As she regained her senses, it was already afternoon.

Perhaps the effects of the medicine had worn off, but Lily was overcome by excruciating pain that throbbed across her entire body. After a while of groaning, she managed to sit up.

At that moment, she inadvertently caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror placed in the room.

“Wow… I look terrible…”

The traces of the previous night marred her usually pristine pale skin, which she had tirelessly cared for in pursuit of beauty.

As she brushed her fingers over her skin, which was tinged with a violet hue in places, Lily stared vacantly at the most horrifically bruised spot.

On her neck, a large, grave violet handprint—a remnant from the man who had taken her last night—completely covered her slender neck.

It bore the same marks that women from the brothel encountered at the hands of ill-mannered guests.

“If this is how it is, I’m no different…”

The mark seemed to suggest that she was no better than those women. Without realizing it, Lily scratched her neck with her nails.

She looked like she was struggling to erase the bruise and return to the special person she once was.

However, all that resulted from her scratching was a few more cuts on her already bruised neck.

Eventually, unable to endure the sharp pain emanating from her neck any longer, Lily covered her face with her hands and muttered.

“I hate… this… I really hate it… Ugh, huuh…”

Tap, tap.

Tears streamed down her face, and blood dripped from her neck.

After weeping for a short while, Lily wiped her face and neck with the blanket that had covered her.

Then she stared blankly at the floor.

The clothes she had worn yesterday were torn apart by the man and were in no condition to wear.

But she still had to go.

This wasn’t right; this wasn’t how I would find happiness.

She needed to tell her sister.

Then she could return to being the special person she once was.

“Let’s go back to my sister. To my sister…”

It seemed to be the only way out, and Lily continued to mutter to herself.

Whether it was a trace of the previous night or a new one, she wrapped herself in the unsettling, rose-colored sheets stained with blood and tears as she left the room.

*

With nothing but a filthy blanket draped over her, walking toward the brothel during that short period was a formidable challenge for Lily.

The stares filled with envy and jealousy that had once gazed upon her, now scrutinized her in her dirtied state as if saying, “I knew it. In the end, you’re just like me.”

That humiliation and shame made her want to wrap the blanket tightly around herself as she ran.

And thus, the grief that had been building since the previous night finally spilled over.

“Lily…? What happened to your body?! Did you get attacked?! Are you okay? Come here, let me apply some medicine to your wounds!”

“Sis… Sis… Hwaaaah!”

The moment she encountered a woman at the brothel, her pent-up emotions exploded.

Unlike others, the sister’s immediate concern for her injuries made Lily unable to hold back her tears.

Lily was touched by the woman’s caring touch as she feared what scars might remain and applied ointment to her wounds.

Just like that, only her sister truly cherished her.

Only her sister wanted her to be happy, so she would save her.

With that thought, she poured out her grievances to her sister.

“Sniff… Sis… That person was evil. He treated me really badly and even left these bruises on me… I can’t be happy if I’m sold to that person… So please, make it like it never happened, Sis…”

Lily said this and awaited her sister’s answer.

She was hoping for a response of regret—an acknowledgment that she had misjudged the situation—and a promise to return the money, making it all go away.

However,

“So… That bruise is from the prince, huh? Phew, what a joke.”

The sister’s response was entirely different from what Lily had hoped for.

…Why? Why was she reacting with relief as if she had simply let out a breath?

Lily was confused by the woman’s reaction and spoke up.

“But… but he treated me really badly?!”

Isn’t it supposed to invoke anger?

Isn’t it normal to be heartbroken when someone you care about experiences this?

“Well, since he bought you, what’s done is done. The prince can do whatever he wants with you, it’s his choice.”

But then, why?

Why did she act as though it was nothing…

When that man carved those marks into her body, how much pain did she endure…?

“How… could you say that? It hurt… so much…”

With tears welling up, Lily muttered, betrayed by that woman’s trust.

And the woman answered,

“Eh? It hurt? That’s impossible! He must have used the medicine.”

“…Huh?”

She said it so casually.

“Ah, judging by your reaction, he did use it? That’s amazing, right? I recommended it because I couldn’t find anything good. It’s expensive, but it has almost no side effects, and if you take it, no matter how severe the situation, you’ll feel good. There are so many who experience pain without even having anything like this during their first time. You’re doing pretty well, kid.”

Upon hearing this, Lily suddenly realized.

