After knocking on Season's door I waited a moment before hearing a flat toned response.

"What."

Friendly as always, I see.

"Hey Season, it's me. Can we talk?"

"What." 

"Er... can I come in?"

"No."

That's… not the answer I was hoping for.

"Could you… at least maybe open the door?"

"..."

"..."

"Fine."

Oh, thank goodness.

After a few moments of waiting I heard a soft "click" as the door unlocked and immediately opened.

Season was, as usual, wearing a baggy hoodie, even in her own room. She looked at me expressionlessly, causing me to immediately feel somewhat uncomfortable in a way only she ever seemed to manage. 

"What is it?"

Should I be happy that she's using multiple words now?

"Er, I… have something I need to talk with you about, but I'd really rather not say it in the hallway…"

I wanted to get her into her room, where nobody would bother us. Unfortunately…

"Then let's go downstairs."

Well, yes, that's also a valid option, but it doesn't help me here.

"We could, but I don't want Mile or Noitte coming down while I'm explaining."

"Then text me."

Also an extremely fair point, but please cooperate!

"Hey Conor!"

Fig flew in front of me.

"Just use me! It will be easy to just walk in after that!"

Not seeing much alternative, and not particularly wanting to argue with Season in her doorway, I decided to take Fig's advice. 

Okay! Let's try the new skill. 

A flow of conversation leading me into the room should probably be doable, right?

Active Corruption 

I felt a much smaller than usual amount of mana exit my body… then immediately return, causing me to feel slightly dizzy.

Huh?

"Ooh! Her mental resistance is amazing!"

Fig gave a strange compliment as I tried to figure out what happened.

"Mental resistance", huh?

So strong mental resistance can cause the skill to fail, and of course Season would have it…

In which case a watered down version of Corruption won't work, right?

Corruption 

I cast Corruption itself this time, and felt a large amount of energy flow out of me and head towards Season.

Suddenly, my head felt what I could only describe as a feeling similar to scraping aluminum foil against a concrete floor. A horrible scratching sensation filled my chest as I felt my mana once again return to my body.

I swayed slightly, trying to keep stable as a much more intense feeling of dizziness swept over me. I couldn't help but clutch at my chest, trying vainly to feel at the source of discomfort.

Season backed off slightly, a mix of confusion and concern on her face.

"What are you doing?" 

She leaned in a little while I was focused on my pain, looking over me as she tried to figure out what was wrong. 

"Huh!? She reflected me without even trying!"

Fig's indignant voice came from somewhere over my head. 

So this was the backlash from Corruption backfiring too... Frankly I was shocked both that it failed so easily and that the feeling of backlash was so harsh. 

"Hey Conor! Her mental defense is crazy! I… I might just be too weak to do the job for now!"

Fig warned me as I stumbled back slightly, trying hard to keep my balance. I could instinctively feel that she was right, maybe that's only reasonable since she's my skill…

Bottom line: mission failed.

"Conor? What happened? You okay?"

A rare bit of intonation filled Season's voice as she slowly approached me.

Knowing that she actually felt concern at my pain was nice, to be sure, but I needed to lay down immediately, so I couldn't really appreciate it at the moment.

"Er, sorry. I don't feel so great all of a sudden. I need to lay down for a bit… I'll… talk to you about it later… I guess."

With that I walked away from the door, leaving a still confused Season behind as I quickly made my way downstairs and fell onto the couch, the dizziness causing me to feel like I was swaying even as I lay down.

"This is backlash?"

"Yeah… sorry Conor."

"It's fine, I'm just going to rest for a bit."

The dizziness and discomfort in my chest were more than I cared to deal with while doing anything else, so I closed my eyes and tried to rest a bit…

---

Despite my best efforts, I didn't sleep at all, instead just shifting uncomfortably and feeling like crap until the feeling slowly settled down.

Checking my phone, it was already eight PM. It had taken a full two hours for the feeling of irritation to settle down.

Fig flew out of my chest as I looked at my phone.

"Hey, Conor! How are you feeling?"

"Better."

