༺ I Shall Corrupt You ༻
“…….”
“Frey, why the silence? Share a fun story or something.”
“Shut up.”
As Ruby strolled down the corridor, she said that with a smirk, and Frey retaliated with a glare.
“How cute. Even the glare. It’s like a wounded cat is staring at me.”
“I said shut up.”
Ruby, smirking at Frey, patted his head, but he pushed her hand away.
“Why not try to get along with me a bit, Frey?”
But at that moment, thanks to the newly formed system’s defense, Frey’s hand was deflected.
“After all, in a few months, you’ll be seeing me so much at the academy that you’ll get tired of me?”
Ruby continued to stroke Frey’s head, who gritted his teeth and moved to the side.
“Come here, Frey.”
Ignoring Ruby, as Frey tried to move aside, Ruby’s tail suddenly curled around his arm.
“No matter how much you struggle, you can never escape from me.”
In her true form, Ruby used her tail to pull Frey towards her.
“What do you think about this look? You seemed to dislike my childish appearance… How about this voluptuous form?”
“…….”
“Do you regret it? Not becoming my subordinate back then? But it’s too late. You’ve already missed your chance…”
“You look hideous.”
Ruby, who was full of confidence, frowned when Frey looked at her with disdain.
“What exactly is your taste? Could it be…”
“I hate it because it’s you. No matter what you look like, you always look hateful.”
“Is that so?”
Ruby smiled at his response.
“How about now?”
Suddenly, Kania appeared in front of Frey.
“My lord, I’ve prepared your meal.”
Uncharacteristically, Kania wore a wicked smile as she poured coffee into a cup.
“How is it, my lord?”
– Bang!!
Frey, unable to restrain himself threw a punch at her.
“…Sigh.”
Staring at the fist that halted right in front of her face, the Demon King reverted to her form as the Hero Ruby.
“If you had become my subordinate, I could have played multiple roles for you.”
Ignoring Ruby, Frey caressed his knuckles as he continued down the corridor.
“Take your time. There’s no need to rush…”
Ruby, who had been observing Frey with an affectionate gaze, suddenly turned around with a frown.
“…..Hmm?”
Her expression shifted immediately, and she glanced back.
“…….”
After staring at the same spot for a moment, Ruby turned to Frey and asked in a cold voice.
“You seemed completely indifferent… you must have been bothered about me too, huh?”
“…What?”
“Lately, I constantly feel someone’s gaze on me. What have you done? Even I can sense it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
As Frey answered curtly and walked down the corridor, Ruby smirked.
“…Of course, you wouldn’t.”
With those words, she quickened her pace.
“Hello, Hero! Greetings!”
Walking down the hallway, she soon reached the waiting room, where a knight promptly saluted her.
“Hello~ You’re doing great!”
Ruby warmly greeted the knight.
“Frey, watch closely.”
With a broad smile, she whispered into Frey’s ear.
“The ones you love, the ones you like, the ones you wanted to protect…”
“……”
“They will be smiling at me, praising me, and swearing loyalty to me.”
Having said that, Ruby looked up at Frey, who was deliberately avoiding her gaze.
“I want to see the look on your face as you fall apart.”
She added such words, her smile growing more mesmerized.
“Miss Ruby, please wait a moment…”
“…Hmm?”
However, her escort knight, whom she had sent into the waiting room earlier, blocked her path, speaking to her in a rushed whisper.
“Well, the thing is…”
“Vener? What’s going on…”
Eager to enter the waiting room, Ruby slightly nudged the knight aside and took a step forward.
“……..”
Glancing inside, her expression turned cold.
“…What’s going on here?”
The waiting room was completely empty.
“Ah, the thing is… just a moment ago, the Saintess and Miss Roswyn were here… they said they were going to the restroom…”
“…Only two of them came? Even with the summons?”
“I apologize.”
Ruby’s gaze dropped and a flustered expression adorned her face as she spoke to the escort knight.
“What are you doing…?”
Frey, standing beside her, added a whisper with a mocking smile, causing her brow to twitch.
“Aren’t you going to show me something?”
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“Sigh…”
In the empty waiting room, Ruby sat at a desk, looking at Frey with a bored expression.
“…This is annoying.”
Frey, sitting across from her, crossed his arms and glared at her.
His eyes, as always, gleamed brightly.
‘With this… my plan has gone awry…’
Ruby’s initial plan was to lead Frey into the waiting room and orchestrate a betrayal by the Hero Party, whom she had summoned. Nothing could have unsettled Frey more deeply, making it the perfect plan.
“So, why did you call me?”
“………”
For some reason, the members of the Hero Party hadn’t arrived.
As a result, both the Imperial Family and the Church appeared to be in a state of panic, needing to present the Hero Party to the public shortly. However, Ruby was fine with that.
It was just Frey. A beautiful noble. She wanted to see him broken, tortured, tormented, and falling before her eyes.
“…Tsk.”
Originally, Ruby’s desire to destroy was directed towards ‘this world’.
After the great war 1000 years ago, the continents have been beautifully revived.
The Sunrise Empire, renowned as the brilliant sun, was the western continent where various races coexist while the eastern continent was known as a mystical place.
