TOAD – Chapter 58
I followed behind Oberon as he led me down the hallways. Despite having spent three days in this mansion, I had not ventured out of my room. They hadn’t specifically restricted me to my room, so it could be considered my self-enforced punishment. Well, they brought me anything that I asked for other than the one thing that I wanted, Oberon. Nothing else mattered to me, so it seemed like there was no reason to leave the room until he had shown up.
Since Oberon hade to escort me somewhere, I would naturally follow him. He didn’t take me particrly far. After making a gesture for the guards to wait at the door, he opened arge set of doors and stepped aside for me to enter. I gave him an elegant curtesy befitting a king and then walked into the room. I tempered my arousal to the best of my ability. It would have been nice if he was taking me somece to have sex, but I could only be so hopeful. He had already shown me that intercourse wasn’t in our near future.
It only took a single nce before I knew where he had taken me. Whether it was the sight of rows of books, the smell of paper and ink, or the seemingly quiet atmosphere, this was undoubtedly a library. He closed the doors, sealing us off alone. He probably hadn’t brought me here to have some librarian roley, so I remained silent as I waited for him to speak.
“Well?” He asked, gesturing to the ce around him.
“Yes?” I responded.
“What do you think?” He sounded slightly annoyed.
“It’s a library.”
“Yes, I’ve done some inquiry into your past. I’ve been told that you enjoy libraries.”
At first, I didn’t understand what he was talking about, but that’s when I remembered my time in Nidia. I had spent quite a lot of time in a library. That had a lot to do with me having just arrived in this world and feeling desperate for information. I had used the king’s library and yed with the king too. It had all been about gaining an advantage and making sure I survived in this harsh world. As a college student, it wasn’t like I was averse to reading, but outside of a royal setting, books were rather rare.
That’s when I realized why he was looking at me so expectantly. Even after a year of living in this world, I still had themon sense of a person from my world. Every city had a library three times the size of this one. To me, this wasn’t that impressive of a sight. We had printers and could pump out copies of just about any book ad nauseam. Meanwhile, this collection of books was probably mostly hand-scribed. Each book was a small treasure, and having them all together like this exhibited an enormous wealth.
This library wasrger than the one in Nidia and considering this was just the demon king’s mansion, and not even a part of his pce, it showed the enormous wealth and status it’d take to create such a thing. Thinking I enjoyed books, he was more or less gifting me with this library. He was pulling a Beauty and the Beast on me, to say the least.
“I don’t know what to say…” I put my hand to my chest, using my full range of deception to appear speechless and enamored.
“Hmm…” He grunted; the sudden change in my expression must have given him doubts. “I had as many books imported here in thest three days as I could manage so that you could feelfortable.”
This library wasn’t here already? He had it made? That was something else. Maybe he wasn’t as big of a dead fish as I had thought. Perhaps there was still hope for romance from this hard man.
“If you wanted to make me wet, you could have just slid your hand up my skirt,” I answered moving to touch him.
“Grr… always with such thoughts. Is your mind nothing but filth?” He replied angrily, avoiding my touch and turning away. “The library isn’t purely a gift. Ites with stiptions.”
“And those are?” I asked innocently, a small smile on my face.
“You have three days to act the part of a presentabledy. In three days, I will bring you before the council and announce the wedding.”
“Is that all?” I asked incredulously. “I could go now. I think you’ll find I’m a very good actress.”
“I have no doubt, but that is not what I mean.” He exhaled loudly. “In this mansion, you are rtively safe, but out there, there are more than just assassins to worry about. As my queen, you will be pulled into the political intrigue of the demon world. Many crafty young lords anddies will seek to use and exploit you. This is something I can’t allow. You cannot be a weakness for me.”
“I’ve dealt with political intrigue before…”
He snorted. “Yes, I’ve heard. You were tricked into embarrassing yourself, publicly embarrassed the royal family, was turned into a human sacrifice, and then caused the entire country to copse.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it again. When he said it like that, it sounded like I had done a bad job.
“Did you learn all of this from Devon?” I asked instead. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
“The human prince that is here to broker peace?” Oberon frowned. “He’s just a game piece that my opponents are attempting to use to destabilize my power. His existence is meaningless. It’s the people behind him that I worry about. As for my sources, ites from people I trust.”
“He may be a patsy, but you shouldn’t disregard him…” I spoke quietly, hesitating a second before adding. “Or the… man who calls himself a hero.”
“I will take that into advisement.” He responded coldly. “However, for the task at hand, this will be your only choice. You must read up on the demon realm. I want you to know the family and lineage of every demon line. I want you to have a clear knowledge of our history as a realm, and a clear understanding of the factions.”
“And I presume that these books contain such knowledge?” I spoke wryly.
He nodded over to a table with tworge piles of books inconspicuously sitting there. “I expect you to have read through those books, and memorized a good part of it.”
That much material seemed insane, but since I started leveling, all of my stats had gone up. I wasn’t just stronger and more charming. Intelligence was a stat, and that stat had increased significantly. My wisdom had also gone up. If 10 was considered a standard adult human’s intelligence then I was easily 7-fold smarter than the average human. Reading and memorizing such arge amount of information had be easier for me.
