Volume 13 Chapter 5 A Woman from Another World ⑤ (Lydia’s POV)
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
It was more than ten days after their departure that Soyuz and his companions finally returned, bringing with them a woman named Chelsea.
On the way back they’d faced more than their share of troubles—ambushed by monsters, mistaken for kidnappers, even caught mid-tryst in front of strangers, and barred from entering towns because of it. Yet somehow, against all odds, they returned alive.
Alive… though not unscarred.
* * *
”So, this is the woman?” I asked.
”Yeah,” Soyuz replied.
”Kill me… please… kill me…”
”She seems terribly wounded inside,” I murmured.
”Yeah. She must’ve been through hell. Poor thing,” he said softly.
”Kill me… kill me…”
Chelsea—the woman in question—had shut herself off entirely. She sat there, hollow-eyed, her voice a broken whisper repeating the same plea. I couldn’t help but sigh, my gaze shifting to my beloved, somewhat deranged lover who had dragged her here, and the slaves—wives, really—who stood by him.
Soyuz wore a guileless smile, as if to ask, What? Did I do something wrong? Beside him, Lady Lena stood upright like a loyal knight, Lady Vera puffed with self-satisfaction, and Lady Georgia shyly averted her eyes, red with embarrassment.
Yes. Judging by that alone, they must have been through quite the ordeal. I sighed again and let my pity fall on the broken woman before me.
* * *
”This magic is vile. To merge flesh with matter itself—that’s nothing less than forbidden sorcery,” I said.
At Soyuz’s request, I examined the pedestal that had become one with Chelsea’s body. It was worse than I’d imagined—perverse, unnatural, blasphemous. Even one as irreligious as myself could feel it: a trespass against the order of the world, a defiance of the divine.
”How does this even work? This pedestal isn’t just metal. I can feel a circulation of power,” I said.
”Yeah. It seems to be a magic tool. Through it, her body receives nourishment—or rather, the force she needs to survive. She doesn’t need to eat, drink, or even excrete,” Soyuz explained.
”I see… And if we cut her away from it?”
He hesitated. “I’m not sure. Her life seems sustained by that flow of power, so she might be fine… but I can’t say for certain.”
”Kill me… please…” Chelsea whispered again.
”Hey, don’t say such cruel things in front of her!” Georgia burst out.
Ah. I had let myself get carried away. Speaking of such matters before her was careless. I ended the inspection, left the room, and brought Soyuz to my chamber to speak privately.
* * *
”Soyuz, tell me plainly. Do you want to save her?”
”…Yes. I do.”
”I hear she’s one of those from another world. She might be dangerous to ours. Even so?”
”I know the risk,” he said. “But I still want to help her.”
Of course. He wouldn’t have carried her here otherwise. Still, I pressed him.
Those from her world had brought strange ideas and inventions with them—fascinating, yes, but also perilous.
”I understand your worry,” he said. “But she’s not the only one who came from beyond. And right now, she’s the one most likely to give us answers. That means I have to take the risk. If she ever does turn into a threat… then I’ll take responsibility.”
His smile then—terrifying, resolute—sent a chill through me. He had already accepted the weight of it. How could I argue further?
Besides—
He cloaked his intent in reason, but I knew his heart. He simply wanted to save her, because she was suffering. That kindness was the reason Lena and the others adored him so blindly.
”…Alright. I’ll help you. But tell me honestly—do you have a plan to heal her?”
”Not exactly a plan,” he admitted. “But based on what I’ve seen, I think it’s possible. The pedestal is a magic tool linked to her. It might be safer to undo it through magic than to cut it away physically. The trouble is…”
”…The trouble is?”
”Her dignity,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to trample on it. The life-sharing magic—it’s crude, really. Put bluntly, it means if I spill inside her, her body will heal. I don’t want to force that on her.”
His lips curved into a sad smile.
”It disgusts me. To demand a body in return for healing… how is that different from the slavers and traffickers I’ve always despised?”
His voice cracked, ragged, as if the words themselves hurt him.
Oh, Soyuz.
