Chapter 7: The Third Ordeal—The Box (Part 1)

A few minutes before they were suddenly trapped in the box.

Heliod was glancing out the window, waiting for a letter that wasn’t coming.

“Commander, are you by any chance waiting for her?”

Keron, who had just entered Heliod’s office to handle some knightly affairs, asked with a flushed expression.

“I had my suspicions when I couldn’t spot your carrier pigeon, but it turns out you’ve been exchanging letters with her all along!”

“Her?” Heliod asked, narrowing his eyes.

“The Lady. Lady Arpen.”

Keron’s shoulders trembled with excitement. Heliod hadn’t expected Keron to know about his correspondence with Luisha, leaving him flustered.

“How did you find out?”

“Oh, Commander, of course I’d know! I read the piece in the Jedediah Gossip Papers. So, you really are… ahem… involved with her…”

“Don’t believe such baseless rumors,” Heliod cut him off sharply. “It’s merely official correspondence regarding certain matters.”

Despite his stern tone, the redness creeping up his ears betrayed his unease. Keron, initially crestfallen, quickly read between the lines and grinned cheekily.

“Is that so? Still, wouldn’t it be better to discuss important matters in person?”

“…It’s not so important as to require that,” Heliod muttered, averting his gaze.

In truth, he was already meeting Luisha every other day to discuss dance-related issues. Feeling guilty for lying to Keron, he avoided his subordinate’s eyes. But then, a memory from the other day, when he’d been with Luisha, resurfaced. Heliod’s finely chiseled features flushed as he thought about it, crumpling with embarrassment.

‘Sir Knight, here, you should step like this… Oh, Sir Knight?’

‘Ugh, ah, L-Lady… I can’t hold it…’

‘Wait, stop! This is a new outfit!’

Luisha’s small hands brushed against his back, and the cursed black mark on his skin squirmed like a beast that had found its prey, heating his body from the inside out. As his mind blanked from the overwhelming sensations, only one thing remained: raw pleasure. To make matters worse, he had to match Luisha’s humming and keep the beat while leading the dance. Heliod felt as if he was teetering on the edge of death.

When he finally succumbed to the storm of desire and disgraced Luisha’s outfit…

Snap. The pen in Heliod’s hand shattered under his grip.

“…And in such cases, how do you… uh, never mind,” Keron stammered, stopping mid-sentence as he noticed Heliod’s crimson-red face and nervous fidgeting. Realizing that his thoughts had become far too chaotic to continue the conversation, Heliod gestured for Keron to leave.

“Keron, you’re dismissed. That’s enough for today.”

“Y-yes, Commander. Understood.”

Scratching his head, Keron quickly gathered the documents he’d brought and left the room. Heliod, trying to clear his head of the image of Luisha, looked up—and suddenly remembered something important about the High Priest.

“Keron, wait. About the High Priest…”

“Yes, sir?”

But something was off. The moment Heliod rose to his feet, the world seemed to tilt sideways. His eyes widened in shock, and before he could process what was happening, his head hit the floor with a loud thud.

“Commander!”

His body refused to move. As Keron rushed over in a panic, Heliod slowly pieced together what was happening.

Had he just collapsed? Why? How?

“Commander, what’s wrong? Please, stay with me!”

Heliod’s body showed no signs of injury or strain. After the war, with the help of mages and priests, most of his injuries had healed, and his morning training sessions had left him feeling stronger than ever.

And yet, he had collapsed so suddenly.

This felt eerily similar to…

‘Is this the demon’s curse?’

Keron’s frantic shouts for a priest blurred into slow motion as he held onto Heliod. Fighting to keep his fading consciousness, Heliod frowned.

The third ordeal wasn’t supposed to arrive yet. He’d calculated it to come the day before Luisha’s party…

“K-Keron, call the High Pr—”

Heliod’s words were left unfinished as the demon’s curse pulled him into a dreamlike abyss. His vision darkened, and he fell into a deathlike slumber.

And when he opened his eyes again, this is what greeted him.

“What… what is this?”

Their hands were tied behind their backs, connected by a thin rope. Any slight movement caused them to pull awkwardly at each other. Cramped and folded into a tiny wooden box, Heliod struggled to collect himself.

“Sir Knight, could this be… part of the ordeal?”

“It… seems that way. Please, Lady, don’t move for a moment.”

Luisha, still in her light evening dress, hadn’t managed to adjust her voluminous skirts. She fidgeted, trying to settle them in the limited space.

The box was barely large enough for two adult men to squeeze into. In this cramped situation, Heliod sat hunched over with his shoulders drawn inward, while Luisha sat between his legs, leaning against his firm chest, both of them sweating.

“Why has the ordeal suddenly started? Didn’t you say it would be the day before the party?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t even asleep when the curse suddenly activated and pulled me into this dream.”

“Are you sure you don’t have anything important tomorrow?”

“None whatsoever.”

