[MC POV]
"Haaam~"
I let out a yawn the moment I lay down in bed. After closing my mouth, I instinctively reached for my phone and opened the corruption status menu.
"Where is it..."
Agnes' status had been stuck at the "Giving Up" stage for a few days now: [Resistance → Giving Up → Obedience → Affection].
Moving up one stage from "Resistance" meant she no longer had the will to escape or change her situation. In other words, she had stopped resisting sex altogether.
"Uhm..."
Even though there was clear progress, I couldn't help but feel disappointed.
The plan was unfolding smoothly, but the result I had anticipated hadn't shown up yet.
My plan was simple—push Agnes into indulging in sex so that her knights would grow disillusioned and abandon her. I believed this would be the most devastating way to make her regret everything.
"I think it's time for some kind of reaction..."
As Agnes began to feel more repulsed and ashamed of herself, I knew the other elves were picking up on it and whispering behind her back. Still, nothing significant had happened. The situation remained stagnant.
Something drastic needed to occur—either a change in how her subordinates treated her or a direct confrontation about her leadership. Yet for the past few days, the Knights' barracks had been unusually quiet.
Then it happened.
"Uh?"
The corruption status screen that I was staring at without thinking was updated.
The part that has changed was the section containing information about Agnes.
###
[Agnes]
She is in shock after receiving a recommendation from the vice-captain to leave the Knights.
###
'…It's finally happening.'
Just below the brief summary, the full details of the event were written out. As I read through them, a slow smile formed on my lips.
This was the moment of revenge I had been waiting for. The time had finally come for me to reveal my true identity to her—and make her regret everything.
'She'll be here soon.'
I had already promised her this. But even if I hadn't, there was no way Agnes wouldn't come looking for me now.
While I waited—half-expecting, half-eager—I eventually heard her voice from the other side of the door.
"…Dayke??"
"Come in."
When Agnes entered, her expression was as downcast as her voice had been. I knew exactly why, but I played dumb, trying to provoke her with a flirtatious tone.
"What's the matter? Didn't I tell you to come tomorrow for another fucking session?"
"You did."
"Oh? You're not jumping into it right away like usual?"
"Well, it seems like you have something else on your mind."
She flinched at my directness with her eyes fixed on the floor. After a brief pause, she finally began to speak, her gaze still avoiding mine.
"Actually… the vice-captain told me to leave the knighthood."
Her voice was small and miserable, as if she still hadn't come to terms with what had happened.
Thanks to the app, I already knew everything. So my response came out dry, almost disinterested.
"Why?"
"She said I've been consumed by lust… and that to protect the Knights, she had no choice but to send me away. She wasn't wrong, so I couldn't argue."
"I see."
She flinched again at my detached tone. Still, with nowhere else to turn, she forced herself to continue.
"…Now I have no choice but to resign as the leader and leave the kingdom. I've been branded a dark elf driven by lust. No one will accept me anymore. That's why…"
She trailed off again. Her lips trembled before she finally pushed the words out.
"You once told me to step down as leader and become your slave… and that if I did, you would never abandon me. It's late, but I want to accept that offer now…"
"No!!"
"…What?"
"I'm tired of playing with you."
"…What are you saying?"
Agnes stared at me, stunned. She looked as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard—but my expression didn't change.
"It was fun when you rebelled and said you didn't like it, but these days you are so obedient that it's actually boring."
"What are you talking about all of a sudden? You obviously said that my body feels good and that you want to fuck me for the rest of your life…"
"It was then, but not now."
"Where can something like that exist? How can it suddenly happen in one day…!"
"I don't know. I'm just sick of your pussy. What should I do? Anyway, I don't need you anymore, so go back."
"Go back…??!"
Agnes looked like her world had collapsed.
It would be natural since the only place to lean on was gone.
However, she knelt in front of me as if she couldn't give up.
"Please, Dayke!!"
"Is it okay for a leader to kneel to his subordinate?"
"I'm not the leader anymore. I'm just a dark elf who can't escape her sexual desires! Don't you know me the best…!!"
After shouting like that, she went on, pouring her heart out.
"I've fallen so deeply in love with you that I can't forget how it felt to be in your arms. That feeling has consumed me completely. I've lost everything because of it! You're the only one who truly understands me, Dayke. So please… leave the kingdom with me. Let's go somewhere far away, where no one can see us…"
"…"
"If you just accept me, I'll do anything. I'll be your slave, or whatever you want me to be. No matter what you desire—even if it isn't in a bed—I'll obey you without question. So please, I beg you. I have no place in this world unless I'm by your side…"
The sight of her crying with her head lowered was striking—both tragic and unforgettable.
Once an elf admired within the kingdom, she had been cast out by her own people. In the end, she was forced to serve as a slave to the very humans she had once despised.
To some, her situation might seem pitiful. But there was nothing I could do.
This was the consequence of her actions. She had blindly hated humans and even taken my innocent life.
Now, the time had come for Agnes to face the weight of her own karma.
"Why should I do that?"
"Why, why… You are the only one on this earth who can understand me… You, too, need someone to satisfy your desires."
"No matter what, I can't accept the elf who killed me."
"…What?"
Agnes' amber eyes trembled.
She dropped to her knees and turned to face me, staring into my eyes. It seemed she was trying to grasp the meaning behind what I had just said.
"What did you just say…?"
"Do you still not know who I am? Have you already forgotten the person you killed? Or have you taken so many lives that it all blurs together?"
"Does that mean you… Are you Alvin?"
This was the moment I revealed my identity.
I didn't bother hiding the smile that naturally spread across my face.
