As I turned to leave this kaleidoscopic realm within my soul, ready to step through the swirling void and return to the comfort of my quarters, a sudden sensation arrested my movent.
Sothing coiled around my ankle—firm but not hostile, its texture cool and weightless like woven shadows.
I glanced down, narrowing my eyes at the dark tendril wrapping itself around . It pulsed faintly with the unmistakable signature of Black Daffodil's presence.
"Really?" I said, exasperated but not alard. "I'm pretty sure we were done here, weren't we?"
The tendril tightened ever so slightly, holding in place as Black Daffodil rose from her chair. Her every movent was deliberate, poised, and unnervingly smooth.
"Leaving already?" she asked, her voice as serene and elegant as ever. "How heartless of you, Narcissus. You drop by, offer your so-called charming company, and then vanish without so much as a proper climax."
I arched an eyebrow, my lips curling into an amused smirk. "I didn't take you for the clingy type. Or," I added with a teasing lilt, "Don't tell you've already started missing ? My departure aches your heart, does it?"
Her faceless void turned toward , and despite its featurelessness, I felt her gaze pierce through . "Miss you?" she echoed, stepping closer. "Perhaps. Or perhaps it's simply that your words intrigued ."
I tilted my head, my amusent growing. "Oh? Which ones? I say a lot of brilliant things—it's hard to keep track."
She stopped re inches from , her presence oppressive yet oddly magnetic. "You told ," she said softly, "To learn to love myself. And by that, you ant you."
A tendril slithered higher, its weight resting against my thigh now. I tensed slightly, my instincts screaming at to retreat, but I didn't sense outright hostility—only an inscrutable intent that set my nerves on edge.
"And?" I asked, my tone steady despite the unease creeping into my chest. "Are you saying you took that literally? I didn't think you were the type to take jokes so seriously."
"Oh, Narcissus," she said, her voice dropping into a silken murmur, "You underestimate how closely I listen to your every word."
Before I could respond, her hand rose, her long fingers brushing against my chin. The gesture was deceptively gentle, her touch cold and deliberate.
Her tendril pulled down abruptly, and in a blink, I found myself on the ground, my back pressed against the swirling surface of her reality. Black Daffodil lood over , one knee pressing firmly against my crotch.
I blinked, caught between amusent and disbelief. "Well, this is… new," I quipped, forcing a dry chuckle. "I didn't realize you had such a lecherous side. Should I be flattered or concerned?"
She tilted her head, her void face impossibly close to mine. "Why not both?" she replied, her tone carrying a strange, almost hypnotic cadence. "You're the one who wanted this. You're asking for it. And with that sly smirk of yours, you're begging for it."
What…?
Did she finally lose it after staying in this maddening realm for who knows how long??
Her hand moved to cup my cheek, her thumb brushing lightly against my jawline. "It might be a little crude on my end, but it does feel a little bit difficult if I want to start loving myself. Maybe I should start sowhere? Maybe I should start with your face," she said, her voice reverent yet unnervingly detached. "Such symtry. Such perfection. A testant to your defiance, your pride, your strength. Ah, now that I uttered it, how could I not adore it?"
I stared at her, my usual composure wavering as her words sank in. There was no mockery in her tone, no calculated undertone of manipulation. She ant every word.
And that terrified .
It absolutely terrified .
"Alright," I said, my voice laced with forced humor. "That's enough complints for one day. You're starting to sound uncharacteristically sincere, and it's making uncomfortable. You know?"
But she wasn't done. Her hand trailed downward, brushing against my collarbone as she continued. "Your existence," she murmured, almost to herself. "So vibrant, so defiant. And in terms of physicality, you're even more alluring. That divine proportion, how you appear so delicate and so firm at the sa ti And these hips," she added, her hand gesturing vaguely as if to encompass my entire form. "Wide enough to comfortably birth an entire lineage in your wake."
I froze, my confusion giving way to outright alarm. "Alright, now I know you've lost it," I said sharply, squirming beneath her. "What the hell is this, Black Daffodil? So twisted attempt to rattle ? Because if it is, congratulations—you've succeeded!"
Her knee pressed down slightly, though not enough to hurt, but it was enough to send a weird sensation through my whole body.
