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“Ugh, ugh…!”

“Tina, you mustn’t spit out the food the Master gives you. Now, open your mouth again.”

“Y-you crazy…!”

“I’ll just open it myself.”

“Huh… wait… Ugh?!”

Slurp- slurp- gulp-

Warm potato soup slowly slid down Lilian’s tongue and trickled down my throat.

The soup was hot enough that steam wafted up, but after passing through Lilian’s mouth, it cooled to a suitable temperature, sparing my tongue from burns.

“This time, I’ll give you water.”

“Huh, no… Ugh?!”

Lilian’s lips once more invaded my mouth. This time, cold water silently flowed in through our joined lips.

As Lilian transferred the last drop, her tongue gently caressed mine before slowly retreating from my mouth.

“Ha ha, you finished it all. Well done, Tina.”

“Ha… sob… ha…”

Moans mixed with moisture spilled from my lips.

Lilian smiled satisfaction and softly caressed my head.

Before I knew it, the bowl and glass that Lilian held were completely empty. From warm soup to cold water, everything was cleared out.

“W-what the hell is this…?!”

“I was just feeding Tina, you know?”

I bit my lips and glared at Lilian.

“You disgusting girl…! How can someone like you be a saint…?!”

“Oh dear, didn’t the meal to your liking?”

“Are you crazy?! You didn’t say you would serve it like this…!”

“I’m just glad to find out now. From now on, all the food Tina eats will only come through my mouth…”

“You crazy…!”

Trying to gain her favor quickly turned into an absurd notion.

This girl was insane.

If I went along with what she wanted, who knows what would happen to me in the future?

It was a mistake.

If it ended up this way, I should have cut her tongue off when it came in. But swept away by her strong momentum, I unconsciously allowed my mouth to open.

‘Next time, I’ll definitely bite that tongue off…’

I glared at Lilian with a fierce resolve inside, but she hugged me tightly with a slightly flushed face.

“Tina, I love you. I’ll cherish you for a lifetime. I will never abandon you, no matter what happens, so please trust me.”

Her low and gentle whisper felt like a hypnotic spell and sent shivers down my spine.

“Don’t… say you love me!!”

As I pushed her away with all my strength, Lilian tilted her head and looked at me curiously.

“Why? Is my love not to your liking?”

“You love me? That’s a lie; you must be resenting me. Your life must be a mess because of me.”

“You think I resent Tina?”

“Don’t lie. You know that I took Arien from you, right?”

The moment Arien’s name was mentioned, Lilian’s eyes twitched slightly. I didn’t miss that brief flicker of disturbance and sneered, a mocking smile tugging at my lips.

“Did you know? Arien tossed you aside for just a few words. How much trouble do you think you caused her for that to happen? In the end, you were a person who brought inconvenience even to your best friend.”

“…”

“Shouldn’t you be thanking me instead? I treated Arien better than you could have. Someone like you—”

“Tina, I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

Lilian’s calm voice interrupted me. She gently grabbed my shoulders and laid me down on the floor.

“You keep bringing up Arien, but I don’t care about her at all.”

“…What?”

Lilian mounted me, looking down with her sparkling pink eyes.

“Whether Arien is my friend or not, whether she hates me or not, it doesn’t matter at all.”

“But, that’s a lie… You said she was your friend…”

“No, all I need is my lovely Tina.”

With those words, Lilian roughly covered my lips with hers.

“Ugh…!?”

Once again, her tongue forcefully invaded my mouth. Like a snake, her tongue began to explore the depths of my mouth at will.

But this time, I wouldn’t just surrender to her whims.

“You crazy…!”

With all my might, I bit her tongue.

Crunch—

With a sound of something being crushed, the taste of metallic blood spread in my mouth.

“Oof.”

Lilian frowned slightly and slowly withdrew her face from mine. With dazed eyes, she touched her own red lips, which were now stained with blood, it trickled down endlessly.

“Ha, serves you right, you perverted girl.”

“…”

Ignoring my contempt-laden ridicule, Lilian slowly closed her eyes. Moments later, a pure white glow flickered around her lips, and the flowing blood stopped abruptly.

“Say it again. You love me? No, you’re just a disgusting hypocrite trying to wrap your ugly sense of revenge in love.”