I also wasn’t too unustomed tote-night study cram sessions before an exam. Even if someone’s intelligence increased, if they didn’t have the proper skills needed to learn new information, they would still struggle. That wasn’t an issue for me. However, just because I could do this didn’t mean I was just going to blindly agree.
“You’re asking for quite a lot from me,” I responded, ncing over at the demon king.
He had turned back to me and was giving me that same apathetic but cautious look he seemed to apply to everything. I felt I had a right to argue though. The original agreement was that I just had to be an incubator for his baby when the time came. After dragging me to his location, he was going to start altering parts of the agreement? Now, I needed to be proper and well learned? I had to help him with his political exploits as well? Why would I be okay being handed more work with no gain?
“I’ve already provided you this library.” He spoke quietly. “What else would you ask from me?”
“Please, a library where you’ve already decided on all of my reading material.” I snorted. “Don’t give me dishes to clean and call it a rose.”
His expression flickered slightly. “Alright, what do you have in mind?”
I licked my lips, taking a step forward. “I think you can guess what I have in mind.”
“This again!” He spat. “I’ve already exined to you that your levels must be higher before anything of that nature can transpire.”
“Aren’t you just looking down on me? I could handle a dragon god, do you think I couldn’t handle you?”
His face grew enraged. “Don’t bring Bahamut into this. I’m aware of his… desecration. Be happy that I’ve forgiven such a trespass.”
“Trespass? As if I had a choice in the matter.” I huffed crossing my arms and looking away from his steely gaze. “Look, you want me to spend the next three days studying. Well, I’ll tell you simply that it won’t happen. I am unable to do such a thing.”
“Why not?”
“Have I not exined myself properly before, or did you simply ignore me?” I raised an eyebrow, causing him to frown. “Typical man who thinks he understands a woman better than herself. I have needs that must be fulfilled. If a berserker isn’t allowed to battle and exude his bloodlust, then he would go mad, would he not? Name a job ss where a person isn’tpelled toplete their job regrly. I may be a demon queen now, but I have the body of a seductress. I have needs and urges that must be regrly fulfilled.”
“I’ve sent maids.” His expression turned awkward.
“Don’t act na?ve now.” I glowered. “You send a seasoned warrior’s chickens, and you’re only sending them to the ughter while giving the warrior nothing. As if those women were up to the task. If you weren’t so busy looking into my background and just observed me, you’d know there was no way I couldst three days in this library on my own. There is no saying who I might pounce, maybe even that Truthsayer of yours.”
“You dare threaten to cheat on me?”
“Don’t ce a snake into a cage with rats and be surprised about what she eats.”
He looked me in the eyes for a few moments and then sighed. “I’m… sorry…”
“Oh?”
“In truth, I’m already well aware of your condition. I hadn’t realized how… difficult a situation your current disposition has put you in. Perhaps I’m the only one who can truly understand what you are going through.”
“How is that?”
“We are both pinnacles of our species. It is a problem with our very makeup. Human beings were never intended to hold as much mana as those of us at the higher levels. Our very existences ce pressure on this world that makes it hard to withstand. This is why even simple things like procreation be more difficult the higher your level bes. The only way to even speak withmoners is by forcibly restraining ourselves.”
I slowly dropped my arms, feeling like his words were at least trying to be sympathetic. “You’re not wrong.”
He stared at me, seemingly in thought for a few moments, before snapping his finger. The door opened, and the Truthsayer walked in. I watched as the demon lord turned to him. The other man bowed, holding something up that I couldn’t see in front of the demon lord’s broad backside. Oberon took the item, and after shooting me a quick look, the Truthsayer retreated from the room.
“Do not think that I haven’t considered your presence from the moment I proposed to you. I may be a busy man, but you have been at the forefront of my mind. Since your arrival, I have been considering ways we might be able to contain…” He turned around a looked at me for wincing. “You…”
I noticed that he was holding what looked to be another choker in his hands, and narrowed my eyes. “Another restraint?”
“You may consider it an opportunity. You should not wear it all the time, as it can be dangerous. You are not required to wear this one, but I believe it may help.”
I frowned as he offered me the choker, cautiously taking it and swiping it. I immediately used Examine to look it over.
<strong>{Ne of Numbness – Removes tactile sensation.}</strong>
“Tactile sensation?”
“After some analysis, I’ve concluded that your body is extremely sensitive. You be easily aroused because even the slightest breezes can stimte you. Even feelings of pain end up bing pleasure for you, so it’s like you’re being sexually stimted constantly.”
“That’s true…”
“Then, this ne will remove your ability to feel anything. I say it’s dangerous because any injury you received you wouldn’t be able to feel. It also can be addictive. People who get used to feeling nothing find the mere act of sensation to be painful. However, given your high regeneration ability and the fact all pain is converted to pleasure, then I believe you might be uniquely suited for this item.”
“I see…”
“At the least, it would allow you to get by for longer periods, and to think more clearly in normal situations. This is the best I can provide you for now.”
“Then… I will take it.”
Although I was willing to use it, it did leave me with an itchy feeling on the inside. I had already survived in this world by bing emotionally numb. I could barely feel happiness, anger, or joy anymore. Every emotion was a mere fabrication of my deception. Now, I was going to be physically numb. I’d feel nothing on the inside, and nothing on the outside. Could I even call myself human at that point?
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