I Tamed the Slave Male Lead Chapter 43

“…What did you just say?”

Yusiliph asked again, looking as though he desperately hoped his ears had deceived him.

“I mean, you know those steamy romance novels? But they can’t just be erotic. They need to have a story you can get invested in, too, while mercilessly digging into humanity’s most primal instincts. You know, that kind of provocative story.”

“What on earth does that have to do with anything? We were talking about the labyrinth, and now you’re suddenly bringing this up?”

He practically shouted in frustration, so I hurriedly came clean.

“Well, the thing is, there’s one monster I didn’t record in that notebook.”

“And what does that have to do with our conversation just now?”

The confusion on Yusiliph’s face deepened.

“Well, it’s called an incubus… Have you ever heard of one?”

At my cautious question, Yusiliph furrowed his brow.

“An incubus? You mean the demon that invades human dreams and steals their life force? But aren’t those imaginary beings from legends and ghost stories?”

“Of course, they didn’t name themselves incubi. That’s just what I call them for convenience. They’re not ghosts or demons, but a type of monster that actually exists inside the labyrinth.”

Let me reiterate: the original novel, Roses in Blue at the End of the World, is a post-apocalyptic, bleak romance fantasy.

And the word bleak is not something to be taken lightly here.

In the original novel, Yusiliph spends several months struggling through a labyrinth that Sota forcibly throws him into.

As terrifying as the labyrinth is, the decisive reason it takes the protagonist, Yusiliph, so long to escape is none other than those incubi.

They are monsters with translucent, humanlike forms. They can freely change their sex depending on their target, and they endlessly attempt to have intercourse with them.

Even if their targets refuse, the incubi keep coming. They don’t die, no matter how many times you hack them apart with a sword. Instead, they simply multiply endlessly, as though reproducing, even with their bodies split open.

When Yusiliph grows exhausted from cutting them down again and again and finally collapses into sleep, they cling to his body as though possessing him, having their way with him and playing with him as they please.

The one who appears before Yusiliph, who is gradually being drained of his life force and reduced to a shell of a man, is none other than Dorothea.

She happens to enter the labyrinth while traveling in search of a divine beast. There, she rescues Yusiliph, who has become the incubi’s plaything.

How did someone like her, who had no particular combat ability, manage to defeat the incubi?

By satisfying their dopamine cravings through vicarious gratification instead of actual sex.

Through none other than stories.

She realized that although the incubi were monsters obsessed with lust, they were surprisingly capable of holding a conversation. On top of that, they had spent over a hundred years doing nothing but having sex, and they had grown thoroughly sick of such animalistic intercourse.

Dorothea told them the most heartbreaking and beautiful love story she knew.

The incubi became completely absorbed in her tale, laughing and crying along with it. Some were so moved by her story that they even declared they would give up their lives as incubi and seek true love instead.

But monsters were still monsters. Their escape didn’t go smoothly from beginning to end.

Just as Dorothea had finished telling every romance story she knew and was about to bring her tale to a close, the incubi protested that they couldn’t be satisfied with that alone.

‘You mean the story alone isn’t enough? Then what on earth am I supposed to do?’

‘We want to see and experience that final scene with our own eyes. That’s the only way our desires will be properly satisfied.’

‘With your own eyes…?’

‘Yes! So show us! You and that man, act it out for us yourselves!’

At first, they refused. But in the end, that was the only way to escape the mischievous incubi.

And so, despite it being their first meeting, the two protagonists ended up sharing a passionate kiss.

Several times, in fact, and for quite a long time—until the incubi were satisfied.

‘You have to make it as passionate as the protagonists in the story!’

‘What kind of kiss was that?! We’ll show you how it’s done, so try it like this!’

Knowing what happened in the original novel, there was no way I could send Yusiliph in alone.

‘Of course, avoiding the incubus cave altogether would be ideal… But in the original novel, the floating garden where the bloodsucking plants grow was right next to the incubus cave. So I need to prepare for the worst.’

If Yusiliph entered the labyrinth alone, there was a chance he might end up spending several months as the incubi’s plaything, having his life force sucked out of him.

‘Besides, there’s no guarantee Dorothea will enter the labyrinth and rescue him this time. The timeline has completely diverged from the original. Which means I’m the one who has to save Yusiliph.’

