WINTER'S SWEET EMBRACE

Inside her ruined room, Maelle managed to crawl and collapse on the sofa. Her body burnt with a feverish, unnatural heat as her mind flickered back to the start of the attack.

Thirty minutes ago, while sitting alone in the quiet darkness of her room, listening for any out-of-place sounds, her ears had caught the subtle, metallic click of the balcony window panel being picked.

She clicked her tongue in quiet annoyance – someone had actually come.

Slipping into bed, she pretended to sleep while waiting for the assassin to drop their guard so she could strike first.

About two long minutes passed in silence before her bedroom door handle slowly turned down.

The door creaked open, then closed.

Peeking through her eyelashes, Maelle saw no one by the doorway or to her left. Shifting her body slightly to the right while maintaining the illusion of sleep, her eyes caught the shadowed, devilish outline of a horned woman looming directly over her bed, a dark blade raised high.

Right as they went in for the kill, Maelle leaped up, lunging forward with a hidden dagger.

The demon snapped her head back, letting the blade graze her cheek by a hair’s width.

What followed next was a chaotic struggle. Maelle tried her best to fight off the demon with desperation, but every time she raised her hand to conjure the magic circle to summon Vincent, the demon was instantly there to cut her off.

They slammed into furniture, shattered tables, and threw each other against bookshelves, turning the elegant room into a war zone.

Realising the princess was too persistent, the demon let out a raspy purr and released a dense cloud of succubus pheromones directly into the air.

The moment Maelle inhaled the sweet mist, her body betrayed her.

Her knees buckled, her muscles turned to jelly, and a feverish wave of pure lust flooded her nervous system.

Cornered against the wall, weak and panting in heat, Maelle gritted her teeth and drew a tiny secondary knife from her backside, plunging it straight into the demon’s side.

She shrieked in pain, staggering backward while clutching her bleeding waist in order to heal it. While healing, that split-second distraction gave Maelle just enough time to thrust her hand forward and initiate the summoning spell before collapsing to the floor.

Which leads us to the present...

The lingering aphrodisiac magic in Maelle’s system was becoming unbearable with each second. She was barely resisting the humiliating urge to slide her fingers down her own body.

’No... I cannot... this is beneath me...’

"Haaa.. Haaa... Mm~"

A helpless, breathless whimper escaped her lips as her trembling fingers moved toward her waist.

’I can’t...’

WHOOSH

A strong gust of wind blew through the open balcony doors, whipping the curtains aside.

Vincent landed quietly on the ledge, his wings folding smoothly into his back as he carried the unconscious Ava in his arms.

"Maelle! Oh, fuck!" Seeing her compromised, heaving state on the sofa, Vincent immediately set Ava down onto an armchair and rushed to Maelle’s side, dropping to his knees.

"Maelle! Are you okay?!"

Horrified that he was witnessing her in such a pathetic, vulnerable condition, Maelle tried to snap at him, but her voice came out as a soft, raspy, and desperate plea. "V-Vincent... d-don’t look at me... haah~"

"You’re still affected by her magic? How? I’m fine and even I got it. How do we clear this out of your system?!"

Maelle’s violet eyes were completely unfocused, swimming with feverish heat as she looked at his glowing, divine form. She was losing control fast. "I... I can’t think... my mind... my body... it’s burning... Help me, Vincent~"

"Shit, okay okay! Listen to me. I think I can cleanse the magic with my divine power, but there are only two ways to transfer it directly into your body right now. You either have to drink my blood, or I transfer it orally. Meaning... I have to kiss you."

Weak to the overwhelming aphrodisiac, and completely captivated by his divine presence, Maelle didn’t hesitate.

She reached out with trembling hands, grabbed the collar of his jacket, and pulled him down into a fierce, desperate kiss.

Vincent was stunned for a second, but he immediately focused. He wrapped his arms around her waist, stabilizing her as he kissed her back.

While she was inexperiencedly just pressing her lips against his, Vincent murmured against her mouth, "Open up..."

Maelle parted her lips with a needy moan, giving Vincent the chance to slip his tongue inside and channeling a stream of pure, golden-blue divine mana directly into her mouth.

The moment his divine power washed down her throat, the haze in her mind incinerated. The unnatural fever dissolved, her burning skin cooled, and her chaotic thoughts snapped back into crisp clarity.

Her grip on his shoulders weakened, signaling to him that her mind was clear.

As Vincent slowly broke the kiss and pulled back, Maelle’s body unconsciously leaned forward, chasing his lips for a second more before her brain fully registered what she was doing.

She pulled backward, her face burning a bright pink as she covered her mouth with her hand.

’T-That... that doesn’t count... It had to be done. So... it doesn’t count...’

Once Maelle recovered enough to sit up, she looked at his divine form embarrassingly. "C-Change back. Please..."