Heliod blinked rapidly, trying to keep his mind off Luisha, who was so close he could smell her soft fragrance. His bound hands were uncomfortable, and every tiny movement risked making Luisha bump her nose into his chest, eliciting faint groans that flustered him even more. What truly unnerved him, though, was her proximity. Her off-the-shoulder dress left little to the imagination, and the soft sensation pressing against him made his head spin.

As Heliod bit his lip, unable to speak, Luisha remained quiet for a moment before letting out a low hum.

“Mm…”

She frowned, clearly uncomfortable. Tossing her long hair forward, she shook her head to clear it from her face, and kicked at her cumbersome dress in frustration.

“My lady, what’s the matter?”

“Don’t you think… it’s unbearably hot in here?”

Hot? Heliod wasn’t sure. In this dream world, the temperature seemed entirely detached from the outside weather, and he couldn’t feel anything distinct. Just as he was about to respond, Luisha suddenly slumped against him.

“My lady?”

“Ugh…”

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

He tried to lift her upright, but his efforts only caused the top of his head to bump repeatedly against the wooden box. Grimacing in frustration, Heliod tilted his head to look at Luisha, who was burying her face in his chest and groaning softly.

“My lady. Lady Arpen! Pull yourself together. What’s happening?”

“Ah… Sir Knight, my body feels…”

“Are you in pain? Is it because it’s too cramped in here?”

“Nooo.”

Luisha lifted her flushed face, her cheeks as red as rose petals, and shifted herself onto Heliod’s sturdy thighs. In an instant, she was so close that their noses nearly touched. Heliod froze, his body stiffening as he flinched at her sudden proximity.

“I think… I’ve been drugged with an aphrodisiac.”

“…Pardon?”

“My body, it’s just… too much, ah, ugh.”

Luisha spread her fluttering skirt wide and began to rub herself against Heliod’s thigh. The warm sensation through the thin fabric struck Heliod like lightning, leaving him utterly paralyzed, his mind blank and unable to process what was happening.

“W-wait a moment. My lady, please don’t move. If you’ve really been affected by an aphrodisiac…”

“Ugh, Sir Knight, it’s so hot… and I feel so miserable. I can’t take it…”

Luisha’s golden eyes glistened with unshed tears, and Heliod, flustered, opened and closed his mouth like a fish. When Luisha slumped forward again, unable to maintain her balance, Heliod instinctively supported her, steadying her as he hastily asked:

“My lady, are you in a lot of pain? Can you stay conscious?”

“I don’t know. It’s too much… It’s hot. Burning. Sir Knight… please, touch me.”

Heliod’s face flushed bright red.

Until now, it had always been Luisha who playfully touched and teased him. But now, the situation had reversed entirely. For some reason, the ordeal had begun suddenly, and somehow, the effects of the aphrodisiac had targeted Luisha instead of him.

What in the world is happening?

Heliod tried to ignore the delicate legs pressing against his thighs, focusing instead on helping Luisha regain her composure.

“Focus on me. Ignore your body’s sensations. My lady, you cannot lose control like this.”

“I don’t know… Just… take this off.”

Heliod, a trained knight, was resistant to the effects of the aphrodisiac, but Luisha, the cherished only daughter of the Duke’s family, had no such defenses. Overwhelmed by her first exposure to such a substance, she quickly lost her reason, seeking relief by rubbing herself against Heliod’s body.

Her soft, pliant figure pressed against him, and the heat of her intimate area was palpable even through the thin fabric of her undergarments. Heliod panicked, his body stiffening as he tried to wriggle away.

“My lady! My lady!”

The realization struck him like lightning: Luisha was using his thigh for her own relief. As the thought slammed into him, his own body betrayed him. His manhood began to harden, rising against his will.

Heliod was thrown into a whirlwind of shock—both from the obscene situation unfolding before him and from his body’s uncontrollable reaction.

‘The lady is in a vulnerable state. I cannot allow myself to lose control.’

Gritting his teeth, Heliod desperately tried to calm his fevered body, but—

“Ah, ugh, hngh! It tickles, I can’t… it’s too much…”

Luisha, her tear-filled eyes gazing at him as she moved her hips, was impossible to ignore.

“Sir Knight…”

Was it fortunate that her hands were tied? If they weren’t, she would likely have pushed him down, running her hands all over him, using his body as her tool for relief.

Heliod’s resolve wavered as he struggled against the overwhelming situation, his mind spiraling with tension and temptation.

But why did he feel a pang of regret at that thought? Heliod clamped his mouth shut, his jaw tightening as he shook his head vigorously, trying to push away the dangerous thoughts creeping in.

“My lady, you must hold on. You can do this. Don’t focus on your body’s sensations…”

“Let me out of this. I want to touch you.”

“That is not an option. Please, regain your composure first.”

Tears welling in her eyes, Luisha leaned closer to Heliod’s face. With nowhere to escape, Heliod leaned his head back as far as he could, his body stiff and his breathing shallow.

Luisha stared into his blue eyes intently, her frustration clear. Then, without warning, she lightly tapped his groin with her knee.

“Ugh?! What are you—?!”

Heliod’s voice cracked as he flinched, his entire body tensing in shock.