🚨 R18/19 Warning: Please note that this translation is intended for adult readers and may not be suitable for all audiences. 🚨
Hwangju Castle, once bustling with people, became desolate and silent overnight as all the humans disappeared. On the auspicious day when the Lord's daughter embarked on her long journey to become the Crown Princess, the castle gates were closed, and no one had been seen entering or leaving since.
In the midst of this, it was said that the imperial palace had been burned down by a horde of yokai, and the entire populace, in unison, murmured that the nation was surely facing its downfall.
Given the circumstances, the Lord of Hwangju and his household, who had locked the gates, were naturally forgotten. By the time a month had passed, it was assumed that any remaining food would have run out, and so it was believed that everyone inside must have starved to death.
From time to time, there were those who coveted the gold and silver treasures, rumoured to be piled like mountains in the castle’s treasury. However, the eerie silence of the castle, where not even the squeak of a rat could be heard, was so unsettling that no one dared to scale its walls.
Thus, another three months passed. The horde of yokai, which had gathered in the capital like dark clouds, vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared as if their only purpose was to overthrow the capital. The country's situation, which had been in turmoil like a war, gradually began to stabilise.
Although the Emperor and many of the high-ranking officials who governed the country died overnight, the chaos was short-lived. Despite the human world seeming on the brink of ruin, a new ruler always emerged, as it had done countless times before.
The once unified nation was splintered into factions based on family names and lineages. As the situation deteriorated, people from all walks of life, including former nobility who had fallen to the status of slaves, surfaced as self-proclaimed leaders and power seekers.
In any case, this strange land, where life continued despite hundreds or thousands vanishing overnight, seemed to be a place that even the Heavenly Emperor could not bring himself to take an interest in.
・・・・・
One day, three months later.
Screech―
With the sound of old, rusty hinges, the tightly shut gates of Hwangju Castle creaked open.
Out stepped a delicate woman with a noticeably rounded belly. She said she was the household's servant and explained that a plague had swept through the castle, leaving everyone dead except for her.
She then began distributing the vast wealth of the Lord of Hwangju — treasures that had only been spoken of in rumours, piled up like a mountain. Unsurprisingly, the once-desolate front of Hwangju Castle quickly became bustling, as if swarmed by ants.
However, among the crowd, some of the people, looked disdainfully at the sight of the woman, claiming to be a servant, distributing the wealth. One of them sneered and mocked her, saying, “Hey, whose child are you carrying, to have that appearance?”
"It’s mine."
Yet, when they saw the man who had followed the woman out — his massive build, as imposing as a mountain, and his yellow eyes narrowing like a snake — they were intimidated by the presence and couldn't make a sound, quickly fleeing in fear.
"Ah, heug..."
With a squelching sound, the man's long index finger scraped the inner wall and withdrew. Nokhee, who had been panting heavily, let out a groan as if in pain.
However, without even a moment to catch her breath, something blunt began to force its way in through the already tight and filled passage. She jerked her head back in a panic, urgently calling for the servant.
"Huh, heug, Ki-Kijoon...!"
"Please relax a bit, my lady."
Hiss, hiss.
With the chilling sound of a snake’s hiss, a heavy weight pressed down on her from behind.
Feeling a sharp, unsettling sensation as if her lower abdomen was being stretched open, Nokhee thrashed about in an attempt to flee. However, she was trapped between the cold man's body and the damp bedsheet, unable to move an inch.
"Heuug, Ki-Kijoon. I-I can't do it. Take it out, okay?"
"You’ve been receiving this every day, and it’s gotten so loose that it’s practically falling apart. Why do you keep exaggerating your pain every single day, my lady?"
"Exaggerating? Haaa, I’m not exaggerating. It’s just that, at this time... Aheugh!"
"Ha..."
The penis, which had been forcing its way in, pushing aside what was already inside, finally buried itself up to the root, securing its place within her vagina.
Pressing down firmly on the squirming female, Kijoon let out a strained breath. Annoyed by her constant attempts to push away his manhood, he muttered complaints about her being loose and exaggerating, choosing words that would make the woman squirm. However, he too was struggling with the effort.
