Conquest Complete, So Why Is the Affection Dropping? - Chapter 60
Ding.
When I looked toward the sound coming from beyond the mirror, I saw Marvis walking out as the iron-barred elevator door opened.
For someone whose affection had plummeted, he looked quite normal. Apparently, affection levels aren’t necessarily linked to psychological state.
‘Thankfully, he’s not hurt.’
Even though I hadn’t even met him in this playthrough, somehow just seeing his face made me feel glad.
Seeing him still walking around with that obscenely exposed chest makes me feel like I should stick a censorship patch on it. Too bad I can’t touch him under the pretense of applying a patch since he’s behind the screen.
-What are you doing? Shin Joo-ah.
“Thinking about your chest… huh?”
I noticed too late, distracted by admiring his figure. Marvis’s red eyes from behind the screen were staring directly at me.
-Who are you with right now?
“No! There’s no one here!”
The moment my eyes met Marvis’s, I instinctively shoved Cedric away. With an “Oh!” he fell with a thud, landing on his bottom.
He looked up at me with a bewildered expression, clearly not expecting me to suddenly push him.
Well, don’t blame me for being pushed over by a woman’s strength when you’re supposed to be a magician.
“Marvis, can you see me?”
-Enough to make out who you are.
They said the ancient elevator originally belonged to Valhalla. Could it be connected to this mirror room through magic?
“Anyway, I’m alone. There’s nobody around me.”
The demon race built their city underground just to avoid Cedric’s eyes. I’m not sure if he recognized Cedric beside me, but if he notices his presence, he might become anxious.
I should deny it for now.
‘But this is strange.’
I haven’t met Marvis in this playthrough, yet he remembers my name.
Is this because the save data got merged with previous playthroughs? Then why did the affection level drop? Is it because I ruined his belongings? Should I apologize now?
“Hey, Marvis. You…”
Before I could deny the theft allegations or ask how much he remembered, something warm touched my ankle.
“Memory, eek?”
When I looked down at my left ankle with a start, long fingers were stroking up my shin from below. It was Cedric’s hand.
He was lying on the floor, clinging to my leg.
-What did you say?
“No, it’s… ugh!”
My skirt lifted slightly as Cedric’s hand traveled above my knee. I slapped his hand away in shock.
“What…!”
When I mouthed “are you doing?” in protest, his face, beautiful as an art piece, smiled with crescent-moon eyes. He moved his red lips to whisper so only I could hear.
‘Don’t mind me, just continue your conversation, my lady.’
‘What are you saying? What if Marvis sees!’
‘Oh? But there’s no one here. That’s what you just said, isn’t it?’
If there’s no one here, what are you – some kind of invisible man?
I kicked my feet trying to shake him off, but even though he was slim, Cedric was still about a head taller than me. Meaning he wasn’t someone I could easily push away.
“Stop… it…”
My skirt puffed up like rising white bread, and Cedric’s long hair disappeared underneath it. I clutched at my clothes, helpless against the unfamiliar male warmth climbing up my thighs.
What is this crazy bastard doing? Marvis is watching!
-Shin Joo-ah. What’s wrong?
“No, it’s nothing… uh, hk.”
My legs trembled and my vision swam. I barely managed to stay upright by stretching my right leg behind me. I almost slipped and fell.
-Are you okay?
“I’m fine, ah, you…”
I wanted to ask if his place had been attacked, but I couldn’t continue speaking for fear a moan would escape.
How much can Marvis see? Can he make out my expressions?
Unable to cover my mouth, I bit my lips hard as my body trembled. A moist sigh filled the space between my thighs, and something slick stroked up my inner thigh.
‘St-stop it.’
‘I won’t interrupt your conversation. Just ignore me and talk comfortably.’
If this isn’t interrupting, then what is? As if anyone could have a comfortable conversation in this situation!
I tried to push Cedric’s head away by squeezing my thighs together, but in my awkward position trying not to fall, I couldn’t even manage that. The man’s hands slipped between my thighs and easily spread my legs that I was trying so hard to keep closed.
“Eek…!”