Even if I felt better, I was definitely not going to try that again tonight. Frustrating as it was, Season would have to wait until I was a bit stronger before I could even think about trying to corrupt her. That painful feeling and nausea… yeah, hard pass.

I was barely at the starting point and there was already an obstacle I couldn't overcome… figures. 

Feeling demotivated, and lacking anything else to do at the moment, I decided to boot up my console and play some video games while I waited to actually feel tired.

After a while of grinding against some rather weak monsters, I heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs before Season came into view.

"You okay?"

"Yeah… sorry about that."

"It's fine. Still wanna talk?"

"No, it can wait for now. "

"Alright. Get some sleep."

And with that, Season made her way to the kitchen. Well… I got her to talk to me at least… 

"Argh! It's so frustrating having her right there but not being able to do anything!"

Fig flew up beside me as she watched Season leave the room. 

"Well, nothing I can do about it for now. I'm not doing that backlash thing again any time soon."

"Yeah…"

"For now, I guess I'll focus on the others when I can."

"Well… that sounds right, but still!"

Fig looked down, obviously disappointed in her lack of ability and Season's resulting inaccessibility. Seeing her looking bummed out just felt wrong somehow…

"It's fine Fig, we're just starting out, right?"

"R-Right! We just need to keep getting stronger and we'll bring Season to her knees in no time! Yeah! Definitely!"

She put on a slightly forced smile as she stood and put her hands on her hips.

After a few moments of Fig posing and reassuring herself, I heard Season return up the stairs followed shortly by another set of footsteps coming down.

Season just went up, and Noitte always dashes down the stairs, so that leaves Mile.

Sure enough, she entered my line of sight almost immediately.

Since I'd been unable to use Corruption on Season, I still had a little more than half my mana left, so using it on Mile would be perfect.

I stood up from the couch and walked with her to the kitchen.

"Hey sweetie! How are you this evening?"

"Fine, just tired. How are you, Mile?"

"Oh, you know, also tired, but I'm hanging in there. Did you need something?"

Corruption

My mana drained as usual, but the feeling of tiredness felt more intense than before,  possibly as a side effect of the previous backlash. 

Fortunately, there was no repeat of what happened with Season, so Mile quickly fell under my control.

Fig flew from next to me, a confused look on her face.

"Hey Conor, did you just do something weird?"

"Other than hypnotizing my stepmother?"

Fig rolled her eyes.

"Obviously!"

"Well… weird how?"

"Like, did you cast me with extra mana or anything to strengthen me?"

"No? I don't think so?"

"Huh."

Fig looked confused for a moment as I questioningly looked over her, trying to figure out what was going on.

She seemed to continue thinking for a moment before shaking her head and turning her attention back to Mile.

"Anyways… what's the plan for her, exactly?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… so you don't want to push any of the three too far before getting them all under control, right?"

"Right?"

"But you can't affect Season at all right now, right?"

"...right."

It would be hard to do anything with Mile or Noitte with Season around and uncorrupted. She would definitely notice something off before anyone else, and if I can't control her she'll definitely freak out…

Maybe I could just get Mile to do something simple like letting me sleep in her bed?

No. If Season comes downstairs at night and sees me missing it will cause problems.

Then… finding a time when Season isn't around?

Work?

No, I don't know what the situation will be like there, so it's hard to say if I can set up something useful in advance.

Then… What should I do?

"Any ideas, Fig?"

"You could! … no… hmm…"

Fig floated around in slow circles, seemingly deep in thought.

Just in case, I decided to try a few general things I knew I wanted to change. 

"You see me as a man you could have a relationship with instead of a son."

…

Nothing shifted and my head started hurting again, so that's definitely a failure. 

"You think it should be fine to have a relationship with me, even if you see me as your son."

No reaction.

"...It's kind of hard thinking of how to get her to do what I want when she's this determined to see me as her son."

"That's it!"

Fig jumped up and shouted as she quickly flew in front of my face.

"Hey Conor! Instead of changing the way she sees your relationship, why not change how she sees the way she sees your relationship!"