”You’re nothing like them,” I said firmly. “You’ve never used that magic for your own pleasure. And don’t forget—restoring a lost body part is something even holy magic can’t achieve. That’s why Lena and the others revere you like a god.”
I pulled his small frame into my arms, whispering into his ear as if soothing a child.
Yes, his magic worked because life met life: his seed, the essence closest to creation itself, and the womb, the vessel of creation. The act brought healing. But to Soyuz, the act itself was shameful. Perhaps he even hated it.
Ah, this man—so timid, so clumsy, so unbearably kind.
And it was because of that kindness that I chose to stand with him.
Perhaps he had forgotten this as well—the magic he used carried side effects befitting its miracles. Because it drew upon his own “power to grow” as its source, the more he used it, the more his own growth was stunted. It was nothing less than a curse.
And yet, despite that, he used his own body to heal others. How could anyone feel anger or resentment toward him? Gratitude alone remained. His four wives were living proof of that.
”Well then… in any case, I find it admirable that you don’t want to force her. And I think I now understand your conflicted feelings about the act itself. So—yes, for now, we’ll take Chelsea into our household. It may take time, but together we’ll persuade her. Will that do?”
”…Yeah,” he whispered.
”You have a bad habit of trying to carry everything by yourself. You can rely on me, or on Lady Lena and the others more. It makes us happy to help the one we love.”
”Mm… thank you,” he said softly.
Held against my chest, he seemed as fragile as the boy he looked to be.
”Then I’ll go speak with her a little more. You should rest. I’ll also keep watch over Lady Lena and the others, so don’t worry.”
”Thank you. Uh, Lydia… the weakness I just spilled—don’t tell them, okay?”
He muttered with embarrassment. I nodded, then closed the door.
Well then—time to see if I could persuade this Chelsea woman. I couldn’t take away his suffering. But if I could lighten the burdens he carried, even a little, then that was my duty as his mistress.
* * *
After settling Soyuz to rest in his chamber, I returned to my atelier where Chelsea was being kept.
And there—
”…and you know what? Soyuu told Vera, ‘You’re not garbage. You’re a cute girl.’ And when the monsters had hurt Vera so many times, he gently, tenderly kissed me again and again.”
”…”
Perched on the pedestal where Lady Chelsea was bound sat Lady Vera, speaking to her. She was recounting the time Soyuz had rescued her.
”The humans who caught me… they laughed, calling me a filthy hole after the monsters had used me and filled me again and again. But Soyuu—he kissed even my mouth, even down there, so gently, again and again. I was so happy.”
Ah, so that was it.
This half-elf girl had suffered wounds closest to Chelsea’s own. That was why she tried so earnestly to save her. Proof enough was there: when I first saw Chelsea, her eyes were as lifeless as a dead fish’s. Now, faint vitality flickered in them as she listened to Vera’s words.
”I was attacked by monsters and lost my left eye. My whole body was scarred, to the point I had no worth even as a slave. I was cast down to the lowest rank of sex slave, meant only to be used and discarded… until Sir Soyuz saved me. And by his miracle, I was restored to this form. Sir Soyuz—our master—is worth far more than any god who never answered my prayers.”
”…Sounds shady,” Chelsea muttered.
”Ah, well, yeah. Lena does sound shady, I get it,” Vera admitted with a small laugh. “But the trouble is, everything she said is true. For me, it wasn’t as bad. But my mother was tricked by bad men, poisoned, nearly killed. The one who saved her was our master. And even though I myself was deceived by those men and tried again and again to kill him, he never killed me. He forgave me. I never believed humans could have a male that wonderful.”
”Eh? Eh? What on earth happened?”
Lady Lena, Lady Georgia—each, with their awkward words, tried desperately to tell Chelsea the truth of Soyuz.
Yes. Of course. Who better to understand him than those who had been saved by him?
Notes:
• Lena – Female. A young slave girl in her early teens. Her appearance is emaciated with brown skin, long black hair, and grotesque scars across her face, including one that blinds her left eye. She wears a black collar and tattered clothing. Her relationship to the protagonist is that of a rescued victim. She is silent and appears to have endured severe physical and emotional abuse.
• Lydia – Sara’s master, a gentle and commanding figure possessing both male and female traits.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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