Chapter 21: Changing Circumstances

It didn't take long for me to find Marianne, as only one of the storage rooms had an unlocked door. An amateur mistake, if a servant had passed around, they would've locked her inside. She could have blasted herself out magically, but I didn't think that she would appreciate the resulting paperwork.

When I walked inside, I used a simple spell to lock the door behind me, as I didn't want any interruption. In the room, Marianne was waiting for me on a chair, but jumped up to her feet the moment I had walked inside. I could see the nervousness on her face, but no fear, making it unlikely that she had been planning an ambush.

"You're the one that invited me here," I said, but kept my voice soft, to avoid making the situation too confrontational.

Her blush intensified under my expectant gaze, but it didn't prevent her from speaking out. "I wanted to talk to you about something you promised to do," she said, managing to keep her voice even, but I could see just how much effort it took for her to maintain it.

"A promise?" I said, despite fully knowing what she had been talking about. She whispered something, too low to be heard even with my enhanced senses. "Sorry," I murmured. "Can you repeat it in a voice that I can hear."

"You mentioned that you might be willing to give me a massage," she whispered, but this time, it was a whisper loud enough for me to hear, even with her voice dwindling alongside the sentence.

"Yeah, I remember mentioning something like that," I said, doing my best to suppress a hungry smirk, but only with partial success. I had been expecting her to eventually fold to her own desires, especially since I had blocked the option of Cornelia, but I hadn't been expecting it to be so soon. Apparently, the treatment she had received during my undercover-maid career had spoiled her worse than I had been expecting.

She waited for me to continue, but I was contending in stopping there, and waiting for her to continue. It took several seconds for her to realize I was finished, and an equal amount of time to gather her courage for the next words. "May I take you up in that order," she managed to say, this time managing to keep her voice about a whisper, but barely.

Stringing her along was a tempting idea, but in her fragility, it was equally likely that it would backfire, sending her with a retreat. It wasn't a risk I was willing to take, simply because she wasn't the only one that was feeling horny. I temporarily lost my access to Helga after discarding my ranger personality, and my attempts to woo Aviada had been delayed thanks to her ex-fiancee —though luckily, not anymore. Willing access to Marianne was not something I could gamble. "Sure," I said with a shrug before turning the impact of my charisma to the max, my speech skill helping me to time the delivery perfectly. "I could never disappoint such a lovely lady."

"T-thanks," she stammered, a sudden blush invading her face. I suspected that the beginnings of a crush rooted in her, the help of the mystery that surrounded me helping it significantly as well. If there was one thing I learned from my encounters until now -confirmed by wisdom- women loved the aura of a mysterious stranger.

"Would you prefer to use the storage, or would you like me to sneak into your room," I said, only after letting it leave my mouth that I noticed the rather dangerous slip I had made.

"You can sneak into my room!" she said in alarm, making me curse myself for the momentary slip. Apparently, even my wisdom stat wasn't the panacea for the foot-in-the-mouth disease.

"Well, I have a couple of paramours that I had occasionally met in their rooms, so, as long as you lower the wards and leave the door unlocked, it's not that hard of a challenge," I said in a casual tone. There were three reasons I came up with that excuse. The first, it further devalued the secret of my status in her mind. The second, it normalized our situation while simultaneously suggesting that anything between us would stay secret as well. Third, people liked to know they weren't alone in breaking the rules.

The fourth, it implied that I wasn't good at magic, not enough to break a standard alarm spell without triggering it, without me explicitly committing to that fact, so if needed, allowing me to break it without being busted. Assumptions could be as dangerous as a sword if wielded correctly.

I could see the curiosity flashing on her face the moment I had mentioned my other supposed paramours, which then turned red as she imagined the implied scenes... "Here is fine," she murmured hurriedly.

"Sure," I said, then noticed a cot that was lying on the floor. "I see that you're already prepared." She nodded softly. "Why don't you lay down and we can start." I let my smirk widen. "Unless you want to remove your robe, of course."

"No, with robe is fine," she said rapidly as she threw herself on the makeshift massage table she had prepared on the floor.

I was amazed at the speed she was folding. Apparently, she was weaker to the withdrawal of pleasure even worse than my wildest expectations. As I closed in, my attention was grabbed by the subtle shiver of her skin, signaling her anticipation, mixed with trepidation. After all, to her knowledge, it was the first time a man was touching her skin in such an intimate manner.

I started by her neck, applying the full range of my massage skills to the fore from the start, trying to show her the difference between the so-called apprentice and the master. Thankfully, I had never applied my full range of capabilities while I was under the guise of Selena, not to mention my capabilities increased quite a bit due to my stat increase since our last encounter.

