Chapter 33 : Loyalty
Chapter 33: Loyalty!!!
Hera stopped and turned around.
Lilia thought she was about to give further instructions, so she quickly stopped as well, adopting an attentive posture.
Hera walked back to the massive throne that was large enough to be used as a bed.
She did not sit down. Instead, she unfastened the top button of her collar, revealing a small patch of pale collarbone, then lay down on her side. Her long black hair cascaded like a waterfall over the deep red velvet cushions.
Lilia’s heart skipped a beat.
Here it comes.
This familiar scene, this familiar setup.
Sure enough, the system notification sounded in her mind right on cue in the next second.
【Ding!】
【Daily Mission Issuance: The Queen’s Respite · Part Two】
【Mission Description: After a tiring afternoon, the Queen feels soreness in her shoulders and neck. As her considerate possession, you must use your professional hands to relieve her fatigue.】
【Mission Requirement: Perform a shoulder and neck massage for Hera, lasting no less than thirty minutes.】
【Mission Reward: S-Rank skill 【God-Tier Massage Technique】 proficiency +100! Feminization Index +2!】
【Mission Failure Penalty: Learn the Succubus “standard service etiquette” course under Duke Camilla’s guidance.】
Learn from Camilla?
Wouldn’t that be the same as handing her face over to that woman to slap left and right while still smiling and saying “Thank you for your guidance, Duke”?
No, absolutely not!
With a slightly ingratiating demeanor, she walked to the side of the throne. Her knees softened, and she knelt onto the soft carpet.
“Master, are your shoulders uncomfortable?” Lilia’s voice was gentle enough to drip water. “Would you like me to massage them?”
Hera kept her eyes closed and let out a faint “Mm” from her nose.
Lilia immediately understood.
She adjusted her posture, kneeling more steadily, then extended her hands and gently placed them on Hera’s elegantly shaped shoulders.
Through the thin layer of silk fabric, her fingertips could clearly feel the astonishing elasticity and warm body temperature beneath.
Last time it was her legs; this time it was shoulders and neck.
Her scope of work was steadily expanding.
Lilia complained inwardly, but her hands did not dare slack off in the slightest.
【God-Tier Massage Technique】 activated!
Hera’s tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed without her noticing.
She let out an extremely faint, satisfied sigh.
A strange sense of accomplishment arose spontaneously.
To make this lofty Demon Queen, this unpredictable ruler, reveal such a relaxed and comfortable posture under her hands… this feeling was, damn it, actually quite good.
【Feminization Index +1】
The system’s sudden prompt made Lilia jolt.
Something’s wrong, very wrong!
How could she have such strange thoughts?
This must be the System’s conspiracy! To corrupt her pure, straight male soul!
Lilia screamed internally while her hands moved even more gently and precisely, even subtly incorporating a trace of the passive effect of 【Requiem】 into the massage.
Time passed second by second.
The study was so quiet that only the faint sound of her fingertips brushing against fabric could be heard, along with Hera’s increasingly steady and elongated breathing.
Lilia could even feel that Hera’s mind had completely relaxed, her consciousness beginning to blur.
This feeling of controlling the Queen’s physical and mental state caused Lilia’s Feminization Index to quietly increase again.
She had already given up resisting.
Whatever, let it all end already.
As long as the rewards were good enough, forget massage—even if it was…
Before Lilia’s dangerous thoughts could fully form, Hera’s voice, tinged with laziness and hoarseness, suddenly broke the silence.
“Lilia.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Lilia’s movements paused as she quickly responded.
Hera did not open her eyes, nor did she move.
She simply lay there, as if asking casually.
“Are you loyal?”
Lilia’s mind buzzed and went completely blank.
What?
What did she just ask?
Loyal?
What kind of question was this?
A mission? Why didn’t the System notify her?
Or was this Hera’s own question?
In an instant, countless guesses and possibilities exploded in Lilia’s mind, tangling into chaos.
If she answered poorly, she might be crushed directly by the woman before her before any “elimination” penalty from the System could even trigger.
Cold sweat instantly soaked her back.
How should she answer?
What should she say?
Be vague?
“I will strive to be loyal…” Such nonsense would only make Hera think she was being clever.
Her heartbeat raced as if about to explode.
She could feel her hands, resting on Hera’s shoulders, trembling slightly.
No, she had to calm down!
The more it was like this, the calmer she had to be!
She desperately recalled everything she had experienced since crossing over.