That the woman had already known that she would be subjected to such harsh treatment.

She had sold her off knowing full well.

In the distance, it felt like something was cracking.

If she left it at that, something would surely break, so Lily, with a desperate grip on her last lifeline, asked the woman.

“…Sis. To you… what was I?”

“…Hah.”

The woman didn’t answer that question.

She simply let out a small sigh.

As she would when a troublesome customer walked into the store.

A sigh she often let out when dealing with something profoundly annoying.

With that sigh, Lily felt that whatever had been cracking inside her had been completely shattered.

Lily suddenly looked into the woman’s eyes.

Thanks to having some distance, she finally understood that the gaze directed at her was not that of a cherished family member, but that of someone looking at an item on display.

While she regarded the woman as her only family, to her, Lily was just one among many items.

Beautiful, and thus worth more than the others.

The fact that she had called her special and treated her as such was nothing but an intention to make that rare item even more valuable in its possession.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Realizing this, Lily had no idea what expression she should wear.

“…Forget the bruise; did you do that to your neck?”

The woman asked.

Lily nodded silently.

Then the woman sighed and retrieved something that looked like a choker for her neck.

It was an item similar to those that the slaves occasionally wore, adorned with complicated engravings.

A magical item designed to prevent a slave from self-harming or committing suicide without their owner’s permission.

As the woman fastened it around Lily’s neck, she said,

“…Your body is no longer yours. If you do something like that, this will tighten. It’s not a pretty item, so I wished you wouldn’t wear it, but there’s no helping it. Take care. Just don’t come back.”

With that, the woman closed her lips as if she had no further business with her.

Lily had no more words to say either, so she left the store in silence.

Before stepping out, she took one last glance at the woman.

The store owner seemed to have lost all attachment to the item she had already sold, no longer looking this way.

With an inexplicable emptiness settling in her chest, Lily walked out onto the street.

Feeling as if people were whispering about her, she lowered her head.

While her neck, treated with ointment, was itching, the object fastened around it didn’t even allow her that much freedom.

A symbol of one who was deprived of the freedom to scratch their own neck or to hang themselves.

The feeling that her once special self was now gone sunk in.

It was a truly miserable feeling.

*

That night, Lily was summoned by the man again.

Seeing the object fastened around Lily’s neck, he laughed incredulously and said.

“That woman swore you wouldn’t have to wear it, and yet here you are, wearing it. Did you harm yourself out of frustration because you were in my arms?”

“…”

“Hah, that’s not even funny. Look, don’t get carried away; just because you’re somewhat attractive doesn’t make you some tragic heroine. You’re nothing but an expensive whore.”

Lily had already been aware that she was no longer special, but the man’s words deeply wounded her pride.

Especially since there wasn’t much pride left.

So, in defiance, Lily refused to act in ways that would please the man.

“Are you trying to resist? Hah, interesting. See how long you can hold out.”

At that, the man injected a syringe into his arm.

Squirming.

It felt like bugs were crawling inside her body as the drugs entered.

It was horrifying and disgusting.

As the man climbed on top of her, groping her and thrusting his hips, everything felt like it was moving like worms.

It was absolutely revolting.

Yet,

“Ugh… Hwaaaang… Haaah!!”

All that revulsion turned entirely into pleasure.

Her mind went blank.

She couldn’t resist at all.

In the end, Lily once again could not escape the relentless waves of ecstasy that overwhelmed her.

After the brief but slightly shorter climax compared to the previous day ended,

“…”

Lily buried her body in the bed, tears flowing from her deadened eyes.

She wanted to resist, but she hated herself for not even being able to fight against the pleasure.

“Aigoo, your eyes are looking so glazed over. I paid a lot for you, and if you break that quickly, it won’t do.”

The man chuckled as he saw Lily crying.

“Well, don’t worry too much just because things aren’t going your way. Humans can’t resist pleasure.”

That was meant to be a comforting remark, but it didn’t resonate with Lily at all.

It only made her feel more miserable.

The thought that she couldn’t endure a single pleasure meant that she was, after all, not some special being.

As she cried, morning came unexpectedly.

After the man left the room, Lily sat there in daze, passing time aimlessly.

She despised this place that held nothing but bad memories, but now Lily had no place to return to.

In the end, was she doomed to live her life as a man’s toy?

“…I hate it.”

