So comfortable…

It feels so warm…

Am I dead…?

“Oh! The little one’s awake!”

Whose voice is that…?

“Let me see, let me see! Wow!! Madam, where did you find such an adorable half-elf?”

It smells so good… such a lovely scent…

Mama…

“I wanna nibble on her ears~~ They look so chewy~~”

“Cut it out! Last time you did that to a guest, you bit them until they bled. We spent ages apologizing, and even had to give them a bottle of high-grade rune potion. Don’t you remember?”

“Aww… I wanna try, though. I’m gonna bite!”

“Hey, you!”

A warm, damp sensation.

It was as if an electric current passed through her whole body, jolting the girl’s hazy consciousness awake.

“Eek!!”

“Ah, she’s awake…”

The girl hurriedly looked around. This place was completely different from the cold surroundings she remembered before losing consciousness: an enormous, luxurious bed, lavish decorations, all sorts of cute little things, and several sweet-looking girls gathered around her.

“Huh? Huh…?”

She felt a chill against her skin.

“I… Waaaaah!!”

She hurriedly clutched the blanket to her chest, covering her completely naked body, and looked at the people around her with frightened eyes.

“Who… who are you…?!”

“Wow, she really has no idea what’s going on!”

“Someone go get Madam! Where is she?”

“Hey, hey! I’m Bilisi! I’m a succubus! What’s your name?”

The girl shyly and fearfully burrowed a little deeper under the blanket, then answered in a soft voice.

“A… Ailrinni…”

“Wow! What a cute name!”

“Can we call you Little Ailin?”

“I… I guess so…”

The girl nervously tried to keep up with the sweet, adorable girls around her, each with a different personality. Most of them had nonhuman features: little animal ears, fluffy tails, or tiny devilish wings. Their curvy, slender figures made her, another girl, feel terribly envious.

“Madam! Madam’s here!”

“Oh, oh!! Madam, where did you find this girl? She’s so cute! Can I eat her?”

“Huh?! W-whaaat?!”

At that, the girl was so frightened that she hid under the blanket, curling up into a ball like a little animal. Her voice trembled as she begged them to forgive her.

“I… I’m not tasty! Please don’t… eat me!!”

“Pfft.”

But her reaction only made the girls around her burst into laughter.

“What an adorable little creature!! Aah!! I wanna cuddle her!!”

“I don’t think the poor thing understood what you meant. You’ll have to train her properly later.”

Train her?!

Were they… were they going to beat me with a whip?!

The girl under the blanket was so scared that she started crying.

“All right, get back to work, everyone! Bilisi! Someone requested you again tonight! Get going! And don’t get carried away like last time!”

Suddenly, a woman’s loud, commanding voice came from the doorway.

“Okaaay~~~”

The girls answered, then reluctantly said goodbye to the girl huddled under the blanket and left the room. That left the woman they called “Madam” alone with the trembling girl.

“All right, come out now. No one here is going to hurt you. Look, the marks on your body are gone.”

“Huh…?!”

Only then did the girl notice how smooth her skin felt—almost as smooth as a baby’s. The lash marks and scratches had vanished as if they’d never been there.

With her messy cowlick sticking up, she poked her little head out from under the blanket and stared nervously at the elegantly dressed woman in front of her.

“W-who are you…?”

“Everyone calls me Madam Katherine. You can call me that, too.”

“Madam… Katherine…?”

“That’s right.”

The alluring red-haired woman smiled and gently stroked Eileen’s hair.

“This is my establishment, Aiholtesman! It’s one of the biggest hotels in the Royal Capital. So, how about working here?”

After hearing her out, the girl stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the hand held out to her.

“I-I can?”

“Of course!”

The girl understood that opportunities like this didn’t come along often.

So she bravely took the woman’s hand.

“Thank you! I’ll do my best!!”

……

…

And so, the girl became a lowly greeter at this upscale hotel.