"Rattle you?" she repeated, her tone almost playful. "No, my dear Narcissus. I'm rely appreciating what's mine. Just like what you asked , no?"
"What's yours?" I echoed, my voice rising an octave. "Since when was I a part of your personal collection??"
She didn't answer, at least not directly. Instead, her hands moved to my shoulders, pinning down further. I felt a strange, surreal pressure as her tendrils began to weave around , binding in place.
And then, without warning, she began stripping bare.
"Whoa—what the hell are you doing?!" I shouted, my voice a mix of indignation and genuine panic.
At this point, I really wanted to lash out and save myself from this situation. But when I analyzed this situation with clearer brain cells, I noticed that doing so will definitely piss this pervert more than ever…!
She can be unstable and irrational, after all!
Just like that one ti where it took 2 hours of talking to her, to better her mood after I went overboard by calling her a copy of 'Daffodil', which I didn't know at the ti, would rile her so much, to the point where the realm started shaking and spiraling into a vortex!
I might have ascended in a very strange yet efficient manner, but it doesn't change the fact that burning my bridge with this dangerous entity would be another death of . There was a reason why I didn't want Kuzunoha to get here since she might get comfortable at so point, and uttered so words that she shouldn't.
Still, I thought that Black Daffodil was okay with jokes and sarcasm, since she was having fun doing it all the ti.
She also appeared to be amused when I started getting more comfortable and doing those boldly in front of her too.
I would have never thought that she would start doing this. I should have kept my narcissism down and not sarcastically suggested to her to love herself!
"Black Daffodil, this clothing isn't mine." My smile was awkward. "Kuzunoha will scold for this."
Her movents were thodical, detached, as though this were a re experint. "Relax," she said calmly. "This is your spiritual projection, rember? Your physical body remains untouched."
"Yeah, that doesn't make this any less horrifying!" I snapped, struggling against the tendrils holding down. "And you're not exactly inspiring confidence here!"
Her void face tilted downward, her presence pressing heavily against . "You wound ~ I simply wish to understand you better," she said, her tone unnervingly sincere. "To peel back the layers of your existence, one by one, and see what lies beneath, under your bright and unyielding facade~"
I swallowed hard, my mind racing for a way out of this situation. Her actions weren't overtly violent, but the sheer intimacy and precision of them left feeling exposed in a way I hadn't anticipated.
This wasn't like her usual cryptic manipulation or grandiose sches. This was sothing else entirely—sothing I couldn't quite wrap my head around.
And that made it all the more terrifying!
Black Daffodil's hands moved with unnerving grace, her touch as cold and impersonal as it was deliberate. My struggling only seed to amuse her, as if my resistance was just another variable in her grand, inscrutable equation.
And then she did sothing I couldn't have anticipated.
Her tendrils withdrew from , just enough to allow her to sit upright on top of my stomach, looming over with that sa oppressive elegance. I froze, my instincts telling that whatever was coming next would make my current predicant seem almost quaint.
Without a word, she reached up, her delicate fingers brushing against the high collar of her regal gown. With a single fluid motion, she began to undo the clasps, the fabric slipping away like water.
"What the hell are you doing now?!" I practically yelled, my voice cracking in sheer disbelief.
She tilted her faceless head, her void-like visage as unreadable as ever. "Do you not wish to see?" she asked, her tone calm and deliberate, as if this were the most natural question in the world. "I thought that your narcissism also extend to , since I'm basically part of you, as you what you just said~"
"No! No, I absolutely don't wish to see!" I shouted, trying once again to squirm free of the tendrils still loosely coiled around my limbs. "Whatever twisted ga this is, I'm not playing along!"
But she ignored my protests, continuing to unfasten her gown with unnerving precision. The fabric slid down her shoulders, revealing smooth, alabaster skin beneath—skin that seed to shimr faintly, as though it were crafted from so otherworldly material.
My mind raced, a chaotic whirlwind of thoughts and emotions I couldn't fully process. This is absurd. This is insane. Why is this happening?!
As more of her skin was exposed, I felt my face flush with a heat that had no place in this surreal, soul-bound realm. The stark contrast between her cold, detached deanor and the unsettling intimacy of her actions was enough to throw my composure into complete disarray—
Wait, did I really get off from this??