From initial fear and resistance, to compromising for survival, to the secret joy of gaining power after completing missions, and… and those occasional strange feelings of security and possessive sweetness when she was by Hera’s side.
These emotions were messy, real and fake intertwined—even she couldn’t distinguish them clearly.
Suddenly, she remembered Hera’s murmuring that day.
What did she desire?
She desired something absolute, unquestionable, and without reservation… belonging.
To this Queen who had once been betrayed, loyalty was not a choice—it was a “fact.”
She didn’t need Lilia to “choose” loyalty; she needed Lilia to “be” loyalty itself.
Lilia stopped trembling.
She withdrew her hands from Hera’s shoulders, then slowly and solemnly pressed her forehead against the cold, hard ground behind Hera.
The most humble and absolute posture of submission.
The entire study fell into deathly silence.
Hera did not urge her. She was waiting.
Lilia’s lips moved, her voice hoarse yet exceptionally clear.
“My master.”
“A sword does not ask its wielder whether it is sharp.”
“A body does not ask the will that gives it a soul whether it exists.”
Lilia raised her head slightly, but her gaze still remained lowered to the ground. She did not look at Hera.
“My value is defined by you. Everything I am comes from you.”
“So, loyalty… is not my choice.”
“It is my nature.”
The expected thunderous rage did not come, nor did any words of praise.
Lilia could only hear the soft rustling of fabric behind her.
Hera… had sat up.
A massive shadow completely enveloped the kneeling Lilia.
She didn’t dare lift her head. She could feel Hera standing behind her, looking down at her from above.
That sensation was more suffocating than any killing intent.
Lilia’s body stiffened again.
Had she… gambled wrong?
Just as that despairing thought flashed through her mind, a slightly cool hand gently landed on her head.
Then it slowly slid down along her silver hair.
The motion was so gentle, devoid of any force, yet it made every hair on Lilia’s body stand on end.
That hand finally stopped at the back of her neck.
Cold fingertips rested on her most vulnerable carotid artery.
As long as Hera wished, a slight squeeze would end her life instantly.
In the next moment, the system notification surged through Lilia’s mind like a tsunami!
【Ding! Detected a declaration of loyalty from the soul, surpassing system mission requirements!】
【Hera Intimacy +10!】
【Loyalty +20!!】
【Feminization Index +5!】
【Hera Intimacy has reached 40! Relationship unlocked: Trusted Possession!】
【Exclusive Passive Skill Unlocked: Queen’s Mark (Beginner)!】
【Skill: Queen’s Mark (Beginner)】
【Effect: A faint mark belonging to Hera has been imprinted deep within your soul. All demons harboring malice toward you will feel a warning from the Queen when attempting to harm you. This mark also makes it easier for you to gain the awe of lower-ranked demons.】
Lilia was completely stunned.
Was this a jackpot of unimaginable proportions?!
However, before she could recover from the overwhelming joy, Hera’s next action made her freeze again.
The hand on her neck did not move away.
Instead, it gently stroked.
Hera’s body slowly leaned down, her warm breath brushing against Lilia’s sensitive ear.
“Since your nature is loyalty…”
Hera’s voice was low, carrying a seductive hoarseness.
“Then use your body to prove that loyalty to me.”
Prove it?
With her body?
Lilia’s thoughts instantly froze, then sprinted uncontrollably toward explicit territory.
W-What did she mean?
Could it be that kind of… unspoken, deeply intimate way of proving loyalty? But with her small frame compared to Hera’s powerful physique…
No, no, calm down!
【Ding!】
Just as Lilia’s inner drama reached the point of heroic resistance, the System’s cold prompt poured down like a bucket of ice water.
【Ultimate Loyalty Trial Triggered!】
【SSS-Rank Hidden Mission Issuance: Blood Pact of Eternal Night】
【Mission Description: Accept the “Mark of Ownership” from Queen Hera. This is an ancient soul contract ritual. A strand of the Queen’s origin magic will be infused into your soul.】
【Mission Objective: Maintain absolute “loyalty” during the ritual and completely accept the Queen’s origin magic. Success will establish a preliminary soul link with the Queen, making you her most secret blade and refuge; failure will result in your soul being torn apart and completely annihilated by the Queen’s violent magic.】
【Mission Reward: Unlock title 【The Queen’s Blade (Beginner)】! Obtain S-Rank active skill 【Magic Synchronization】! 【Queen’s Mark】 upgraded to Intermediate! Significant increase to all attributes!】
【Failure Penalty: Soul annihilation.】
So that was what “proving with her body” meant.
This wasn’t proving loyalty—it was handing over her life and soul together to Hera.