Her long silver hair framed her slender body, and her bright red eyes gleamed like jewels. Once she was dressed up, the girl’s charming, adorable looks quickly won the favor of many high-society guests.

To be honest, she loved this job. She really did.

Every night, elegantly dressed guests greeted her warmly. The work was a little tiring for a twelve-year-old, but she didn’t get beaten. She got to eat exquisite food she’d never tasted before, and she had a warm bed and cute clothes. The girl was more than satisfied.

As a side note, her current roommate was the succubus named Bilisi. Bilisi took very good care of her. She did like to touch her all over and lick her cheeks, but the girl always thought it was a sign of friendship between girls, and accepted it with a little shyness.

She was a little embarrassed by the revealing, rather sultry uniform, but the girl had no complaints about her job.

Still, she was forbidden from entering any room above the 25th floor, which only made her curiosity grow. But she wasn’t in a position to ask. She was already incredibly lucky to have this job, so every day she worked hard to greet the guests with a smile, guide them where they needed to go, and do everything she could to repay “Madam Katherine.”

The girl innocently believed she’d found the “person fate had destined for her,” just like her mother had said. At last, she could be happy.

A tiny happiness,

all her own.

……

…

But she was only living in a beautiful dream.

Then, one day, a few months later, it happened without warning.

The girl was summoned to the 30th floor.

She’d been promoted—or so “Madam Katherine” told her.

The girl was overjoyed!!

At last, she could repay Madam properly! At last, she could see what lay on the higher floors!

She dressed herself up as cutely as she could and went to a room on the 30th floor, full of excitement and anticipation.

Then she saw what was before her.

It shattered the girl’s innocence completely.

“Huh…?”

In the dim room, several extravagantly dressed men sat in a circle, holding numbered paddles whose purpose she couldn’t guess.

In the very center of the room, two catgirl sisters clung to each other in terror. Their clothes barely covered them, and tears glistened in the corners of their eyes as they looked around.

The men, clearly nobles, gave the sisters leering looks and called out one outrageous price after another.

Just like they were auctioning off merchandise.

What was…

happening…?

“Oh, you’re here, Madam! Is this the premium merchandise you told us about?”

“Madam…?”

At some point, the woman who had always treated her so kindly appeared behind the girl and pulled her to her feet.

“Yes, just as I said. This girl has absolutely no idea about any of this~~~ She’s still a virgin, too. Look at that slender little body. I’ve been examining her for months, and I’m sure she can endure any kind of brutal pain and training.”

“I’m confident she’ll be the best merchandise this place has seen in ten years.”

Huh…?

What… was she saying…?

But when the men seated around the room spotted the cute, petite girl, they approached with interest, excitement and the desire to claim her gleaming in their eyes.

What were they going to do to her?!

No… Don’t come any closer!

“Be careful with her. I plan to invest in this girl, so don’t break her right away. It’d be a waste to turn such a lovely body into a doll that can’t even react.”

“I can’t promise that. She’s so tiny, heh heh. But that’s exactly what I like!”

The girl stared at Madam in disbelief. The woman who had always smiled at her was looking at her now

like she was a beautiful piece of merchandise.

No…

No, no, no, no!!!

No!! Madam wasn’t like this!

Madam and Big Sister Bilisi had been so kind to her!! They… They…!!

……

But the girl understood soon enough.

“You… liar!!”

She’d been living in a lie, woven around her.

And she’d mistaken that lie for a happiness big enough to fill her heart.

How foolish…

Reality really is a shit game.

“No!! Don’t come any closer!!”

To her, fate had only ever toyed with her, giving her hope.

“Hey, trying to run? But a girl who fights back is more fun! I’ll bid 300,000 gold! Anyone want to join me?”

And then, right before her eyes, it took that hope

and tore it to pieces.

“Are you sure? If you take her from both ends, she’ll be in agony. What if she can’t take it?”

Like trampling a wildflower by the roadside, destroying an anthill, or smashing a swallow’s egg.

