Reborn as a Succubus: Time To Live My Best Life!-Chapter 409: Deep Discussions

{Melisa}

The bar had become routine.

Every evening, after training with Tessa or Zephyra, Melisa found herself pushing through the doors of The Laughing Fox. And every evening, Sylra was there behind the counter, silver hair gleaming, red eyes lighting up the moment she saw Melisa walk in.

Tonight was no different.

"The usual?" Sylra asked, already reaching for a bottle.

"You know me so well."

Sylra poured the honey wine with a flourish.

Melisa took her usual seat at the bar. The evening crowd was thin tonight—just a few kitsune scattered at tables, none of them engaged in the usual public debauchery. Maybe it was the weather. Rain had been falling since afternoon, drumming steadily on the roof.

"Slow night," Melisa observed.

"Rain keeps people home." Sylra leaned against the bar, propping her chin on her hand. "But not you."

"I like the company."

Sylra’s smile softened a bit.

They talked. About Melisa’s training. About the village. She was getting better at reading emotional signatures, though distinguishing between similar essences still eluded her. And also, more kitsune were getting sick, and the healers still had no answers.

Then they talked about nothing in particular, the way people do when they’re comfortable with each other.

[I feel like I’ve known Sylra my whole life somehow.]

Eventually, the conversation turned to Sylra.

"You never talk about yourself," Melisa said. "Where you came from. How you ended up here."

Sylra’s expression flickered. Just for a moment, something dark passed behind her eyes.

"Not much to tell."

"I don’t believe that."

Sylra was quiet for a long moment. She poured herself a drink—something stronger than the honey wine—and took a long sip.

"I grew up in a nim settlement," she said finally. "Small place, out in the Yalmir countryside. Maybe fifty of us. We kept to ourselves, traded with nearby kitsune villages, tried not to draw attention."

Melisa nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"When I was twelve, darians raided us." Sylra’s voice was flat. Matter-of-fact. "They came at night. Killed the ones who fought back, took the ones who didn’t. I hid in a root cellar while they burned everything above me."

[Damn.]

"I got out. Ran. Survived." She shrugged, but her knuckles were white around her glass. "Spent years moving from place to place. Begging. Stealing. Doing whatever I had to do. Eventually, I ended up here. The owner of this bar took me in, gave me work. When she died a few years back, she left me the place."

"I’m so sorry."

"Don’t be. It was a long time ago." Sylra drained her glass. "But when I heard the news—about you, about a nim who could use magic—something changed. I thought, if she can do it, why can’t I? So I started watching. Learning. Practicing in secret. Taught myself how to use magic in a short amount of time through trial and error. Lots of error. I needed to never feel powerless again. Magic gave me that."

[She did all of that because of me. Because I proved it was possible.]

The weight of that settled on Melisa’s shoulders. She’d known, abstractly, that her actions had inspired other nim. But hearing it directly, seeing the scars it came from... that was different.

"Tell me about your friends," Sylra said, clearly ready to change the subject. "The ones waiting for you in Syux."

Melisa accepted the pivot.

"I’ve told you a bit about them but I guess I could say more. I mean, there’s Isabella. My cousin. She’s a kitsune, completely shameless, brilliant with magic. She invented these things called wands."

"Right, those sticks that can draw spellsigns."

"Yep. She’s probably taking over the magical equipment market as we speak."

"Sounds ambitious."

"That’s one word for her." Melisa grinned. "And Armia. She’s a darian. Tall, serious, incredibly disciplined. She’s joining the Royal Guard right now, trying to prove that non-humans can be just as loyal to Syux as anyone."

Sylra’s expression shifted at the mention of a darian. Given her history, Melisa couldn’t blame her.

"You’re close to them."

"Very. They’re family, basically."

Sylra nodded slowly, swirling the dregs of her drink.

"Do you ever feel like you’re betraying your own people? By being so close to them? To humans?"

"What do you mean?"

"You work for a human queen. Your best friends are a kitsune and a darian. You’ve built your whole life in a human city, playing by human rules." Sylra’s red eyes met hers. "Don’t you ever wonder if you’re selling out? Choosing their world over ours?"

Melisa opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

[Huh. Do I?]

She thought about it. About Aria. About Javir. About all the humans who’d helped her, believed in her, given her opportunities no nim had ever had. But, hey, she also thought about Koros. About the nim who saw her as a traitor. About the ones who’d burned down Javir’s manor because they thought she’d abandoned her own kind.

"I don’t know," she admitted. "Sometimes. Maybe."

Sylra nodded.

"It’s hard, isn’t it? Loving people who’ll never fully understand what it’s like to be us."

The words sat heavy with Melisa for a moment. She wanted to argue, to say that understanding wasn’t everything, that love and friendship transcended racial boundaries, and that her human and kitsune and darian friends accepted her completely.

But did they? Really? Could Isabella ever truly understand what it was like to be treated as subhuman? Could Armia, who’d spent years trying to escape her own heritage, get the weight of nim history? Could even Aria, who genuinely cared about nim rights, understand what it felt like to walk through a city where half the population saw you as lesser? 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Anyway, enough of that. This was getting depressing.

Thankfully, Sylra reached across the bar and took her hand.

"Come upstairs."

[Oh thank god.]

"What about the bar?"

"It’s dead tonight. No one will miss me." Sylra’s thumb traced circles on Melisa’s palm. "Unless you’d rather keep brooding?"

"Upstairs sounds good."

Sylra’s room was small but cozy. A bed piled with blankets, a dresser, a window overlooking the rainy street. The rain drumming on the roof made everything feel private.

Sylra kissed her before the door was fully closed.

This wasn’t like their previous kisses, the quick teasing ones that Melisa’s overthinking brain kept cutting short. This one had intent. Purpose. Sylra’s hands found Melisa’s hips and pulled their bodies together.

They tumbled onto the bed together, hands working at clothes, mouths barely separating. Sylra’s body was lean and warm, her tits small but perky, her skin soft under Melisa’s fingers. Every touch drew soft sounds from her throat, and that just made Melisa want to touch her more.

Then Sylra moved lower.

And lower.

And—

"Oh fuck."

God, Sylra’s mouth.

Melisa had been with a lot of people at this point. Isabella’s enthusiastic sloppiness. Armia’s intense focus. Rakia’s theatrical flair. Silviana’s overwhelming expertise. Zephyra’s precise skill.

Sylra was different.

She ate pussy like it was the only thing she’d ever wanted to do, like she’d been born for this singular purpose. Her tongue found every spot that made Melisa’s hips buck, and then she just kept hitting those spots over and over without mercy.

Melisa’s hands fisted in the sheets. Her back arched. Sounds came out of her mouth that she’d deny making later.

"Sylra, I’m gonna—"

Sylra didn’t let up. If anything, she got more intense.

Melisa came so hard she saw stars.

Then Sylra kept going.

By the time they were done, truly done, both of them wrung out and gasping, the rain had stopped and moonlight was streaming through the window.

Melisa lay on her back, staring at the ceiling, her entire body buzzing.

"Where," she managed, "did you learn to do that?"

Sylra curled against her side, looking entirely too smug.

"Practice."

"That wasn’t practice. That was... I don’t even have words."

"Good." Sylra pressed a kiss to her shoulder. "That’s exactly what I was going for."

Melisa laughed and pulled her closer.

[Okay. This village might be my new favorite place.]