He already knew that the Prince hated witches.

Never before had Isaac felt ashamed or tormented by the fact that he was a half-blood of a witch and a human. He simply had to occasionally endure the inevitable loneliness that came with living in the human world.

However, since staying by the Prince’s side and feeling the sheer hatred for witches that he occasionally bared, for the first time, Isaac thought: ‘I wish the blood of a witch did not flow in me.’ Yet, on the other hand, he also felt a sense of relief, thinking that because he was at least half-witch, he could alleviate some of this man’s agony on the New Moon. Day after day, he oscillated between these completely opposing thoughts since being with the Prince.

And now.

‘How wonderful would it have been if I weren’t a witch.’ Isaac thought this with desperate sincerity.

A witch was trying to seduce a human to cause them harm——that was surely what the Prince was thinking. That was why he had been so terrifyingly enraged.

Isaac wanted to explain himself, but simply because he had the blood of a witch, any excuse he made was bound to lose its sincerity in the Prince’s eyes. That sense of unfairness, and the depression that followed. ‘Let alone earning his favor, I couldn’t even earn his basic trust.’

Breathing a sigh so heavy it felt like the ground would cave in, Isaac stood before the door. Lies always breed further misunderstandings. Whatever happened, he had no choice but to tell the truth and beg for understanding.

Knocking on the door, he announced, “It is Isaac,” and took a deep breath. Yet, despite his deep breath, the moment Isaac stepped into the room, his heart dropped.

He locked eyes directly with the Prince, who was leaning diagonally against the sofa. Resting his temple against his fist, the Prince staring intently at Isaac was chillingly expressionless.

He’s terrifying. If a person’s aura were visible to the eye, it would look like something tremendously monstrous and massive was flowing through this room right now…….Is this what Elie and the cats saw?

“So, what is the answer that will convince me?”

The Prince spoke languidly. Isaac swallowed a large lump of air and opened his mouth, speaking exactly as he had planned. The pure truth.

“I was trying to learn how to consume human life force.”

The Prince’s brow twitched. Isaac hurriedly continued.

“I have never done it before, so I didn’t know how. That is why I was trying to figure it out.”

A cold light mixed into the Prince’s eyes as he stared coolly at Isaac. Letting out a short, hollow scoff, the Prince muttered frostily.

“Not only is that unconvincing, but even if I were to accept it—you were going to consume human life force? Are you telling me now that you intend to act exactly like the witch you saw doing the same? Right in front of me?”

“Whether you had nerves of steel or had just lost your mind,” the Prince let out a cold sneer as he looked at Isaac with narrowed eyes. Isaac hurriedly waved his hands.

“I was only going to take enough life force so as not to harm the person! If I gather a tiny bit from several people, I will be able to see where the witch is. If I can just get enough life force, even for a few days…..”

The Prince said nothing. Seeming to slowly ponder those words, he asked.

“A tiny bit from several people?”

“Yes, just enough that it won’t affect them.”

“Even though it will reveal that you are a witch?”

Isaac momentarily dropped his gaze to his feet. Living as a human in the human world, and not doing so.

He still had lingering attachments to mingling among people and living as a human. Having lived like that his whole life, it was not an easy thing to abandon. He could easily guess how harsh it would be to live as a witch among them—no, he would likely be entirely unable to live among people anymore.

Nevertheless.

The horrific sight of that young man being eaten alive and dying in an instant.

How many more people had met that same gruesome fate?

“Even if it makes it difficult for me to live as a human, I must do what needs to be done.”

Isaac raised his head. The eyes watching Isaac narrowed faintly. He couldn’t tell if the Prince didn’t like his answer or simply didn’t believe it.

“So, to make that first sacrifice, you tried to suck the life force of that maid? Why that woman?”

Isaac flinched. He didn’t know why those few seconds of staring at the blinking Prince felt so agonizingly long before he quickly replied.

“Because that girl is actually an incubus, so I was trying to learn from her——”

He couldn’t possibly say that. If he did, he would have to watch a witch be killed right before his eyes.

“……It, It didn’t matter who it was……, but I just happened to be talking closely with her…….”

The Prince said nothing. In order not to avert his gaze from those cold eyes, Isaac had to exert an immense amount of effort. He was such a sharp man, Isaac worried he might catch onto some subtle clue.

“Since you have learned the trick to consuming life force, you will be able to replenish your energy. Just enough so that it doesn’t cause harm, receiving it from several people…….”

Then he would be able to use the ‘eye’ much more freely than before. As much as he needed to catch the witch.

To gather life force in a short amount of time from multiple people, they would have to consent to it, and for that, he would inevitably need the Prince’s help. Whether the Prince would agree to Isaac’s idea was another matter – and if he refused, the trick Isaac learned would be useless – but at least he had created an option.

“Several people…….”

The Prince mumbled. Hearing the faint tone of displeasure in his voice, Isaac quickly added as if to excuse himself.

“I couldn’t think of any other way. To replenish enough life force to see the witch without harming anyone…….”

