"This month was really fun. But… well… you were just a way to make my ex jealous. When he saw I'd replaced him so quickly with someone like you, he came crawling back. You're a good guy, honestly. I'm sure you'll find a good girl someday — but that girl isn't me. Bye-bye."
Even an hour later, those words keep echoing in Aoshi's head.
Aoshi Toya — nineteen years old — staggers through the backstreets of Ueda, dragging a huge bouquet of roses behind him.
"Why does life have to suck so much… why?! My sweet Miori… not even a lifetime would be enough to fill the void you left in my heart! And the worst part is — how the hell am I supposed to face my friends after bragging all month about dating a bombshell like Miori Yukinaga…?"
He looks up at the night sky and lets out a heavy sigh.
"I'm such an idiot… thinking a girl like her — the most popular and desired girl in the whole university — could ever fall in love with a nobody like me. Well… it was nice while it lasted. Time to get my feet back on the ground."
Aoshi turns right, heading back toward the main street and... CRASH!
"Hey, watch where you're going, idiot!" Eliss shouts.
She falls to the ground after colliding with Aoshi as they turn the corner at the same time.
"S-Sorry… I was lost in thought," Aoshi murmurs.
He offers her a hand to help her up, but she slaps it away.
"Ugh, here we go again — another pathetic pervert who'll use this as an excuse to try to hit on me. Humans are all so predictable…"
But…
"Sorry again. Have a good evening," Aoshi says flatly.
Then he simply walks past her, leaving Eliss frozen on the sidewalk in total disbelief.
"Is he mocking me?! Me, the magnificent Princess Eliss Narkhalis, ignored by a mere human?! Impossible! Maybe… maybe he didn't get a good look at me! Yes, that must be it!"
Eliss jumps to her feet and unbuttons her blouse, pulling the neckline lower until her full breasts nearly spill out. Then she hikes up her miniskirt, baring her thighs completely.
"Okay, this time that loser will definitely fall! Still… he's earned at least a little respect. Without a doubt, the toughest human I've met so far."
"Hey, you — where do you think you're going?"
He slowly turns around.
No flinch, no tremor, not even a hint of reaction despite Eliss being one step away from half-naked in front of him.
"Do you need something?" Aoshi asks in a calm, detached tone.
Eliss freezes. She's more than shocked. She's devastated. In her twenty years of life, no one has ever ignored her like this.
"Well…" Her voice turns warmer and more sensual. "…after bumping into me, the least you could do to make it up is…"
She doesn't even finish the sentence — she simply lifts her skirt even higher.
Eliss, standing there in her underwear, could drive anyone insane.
Anyone… except Aoshi Toya.
"You're a friend of Miori's, right? Did she send you to comfort me — or maybe to make fun of me? Look, this isn't a good day for me."
"Miori? Who the hell is Miori?! Right… dull eyes, bouquet of roses dragging on the asphalt — this loser just got dumped! I don't know who this Miori is, but I'm at least a million times sexier than her! And even now, he's still thinking about her?! What's wrong with this idiot?! I've never felt this humiliated in my life! Fine — time for drastic measures!"
Eliss steps toward him with determination.
Now they're face to face.
"It's admirable that you managed to resist me, but know this — I never lose! You'll fall at my feet like everyone else! Game over, loser!"
Her eyes glow violet, and Aoshi's reflect the same light.
She casts Charming Magic — a typical succubus spell that amplifies any spark of attraction in the victim's heart until it turns into an uncontrollable obsession.
And yet… Aoshi Toya looks exactly the same as before — still sunk in depression, with the same dull, empty gaze.
"What… the hell just happened? Why is he still standing there like nothing changed? And why… is my heart pounding like crazy?! And why do I feel wet down there…?!"
She's paralyzed with terror.
"T-That guy… messy hair, those plain, ordinary eyes, that loser face… why is he so… sexy?! What the hell is happening to me?! No, impossible! I can't have fallen in love with him! Did my own spell… backfire on me?! How is that even possible?! And now what? The only way to cancel it would be to cast a counterspell… but I don't even know which one! I'm not even sure it even exists! This is a complete disaster!"
"Are you sure you're okay? Should I call an ambulance?" Aoshi asks.
"His voice… so flat, so lifeless — and yet unbelievably sexy! So this is the effect of a succubus spell? What a pain… Raelor, where are you?! Help me!"
Eliss can't utter a single word.
Aoshi shrugs and turns away, but Eliss throws herself at his feet, clinging to his legs in desperation.
"How can you leave me here all alone after making me fall in love with you?! You're heartless!"
"Cut the jokes. The game's over. Go back home. When you see Miori, tell her that, despite everything, I was truly happy during the month we spent together."
"Stop talking about this Miori all the time!" Eliss snaps, a hint of jealousy in her voice. "I don't even know who she is, and I don't care! The sooner you forget her, the better — so we can spend the rest of our lives together, happily ever after!"
"Oh crap… why am I saying these things out loud?! If my sister Vanya saw me like this, she'd tease me until the end of my days! What a humiliation…"
Aoshi looks at her with pity.
"Poor girl… she's drunk, high, or both. She's my age, and she's already ended up like this? What a hassle… Still, I can't leave her here. It's late, and there are shady types around who'd take advantage of a girl in that state."
"All right. You can stay at my place tonight."
He offers her his hand to help her up — and this time Eliss doesn't push it away. She clings to his arm like a little monkey to a branch.
"But tomorrow morning, when you've come to your senses, you'll go back home, okay?"
Eliss nods repeatedly, her eyes shining with joy.
"The nerve… he didn't waste a second inviting me to spend the night at his place! What a shameless man… taking advantage of a young and innocent beauty like me! Then why am I so damn happy?! And why… do I actually hope he says something like, 'Sorry, my apartment is tiny and I only have one futon — I'm afraid we'll have to share'? How can I be head over heels for such a plain, clueless guy?!"
In just a couple of minutes, they reach Aoshi's apartment — an old, cheap apāto. The typical housing of a broke university student like him.
When Aoshi opens the door, Eliss's eyes shine even brighter as she realizes it's exactly the tiny dump she imagined — only even messier.
Clothes scattered everywhere, piles of dirty dishes in the sink, layers of dust on the furniture, and more.
As a princess, a scene like this would normally have sent Eliss into a panic. But now that small, suffocating den seems more luxurious than the royal palace.
"Sorry, my apartment is tiny and I only have one futon…"
Eliss is already practically drooling.
"…so you take it. I'll manage somehow. For one night, I can even sleep in the bathtub."
"W-What?! He didn't even try to suggest sharing it?! Either he's deeply depressed… or he's the most asexual human on the planet! Fine, whatever! Tomorrow morning I'll return to Elyndra and ask Raelor to break this stupid curse — he's the strongest incubus of all, for him it'll be child's play.
Wait… how the hell am I supposed to get back home?!"