The clammy inner walls squeezed in from every direction, causing his members to press against each other with such force that it felt like they were about to explode. Glancing down, he saw the small vaginal opening stretched to the point of tearing, barely accommodating two thick penises.
Kijoon reached out his hand and slowly rubbed around the area. As he did, the blood drained away, revealing the pale, stretched skin of the hole contracting tightly. Despite this, it remained gaping and twitching, a truly bizarre and perversely obscene sight.
‘It’s fascinating, really.’
Every time he saw it, he felt the same way. How could this tiny hole stretch so flexibly to accommodate not just one, but two massive penises, larger than those of most men?
Kijoon carefully examined Nokhee's lower body. However, there was no place that was red or torn anymore. It was evidence that the woman had grown accustomed to taking his two penises at once.
Nokhee was unaware that this was more reassuring to Kijoon than a thousand words promising she wouldn't leave.
Now she could no longer leave him and marry someone else. Even if the Crown Prince himself, or his father the Emperor, came forward, what man would accept a woman accustomed to taking two penises at once?
Now, if she just got pregnant, he would be able to completely tie her down to his side...
As Kijoon caressed the area around her stretched vaginal opening, he suddenly reached down and felt Nokhee's belly. Her small body couldn't fully contain the man's large penises, causing her lower abdomen to bulge like a child who had overeaten.
"Why aren’t you conceiving?"
"Heuegh… yess…”
As Kijoon pressed down firmly and muttered to himself, Nokhee flinched and gasped for breath.
He wished that the thing squirming and alive beneath this thin belly skin were not his ugly penises, but white and round eggs. The thought made his head suddenly feel like it was boiling with intense heat. The tip of his penises tingled as if it were about to sprout thorns.
It wasn't her fault that she couldn’t conceive, but Kijoon, unable to control his temper, roughly pulled out the two penises he had deeply inserted.
"I've been filling your womb with my seed every day to the point of bursting, so you should have gotten pregnant at least a few times by now."
"Ah! Hnng!"
Thwack!
The penises were abruptly pulled out and swiftly thrust back between her legs. The blunt impact felt like a punch to her stomach, causing her to throw her head back and let out a sharp scream.
"Why is your womb still empty, my lady? Do you, haaaa, know the reason?"
"Heung! Uh, ah!"
"I'm asking you, my lady. Hmm?"
With each word he spoke, the man's hips slammed forcefully against the woman's buttocks, making a loud, wet slap. Trapped beneath his heavy body and shaken violently, Nokhee couldn't resist the harsh questioning and kept crying, “I don't know, I don't know.”
Kijoon did not slow down the pace of his thrusts despite her cries, recklessly pounding her lower body. They had been intimate just fine before, but now she couldn't understand what had suddenly upset him.
She felt like her lower body was about to tear and bleed. Nokhee struggled desperately as if fighting for her life and finally managed to roll out from under him.
"S-stop! Stop!"
Fwip―.
Kijoon’s two penises slipped out of her vagina, making a strange sound as if a dam had burst. But there was no time to feel embarrassed.
Nokhee quickly fled to the other side of the room like a frightened mouse, casting a glance at the man who had ruthlessly pressed down on her. As expected, his face was covered in hideous scales on one side, a clear sign that it was his mating season. His behaviour, more erratic than usual, suddenly made sense.
As if amused by her desperate escape during the mating ritual, the beast let out a hollow scoff, “Huh.” Nokhee, forgetting her caution, suddenly felt a surge of anger rise within her.
"You damn bastard! I told you, I don’t know!”
How could she possibly know why she wasn’t conceiving? Why was he pressuring her like this? Overcome with a sense of unfairness, Nokhee felt her frustration rise, and before she realised it, tears started to fall.
"It’s not like I’m a stone woman! If a healthy woman’s body can’t conceive, it’s not the field’s fault, but the seed’s! How dare this insolent servant commit such an act of defiance? No matter how much he rebels, to think he would try to beat his lady to death... sob!"