“Is that the only way a witch absorbs life force? I know you can suck it in just through a shared breath.”

The Prince cut Isaac off mid-sentence. Isaac, who had been blinking in surprise, instantly felt his face burn hot. He couldn’t help but subtly drop his gaze.

“……, Because it was my first time, I didn’t know the trick well enough….., they say absorbing it through mucous membranes is the easiest way. Perhaps once I get used to it, I won’t need to go through mucous membranes, but…….”

“Meaning, for the time being, you must consume life force in that manner every time you take it from someone.”

“……, Yes, probably.”

Isaac bowed his head like a sinner. He truly hadn’t expected to be interrogated over something like this. He hadn’t even thought about it until now. But, well, thinking about it from the perspective of the person having their life force sucked out, it would be unpleasant. Even from his own end, it wasn’t exactly a pleasant prospect either.

As Isaac stood awkwardly, he heard a faint sound of wind and lifted his head. The Prince was letting out a hollow laugh of disbelief. His still-expressionless face somehow carried a fierce aura, causing Isaac to tense up and freeze.

“I didn’t realize you had the audacity to speak so boldly in front of me about sucking human life force.”

“——If you do not permit it, I will not do it.”

Isaac bowed his head and replied. It seemed it really was a no-go. Even without causing any harm, there was no way he would gladly accept a witch sucking human vitality……. ‘Then, what should I do? How am I supposed to find out where that witch is?’

Then, over the head of the deeply distressed Isaac, a voice suddenly dropped.

“Alright, I accept your words.”

In the split second Isaac lifted his head in relief, he felt a sensation like a massive beast rising from before him. The slow steps walking toward Isaac were heavy and threatening. The back of Isaac’s neck went stiff.

“Child of a witch. You covet human life force? You wanted to taste it? Then you have found a very good excuse.”

“It isn’t like that,”

Isaac began to stammer, but the Prince’s large hand violently seized Isaac’s throat. A grip strong enough to cut off his breath choked him.

“Yes, your excuse is not bad. If it means catching that witch, you must do so. However, how can you possibly fill that required amount of life force from so many people?”

“——.”

“Even after absorbing a sufficient amount of life force, how am I to know if you won’t suck more for your own selfish desires, causing new victims because of the witch that you are? To say you will suck life force from many people with such a flimsy excuse, you truly committed a cunning sin.”

“That, is, not,”

The Prince, gripping Isaac’s neck, was looking right in front of his nose. The bottomlessly dark, pitch-black eyes were chillingly chilling. Only then did Isaac realize the Prince was enraged to a terrifying degree.

Isaac desperately looked back at the Prince. That wasn’t true. That wasn’t his intention at all. He didn’t have the slightest ulterior motive. Why wouldn’t he recognize that, why wouldn’t he believe him; feelings of unfairness and frustration preceded his fear. Staring intently into Isaac’s eyes, the Prince’s pupils seemed to waver blackly. Suddenly,

“I will give you mine.”

The Prince spat the words out through his teeth.

Isaac flinched his brows. Amidst the suffocating pain, he couldn’t comprehend what the Prince had just said. 

‘Mine, what did he mean——.’

“Take it from me. Let us see how much life force you can take from me, and through that, how well you can see that witch.”

The Prince’s lips hovered at a distance where they almost touched Isaac’s. It sounded like the growl of a beast of prey.

Those words reached Isaac’s brain a beat too late. And before another thought could even enter his momentarily blanked mind,

“——.”

The sensation of his lips being bitten fiercely.

As if releasing a fury that had nowhere else to go, the Prince crushed Isaac’s lips without hesitation, crashing into him as if to devour him whole…..

It was an overwhelmingly abrupt contact, sudden enough to completely overshadow the pain of his burst lips and bitten tongue. Isaac, blinking blankly, couldn’t even see the distance properly, yet those pitch-black eyes were glaring at him as if ready to eat him alive.

The tongue thrusting between his lips sought out Isaac’s own. As if tasting caramel carefully before suddenly swallowing it whole, the tongue that had been slowly licking Isaac’s was abruptly and greedily sucked in.

“——.”

His breath caught. It felt like a typhoon was raging inside his mouth. That typhoon swept down his throat and spread through his entire body.

It was an instinctual sense of crisis that could not be described in words. Unconsciously, Isaac clenched the hands resting on the Prince’s shoulders, trying to push him away. However, the shoulders felt like solid rock, unyielding for even a moment, before pulling back after a short while. The overlapping lips separated as well. The Prince’s face came into clear view right before his eyes.

Is this——the person I knew?

It was undeniably a familiar face, yet it was foreign. It was because the expression was unfamiliar. Isaac had never seen the Prince’s face so fiercely and vividly displaying any emotion. He didn’t even know what emotion that rough, ferocious look represented.

The Prince stared at Isaac as if trying to pierce through him. His eyes were pitch-black. Soon, slowly opening his lips, his voice growled, thick and low.

