The Morning After

“Haah…”

Though my mind was still hazy, I yawned and crawled out of bed.

Tidying my disheveled hair, my gaze inadvertently fell upon the person beside me.

A wave of contentment washed over me…

Is there anything more blissful than waking up to the sleeping face of the one you love?

“Hoo… shoo…”

At that moment, the Young Miss was sleeping soundly.

Listening to her even breathing and the smile on her face…

She must be having a pleasant dream, right?

“Eileen… I’m not done yet… keep playing with me even if you’re tired…”

“Uh…”

I couldn’t help but feel my face flush.

What kind of dream was the Young Miss having!

But then again, last night had been intense…

Throwing off the covers, I could clearly see the red marks on my fair skin.

Perhaps due to the ‘Charm’ effect, the Young Miss’s assault last night was exceptionally fierce…

It had even lasted well into the night.

The mere memory made my face and body heat up.

“Gulp…”

I swallowed involuntarily.

…What was I thinking! It was still broad daylight!

I quickly shook my head, casting aside all stray thoughts.

Anyway, after all that tossing and turning yesterday, both the Young Miss and I were utterly exhausted and fell into a deep sleep… By the time we woke up, it was already noon.

Thank goodness there were no classes today; otherwise, being branded a truant would have been a certainty.

But there was also bad news… The mark on my skin had been seen by the Young Miss during our pleasurable moments… And it was glowing!

I managed to lie, saying it was a side effect of Margaret’s antidote…

Fortunately, the Young Miss had no knowledge of mark magic and didn’t understand what it really was.

“It looks pretty…” she said, and then didn’t press further.

Was she broad-minded or just innocent?

Still, her carefree nature made her all the more endearing.

Watching her adorable sleeping face, a smile crept onto my lips.

Feeling a sudden impulse, I unconsciously reached out a finger

and poked her cheek.

Though I had always taken care of the Young Miss’s skin, her cheek was indeed

soft and smooth. But compared to the former, delicate, supple feel,

there was still an insurmountable gap.

Every time this happened, I would sigh: the Young Miss had really grown up.

Well… of course, some parts still maintained their former standard.

“Mmm…”

Her long eyelashes fluttered, but she showed no sign of waking.

“Hehe~”

My smile deepened.

A sudden idea came to mind… I brought my face close to the Young Miss’s.

Then, leaning down, I pressed my lips to her cheek.

It seemed to have left a slight mark…

Consider this payback for the hickey she gave me on my neck last night.

But I had my neatly buttoned maid uniform to cover up… The Young Miss, on the other hand, had marks in the most visible places and no concealing clothes, so she would certainly be troubled.

“This is a little retaliatory prank from your maid, my dearest Young Miss.”

Leaving these words inaudibly, I smiled, then left the infirmary to start preparing lunch.

After all, we hadn’t eaten since last night… Though I felt quite full now, not eating was ultimately bad for my health.

…

In the evening, as Margaret had instructed, I went to her laboratory.

As soon as I entered, she grinned slyly and asked:

“How did you two fare last night?”

But by now, I was somewhat used to her cynical attitude, so I answered directly:

“Can’t you give a more interesting reaction?”

Seeing my indifferent response, Margaret lost interest in teasing me and began rummaging through a pile of equipment.

Soon, she pulled out a syringe for drawing blood.

“Let’s do the blood draw first. Then, while I run tests, I’ll ask you about the situation.”

Blood draws were routine for both of us.

In no time, the step was completed.

Then, she dripped my blood into a machine I had never seen before and started fiddling with the control panel full of gauges in front of her.

“…I’ve wanted to say this for a while—isn’t your tech level a bit too high?”

“It’s not entirely technology; a large part consists of magic and magic stones… But in this world, magic is also a part of technology, so maybe you’re right.”

After a brief pause, she continued:

“How do you feel after last night?”

“As for me… I felt full. That should be due to the succubus constitution.”

“Hmm… And what about Katerina? Did you absorb her vitality?”

“I’m not sure, probably? But she looked well this morning. Not only that…”

I recalled the Young Miss’s behavior during lunch and added:

“I felt she was more energetic than yesterday.”

“I see…”

Margaret’s eyes were fixed on the gauges.

After a moment, she spoke again:

“It’s probably because you transferred your magic power to Katerina.”

“…What?”

I… transferred magic power to the Young Miss?

I got an unexpected answer from Margaret.

“No no no… I’m a succubus! I’m a demon that specifically absorbs human vitality! How could I transfer magic power to someone? Besides, I felt full back then! That’s proof of absorbing vitality! It can’t be…”

“Don’t rush… Nothing is impossible.”

Hearing my rapid-fire speech, Margaret raised her hand to interrupt me.

“Think carefully: what was different between yesterday and the other day?

In terms of your own magic power.”

“Magic power…?”

At her question, I lowered my head and thought seriously.

“If there’s a difference, it’s that the other day I used a lot of magic power, leaving about half empty? Yesterday, I was at full capacity.”

“Bingo~ That difference caused your ability to manifest differently.”

With that, Margaret pointed at my wristwatch.

“Actually, the watch I gave you can monitor your magic power in real time. Yesterday, I detected that your magic power had decreased by a portion.”

…It had that function?

I took off the watch and turned it over, but couldn’t see any monitoring device.

“Additionally, according to the blood test, after your demonization deepened, the magic power in your blood showed some solidification… But today’s test shows that the solidified magic power content decreased significantly.”

Magic solidification… According to Margaret’s research, magic power in demons solidifies, allowing them to release magic different from normal magic systems—so-called ‘Authority.’

But demons can only solidify; they cannot naturally absorb magic power, which forces them to absorb it from other creatures to survive.

My situation is special… Before the Moon plan succeeded, I had no solidified magic power. After being stabbed by the dagger, solidified magic power appeared. However, because I can naturally absorb magic power, its proportion is very low.

Margaret speculated that this might be a system bug caused by my impure bloodline.

“Moreover, think about it: one of your parents is a demon, the other human. If the demon side truly only extracted vitality, how could your mother have safely given birth to you?”

…That made sense.

“In short, your current constitution is likely that when magic power is insufficient, you absorb it, and when you have plenty, you output it… like a convenient power bank.”

Margaret summed up.