At those words, the servant let out another scoff, as if he found it utterly ridiculous.
"Me? When have I ever beat you, my lady?"
"Just now! You did it just now!”
With a sharp cry, Nokhee motioned with her eyes toward the man's lower body, which was standing tall and quivering.
Did he have to raise his hand to beat her? It's not like he was hitting her with his fists. Instead, he shoved not one, but two of those grotesque, dark red clubs inside her and thrust so violently. It was a miracle her stomach hadn’t burst and she was still alive.
It was the moment when Nokhee, with fearful eyes, glanced at the reddened, bloodshot, and dangerously swollen tip of the man’s member, as if it were about to strike.
As if sensing her gaze, the two cocks suddenly twitched in opposite directions, and soon a thick, milky white, sticky fluid dripped out from their tips, flowing like phlegm.
"Huh!"
Already disturbed by the bizarre and grotesque sight of the two cocks, Nokhee shuddered and covered her eyes with both hands. Though it was a temporary measure, not seeing it made her feel somewhat better.
But that relief was short-lived.
Tak, tak, tak! A rhythmic sound, as if something was being stroked, echoed in the quiet room at regular intervals.
Nokhee, with a sense of disbelief, cautiously parted her fingers that had been tightly covering her eyes.
"What... what are you doing…?"
Without a sound, at some point, the two grotesque cocks that had been dripping sticky fluid on the bed moments ago were now looming right above her face.
With his large hand, Kijoon firmly gripped both of his penises, slowly rubbing the liquid dripping from the tips along the shafts, as if spreading it. The squelching sound and the acrid smell immediately filled her nostrils.
Faced with the overwhelming sight before her, Nokhee’s face turned pale, and her tightly closed mouth involuntarily parted.
The servant, threateningly brandishing his penises dripping with white semen over her red, swollen lips, spoke arrogantly with his eyes cast down.
"I think I know the reason why the seed won't take root in your womb, my lady."
Tak, tak.
The man’s hot, sticky essence surged out relentlessly from the penises that barely grazed her chin. She definitely wasn’t the one doing anything shameful.
But seeing the tall man masturbating, Nokhee inexplicably felt her breath quicken and a tickling sensation deep in her lower abdomen. Blushing, she asked belatedly.
"...Wh-what do you mean, ‘reason’?"
"Are you still secretly expelling the seed into the chamber pot when I'm not around?"
"H-how do you... huh!"
Startled by the sudden, confident voice, Nokhee hurriedly covered her mouth with the hand that had been shielding her eyes.
Ever since she became physically involved with Kijoon, this had become her first task upon waking each morning. Fearing that the servants might notice their indecent act, she would rise at the break of dawn to secretly empty the chamber pot herself before returning. But how in the world did that scoundrel Kijoon come to know about it?
At first, she was unsure of how to handle the situation, so she let things be. Throughout the day, she experienced discomfort as the semen dripped out, soaking her undergarments and causing her considerable embarrassment. She remembered the lengths Eokbun went to discreetly burn the soiled clothing while she herself was left in distress.
Nokhee, with her face flushed bright red, complained.
"Y-you always use your magic to clean up, but you leave out the lower part. What am I supposed to do?"
"After all the effort I put in all night to fill you up, you dig it all out with your fingers. How could the seed possibly settle?"
"B-but...!"
She had no response to that. It felt utterly unfair, but when she thought about it, he did have a point...
Seeing Nokhee, her cheeks flushed in an endearing, almost tempting way, Kijoon felt his patience wearing thin.
His foolish and lovable female. So naïve and innocent. She was deflowered by a lowly servant, and now she was about to bear his wretched offspring.
Imagining Nokhee's small, narrow lower abdomen swelling with the eggs he had implanted, he felt a burning in his throat and his vision turned red.
Soon, the inside of his palm grew rough, and he felt thorns pricking the skin of his penises. He struggled to steady his ragged breath and ordered his lover, who was trembling like prey being hunted.
"Please stop and come here."
“...”
"Did you not promise to do as I say?"