Cedric, you looked so thin, why are you this strong? Weren’t magicians supposed to be physically weak?
-Hey, Shin Joo-ah. Did something happen?
It seems Marvis can’t see me properly from his side. I’m not sure if I should be grateful he can’t see my condition, or unfortunate that he can still hear.
‘Why are you doing this, really! Stop it!’
Even if you’re crazy, shouldn’t you maintain some boundaries if you like me? I’m not some pervert consumed by lust who would accept a stranger crawling under my skirt and licking my legs.
I tried hitting my skirt repeatedly to push Cedric away and even tried stepping on his knee, but he didn’t budge at all.
They say crazy people are strong and can’t feel pain!
‘Why are you pushing me away?’
‘How could I not push you away?’
‘How strange, my lady. You allowed such acts from that man behind the screen from the moment you first met him.’
My hands trying to push Cedric away suddenly lost their strength.
Had he been watching us since I went to Niflheim?
Come to think of it, he did say the elevator in Niflheim originally belonged to Valhalla. If he could observe Niflheim from the moment I fixed the elevator, that means he saw everything between Marvis and me.
‘You, crazy… you really are a voyeur!’
‘Watching you was all I could do when my body was trapped in the jewel.’
That only applies to when you were in the jewel, not now.
His long fingers pulled my underwear aside and stroked between my folds. I finally couldn’t take it anymore and kicked at Cedric.
“I told you to stop, get away!”
-Joo-ah!
At Marvis’s voice, the mirror shook violently. That’s when Cedric, who had been between my legs, suddenly stood up.
“How annoying.”
As Cedric raised his right hand, his bangs disheveled, the screen beyond the mirror instantly vanished.
The screen flashed white, then went black as if suddenly turned off.
Boom.
Hisssss, smoke rose up.
From within the screen.
“Ah…”
It hadn’t actually turned off.
I had mistaken it for being off because the scenery beyond the mirror was completely dark. If I hadn’t seen the blackened, charred walls at the edges and the remains of melted pipes, I wouldn’t have realized my mistake.
“What… did you do?”
“There were too many objects, so the cost was high. I thought it would be more efficient to clear everything at once.”
I don’t understand what Cedric is talking about. But I understand what happened.
Lightning from the sky, the ground burned completely black. If the underground dark city was connected to this place through the elevator, then according to the settings, Cedric could incinerate the dark city with just one spell.
And now those settings have been implemented in reality.
“…Monster…”
“First a murderer, and now a monster? I thought you’d at least treat me as human.”
“Why, why are you doing this? What did we do wrong…”
He slaughtered the people gathered at the coast, destroyed the temple, and turned the underground city into a wasteland.
Why go this far? If you want world destruction, you’ve got the wrong genre!
“I’m hurt that you say ‘we’, my lady. That should be my line.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that the ‘we’ should include me, not them.”
Cedric wiped his still glistening lips with the back of his hand.
“You called me a murderer, but I was merely trying to save costs.”
“What does that even mean!”
“If I was going to be doomed by not being chosen by you anyway, I wanted to delay that doom for as long as possible.”
Cedric sighed. Though there was no wind, his long black hair fluttered ethereally.
“My lady. Will you not choose me this time either?”
What choice? To choose whether to get your ending?
Am I crazy?
“I will never choose you.”
“I see… how regrettable.”
Cedric slowly closed and opened his eyes.
That’s when the translucent status window glowing near his chest changed.
Until next bomb: D-1
Ding.
Until next bomb: D-0
Ding. Click.
[Bride Capture] Event Failed!
The color of his sapphire-like eyes suddenly brightened. It was like blue neon signs glowing in darkness.
The scenery around Cedric blurred slightly, and tiny 0s and 1s began floating up.
“I wanted to be with you until the time of destruction.”
“Ce-Cedric?”
Cedric smiled expressionlessly. Though his eyes were clearly mechanical and emotionless, only his mouth was smiling awkwardly.
Like two different graphics pasted together.
“Goodbye, my lady.”
You have failed to complete [Cedric]’s route.
There are no more available events.
Proceeding to Bad Ending.