Just to be clear, I absolutely was not hoping that I would get to share a passionate kiss with him like the protagonists did in the original.

I had a trump card of my own.

‘I may not look it, but I’m a seasoned veteran of bleak romance fantasy novels.’

Romance stories that could make the incubi laugh and cry? Provocative scenes that could satisfy their dopamine cravings?

I had more than a thousand works stored in my head that could satisfy both requirements.

I had a high-quality database that was incomparable to that of Saint Dorothea, who had lived in a monastery.

I was confident I could survive even if I ended up starring in a labyrinth version of One Thousand and One Nights.

“So… you know a great many erotic stories, and you think you can use them to satisfy the incubi and defeat them?”

When Yusiliph asked that with a peculiar expression, I—who had been so confident just moments earlier—turned bright red from head to toe.

“It’s, it’s just a hobby! Just like you pick up your sword when you’re bored, I read books when I’m bored!”

“Books on that particular subject, of all things.”

“What’s wrong with that? You’d be surprised if you read them, too! They’re much more moving and beautiful than you’d expect!”

“Hmm.”

“What’s with that look? What is that look supposed to mean?!”

Yusiliph watched me get worked up with apparent amusement, then shrugged.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“…What, exactly?”

“Won’t I be there when you tell those stories to the incubi? I’m looking forward to finding out just how moving and beautiful these stories of yours really are.”

“What? No! You absolutely have to cover your ears when that happens. Got it?”

“Hmm.”

“If you don’t, I swear I won’t tell a single story!”

Yusiliph turned away without giving me an answer, even as I shouted at him with my face red all the way to my neck.

By then, I had completely forgotten the sorrow I’d felt upon first waking up.

And so, we welcomed the morning.

 

***

 

I made thorough preparations.

I put on the trousers Becky had procured for me and a plain shirt, then tied my hair back into a single ponytail. It made moving around much easier.

“Becky, I’m counting on you to hold down the fort. If I don’t make it home today, you’ll have to come up with a good excuse for me.”

“Don’t worry about that, My lady. Just take good care of yourself.”

Becky gave me a stern reminder as she took the food bag from me. I had packed provisions such as water, jerky, and dried fruit, along with emergency medicine.

‘I need to make sure I eat properly and survive safely inside the labyrinth. I absolutely refuse to become a burden to Yusiliph.’

Firmly engraving that resolve into my heart, I strapped a dagger to my waist.

It was a gift Count Mayona had once given his daughter.

“It’s raining.”

When I stepped outside, Yusiliph, who had been waiting in front of the entrance, held an umbrella over my head.

“Looks like it.”

I tried to answer as haughtily as possible as I walked toward the carriage.

“Will we be able to return by tomorrow?”

Yusiliph asked, holding the umbrella over me alone while allowing himself to get wet in the rain.

“I suppose we can only hope so.”

Concerned that he was getting soaked, I hurried into the carriage.

Clack.

“Let’s go.”

Yusiliph climbed in after me and called out to the coachman.

The horses neighed, and the carriage began to move.

At last, it was the day we would enter the labyrinth.

 

***

 

“You’re punctual.”

In front of the gamekeeper’s hut at the entrance to the Poreun Mountains, on the outskirts of the capital, Duke Ameshika greeted us alone.

Fortunately, the rain had stopped, leaving the air clear.

“I wouldn’t dare keep Your Grace waiting.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“This is an entrance to a labyrinth that my grandfather developed on his own, without obtaining permission from the Imperial Family. If this place were discovered, the Imperial Family wouldn’t leave my house alone.”

“……”

“Of course, you already knew all that when you asked me to open the entrance for you.”

“I’m grateful for Your Grace’s immense consideration.”

I didn’t bother denying it and bowed my head.

“Therefore…”

“?”

“The fact that you entered the labyrinth through this place must remain a secret between the three of us here. Even if you never return, I won’t be able to take any action.”

“……”

It was a warning not to expect him—or House Mayona—to come to our rescue, even if we were fighting for our lives inside the labyrinth.

I gave him a smile to show that I understood completely.

“I’m well aware.”

“Hmm. Then…”

The duke said no more and began reciting a lengthy incantation.

As the spell was cast, the ordinary hut standing behind him began to change before our eyes.

The sturdy oak pillars turned into rotting planks, and the locked door transformed into a gaping hole.

From within, the ominous aura of another world began to seep out.