"Huh..."
The golden, snake-like eyes never once blinked, constantly gleaming as they stared at her. After mingling their bodies so much, she could now discern his twisted intentions just by hearing his breath.
In the past, during their intimate moments, whenever he looked at her with those chilling eyes, she couldn’t understand what made him so angry, which left her feeling frustrated.
But now, she knew all too well what he was thinking, how frighteningly aroused he must be, to have those thick, monstrous manhoods trembling so fiercely, beyond what even her hands could grasp...
“Hurry.”
Unable to resist the relentless pressure, Nokhee eventually crawled back with her own two legs to the man she had fled from and ended up being caught by him.
"Gently... Gently, ah!"
As soon as her back touched the damp bedsheet, a powerful grip shot out like lightning, seizing her ankle. Caught off guard, she tumbled backward and was swiftly dragged down in one smooth motion.
Before she could regain her senses, her legs were spread wide like a frog's, and two thick cocks pierced her at once. As the rough barbs mercilessly scraped her sensitive inner walls, Nokhee held her breath.
"Hnggg! Ugh! It-it's tearing! S-save me, ah!"
"There’s no blood, and nothing's torn. Can’t you hear this, my lady? Hah, with a flood like this, what could possibly tear..."
Squelch, squelch.
With a wet, slapping sound, the tightly opened vaginal entrance was swiftly penetrated by the cocks before it could adjust, and Kijoon panted heavily.
It was too deep. It was opening places that shouldn't be opened, causing a sudden surge of nausea. Nokhee, suddenly frightened that her stomach might have been pierced, hurriedly touched her lower abdomen.
Every time Kijoon moved his hips, she could feel the thin skin of her belly bulging under her palm.
“Aheug, ah! Ugh! My stomach… my stomach feels like it's going to burst, Kijoon."
"It’s because your womb is too narrow, my lady. If I fill it up with cum until your belly bulges, it should loosen up a bit."
“Aheug, heeaugh...!”
The moment she stared in horror at his deranged yellow snake-like eyes, he clasped her hands, which were resting on her lower abdomen, and pressed them down firmly, whispering into her ear with a sinister tone, as if etching a curse.
"This time, conceive, my lady.”
Soon after, hot semen from the two cocks clung to Nokhee's uterine walls.
The guy that had tormented Nokhee relentlessly until dawn finally couldn’t contain his excitement and transformed into his true form, a giant snake, and ravaged her.
The hissing sound of the snake and the cold, constricting sensation of its scales wrapped around her entire body.
The rough, prickly members forcefully stretching and ramming into her insides was too much for Nokhee to endure, and so she lost consciousness right then and there.
She fainted for a moment, and when she woke up the sun was high in the sky. Staring vacantly at the sunlight streaming through the window, she felt a strange sensation from below.
Between her spread legs, a man as imposing as a mountain sat firmly, wiping her lower body with a wet towel.
“Wh-what…?!”
Startled, Nokhee tried to sit up, but a large hand pressed down gently yet firmly on her shoulder, forcing her to lie back down.
The bedding and blanket against her bare skin were no longer damp and clammy, but soft and fluffy. Had he changed the sheets while she was unconscious?
For a moment, Nokhee felt her face flush with embarrassment at her naked body. Then she looked at her only servant, who was diligently tending to her, with dazed eyes.
Fortunately, the rough snake scales that had covered him were gone, and his handsome face was revealed under the sunlight. Although her lower body was sore and her entire body ached, she felt a deep sense of relief. It seemed that the terrible mating season of the snake yokai had finally passed.
Splash…
It was then. The sound of water dripping snapped Nokhee back to her senses. Kijoon, who had soaked a towel in a basin of water, immediately reached out to her.
As the warm, soft cloth touched her throbbing private area, she flinched, her body wriggling like a fish freshly caught.
“I-I can do it myself!"
"Haven't I always done this for you?"
“Y-you just used your magic and disappeared."
"Magic?"
Kijoon raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'What nonsense are you talking about?'