“What are you doing, witch. Was saying you intended to absorb life force through mucous membranes just a flimsy excuse? Or were you just making things up to trifle with that human?”

“N-no, I am not.”

Isaac’s heart plummeted.

No. It wasn’t a lie. He had to extinguish his suspicion.

“Then do it properly.”

The Prince stepped in close again. Hand gripping the back of Isaac’s head and pulling him in, their lips overlapped.

He’s telling me to absorb life force. Right now, from this man.

Isaac nervously accepted the tongue digging between his lips. And intertwining his own tongue with it, he desperately tried to recall what he had done earlier, what sensation it had been.

It was a feeling of satiating a hunger. A hunger he had never been conscious of before, a hunger that wasn’t physical. That starvation was flowing from his counterpart, and Isaac simply swallowed what he felt from that presence.

Right, that was the sensation.

Focusing all his consciousness on his own tongue, Isaac slowly enveloped the Prince’s tongue. Gently sweeping over it, searching for what was contained within. In doing so, he didn’t even notice the arms wrapping around his neck. And,

“——.”

He found it.

The moment he felt something akin to air faintly leaking out, Isaac clung to it and began to suck it in. And in that instant, the dark thoughts in his mind were completely erased.

To think there was something this sweet. Something this luscious.

It felt as if all his consciousness vanished. Left with only the sensation of tasting it, Isaac clung to the Prince. Like an instinct awakening as a witch.

A feeling of being slowly filled from the empty bottom up. He could vividly feel the energy rising from deep within his body.

In a trance, Isaac tasted the Prince’s tongue. Licking, sucking, swallowing. And at some point, when the vitality that seemed to fall drop by drop began to flow in like a torrent, a sound akin to a low growl escaped from the Prince’s throat.

Along with a sound like the threatening growl of a beast that had been enduring for a long time, the Prince, who had been perfectly still until then, bit into Isaac.

“——.”

With a terrifying momentum, he crushed Isaac’s tongue and sucked. As if intending to devour Isaac’s lips, tongue, and the entire inside of his mouth, the fierce momentum snapped Isaac’s scattered consciousness back in an instant.

He instinctively tried to pull his lips away, but the hand gripping the back of Isaac’s head wouldn’t budge. Instead, realizing he was trying to pull away, the Prince pulled him even closer, so tight he couldn’t even twitch. It felt as if he were trapped in this man’s arms.

A chilling sensation ran down his spine. This terrifyingly massive thing, what was it? Was it because of his vividly awakened witch’s senses, the person before him appeared as something impossibly gigantic and overwhelming, greater than a grand mountain. That terrifyingly absolute commanding presence——and simultaneously, despite it all, the ecstatic vitality flowing into his body so sweetly that it was a shame to give up on it.

Just as his mind felt hazy, as if a part of his brain was paralyzed,

“So this is what it feels like to have life force sucked out.”

A low whisper rang above his lips. With those words, the Prince savagely sucked Isaac’s tongue once more before pulling back.

“Right……. Right. Right. It is fine. Now I understand why humans who are bewitched by witches end up like that. Let us see. Let us see how far you can bewitch me. Let us see how much life force you can devour. ——Didn’t you say the easiest and most effective way for a witch to consume human life force is sexual intercourse?”

The softly muttered voice was rough. The moment those words fell, Isaac snapped to his senses as if doused in cold water.

Trapped beneath the arms holding his waist firmly, there was a distinct sensation against his groin. He instantly realized what the hard, unfamiliar sensation pressing against him was.

……This makes no sense.

“Prince Kyan, wait, this is enough life force,”

“Is there a limit to how much life force a witch can consume? What happens if you eat more than your limit?”

“——.”

He didn’t know. He had heard tales of humans dying from having all their life force drained, but he had never heard a tale of a witch getting sick from overeating life force. He had never even heard of a witch eating more life force than their capacity allowed.

“I was told at the temple when I was born. That something non-human was born wearing a human shell. That an endlessly massive aura was contained within a human vessel——they said.”

The corners of the Prince’s mouth curled up faintly. Eyes containing a chilling sneer stared at Isaac.

“Well, I do not know if those words are true or not, but how will it be, I wonder…….Right, this suddenly makes me curious. I wonder if I will wither after having all my life force drained by a witch. If that is the case, what happens to the witch who sucked up so much life force that it overflows.”

The arms wrapped around Isaac’s waist tightened with strength. Trapped in an embrace so tight it felt suffocating, Isaac held his breath. It was sweltering. The body pressed flush against his. And the desire distinctly touching him from below.

Isaac reflexively twisted his body, but the arms holding him even tighter were like iron walls; he couldn’t move any further. In the ear of the gasping Isaac, the Prince murmured.

“If you must consume life force, I will give you as much as you want. Try to eat as much as you desire.”

“No, I would like to declin,”

But Isaac’s words did not make it to the end. It was because the Prince bit into Isaac’s lips once more. Along with that,

“It doesn’t matter if you do not want to. Because I want to.”

The starved breathing of a beast on the verge of feasting scratched roughly against his ear.