And it showed. A subtle purr started before even the turn of the minute, though it was short-lived, terminated the moment she realized she was making it. She sent a fleeting glance towards me to check whether I had noticed it, only to find a smug smile. "Maybe it was a bad idea-" she started as she tried to rise, for the first time realizing the vulnerable situation she put herself in.

The interruption came in a fun way. I slid my hand down as she started to speak, pressing a sensitive spot, and a pleasure-filled gasp interrupted her words. "If you prefer," I answered callously, even as my hand danced on her back, destroying the stiffness that had been accumulated. "But you're rather stiff, are you sure you want to stop early."

If she could have answered in the first few seconds, the answer had been likely to be positive, but with her mouth occupied by moaning, she failed to answer. And when she managed to control her voice, the situation had changed. With her heartbeat thumping under my finger, clear despite the layers of clothing on the way, I doubted that it would be effective. "Maybe a just another minute," she murmured, sealing her fate even if she didn't know it yet.

From my end, the next half an hour passed in a familiar routine, pleasuring her without touching any scandalous spots while carefully reading her reactions to keep her on the edge. It was another sign of her naivety that she failed to recognize that tactic until it was too late despite already experiencing it several times from his disguised persona.

[+200 Experience]

I smiled at the notification. Not because of its value, as it was rather paltry for such a long effort, but it lacked the penalty indicator, suggesting she was still at a higher level than me, which meant that I still had a convenient target to level up. Especially important, because I was yet to discover how the penalties were going to scale up with the level difference.

"Raise your arms," I ordered her in a soft but even tone, one that expected casual obedience, like a teacher asking a student to show her answer. Under normal conditions, even with my speech and charisma, it wouldn't have worked, but the situation was far from normal. She raised her arms, and I pulled her robe off her, its buttons I had untied beforehand without her noticing.

It took surprisingly long for her to realize that she had lost a layer of clothing, leaving her shirt and skirt with the task of protecting her body. Both were relatively conservative, but regardless, the lost layer meant that even the simplest of my touch had a renewed intensity. It was certainly amusing that when she turned her head in a way that she considered subtle, trying to come up with a way to argue against me removing her robe, but a mocking glare was enough to deter her, reminding her just how much it took to realize it.

It was another mistake, of course, but at this point, it was inevitable. She had been struggling under my touch, making things awkward in a way that would ensure a difference of opinion, without causing a total crisis.

Still, there was a lot I could integrate without giving her a reason to raise that difference of opinion. I focused along her spine, occasionally dipping as low as the small of her back before rising up, every retreat earning a disappointed sigh that she no doubt thought as unheard.

She was finally ready for more.

At first, I limited myself to intensifying the movement of my fingers, pushing her even closer to the edge, so that an accidental touch would be enough to put her on the other side. I could see her legs starting to rub against each other, which, unfortunately, would be enough to push her over the edge, so I placed my knee between her thighs.

"Mercy," she murmured as she sent a pitiful expression to my way, but it met with an infertile field. Why would I let her escape my trap after spending all that time

"You want your release?" I asked, this time, abandoning my clinical tone for a dark amusement. Earlier, that tone would have sent her away packing, but now, it only made her shiver helplessly. She nodded. "Answer using words," I countered, my smile widening.

"Yes," she murmured.

"Excellent," I said as I grabbed her shirt with both hands, and with a rather loud noise, ripped it off, the enchanted fabric unable to resist my improved strength. She shouted in a panic, but her attempts to stand up prevented by my hands, rubbing her now-naked shoulders. "Calm down, sweetie, the shirt blocks most of the pleasure, so I got rid of it. Of course, if you want to experience the weak version..."

"No, that's fine," she answered after a moment's indecision. Her flare of disobedience dissipated, leaving me free to rub her naked skin, to mentally prepare her for the next step.

While on that step, I couldn't help but think about Cornelia's failure to instill obedience on Marianne, which was a poor showing of skill on Cornelia's part. All she needed was to drag her around a bit, dangling the prospect of the pleasure in front of her, and Marianne would have folded like a house of cards. But instead, Cornelia prioritized her immediate pleasure with her usual impatience, forcing her to look alternatives where she could dominate with her power. And if all went according to the plan, that approach would be the reason Cornelia ended up in front of me, bent and weakened.

I turned my attention back to Marianne, who was rumbling and mewling under the throes of pleasure, her rationality dwindling with each passing second, replaced with mindless arousal. It was the time to enhance the situation with a touch of magic, I decided in a sudden moment of inspiration. With my advanced biomancy, it was easy to put a temporary spell that would prevent her from climaxing no matter how much pleasure she felt. And applied slowly, she didn't have a chance of noticing the spell in her distracted state.