"Apart from using my spiritual powers to heal your wounds, my lady, I handled everything else myself. Honestly, what kind of yokai would waste their powers on wiping down a body or changing bedding?"
Kijoon clicked his tongue in disbelief. Flustered, Nokhee fumbled for an excuse, her face turning red.
"When I woke up, you were gone, and all the clothes and blankets had been replaced with fresh ones, so..."
"Well, you were asleep, so naturally, you wouldn't have known, my lady."
“...”
Fair enough. Nokhee kept her mouth shut as if her lips were sealed with honey.
When she woke up, all traces of their intimacy had vanished as if by magic, and her body felt refreshed. How was she supposed to know it was because the servant had stayed up all night personally tidying up after her? Being a snake yokai, she naturally assumed he'd used his powers for something like that.
A wave of embarrassment and confusion washed over her. Meanwhile, Kijoon resumed his task, quietly wiping her body with the soft, damp cloth. It glided over her groin, then smoothly passed over her outer folds without hesitation.
“Ugh...”
The ticklish and strange sensation made Nokhee let out a strained moan and close her legs. At that moment, Kijoon called her name in his usual blunt tone.
“My lady.”
"...Huh?"
"Your vagina is gaping open like the mouth of a hungry baby and won't close."
After wiping away the thick, cloudy fluids clinging to her vaginal opening, he removed the cloth and pointed to her now seemingly clean intimate area.
His expression was as indifferent as usual, so at first, Nokhee couldn't quite grasp what he was saying.
"Wh-what..."
"You won't be able to marry another man."
“...”
"Where could you go in this state, my lady? What fool would take such a worn-out pussy?"
Only after propping herself up halfway and meeting the gaze of the man sitting below her did she realise. His eyes were still narrowed into a straight line, gleaming with a mesmerising golden hue.
The snake yokai's heat had not yet completely subsided.
‘You won't be able to marry another man…’
Nokhee's expression stiffened as she replayed the words Kijoon had just spoken.
Setting aside his status as a servant, she had already rolled around with him in his snake form countless times. Moreover, where in the world would there be a man who would accept someone like her, covered all over in snake scales, just as she was?
Ever since the day she tried to take her own life, Kijoon had occasionally spoken harshly to her, as if holding a grudge. This was especially true during his mating season when he struggled to maintain his composure.
She realised that her foolish thoughts had caused him an irreparable wound. She also understood that he became strangely unstable whenever he was in heat.
Yet, despite her earnest declarations of love and her willingness to do anything he asked, she couldn't help but feel hurt and angry whenever he casually spoke such spiteful words.
"...Why do you act like a crazed, rabid snake that’s eaten something foul whenever your mating season comes around?"
Biting her lower lip, Nokhee stared at his contemptuous expression for a long time before finally speaking.
"You damned bastard, where the hell do you expect me to go like this? You won’t give me clothes, and you won’t let me take a single step outside this room!"
Her eyes welled up with tears. As she spoke, all the frustration and resentment she had been holding back burst forth like a dam bursting.
"I've always let you do whatever you wanted, even when I said I was dying or in pain! Did I ever say I hated being with you? Did I ever say I wanted to marry another man?"
“...”
"Why is it my fault that I can't have a baby? It's because you're a strange and monstrous yokai!"
After shouting, Nokhee, exhausted, collapsed onto the bed. She pulled the blanket over her head and cried uncontrollably.
She could endure the mortifying explicit language and the shocking sexual acts every time. But she couldn’t stand the talk of marrying another man.
It was because of him that she ended up like this. To save that wretched servant, she abandoned her mother and younger brother and walked on thin ice. Even now, thinking back to that time and how she felt, a part of her heart still ached.
Unlike before, she was now confined to her chambers, with nowhere to escape.
In the end, Nokhee found her situation utterly pitiful, reduced to hiding under the blanket and wiping away her falling tears. She couldn’t stop sobbing.
It was then.
“...My lady.”
Thud.