Most people wouldn’t feel guilty. They’d just laugh.

They’d mock her for being helpless and weak.

“Don’t come closer…! No…!!”

Tears and sweat twisted her once-delicate face beyond recognition. Her unending tears soaked her cute skirt, and her legs had already given way. All she could do was sit on the floor, trembling and desperately trying to think of a way to escape.

But an abyss of terror had already swallowed her hope and taken over her heart.

“It’s fine. Didn’t Madam say she can take it? Besides, I’m tired of the last one. A change of pace sounds nice.”

“You already ruined that one ages ago… Last time we visited, she didn’t react at all. She was like a corpse.”

“Hahahaha!! Don’t flatter me!”

“I’m not…”

The men chatted and laughed in front of her, speaking as casually as if they were discussing how delicious tonight’s dinner would be.

The girl had backed herself into a corner, and now she was so terrified she couldn’t even think.

Don’t come any closer…!!

Don’t touch me!!

“All right, stop running. It only hurts at first. You’ll feel good soon enough!”

“Get the auction started, Madam. I brought a lot of money.”

“Of course~~”

No…!!!

But it was already too late.

One of the burly men reached for the girl’s slender arm.

“Come here, little miss. Uncle will soon teach you what a woman’s happiness is!”

A twisted smile.

A long, long deception.

Happiness in ruins.

Kindness that had all been a lie.

Liars!!

Every last one of them!!

But there was nothing she could do.

The demon called terror howled inside the girl’s heart.

All she could do was pray.

“Come on. Come here.”

The man’s hand was already reaching toward her.

No!!

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!!!!!!!

“Nooooooo!!”

“Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!”

“Holy crap!!”

WHAM!!

“Ow?!”

“Holy crap, my nose! I… Oh, right. I don’t have a nose…”

“Huh…?”

I clutched the part of my helmet where my nose should’ve been and shook my head, then looked at the silver-haired girl on the bed. She was holding her head and hissing in pain.

“Eek—!!”

But the moment she saw me, she hurriedly burrowed back under the covers. A dozen seconds later, she timidly peeked out, her big, watery eyes sizing me up with fear and unease.

“Sigh…”

I rubbed my forehead and sighed.

“Ahem. Well, I should introduce myself first.”

【Confirmed: no one outside the house. Helmet may be removed.】

After Paper-chan confirmed it, I undid the strap and took off my black-and-red helmet in front of the girl.

“Huh…?!”

A skull appeared, with red ghostly flames flickering in its eye sockets.

But she didn’t seem as afraid as before. If anything, she looked a little relieved.

Good grief….

“I’m Ojer. As you can see, I’m a skeleton—though I personally think of myself as human…”

“Mm…”

She answered in a soft, timid voice, nervously looking around.

“Ah, this is Luen Village. You kept insisting on following me last night, then passed out halfway here. Don’t you remember? I carried you here.”

“Huh?! A village…?!”

She panicked and hurried to cover her ears, as if she were afraid someone would come along and cut off those long, pointed ears.

But instead, she felt a cute pair of rabbit-shaped earmuffs.

“What… is this?”

“I, uh… bought them on the way. Yeah, bought them…”

【The nerve of you.】

[Shut up, you artificial idiot….]

“Ahem. Anyway, I explained things to the person in charge here. First, I need to make sure our stories match.”

“Our stories?”

Seeing her adorably blank expression, I felt a mischievous itch. I switched to a terrifying, demonic voice.

“Do as I say, or I’ll hand you over. Then I’ll watch them strip you naked and roast you on a stake until you’re crisp on the outside and tender within.”

“N-no…! Please, I’ll do what you say! Don’t hurt me!”

“Good. Just do as you’re told. Listen carefully to what I say next. I can’t guarantee what’ll happen if you don’t.”

“Yes…”

I cleared my throat with exaggerated seriousness.

“First, and most importantly…”

“Never, under any circumstances, reveal that I’m a skeleton.”