Just imagining it was more than enough to induce a wave of revulsion.

The object around her neck even had magic for tracking her location.

She couldn’t even wish for death, making it seem like there was nowhere left to run.

At that moment of Lily’s despair, when she was shedding tears.

“Ahahaha, hello?”

A woman suddenly appeared in the room, which had been devoid of anyone else.

One might wonder how she got in or why she was wearing such a suspicious hood, but Lily, exhausted, had no energy to care.

Yet the woman continued to speak, despite Lily’s silence.

Most of her words were questions.

She asked for her name, what she had been doing until now, and whether the woman felt anything from her.

Despite the barrage of the woman’s inquiries, Lily could only blankly cry.

“Can you tell me why you were crying?”

“…Well—”

With that persistent questioning, she finally opened her mouth, albeit reluctantly.

Or perhaps she simply wanted to vent her grievances.

As Lily recounted her experiences, the woman responded with laughter.

“Uhuhuh, I see.”

“…Are you mocking me?”

“No, no, just find it amusing.”

“…What’s funny?”

When Lily glared at her because she was upset, the woman smiled.

“Isn’t it funny? You, yourself, wish to be that special person, yet you don’t even realize you already are.”

At those words, Lily asked in a daze.

“…A special, being? Me?”

“Yes, a special being, not an ordinary human.”

The woman then placed her hand on Lily’s neck.

Suddenly, the collar that had been tightly fastened, preventing her from escaping, was now gently removed from her neck and was lying in the woman’s hand.

As she stared at it in shock, the woman whispered softly to Lily.

“You might not have realized, but you have a special power lying dormant within you.”

“A special… power.”

“That’s right, just think hard about what you want the most right now. What do you desire?”

Hearing the woman’s words, Lily closed her eyes and started to think.

The first thing that came to mind was,

“I want to make them feel the same way…”

It was the desire for revenge.

She wanted those who had reduced her to despair to feel the same despair she had experienced.

At that moment, a dark mass began to squirm and crawl out from within Lily’s body.

From her eyes, her nose, her mouth.

The things that had crawled inside her body the previous night began to emerge from every hole in her body.

Worms were writhing as they crawled out of her again.

“Whew… That’s quite a disturbing ability.”

“…Ahahaha.”

The woman had called it disagreeable, but Lily’s laughter erupted.

She instinctively understood what they could do.

And that evening, Lily created her first puppet.

“…So, what does it feel like to have bugs crawling inside you?”

“Ah… it feels good… so good…”

The man who had purchased Lily, while accepting countless worms through the holes in his body, rolled his eyes with a grotesque smile and cried out in pleasure until he finally succumbed, spilling blood from his nose.

“Hahaha… Truly, when it comes to pleasure, people become less than worms.”

Lily burst into laughter at that sight and stepped out onto the street.

Seeing people obey her, crumbling at the front of pleasure was quite the delightful experience.

Especially when the beautiful faced ones met such a fate.

As she watched the beautiful things thrashing against ecstasy, she realized she wasn’t alone in this plight.

No. Rather, she felt that compared to those who were less than worms, she was much better,

That she was far more special, and her lost pride felt a little refreshed.

“Lily… you are special. My special, precious child.”

“…That’s boring.”

While playing with her puppets, she briefly attempted to try something else, but felt no particular emotion and stopped immediately.

In the past, it might have mattered, but now, hearing such words from something less than a worm held no significance.

Regardless, after that day, Lily became fixated on turning beautiful things into her puppets.

Even if it was a base manner, she realized that making everyone else less than her could make her feel relatively special.

That was the only way to fill her dwindling pride and her hollow heart.

*

“…A memory I’d rather not recall.”

Upon recalling a long-lost memory, Lily muttered in discomfort.

“…Ah! This is all that damn woman’s fault! I will absolutely get my revenge—”

Just as she clenched her fists, recalling that individual who had forced such unpleasant memories upon her,

“…Huh?”

Something entered the field of view of the lesser demonic beasts laid out near the hideout.

A burning bird and a shining star cluster.

And among the humans riding atop, she sensed the presence of the nemesis she had been cursing moments earlier.

“What is this? Are they really coming in search of me?”

Lily murmured incredulously.

“Well, well. Perfect timing. This time, I’ll make you into the obedient puppet I’ve always wanted.”

With a scratch on her scarred skin, she twisted her lips into a distorted smile.