A heavy weight settled beside Nokhee. Then, she was effortlessly pulled into someone’s embrace, blanket and all. It felt like being wrapped in the coils of a snake, the pressure tightening around her body so much that she could barely breathe. Startled and overwhelmed, Nokhee struggled and squirmed through her tears.
"Let go, let go!"
"I am to blame for everything."
"Le-let go of me! This isn't...!"
"It's because I'm anxious."
At those words, Nokhee froze in place.
'Anxious...?'
She couldn't understand. Unlike before, they were now living alone together in the empty Hwangju Castle.
Since the day she attempted suicide and barely survived, Kijoon not only prevented her from leaving the room but also made sure she didn't lift a finger, staying by her side constantly and attending to her every need.
She had promised countless times not to try to take her life again. There was no one threatening them — not the Grand Sharman, nor the Yoon family. In this situation, where they only had each other, what more was there to fear?
"...About what?"
"I'm afraid that one day, just like flipping your hand, you'll change your mind again and start spouting nonsense about wanting to marry the Crown Prince or become the most exalted woman in the country."
Nokhee held her breath. She thought all the misunderstandings had been resolved, but perhaps it had only been her own delusion.
If the sin that brought divine retribution was Kijoon's Achilles' heel, then the memory of the past that Kijoon had just mentioned was Nokhee's Achilles' heel.
The memory of the false words that led to the fall of the imperial capital and caused the suffering of countless people, and the image of the black snake dying with blood pouring from its body, was still vivid.
"That..."
“...”
"...I told you that was all a lie."
Nokhee stopped her sobs and muttered softly to herself. The sight of Kijoon still dwelling on that incident tore at her heart. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to lower the blanket she had pulled over her head, her last vestige of pride preventing her.
As Nokhee remained curled up like a white grub under the blanket, showing no sign of stirring, Kijoon let out a small sigh and, left with no other choice, revealed his true feelings.
"If I let you out of the room..."
“...”
"I fear that other men will covet you and that you might grow desirous once you realise their intentions."
"Desirous...?"
"Didn't you say before that you wanted to make money and contribute to the country?"
It was a strange and unfamiliar statement. Just as she was about to reflexively respond, 'When did I ever say that…' a memory suddenly flashed through her mind.
―With so many books that my father has given me, wouldn’t it be good to use them to make money and contribute to the country?
She was wondering what in the world he was talking about. He was referring to the time when she mentioned opening a book rental shop if she left Hwangju Castle.
Back then, she had clung to that faint hope as the only way to endure her hellish life without losing her sanity. She knew all too well that it was impossible.
It was absurd, yet also somewhat endearing, that the words she carelessly threw out just to say one more thing to that insolent servant were being remembered in this way...
"Ha."
Nokhee let out a hollow laugh and gently lowered the blanket that had been covering her head. Then, she lifted her gaze to look at the foolish snake yokai who clung to her alone. No, she looked up at her beloved.
Despite his indifferent expression, as if everything in the world was a bother, his tense jaw and the arms that held her so tightly they seemed to constrict her breathing betrayed his anxiety. Nokhee could now recognise that.
"So, what you're saying is... that I am a femme fatale like Yang Guifei or Daji, [1] who will bewitch men, seize power, and aspire to rule the world?"
“...”
There was no reply. But the lack of denial made her suspect that her guess about his strange, almost deranged behaviour might be close to the truth.
Even as she said it, Nokhee found the thought so absurd that she let out another hollow laugh. Then, pulling both hands out from under the blanket, she suddenly grabbed the face of the servant who was staring at her.
“I may be bad, but you, Kijoon… you’re really something else.”
Although Nokhee felt upset that he had kept her confined for such a trivial reason, she ultimately could not ignore the welling joy. It meant that he, too, wanted to be with her.
"You foolish idiot. If you're so anxious, you just need to feed me more of your reverse scales."
Nokhee raised one hand, which had been gripping Kijoo's face, and brought it close to his eyes. A piece of black scale, the same colour as his hair, was roughly embedded in the inside of her wrist.
They had entwined their bodies countless times, to the point where she thought she might die of exhaustion rather than anything else. Nevertheless, the eleven reverse scales that Kijoon had fed her still remained in her body.
