Xuelan’s hands shook.

Tears slowly dripped down her cheeks, but she quickly wiped her eyes to stop the flow.

No! She couldn't let Kien leave!

She scrambled to her feet, almost tripping over herself as she stood up. She immediately ran after the incubus before he could step out of the cave and tried to grab his hand. However, her ex-boyfriend had quick reflexes, and he pulled away before Xuelan could get in range. It was like chasing an ephemeral ghost, and she couldn't reach him no matter how she tried.

"Xue, stop."

"Let's talk. Please."

"No. We're finished."

"Mast— I mean, Kien, please. I'm sorry. I upset you. I'll try to be better."

"You didn't upset me, Xue."

"Then give me another chance!"

The incubus sighed and turned around. Xuelan almost collided into him, but he rotated his body to the side, avoiding even the slightest brush of physical contact with the girl.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Xue," he said slowly. "But being with me is bad for you."

"You hate it when I'm too much of a slut, don't you? You like innocent girls better?"

"You're not a slut."

"You don't need to lie to make me feel better, Kien. I know what I am. I'm a hopeless pervert."

"Xue, stop."

The black-haired girl showed no indication of letting up.

"Kien, I'm selfish. I need you."

"Xue..."

"I'm not crazy or broken. Maybe you think I am, but I never stopped thinking rationally. Do you know what happened the last time you left me alone in a cage?"

The incubus looked like he was trying not to listen, and there was a pained looked on his eyes. Somehow, he seemed to vaguely know what was coming, even though the two of them had never talked about it. He almost couldn't bear to hear this.

"...I got raped." Xuelan said dryly. "Neiel strangled me until I passed out, and he fucked me while I choked to death."

"Xue... I'm sorry... That was my fault."

"If you leave me alone, it's going to happen a lot more. I'll be destroyed by other demons, and someone might capture me and take me far away. They'll tie me up, rape me, abuse me, whip me, and torture me all day until I can't even scream from my lungs. What if I end up like that horrible girl in the train? The only reason I'm even halfway physically intact is because you've been protecting me the entire time, Kien."

"I'll... watch over you... from a distance..." Kien sounded hesitant. "I'll make sure it doesn't happen."

"...Is that really what you think is best, Kien...?"

Xuelan had a sad look in her eyes.

"I guess I can understand if you're not attracted to me anymore. I'm too disgusting to have sex with? You can't bring yourself to stick it inside me now? Maybe you think the shy and innocent high school version of me was better?"

"Xue, please."

"I'm sorry, Kien. I ruined your ideal image of me. I guess I'm a lot worse in person than I was online."

"Xue, you're beautiful. Stop putting yourself down. Being with you in reality has been like a dream. It's just..."

"I can try to change myself into the type of woman you like."

Xuelan slowly unfolded the black sheet of fabric that Kien had given her. It was a large rectangular cloth made of a light and lacy gauze-like material, and approximately the size of a blanket.

She wrapped it around herself, wound the fabric over her torso, crossed it over and knotted it behind her neck like a sarong. It was the simplest way to make a dress out of a large sheet of cloth, and it wasn't even necessary to do any sewing. Later on, she would need to trim the fabric to better-fitting dimensions, but the current state of the improvised black dress wasn't half bad.

"How does it look?" She asked.

"It looks great. It's just... we still need to break up, Xue."

The black-haired girl went quiet for a moment.

All of her attempts at changing his mind seemed to be ineffective so far.

"Can I make a request then?" Xuelan asked.

"What is it?"

"Don't kick me out. Let me live with you. You don't have to touch me... and I won't touch you unless you ask me to... but please don't make me stay all alone outside. It drops below freezing at night, and it's cold. It's safer if I'm closer to you, and we can keep each other company. Two brains are better than one, and I'm better at some things than you are."

"..."

"I'm not broken, Kien. I'm not going to literally die without sex. I mean... you might... but I just wanted to help you."

"We are no longer in an intimate relationship."

"I understand."

"Fine. You can stay. But we're not sharing a bed."

"Okay."

"And I want you to work. Keep yourself productive."

"I can do that. Thank you, Kien."

The incubus sighed and turned back around.

Somehow, nothing ever seemed to work out the way that he expected. He didn't remember Xuelan being so emotionally manipulative, and she was so hyper-rational in her insanity that it was almost frightening. Everything that she said seemed to be supported with powerful and persuasive arguments. It was almost if she was prepared to debate with him about all the merits of why she should be enslaved for eternity.

However, Kien also knew that this was twisted. Nobody ought to enjoy real slavery.

If they claimed that they did, there was surely something broken inside of their head.

Nobody casually bartered away their life and freedoms like mere poker chips. Even if it was rational, certain things transcended rational argument. Even if it was rational to kill a baby snake, it didn't mean that it ought to be done.

Murder was still murder.

There was something horribly sick in Xuelan's head right now.

+ + +

"One more thing, Kien."

The black-haired incubus paused.

"Will you marry me?" Xuelan asked randomly out of the blue.

She said it casually, almost as if it were just an ordinary trivial question.

"..."

For a second, Kien thought his ears were broken.

"What?"

"If you don't want me to be your slave, can you at least make me into your wife?"

There was another silence.

Kien was dumbstruck, and he didn't even know how to respond.

There were a million things wrong with Xuelan sentence.

"I like you and I'm soul-bound to you for the rest of eternity. I don't mind if you fuck or rape other women, since I know incubi need lots of sex for food, so you don't have to worry about me being jealous. I'm also okay with it if you want to have a harem, and I'll even help you build one filled with all the cute girls that you like. But if you're going to run around raping other women, can you at least make me more special than the rest of your victims? I think it would be nice if we were married."

The incubus covered his face, and his head started hurting.

No... he definitely wasn't ready for this.

Xuelan was way too much for him... she deserved someone far better than trash like him.

"No. Rejected." He said.

"Why?"

"You're experiencing the Suspension Bridge Effect," Kien explained. "You're mistaking all of your traumatic experiences to be love. You don't actually have feelings for me. It's a psychological illusion."

"You don't believe in Stockholm Syndrome?" Xuelan asked innocently.

"...What?"

"Psychology classes are a mandatory medical school prerequisite," Xuelan reminded him. "I learned a couple of things in college, so I know about all these things. I always end the semester with A+ grades."

"So you're self-aware of the fact that you're experiencing Stockholm Syndrome? I abducted and raped you."

There was devious smile on Xuelan's face.

"And so what if I am?"

"It's not your natural feelings."

"Do my natural feelings really matter, Kien? I'm a rationalist and I'm extremely good at multiple choice exams. Marriage is objectively advantageous to me, so I suggested it. It just happens to be convenient that my current emotions align with a rational choice of action."

"I won't marry you like this, Xue."

"That's okay."

"I can't accept it. I won't marry anyone."

"That's fine, and I didn't expect you to say yes. I just wanted to bring it up so that you were exposed to the idea. You can let it stew around in your subconscious thoughts a for while. Maybe you'll even start dreaming about being married someday. Oh, also? Is it possible for us to have kids? I figured we were biologically incompatible somehow, but if there's a way to make it happen, I wouldn't mind having some with you."

"..."

Xuelan smiled sweetly.

"If you ever change your mind, you're always welcome to propose to me again."

 

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