Vincent nodded, letting his divine form dissolve back into his casual mortal appearance.

"Thank you."

She stood up, turning her gaze over to the unconscious girl slumped on the armchair. Her eyes widened in utter disbelief as she recognised the person.

"Ava...? The quiet, timid student... is the deadly assassin who almost killed me? She looks nothing like the demon who attacked me. Are you absolutely sure this is her?"

"One hundred percent. No doubt about it. She reverted right in front of me."

"...Ok. I’ll believe you."

Using sturdy ropes from Gwen’s hidden stash and mana-suppression cuffs from her own private wall vault, they cuffed and bound Ava securely to the chair.

While tying her up, Vincent gave Maelle a brief rundown of the pursuit through the dorms and the hedge maze – conveniently leaving out the deeply embarrassing details of Ava’s sensory-overload climax to spare everyone’s sanity.

Maelle searched Ava’s person and found a communication crystal used to contact her employer. Tucked alongside it was a small, torn piece of fabric. Unaware that it was torn from Vincent’s shirt yesterday, she nonchalantly tossed it aside.

A few moments later, Ava’s eyelids fluttered open

Finding herself bound and confronted by both Maelle and Vincent, her shy, awkward student facade evaporated. Instead of trembling or panicking, the moment her glowing hazel eyes locked onto Vincent, her cheeks flushed a bright pink, and her spade tail suddenly materialized from beneath her back, swaying slowly in delight.

"Ava," Maelle demanded coldly, stepping forward with her arms crossed. "Or whatever your real name is. Speak."

Ava tilted her head, letting a sultry, unhinged smile spread across her face. "Unironically, my name is Ava. As you might’ve guessed, I’m a Demon. More specifically, I’m a succubus contract killer from Ebonspire, Your Highness~ Sent here to ensure you don’t survive to see the upcoming Academy Gala."

"Who hired you?"

Ava casually gestured toward the purple crystal on the table. "My employer operates strictly through proxy crystals. I don’t know their face or name... but I can tell you for a fact, whoever it is really hates your guts..."

She paused, her gaze shifting away from Maelle to stare famishedly at Vincent. "Though... I don’t really care about the contract anymore~ That’s why I’m telling you all this."

Vincent felt a cold shiver run down his spine. "Uh... I definitely did not expect Ava of all people to be making a face like that at me. What happened to that innocent girl?"

"Hehehe~ You’re looking right at her~"

Maelle glared suspiciously at her. "And why would a ruthless assassin suddenly turn on her employer?"

Ava beamed with a creepy, overly enthusiastic smile, leaning forward against her bindings. "Because I want to be genuine friends with both of you~"

"Friends? You literally tried to slaughter me in my sleep ten minutes ago. How could I ever trust a treacherous succubus who sells her lethal talents to the highest bidder?"

"It’s simple, Princess! If you ever catch me misbehaving, breaking the rules, or stepping out of line... all you have to do is tell Vincent to sic me~! Sic me like a dog! I promise I’ll obey..." Her breath grew heavy as she stared at Vincent and spiraled into a shameless, uncomfortable rant.

"Whenever he commands me, I’ll be so submissive! So obedient! I’ll do anything he wants, anytime, anywhere! I can be the best pet for him, I swear! Just let me be near him~" She peeked at Maelle with a dark grin. "Besides... People like us, people from Ebonspire, aren’t unfamiliar with the term ’slave’, are we?"

*Tsk* "Shut. Up."

Vincent’s face twisted into an expression of pure awkwardness.

Feeling deeply disturbed by her shameless enthusiasm, he took two steps back, grabbed Maelle by the shoulder, and brought her near the balcony door.

"Well?" He whispered, keeping his voice down. "What do you want to do here?! If you ask me, she’s completely nuts. But I’ve seen how nice and friendly she can be when she’s... not trying to kill people. Despite the social awkwardness, maybe it’s fine?"

Maelle peeked over Vincent’s shoulder at Ava who was squirming her thighs together, letting out needy whimpers and whining pitifully, "Vincent... please... come closer... transform again... let me smell you..."

Maelle pinched the bridge of her nose, her face contorting into an expression of deeply pained exhaustion.

Yet, as she weighed the ruthless reality of her political situation, she realised two undeniable truths:

First, she was isolated in a hostile academy and needed every scrap of power she could gather. Second, Ava was their only direct lead to finding out who had placed the hit on her head.

She let out a long sigh, turning back around to face the bound succubus.

"Very well. I accept your arrangement."

"REALLY?! Oh, thank you, Princess~! Hahaha! You won’t regret this!"

"Don’t celebrate yet. For your very first task as our double agent... you are going to pick up that crystal..." Maelle pointed a steady finger at the purple communication crystal on the table.

"...and you are going to report to your employer that you successfully murdered me tonight."