Transforming into the Great Black, just like what Lilith told me.

To make that happen, I had to have sex with Veronica.

That part was simple to say, but not exactly simple to deal with.

I mean, Veronica wasn’t just anyone. She was one of Lilith’s fragments, which meant getting involved with her wasn’t just about the act itself. If I conquered her, then I’d slowly start becoming Lilith. That wasn’t exactly a small side effect you could just ignore and move on from.

I didn’t really know how much of that would actually happen if I had sex with her. There wasn’t a manual for this kind of thing and there was no clear line that said this is safe and this isn’t. Still, I figured I’d probably be fine. Since this was only going to happen once (?), it didn’t feel like something that would completely screw me over. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.

As long as I didn’t fully conquer Veronica, I doubted there would be any serious consequences. That was the line I was planning to stay behind. Even then, there was this feeling sitting at the back of my mind, and it was like a quiet warning that refused to go away. It wasn’t loud or dramatic or anything like that, but just persistent enough to make me question things for a second longer than I wanted.

Then again, it wouldn’t really count as an investment if there wasn’t any risk involved. Playing it safe wouldn’t get me anywhere with enemies like the ones I was dealing with. That much was obvious.

"I guess I should approach Veronica right now," I said, more to myself than anyone else.

Saying it out loud made it feel more real. Also made it harder to back out of.

Even so, one question kept bothering me. How exactly was I supposed to convince her to have sex with me? That wasn’t exactly something you just casually bring up in conversation like you’re asking for directions.

Last time, we had almost done it. Things had gotten close enough that I knew she wasn’t completely against the idea. She didn’t react negatively back then, and if anything, she seemed... fine with it. Maybe even a little curious.

Maybe she wouldn’t react much if I just said it outright this time. Well, no point overthinking it too much. Overthinking usually just made things worse anyway.

***

I walked up to her, keeping my steps steady. She was standing outside Lilia’s room, just quietly waiting there like she had nothing better to do. The moment I got close enough, her gaze shifted toward me.

"My sister is sleeping," she said.

"I know. I came here for you."

Her eyebrow lifted slightly, just enough to show she didn’t expect that answer.

She looked at me like she was trying to figure out if I was serious or just messing with her.

"That’s surprising," she said. "Considering how much you seem to dislike being near me."

"Well, being near you means I’m risking becoming Lilith someday," I replied.

"Is that so?" she asked. "Then why come to me now?"

"Well... this is part of a plan," I said.

"A plan?"

I took a slow breath. Figuring out how to explain this without sounding completely ridiculous wasn’t easy. It already sounded bad in my head.

"The enemies we’re dealing with right now have enough power to destroy this entire country," I told her. "If I fight both the Prince and Moriarty at the same time, I think I can win. The problem is, the cost might be the destruction of this whole kingdom. That’s why I want to end the fight as quickly as possible."

"I see..." she murmured. "But what does that have to do with me?"

"I need your help to make that happen."

"My help?"

"Right now, the only thing I can think of is transforming into Lilith’s dragon form," I said, keeping my eyes on her. "And to do that... I have to have sex with you."

She tilted her head slightly.

"Huh?"

There wasn’t any disgust on her face. No anger either. Just confusion, like she was trying to process what I just said and figure out if I was being serious.

"You don’t want to become Lilith, right?" she asked. "So why are you choosing this path now?"

"My options are probably limited," I replied. "Actually, there’s no probably about it. They really are limited. This is the only solution I could come up with. I even met Lilith myself, and she told me that if I wanted a better chance at winning, I had to transform. And to do that... I needed to have sex with you."

Hearing myself say it out loud made it sound worse somehow. It felt like I was trying to sell something shady, like one of those deals that you already know is questionable the moment you hear it.

I honestly sounded like some desperate ex-boyfriend trying to convince his ex to sleep with him again, promising something meaningful and then disappearing right after.

In other words, yeah... pretty scummy.

Still, I wasn’t lying.

"Have sex with you, huh?" she said, repeating it like she was testing how it sounded.

"Yeah." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Alright."

She agreed so easily that it took me a second to process it.

"You’re just going to agree like that?" I asked.

"Well, it’s something I want to do anyway," she said, completely casual about it. "I’m interested in you. And I’m interested in the act itself."

That was... unexpectedly straightforward. I had prepared myself for resistance, maybe even a bit of arguing. Instead, she just accepted it like it was nothing.

Honestly, that caught me off guard more than anything else so far.

"Let’s go," she said, already turning slightly. "To my room. I assume you have enough decency not to do it right outside my sister’s room while she’s sleeping, right?"

"Yeah... I do," I replied.

I followed her without questioning it. At that point, there wasn’t really anything left to question anyway. The decision had already been made.

We walked through the halls until we reached her room. When she opened the door and stepped inside, I followed right after.

Her room was bigger than I expected. It wasn’t overly flashy, but it had enough space to make it clear she held a high position. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but she was the Vice Commander of the Magic Knights. Having a room like this made sense.

She walked in like she owned the place, which, to be fair, she did.

Then she sat down on the edge of the bed, her movements calm and natural, like this wasn’t anything unusual for her. Without hesitation, she reached up and started unbuttoning her uniform.