn't seen this studious side of hers before.
Sniff.
...My downtime was over.
The smell had overtaken me again.
And, again-
SPLAT!!!
The unbearable pain of every limb bursting into pieces, the pain of being torn apart like a sack of rotten porridge-
It's the pain from the black and white ocean all over again.
Blinking my eyes, I was awakened in a dim corner of Hilda's windowsill.
That was my 38th death in this punishment, and the 39th time I had been blown into pieces. Alas, my first experience of blowing up in that odd ocean of seemingly Blessings and Curses wasn't enough to downplay the consequent 38 explosions.
Some may ask, would I hold a grudge against Hilda for this?
And, I would respond with:
Are you stupid?
This is punishment.
93,821,999Andideservethepunishment93,853,154
It is no one's fault but mine.
Only mine.
Always mine.
My fault.
My-
SPLAT!!!
...I lost control again.
That's the 39th death of this punishment.
How many more will there be?
-----
Hey!
You!
Yeah, you!
Did you know that a fly's wing resonates perfectly with the atmosphere!
And did you know that its wings feel really nice to the touch!
And did you know that flies actually have feelings?!
Well, neither did I!
Because I made that all up!
Hehehe!!!
Hehe!!!
He!!!
I-
I want to die.
Ba-dump.
This pounding heart of mine won't stop echoing in my ears.
Ba-dump.
It's getting quite painful.
...But it's fine.
Because the pain will go awa-
SPLAT!!!
.....
...
I lay there, dazed, and fizzled out, and euphorically sniffing away at the mesmerising scent.
I can no longer recall the number of deaths I've experienced.
But I'm certain that it is at least three digits.
Hilda has killed me many times in her sleep; she'd instinctively reach out and swat me, sending me to my demise.
The thing is, though, I can't resist it.
I can't resist the scent, the allure, that almost fleeting sensation of forbidden love;
This scent is everything, and even if it isn't everything, I have turned it into everything for myself.
I'm addicted to it.
I love it.
I can't stop myself.
I should.
But I can't.
And that makes me wonder; how long will I be here for?
"..."
I curled up on myself, squeezing this tiny body with my wings.
I hope it won't be long.
I pray that it won't be long.
To the Empyreans out there, I know you have abandoned us.
I know this world is ruined.
I know there is nothing left out there.
I understand that this is hell.
But.
Please.
Let it end.