Not even Kuzunoha's bombastic hourglass figure in her naked state even fazed , not even Verina's fairest, supple, and bountiful thighs!
Have I beco so narcissistic to the point that the thought of the body of what was essentially my mysterious and powerful alter-ego—turned on…?
It doesn't also change the fact that Black Daffodil appeared to be pulling so strings on my emotions, sothing akin to hypnotic suggestion the more I gazed into the void that was there instead of her face.
"This has to be a joke," I muttered under my breath, closing my eyes to reject the hypnotic influence. My voice trembles despite my best efforts to sound calm. "So sick, twisted joke…"
She approached closer to my chest, her gown now hanging loosely around her waist, revealing an elegant, lacy undergarnt that seed out of place on soone—or sothing—like her. Her form was both impossibly beautiful and profoundly unsettling, a paradox of perfection and nace that left utterly paralyzed.
Even with a void for a face, her attractiveness was nonetheless similar to mine, since the physical vessel she was currently taking form was taken from my own as a reference.
"You're blushing," she observed, her tone carrying a hint of amusent. "How charming. I didn't expect you to be so… responsive."
"Are you serious!?" I sputtered, my voice rising an octave. "I'm not responsive—I'm horrified! This entire scenario is horrifying!"
She leaned down, her void-like face hovering just above mine. "Is that so~?" she repeated softly, her voice dripping with feigned innocence. "And yet, you're trembling. Is it fear, or is it sothing… else?"
My eyes darted around, searching for anything—anything—that could provide an escape from this increasingly absurd situation. But there was nothing. I was trapped in her realm, at her rcy, with no confidantes to call upon and no clever tricks to deploy.
"Stop this," I said, my voice cracking under the weight of my growing panic. "Whatever point you're trying to make, you've made it. You've beaten ! So let go, okay…!?"
But instead of stopping, she reached down, her fingers brushing against the hem of my spiritual projection's garnt.
"Your existence," she murmured, her tone almost reverent. "So radiant, so unyielding. And yet, beneath it all… so fragile."
I flinched at her touch, my mind reeling as I tried to process what was happening.
"You're the one unraveling at the seams if you think this is appropriate behavior!"
Her laughter was soft, almost lodic, but it sent chills down my spine. "Oh, Narcissus," she said, her voice tinged with sothing I couldn't quite identify—amusent? Affection? Malice? "You misunderstand . This is not about appropriateness. This is about truth. And you…"
She leaned in closer, her legs wrapping against as her void face seed to bore into my very essence.
"…are objectively the most fascinating truth—I've ever possessed in this shabby realm of mine."
I wanted to scream, to shout, to hurl every insult I could think of at her. But the words caught in my throat, choked by a mix of confusion, fear, and a faint, unshakable sense of… intrigue?
No. No, I refused to let her get into my head.
Regardless of everything I tried with my All-Tampering Divine Dexterity and control of my own spiritual projection, this realm appeared to reject all notion of my attempts to rebel Black Daffodil's unhinged whim.
Not to ntion, she was currently enjoying my defiance beyond belief.
Maybe I should just submit in the hope that she was turned off by it?
No, considering her, she might find my sudden change in attitude much more enticing, and thus would rile her up to ss with than what she initially planned. It might look like the opposite, but she is the kind of a sadistic predator who prefers an obedient prey, not a wriggling snake and biting snake.
She had been waiting for a gap to greatly influence , after all…
Thus, remaining steadfast and rebellious should be the best signal to deter her from thinking of doing anything outrageous.
It seed like I really needed to play along until she was satisfied, while maintaining my sanity from corroding.
Isn't that right, Black Daffodil?
My mind was essentially an open book to you, and so you should have known that I had already inford Kuzunoha to do whatever is necessary to rescue after a certain duration of ti of not notifying her.
Your shenanigan is limited by ti, Black Daffodil.
Explore more adventures at empire
"You're insane, you know that?" I said finally, a defiant smirk appearing on my face. "Completely, utterly insane."
Her hand moved to my cheek, her touch cold and unyielding. "Perhaps," she said softly, her tone almost tender. "But insanity, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder."
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