"Wait, what? What does that even mean?"

"Well…Instead of a stepmother being someone who acts like a mother and acts responsible for their stepson, what if she thought a stepmother was someone who was supposed to obey their stepson?"

That… makes sense!

She's really invested in being my stepmom and being a mother figure, but does that mean she's equally invested in what the word itself means?

Let's find out!

"Mile, you are determined to be the best stepmother ever, and understand that the best way to be a good stepmom is ensuring my happiness by always doing what I ask you."

I felt the air shift and move towards her at a surprisingly mellow pace.

"Huh! Maybe cause it's something relating to your happiness? Or maybe she was just used to doing things for you already?"

Fig watched her with a somewhat tired look as she speculated. 

After a moment, Mile started blinking as her head began to clear.

"Sorry Conor, what were you saying?"

"I asked if you would stand on one leg."

With no real feeling of hesitation, Mile picked up her right leg and balanced somewhat shakily. Her expression showed zero confusion or annoyance despite the bizarre request.

"Like this?"

"Now hop up and down on one leg."

"Um… sorry, honey. I don't think that's a great idea."

An unexpected failure?

"Hey Conor."

Fig flew in front of me, trying to get my attention, but I couldn't exactly answer while Mile was looking right at me.

"Remember what you just said! You said 'what I ask you', right?"

Right... So asking is okay, but ordering isn't?

What a picky skill.

"Sorry about that Mile, but would you please jump up and down on one leg?"

"Of course!"

With that she began hopping, causing her loosely held breasts to start moving violently under her shirt.

With no bra on, that… actually seems like it should be painful, right? The way they flew up and down each bounce with no support was probably not good for her, and given their size… oops…

"Er, you can stop now."

"That's okay, sweetie."

She smiled gently as she continued to hop, wincing slightly each time her breasts bounced back up.

Oh for fuck's sake.

"Could you please stop hopping?"

She stopped immediately, still standing on one leg with a slight smile on her face as she regained her balance.

"Could you also stand normally?"

With that, she put down her leg.

"No problem at all. Did you need anything else, Conor?"

It was a surreal situation, to say the least. Her nonchalance at being asked to do something ridiculous that even caused her pain was incredible.

Once again, I felt my respect for Corruption grow. 

Out of that respect, I will ignore Fig floating there and looking smug.

Now for the real test.

I listened for the sound of anyone going in or out of their rooms for a moment before giving my next "ask".

"Hey, Mile. Could you show me your tits?"

A slight dizziness came over me as she started to frown. It was the same feeling as when Active Corruption rebounded, meaning…

"I'm… sorry to let you down, sweetie, but I don't think that's a very appropriate thing to ask for."

She blushed slightly, but didn't yell or storm off like I'd expected her to under normal circumstances. 

"Oh! That's super weird!"

Fig flew in a circle around her as she looked her up and down.

"So it's an inappropriate thing to ask, but it's balanced out by her worry that she'll make you unhappy! That's super cool!"

Fig was excited by something strange again, but I got her message loud and clear.

The skill itself still worked just fine, it was just a matter of continuing to push what she thought was appropriate within the bounds of "making me happy".

In that case, it's just a matter of patience… again.

Welp, can't be helped.

"Sorry Mile, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. "

"No, it's okay honey, just… be reasonable, okay?"

"Right… well anyway, I'm going to go ahead and go to bed."

"Okay. Goodnight Conor, I'll try to keep it down in here."

Leaving behind the slightly frowning Mile, I headed back to my couch and layed back down. It wasn't quite nine yet, but I felt exhausted after using up most of my mana and experiencing that backlash.

I covered myself with my blanket and opened Demoness Conquest, quickly going through today's missions while the half asleep Fig played a slightly quieter than usual peanut gallery. 

Eventually I finished everything I could, left the game, and contentedly closed my eyes.

Author's Note: Hey, 10 chapters down! Thanks for reading so far, hope you've been enjoying it!

Please feel free to leave any questions, comments, concerns, insults, etc. as you read. I'm completely inexperienced as a writer and could definitely use the feedback!