If she succeeded, she would become a high-level tool marked as “Hera’s property.”
If she failed, she wouldn’t even have the chance to reincarnate.
But…
When you’re the fish on the chopping board, what choice do you have?
Moreover, she truly couldn’t afford to gamble on that penalty.
Lilia raised her head. Her face was pale, but her gaze was exceptionally firm. She met Hera’s unfathomable golden eyes and clearly spoke, word by word:
“I am willing, my master.”
After Lilia used all her strength to say “I am willing, my master,” the entire study fell into deathly silence.
Hera raised her hand.
In an instant, Lilia felt the surrounding air become viscous, pressing down on her until she could barely breathe. The candlelight in the study was suppressed by an invisible force, dimming rapidly. The shadows in the corners wriggled like living things, gathering and coiling around Hera’s feet.
The world before her shattered.
Bookshelves, throne, carpet… everything was torn into chaotic streaks of color, converging into a pitch-black vortex centered on Hera. A sense of weightlessness and tearing struck simultaneously. Lilia couldn’t even scream—she felt as if her organs and soul were being flung apart.
This teleportation felt like a damn washing machine spin cycle!
When her feet touched solid ground again, her legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed.
She opened her eyes and found herself no longer in the study.
This was an enormous circular stone chamber.
Above, countless glowing crystals were embedded in the dome like an inverted galaxy. On the ground, intricate silver patterns that made one dizzy spread out, all converging toward a black obsidian platform at the center.
The entire space was filled with overwhelming magic, as if the air itself had solidified into energy.
“Go up.”
Lilia obediently walked onto the central platform and knelt as instructed. The cold touch from her knees made her shiver involuntarily.
Hera approached slowly and looked down at her.
She extended her slender index finger. With a light motion, a drop of crimson blood, tinged with golden light, seeped from her pale fingertip.
The drop did not fall but floated in the air, emitting a strange aura that was both sacred and sinister. It slowly drifted toward Lilia, targeting her forehead.
Lilia’s heartbeat reached her throat. She closed her eyes and abandoned all resistance.
The next second, when the drop of blood touched her skin, an indescribable agony exploded deep within her soul!
It was not physical pain, but the extreme torment of her soul being ignited, torn apart, and reshaped.
Lilia felt like a small boat thrown into a violent ocean of black flames and sharp ice shards. Countless chaotic, dark, and negative images flooded her mind like a tide.
She saw a face she had never seen before yet felt strangely familiar, smiling viciously with betrayal at Hera on the throne.
That was Hera’s pain—the burden she carried as the Demon Queen.
Lilia’s instincts urged her to resist, to expel these foreign emotions. But the System’s warning of “soul annihilation” held her in place like chains.
She remembered what she had said.
“Loyalty…”
A lie.
How could it be? She was just a desperate person struggling to survive.
Yet when she “saw” that lonely figure in the ruins, silently licking her wounds, when she “heard” that suppressed whimper deep within the soul like a wounded beast, Lilia’s heart suddenly ached.
In that moment, her survival calculations and fear of the System no longer seemed important.
You’re not alone.
From now on, you won’t be.
As if sensing her acceptance, the raging torrent of magic miraculously calmed. It was no longer destructive but turned into a gentle stream, slowly merging with Lilia’s own magic.
After an unknown amount of time, the soul-burning agony receded like a tide, replaced by bone-deep exhaustion.
Lilia’s vision went dark, and she completely lost consciousness, collapsing onto the cold obsidian platform.
Below her left collarbone, a complex black-and-gold pattern burned brightly—a rose entwined with thorns, crowned with a small regal diadem. It flickered briefly before fading into her skin, leaving no visible trace.
Hera stood silently below, witnessing everything. On her usually expressionless face, a rare complexity appeared.
When she saw Lilia successfully merge with her origin magic, when that mark unique to her was finally formed, the tension in her body subtly eased.
She slowly stepped onto the platform and looked at the unconscious, pale Lilia.
The face that usually carried hints of fear and flattery now looked peaceful.
Hera crouched beside her, silently watching her for a long time. Finally, she reached out—without calling any guards—and carefully lifted the human girl, lighter than expected, into her arms.
Lilia’s head rested weakly against her shoulder, her silver hair sliding down and brushing against Hera’s arm with a faint tickle.
Holding the warm, soft body in her arms, Hera turned and walked step by step out of this contract chamber that had been sealed for a thousand years.
The one in her arms belonged to her.
A blade that belonged only to her alone.