“…Hah, Tina.”

“No matter what you want from me, just kill me already. That would be easier for both of us—”

Swish-!

With a short yet intense sound, a sharp pain exploded on my cheek.

Her gaze was icy cool. The palm that struck my cheek remained raised as she looked down at me.

“Hik… Hik…”

“Don’t ever say you want to die in front of me again.”

“I-I said I wouldn’t hit you…”

“You said something nasty, so I had to.”

Swish—!

Once again, Lilian’s palm struck my cheek, and intense pain spread, blurring my vision with tears.

“Ugh, ugh…”

“…I’ll stop the punishment here. I won’t control you through violence like before, but it doesn’t mean I won’t give you some discipline.”

Lilian sighed softly and effortlessly lifted me to sit on her lap.

As I trembled in pain, she embraced me from behind and whispered softly.

“Tina, you can bite my tongue if you want. If you’re angry, you can hit me, and if you resent me, you can hurt my body as much as you want.”

“…”

“But Tina, please don’t say you want to die. I can’t bear to witness the one I love getting hurt.”

I couldn’t make sense of it.

I couldn’t grasp what Lilian was thinking, what her true intentions were. She was more upset about me asking for death than about me biting her tongue.

In a way, it felt almost like…

She really cherishes me.

“Why… why do you care so much about me…?”

“I’ve told you several times, Tina.”

Lilian smiled radiantly and played with my hair as she replied.

“Because I love Tina.”

“That… can’t be true…”

What have I done to you?

I pushed you to the brink of despair and even tried to kill you.

And yet you love me?

“It’s alright. I’ll slowly prove it from now on.”

That couldn’t be true.

Lilian must have something she wanted too.

She certainly must have some clear purpose behind her gentle words.

After all, someone who walks a path of flowers like Lilian wouldn’t have goodwill towards someone like me.

I’m nothing but a twisted monster, no different than the one who killed her own mother.

She might want my body. This lovely and delicate appearance has always drawn affection from people of all ages, regardless of gender.

“Huh, you still seem skeptical. But I’ll tell you anyway.”

Lilian looked at me with harmless eyes and left a brief kiss on my forehead.

“I love you, Tina. No matter what you do, or what kind of person you become.”

“…”

“Even if you’re an exceedingly, exceedingly bad person, I will still be the Master who cares for only Tina.”

It must all be a lie. She must surely be saying this for some reason.

Yet why does my chest feel so heavy?

“You’re annoying.”

“Haha, at least the first meal training was a success.”

Lilian rose quietly, a faint smile lingering on her lips.

As her fingers snapped in the air, the blood scattered on the floor slowly rose, disappearing as if evaporating into the air.

“Future meals will proceed like this. Are you okay with that?”

“…Even if I say I’m not okay, you’ll feed me like this anyway.”

“Oh my, I see you’ve finally begun to understand me.”

I still found her repulsive.

However, refusing to eat out of pride wouldn’t be strong enough to withstand the gnawing hunger that ate at my belly day by day.

I had never been strong to begin with.

“…I’ll definitely bite your tongue next time.”

Eventually, the only thing I could do was make this shallow threat.

But Lilian seemed to find my threat adorable, laughing lightly as she calmly cleared away the empty bowl and glass.

“If that means Tina will eat, then yes.”

“….”

“Oh, and since the meal training went smoothly, I plan to proceed to the next training right away.”

“Next… training?”

Lilian pressed one finger against her lips, her eyes squinting in a playful manner.

“The next one will be urine training.”

“…Urine training?”

…Huh?

…Urine.

…Urine…?

“…Huh? What did you say?”

“Urine training.”

“???”

What, what?!

Did I hear that correctly just now?

Ur… urine?

Wha… what…

“You must be joking, right?”

“If you follow along well again, I will whisper ‘I love you’ over and over.”

“W-wait…!”

Lilian’s playful smile bloomed brightly, her alluring grin passing by me.

She lightly stroked my head and stepped out of the door without hesitation.

I stared blankly at the empty space she left behind, trembling hands clutching myself as I struggled to endure the chill sinking into my bones.

“Come on, it’s just a joke…?”