"Yes. I'm Alvin—the one you killed, following the kingdom's orders."
"Nonsense…!!"
Agnes froze in place after hearing those words.
Then, with trembling lips that barely moved—like she was shivering from the cold—she asked:
"If you're really Alvin, then whose body is this…?"
"I don't know. Maybe God pitied me for being betrayed by an elf and gave me a second chance. He let me return in another human form."
"That's not possible…"
"Do you understand now? Do you see why I approached you all this time? I wanted you to face the truth about yourself. I wanted to show you how ugly your heart truly is—and take my revenge."
Agnes was still in a daze.
But deep inside, there were so many questions she wanted to ask. So many words she wanted to speak.
"What did I do so wrong that you wanted to kill me? All those years, you silently followed orders while we fought the Demon King. Did you hate humans that much? Was I so disgusting in your eyes? In the end, weren't you no different from a wild animal?"
"I-I…"
"Don't blame me. You were the one abandoned by the knights. You were the one who killed a human without realizing what you truly were—a beast, no better than an animal. If you understand that, then just leave."
"Ah…"
At the sound of my cold, unfeeling voice, Agnes collapsed. She dropped to the floor, silently sobbing.
But suddenly, she rose again. She rushed to me and grabbed my arm as I sat on the bed.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Alvin! I was wrong!"
"Let go of me!!"
"You were right. I was the beast. My petty hatred blinded me. I despised you and even killed you, though you were innocent! … I apologize. For everything. For all the pain I caused you… So—"
"I said, let go!!"
"Please, Alvin! I've already lost everything. If you abandon me too, I won't be able to go on living!"
Agnes crumpled to the floor again.
She no longer cared about her pride as an elf or her honor as a knight. Her desperation had stripped her of everything.
"I'm begging you! Please… don't throw me away!"
When she stabbed me five years ago, did she ever imagine this moment would come?
Did she ever think that one day she'd be left with nothing? That the only place she could return to would be the arms of the humans she once loathed?
There was no need to ask. The sight of Agnes lying there—broken and miserable—was the answer.
"I have no intention of accepting the traitor who killed me. Give up and leave."
"Ahhh… Ah…!"
Agnes finally let out the tears she had been holding back.
Even then, I remained cold. I didn't glance at her, didn't soften.
She cried until she was completely drained. And when no response came from me, she stumbled out of the room, looking like a lifeless shell.
"…"
Left alone, I didn't celebrate. I didn't cheer or jump for joy at finally getting my revenge.
When I saw the regret on her face, I felt something far from satisfaction.
No—that's a lie.
The truth was, I was calm because there were still more elves left to take revenge on.
'She's probably back in her room by now.'
If I was thinking ahead, I should have accepted Agnes.
Keeping her by my side would give me the leverage to threaten the vice-captain and the other knights. With her influence, I could further my revenge.
But I kicked her out anyway.
Because I knew she had nowhere else to go. She would come crawling back to me.
[Agnes]
Status: Obedience
The app's corruption status changed without warning. One new letter appeared: obedience.
After she was expelled from the Order, her corruption level had risen. It shifted from "renunciation" to "obedience."
Agnes had no one left. After the vice-captain advised her to leave the kingdom, I was all she had.
But in this app, "obedience" meant something more than just following orders.
It meant complete submission to me.
It meant emotional dependence so strong that she couldn't survive without me.
That's how desperate she was—abandoned by her comrades, stripped of her rank, and left with no future.
'In the end, she'll come crawling back to me.'
That's why I sent her away.
To make her suffer. To make her feel the full weight of her past sins.
And to make her beg—truly beg—with all her heart.
If her pleas came from genuine remorse, maybe then I'd keep her around. Not out of forgiveness, but to use her as a tool for my revenge.
'Come beg like you mean it.'
With that thought in mind, I waited silently for her return, picturing her holding back tears in her room.
****
[Pov Change]
She was not sure how she made it back.
Agnes walked slowly, stifling her sobs so no one would hear. Before she knew it, she had arrived at her room.
She dropped down—but she didn't cry like she had in front of Dayke.
After losing her last hope, the despair was so deep she didn't even know how to express it anymore.
'It's all… my fault.'
Not only had she realized she was more vile than Dayke—the very person she once looked down on—but even after casting aside her pride to beg for forgiveness, she had still been rejected.
There was no one else to blame. Only herself.
And that truth crushed her.
But what tormented her even more was the longing.
Even now, even after all of this, she still didn't want to give up on Dayke.
The one person who truly understood her. The only one who didn't look at her with the disgust other elves did.
Without him, the loneliness was unbearable. It was so heavy she didn't have the will to keep living.
'…In the end, I can't do this without him.'
Agnes stood up from the floor and walked over to the dressing table in the corner.
It was meant to be a place to beautify oneself, but as a knight, she rarely used it.
She sat down and pulled open a dusty drawer, taking out cosmetics she hadn't touched in years.
[Agnes has never used makeup before, right? You're already pretty, so you'll look even prettier with makeup! It's a gift, so make sure to use it. Okay?]
That message had come with the gift—a present from Princess Iril, given just a few days before Dayke arrived. It was meant for the commander who had lived a life of duty and restraint.
Agnes felt guilty for using it now, just to win someone's heart.
But right now, there was nothing more important to her.
'…I'm sorry, Princess Iril.'
With a small sigh, she picked up the makeup. The apples of her cheeks were already flushed.
Slowly, she began applying it, trying to make herself look beautiful.
All in the hope that Dayke would see her. That he might come to love this new version of her.