[+2 Biomancy]

[-30 Mana]

And with the specter of accidentally making her climax gone, I decided to cut loose, my hands dancing over shoulders without restraining before started a journey south, destroying the hooks of her corset one by one, each ruining her coverage a bit more. But she missed that development, preoccupied with the unbroken rise of pleasure that nevertheless failed to break the dam that held it together, failing to turn into an unquenchable flood.

[+300 Experience]

I moved onto her thighs, leaving her corset parted open, which partially revealed her spectacular breasts, tempting me to attend them, but I had a more precious target in mind. After I arrived at her thighs, I suddenly reversed the direction, but with a caveat. My hand was under her skirt, pushing it up, revealing her milky thighs bit by bit while also caressing the softness of her inner thighs.

Her moans increased further, to a point when she didn't reach when her skirt received the same treatment with her shirt, abandoned to the side, its task left to her panties, which was rather insufficient in hiding her deliciously-curvy bottom.

Her thoughts finally managed to push through her haze when I sank my fingers mercilessly to her bottom, abandoning any pretense of giving a massage, mauling her flesh for my own pleasure. She tried to rise, using her trembling hands to support herself as her torso separated from the makeshift-mattress. "That's too much," she managed to say, miraculously, without being interrupted by a moan, though that determination only lasted a moment, and one escaped her mouth, functioning as the punctuation for her sentence. Unfortunately, it was a question mark where an exclamation mark was needed.

I elected not to answer, instead of letting my eyes dance over her torso pointedly. It took a moment for her to realize her corset hadn't risen with her, leaving her breasts naked for my perusal. A yelp escaped her mouth as she pulled one of her arms from the floor, trying to wrap around her chest to hide her breasts from the view. It had limited success, as her breasts were too magnificent to be hidden behind her fragile forearm.

"Sexy," I said as I leaned forward, my knees still on both sides of her hips, and closed in towards her. Panic danced behind her eyes, but otherwise, she was frozen in panic, the thick layer of pleasure that filled her mind preventing her from taking an action.

I grabbed her hair, just rough enough to create another layer for the pleasure she was drowning in, and leaned to her lips to a torturous slowness, and pressed my lips against hers, which stayed firmly shut.

At first, that was.

She lacked the strength and, more importantly, the willpower to resist the assault of my tongue into her mouth, which invaded the target without opposition.

[+1000 Experience]

[Achievement: Pushy Persuasion. Use an aggressive approach to seduce a nice-mannered beauty. +500 Experience, +2 Strength]

Her arm trembled in shock, which forced her to use the other for support as well, leaving her breasts naked. The room was chilly, so in my usual merciful state, I decided to help her, my free hand sinking into her breasts. She tried to moan, but it dissipated between the assault of my tongue and the tight grasp of my lips.

My pants were getting uncomfortably tight, but still, removing them would be too extreme for the moment. But luckily, it wasn't the only solution. I lowered my body until my hardness was stuck between her rather generous booty, receiving a delicious massage as I moved back and forth, and the pleasure compounded when her hips started to move in the same rhythm with mine.

She deserved a reward. My hand, which was previously occupied with her breasts, started to travel down, and reaching her panties. I kept it over rather than sliding inside, but the difference wasn't big, as the fabric, drenched in her juices, was well-past the point of being able to perform as a barrier, however feeble.

[+500 Experience]

Under the multidimensional assault she was suffering, it didn't take long for her surrender to be complete. Her lips joined the heated dance as a participant rather than a helpless observer that suddenly found herself on the scene. I stopped grabbing her hair, preferring to enjoy the expanse of her breasts, but it didn't earn a negative comment, just more moans.

But kissing and caressing her wasn't the only thing I had done, no matter how enjoyable it had been. I was simultaneously using my magic to prepare her backdoor for the eventual assault, cleaning and lubricating at the same time, another spell she failed to notice in her distracted state. Biomancy had so many amusing little applications.

Meanwhile, the treatment she received continued to intensify, my fingers dancing around her clit, increasing the build-up of pleasure further and further, her moans getting desperate enough to escape the confines I painstakingly built.

[+3 Biomancy]

[-15 Mana]

[+750 Experience]

Then, without a warning, I grabbed the edge of her panties, destroying them with a rough pull. She was still not completely naked, but considering that it was limited to her shoes and a necklace that dangled between her breasts, I would admit that it wasn't a big issue...

It was the time to move onto the second act, I decided as I pushed her on the floor.

[Level: 10 Experience: 50475 / 55000

Strength: 13 Charisma: 15

Precision: 11 Perception: 11

Agility: 12 Manipulation: 15

Speed: 9 Intelligence: 12

Endurance: 10 Wisdom: 18

HP: 550 / 550 Mana: 630 / 710 ]

SKILLS

[Advanced Subterfuge (50/50)

Advanced Arcana [50/50]

Advanced Biomancy [44/50]

Advanced Melee 29/50

Basic Speech 25/25 ]