In a secluded room, roughly 10 square meters, surrounded by stone walls, Theo and Piel were the only occupants.
Theo, his eyes wide, stared at Piel and tried to speak.
"What..."
But his words stopped.
Squeak─
Piel had seized Theo's arm tightly.
"Uh, ugh."
A groan slipped out from Theo due to the sudden pain.
Piel continued to grip his arm, forcing him into a corner.
Under her firm hold, Theo stumbled backward.
Theo grimaced and protested.
"······Let go. Piel. It hurts."
"······No."
However, Piel refused to release Theo's arm.
No, she squeezed even harder, as if it were something precious that she had longed to possess.
Kooong─!
Theo's back collided with the stone wall in the corner.
"Ugh."
With a faint groan, Theo glanced down at Piel.
······It's definitely Piel. A girl with unimaginable strength.
"What are you trying to do, Piel? I was just trying to help you."
"Didn't I warn you? ······Don’t touch me."
Piel concluded, her breath heavy.
"Theo started it first······ wasn't it you?"
"······What do you mean? I don't understand."
"Even though I warned you not to touch me. You touched me, didn't you?"
With that, Piel raised her gaze to meet Theo's, a sharp smile on her face.
The smile eerily resembled the ones Theo would occasionally flash.
For a moment, the small room fell silent.
Neither Theo nor Piel uttered a word.
Theo locked his gaze with Piel's emerald-colored eyes, and Piel returned his stare, peering into Theo's ruby-like eyes.
The occasional sound of swallowing was the only noise in the room.
The silence was eventually broken by Theo.
"You're acting no different from a beast right now, Piel."
Theo looked at Piel, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
His gaze was much like the one Piel usually cast on him.
After murmuring those harsh words, Theo's thoughts began to race.
Firstly, it was clear that Piel was experiencing what they call [Heat].
Her usual aggressive tendencies are stronger than usual.
He wasn't sure, having never experienced it before, but there was a high chance that she was unable to think properly.
He needed to use [Cure] on Piel immediately.
However, for someone like him, inexperienced with magic, the most efficient way to use [Cure] was to grab the target's shoulder.
But Piel, in her current state, probably wouldn't sit still for that.
He needed to wait for the right timing.
As he had felt at the first branching point, Piel was the type of woman who would grip tighter if you attempted to free yourself.
He needed to catch her off guard and do it then.
"Hehe."
Piel, her eyes half-closed, let out a bitter laugh.
It was a somewhat eerie smile that he had never seen in the original game.
"Yeah, you're right. I am a beast. Honestly, I don't care what you call me."
As she spoke, Piel laid her hand on Theo's chest.
"Theo, as long as I can know the real you."
While her fingers gently traced Theo's chest, a triumphant smile formed on Piel's face.
It was the smile of a victor.
Piel curled the corners of her mouth.
The moment to uncover the 'real' identity of this distant and mysterious man was finally here.
In any case, she knew that Theo would not be able to win against her, no matter how hard he resisted.
She was fully aware of the level of strength, endurance, and speed the silver-haired man standing before her possessed.
She had been watching him intently ever since the practical skills evaluation, where he had motivated her to become stronger.
He had become much stronger lately, but to her, he was still relatively weak.
During their last one-on-one confrontation, he had shown remarkable strength and speed, but she considered it a fluke.
She was also unarmed right now.
But she believed she could easily overpower him even in hand-to-hand combat.
"Phew, it's a bit hot."
She wiped the sweat from her cheeks and chin with the back of her hand.
She had felt feverish for a while now.
And every time she looked at Theo, she felt even hotter.
Just looking wasn't enough.
She wanted to firmly grab his pale hand first.
Piel was aware of her abnormal state.
'I am really... going mad.'
A battle between reason and instinct was raging within her, with instinct taking the upper hand.
She was clueless about what sort of abnormal magical condition she was in.
And she also didn't understand what this emotion was.
'He said not to touch him, but he was the one who touched me first... it's all because of him.'
She felt that things had turned out quite well.
Being trapped in the same room with Theo, and not anyone else... was honestly a cause for happiness.
They had planned to have a separate conversation after the dungeon, but the appointed time had simply moved up.
Besides, they were alone.
... Just follow where the body leads.
Seeing this as an opportunity sent from above, she was about to take off his uniform.
"!"
Theo grabbed Piel's shoulder with a speed that took her by surprise.
It was the same explosive momentum she had briefly experienced during their previous one-on-one encounter.
Theo's sudden grip caught her off guard, and in her abnormal state, it was hard for Piel to react.
Theo, with his eyes ominously glowing red, asked,
"...Piel de Chalon. What on earth do you think of me?"
"Ah, uh...!"
Piel's waist arched like a bow.
Her body was trembling. She felt incredibly sensitive.
But... why?
He only grabbed her shoulder, so why was she experiencing this strange sensation?
Truthfully, the first person who entered her mind when she found herself in this abnormal state was Theo.
It was not Neike, whom she had been training with ever since she enrolled in the academy.
It wasn't her fourth brother, Markvern, the only person with whom she felt comfortable.
...Only Theo's face came to mind.
After a moment, Piel felt her body gradually cool down.
Her breathing normalized.
Her overly sensitive senses returned to their usual state.
The sweat that had been continuously streaming down her face stopped.
Theo, who had been keeping his hand on Piel's shoulder, calmly looked at her and removed his hand.
"·····You seem to be okay now."
Theo muttered briefly and looked away.
However, Piel saw it clearly - the faint blush on his cheeks.
He was just as embarrassed as she was.
She was on his mind, just as he was on hers.
Piel made a decision.
To ask him now.
"·····I have something to say."
Piel said to Theo, who was avoiding her gaze.
"·····What is it."
"Do you remember what you asked earlier? What I think of you."
"·····Yeah."
Theo answered, stealing a quick glance at Piel.
There was something sad in Theo's eyes.
'·····I've pledged hundreds of times till now. Before he loses his soul to a demon and faces a terrible fate as a public enemy of the entire continent, I have to end him with my own hands. ······I have to say it.'
Piel thought this, but seeing Theo's eyes, she couldn't easily open her mouth.
She was afraid.
Afraid because she might have to kill this man with her own hands.
Piel looked at him, sadness in her eyes.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Then, Piel spoke.
"·····Answer me honestly."
"·····About what."
Gulp.
Piel swallowed, moistening her dry lips.
"Did you····· really make a pact with the Great Demon?"
After saying so, Piel tightly closed her eyes.
She found it hard to keep her eyes open.
She wished that this moment wasn't real.
‘·····Yet, I asked.’
She had made the pledge dozens, hundreds of times.
Before he took up a larger space in her heart, she had to cut him off.
And just a while ago, he had been sure that she was under the influence of some unknown debuff magic.
He already had a place in her heart.
However... she couldn't simply ignore the horrifying [Contractor of a Great Demon].
The contractor was bound to be caught in some way.
If Theo kept his true identity hidden, his genius would inevitably spread throughout the academy and eventually, across the entire continent.
"...."
Piel stared at Theo with her tear-filled, glimmering green eyes.
...This might be her last chance to see him as a human being.
No one understood the danger of the contractor as well as she did.
"No."
However, Theo's words differed from what she expected.
Piel, her expression instantly hardening, spoke with a tinge of anger.
"...What?"
Theo asked, furrowing his brows.
"I thought you might say something like that. I'm not a [Contractor of a Great Demon], Piel."