How fun would it be to burn and destroy the relationships, love, the beautiful artifacts, and histories woven in those places?
Therefore, Ruby wanted to burn down the world to witness the beautiful and noble things crumble by her own hands.
“Why did you ask why I called you?”
But lately, that too seemed to be evolving into a secondary goal.
In this world, she discovered the one, perhaps the only one in history, so beautiful and noble.
Someone who, regardless of the hardships and adversities thrown his way, would never break or be corrupted but would always move forward.
It was because the ‘Hero’ who was the recipient of all her destructive desires had appeared.
“That is…”
How sweet would it be to witness his expression as he beheld ‘this world,’ which he held dear, consumed by flames?
How mesmerizing would it be to see him grieve, to see him collapse?
Therefore, Ruby was preparing even more diligently to destroy the world, but…
“…I’ll tell you now.”
Yet, as of late, something left her dissatisfied.
After all, her entire motivation stemmed from a desire to witness the man before her crumble.
He was living too comfortably these days. He was not shaken. In a word, there was no ‘crisis’.
And Ruby did not want such a bland situation.
– Clack.
After looking at Frey for a while, Ruby snapped her fingers, and the waiting room door locked tightly.
“What are you doing now?”
Frey looked at Ruby with a wary look.
– Whoosh…
Observing Frey’s vigilant gaze, Ruby slowly rose from her seat.
‘If there’s no crisis… I’ll create one.’
And then, approaching him slowly, she murmured to herself.
‘I’ll isolate you, Frey. Right Here today, I’ll make everyone in the world hate you… I’ll completely isolate you.’
“What…!”
Noticing Ruby’s change, Frey quickly stood up, but…
– Grab…!
“Ack!”
With astonishing speed, Ruby grabbed both his arms and forced him to the ground.
“What, what are you doing…!”
“Just stay still.”
Startled, Frey attempted to free himself, but Ruby restrained him with overwhelming strength.
– Crack…!
Frey’s slender arm was forcefully yanked by Ruby and she swiftly brought him down to the floor.
“Ahh…”
Tears welled up in Frey’s eyes, and he gazed at Ruby, who lay on top of him, firmly holding his arms, his eyes trembling.
– Squeeze…
With Frey’s arms in her grasp, Ruby, now unconsciously asserting dominance, began speaking through gritted teeth.
“I want to see you break, Frey.”
– Groan…
“If I could have just attacked you… I might have killed you halfway, let people see you dying and betray you until the truth came out, and then enjoyed their belated regrets.”
Ruby, saying so, spoke with a regretful expression.
“But… unfortunately, our System seems to interfere with attacks.”
“Wh-why…”
Hearing Ruby’s words, Frey, wide-eyed, asked with eyes wide open.
“Why are you… perfectly fine even though you’re attacking me?”
“Well, I learned recently from some stupid girl who kept hurting me.”
Then, Ruby spoke with a smirk.
“I think the prohibition on attacks between you and me… depends on the intent of the aggressor.”
“What do you mean…”
“This isn’t an attack, Frey.”
The next words out of Ruby’s mouth left Frey’s eyes wide in shock.
“…According to the System, this act is considered an act of affection.”
“…….!”
Upon hearing those words, Frey began to sweat profusely, and Ruby, looking down at him, whispered softly while licking her lips.
“Right here right now, I shall corrupt you, Frey.”
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Meanwhile, at that moment.
“I knew it… something’s going on…”
Glare, with arms crossed, was pacing around the waiting room.
“There’s definitely something… I’m sure of it…”
The man named ‘Frey’ that she had just met kept catching her attention for some inexplicable reason.
Why was that?
Each time he received criticism or cold glances from others, or encountered betrayals, she felt a pang as if it were happening to her.
Of course, she had always felt sad when she saw starving people during her time on the streets.
But this time it felt a little different.
“Hmm…”
The disgraced noble, Frey, whom she had only heard about.
Despite hailing from a ducal lineage, he appeared accustomed to the people’s disdain and criticism. When she encountered him earlier, he had stoically weathered the harsh judgments from those around him.
And he seemed so different from the rumors she had heard about him.
“……..”
It wasn’t just that.
For some reason, his expression shifted strangely upon seeing his adversary, Ruby, or the way he treated her when he spotted her and promptly turned away.
What was going on in the waiting room right now?
“…Maybe I should take a quick peek?”
In some unexplainable way, she felt a sense of sympathy for Frey as he was forcibly led away by Ruby, looking unexpectedly vulnerable.
– Snap!
After pacing outside the room for a while, Glare quietly flicked her finger.
– Crack!
A corner of the opaque window of the waiting room broke just a tiny bit.
Glare’s destructive ability had become so refined that she could control it to such minute details.
“…..Gulp.”
Approaching the small gap where light seeped out, Glare took a deep breath and peeked inside.
“……!!!”
She immediately covered her mouth.
“St-stop… let go…”
“Stay… still…!”
“Let go…!”
Ruby was on top of Frey, holding his arms, and Frey was struggling with all his might.
“…What is this?”
No matter how you look at it, it was a situation where Frey was about to be attacked by Ruby.
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