"You said that if all eleven were transferred to you, you would feed them to me again, and if they were returned to you once more, you'd continue feeding me — again and again, without end."
Although he clearly said that, the full transfer hadn't occurred yet, and she couldn't allow him to keep living in constant anxiety, trembling like a snake on the verge of madness.
Nokhee lowered the hand she had held out in front of him and once again grasped the servant's face, meeting his eyes.
"Don't bother acting up with me. Keep feeding me more of those scales until you're satisfied."
“...”
"Then, even if I were to harbour such desires, do you think I'd so readily throw myself into the arms of another man?"
There was no man who would embrace a monstrous woman covered in black scales all over her body. Similarly, Nokhee had no intention whatsoever of showing her hideous body to any man other than Kijoon.
It seemed to be an unexpected proposal, as Kijoon wore a bewildered expression. However, if it meant that his anxiety would be eased and he would gain some trust in her, swallowing a few more reverse scales would be nothing.
Having reached that conclusion, she waited for an answer, but the servant's mouth remained firmly shut in a straight line.
“Hmm? I told you, go ahead. Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
To her surprise, instead of eagerly agreeing, Kijoon firmly shook his head for some reason.
He grabbed Nokhee's left hand, which was touching his cheek, and looked again at the inside of her wrist. Once, it had been a scale that leeched Nokhee’s pure essence and held his lifeline in its grip.
Unfortunately, all of that had already lost both the energy of a spiritual core and the venom of the curse left by the vengeful spirits of his devoured kin, leaving them as nothing more than dead fragments of scales, devoid of any power.
The price for hatching from the egg and devouring all his siblings, defying the natural order, had already been paid long ago, and those areas had been filled with new scales for a while now.
Despite that, the reason he force-fed Nokhee the eleven scales he had taken by killing the Yoon family was to intimidate her, knowing she found the scales on her body horrifying, in order to keep her under his control.
The reason the punishment for previously devouring his siblings and committing siblicide was light was because the heavier sin lay with the weasel who used him to commit murder in its quest for godhood.
Afterwards, when Nokhee desired to become Empress, Kijoon’s indiscriminate killings had led to far worse, fouler scales sprouting across his body. Hundreds, even thousands, perished in the wake of her ambition, their dying curses searing scar-like brands into his skin each day.
Even though she was fed mere husks of dead scales, she became so weak that she was bedridden. If she were to consume these new scales, full of toxicity and vengeful curses, there would be no way Nokhee could survive.
Thus, Nokhee's proposal was something that could never come to pass, even if it meant risking his own life.
"Why?"
Nokhee suddenly asked, finding it strange that Kijoon was holding her wrist and gazing at it endlessly.
The Imugi emerged from his deep thoughts. Clear and pure eyes were looking at him innocently, filled with unwavering affection directed solely at him.
"Just…"
He slowly opened his mouth and muttered.
"Please tell me you love me."
To his little, young lover.
"Promise that you won't leave, that you will stay with me forever, my lady."
Nokhee, who had been staring at Kijoon with wide-open eyes, soon poured out her hidden feelings without a moment's hesitation.
“…I love you, Kijoon."
The woman fearlessly pulled the hideous yokai, whose body was covered in reverse scales as a punishment from heaven, into a tight embrace against her chest.
"In the past and now, the only reason I continue to live is because of you."
The lazy and foolish black dragon found eternal peace in her embrace.
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[1] Yang Guifei and Daji are both famous historical figures known for their beauty and their roles in significant events in Chinese history.
Yang Guifei: A legendary consort of the Tang Dynasty, known for her extraordinary beauty (often considered one of the "Four Beauties of Ancient China."), who is said to have distracted the emperor and contributed to the decline of state affairs. Her story is closely tied to the An Lushan Rebellion.
Daji: A notorious consort of the last Shang Dynasty king, King Zhou, often portrayed as a ruthless beauty and malevolent fox spirit. Her manipulation of the king is believed to have played a key role in the Shang Dynasty's downfall.
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