Is It Strange for a Succubus to Wear Clothes?

Chapter 4: The Succubus Empress Takes Out a Suit 4

I was looking at the flock of sheep that had eaten so much their stomachs burst, and they seemed as if they had fallen into a peaceful sleep.

“Mary’s little lamb, sleep tight, sleep tight. Burst your belly and sleep tight.”

What I did was simple.

Did I infuse magic into my voice to make their intestines explode?

Not at all.

I merely sang a lullaby to the pitiful and envious flock, pushing all the excess energy and life force overflowing within me—energy that would have been wasted—into their stomachs.

“Mary’s little lamb~ No, Mary’s ugly lamb~ Ugly lamb~ Ugly lamb~”

A Succubus Empress wields energy as if it is her own.

The word “energy” encompasses life force and all the vitality of living beings.

The endlessly regenerating sheep were not something I could easily deal with, even as myself.

They weren’t creatures that could be subdued through physical means.

However, the irony is that the only natural enemy of these endlessly regenerating sheep is their overwhelming regenerative power.

Their overflowing regeneration.

In other words, I reversed the flow of life energy and vitality in their bodies, overfeeding them to the point their stomachs burst.

Singing the lullaby?

Well, that was instinct.

The instinct of a Succubus Empress.

Killing enemies gracefully with a wave of my hand might be beautiful, but wouldn’t singing a lullaby with a sweet voice be even more so?

That’s how instinct drives me to act.

Of course, objectively speaking, one might call it the childish antics of an edgy teenager and wonder who would even do such a thing in reality.

But the instincts of a succubus are indifferent to such notions.

Even if it’s immature, if it’s beautiful, we act without realizing it.

Paired with my face, the sight was undoubtedly breathtaking.

In short, “Because I’m beautiful.”

“One remains~ An old sheep remains~ A dying, shredded old sheep~”

The flock was not beautiful.

But I love things that are beautiful and lovely more than anything else.

Even with nearly atrophied eyesight, the sheep found beauty in nature and the sky.

The drifting clouds, the harmony of nature.

And humans and beasts blending within it.

They viewed everything in the world as beautiful with their peaceful minds.

However, they themselves were far from beautiful.

In my eyes, at least.

No, even putting aside my personal tastes, their grotesque appearance fell short of any aesthetic standards—inhuman and repulsive even to beasts.

The sheep had a hideous form, their skin seemingly peeled away.

Despite having so many eyes, they couldn’t see anything and were hypersensitive only to the gazes of others.

When these sheep met human eyes, it seemed they went into a frenzy out of jealousy for those with proper sight.

But in truth, the sheep didn’t envy proper vision; rather, they could see the world through the eyes of the one they locked gazes with.

More precisely, they perceived their own body as seen through others’ eyes.

The beautiful nature and world.

The beautiful beasts and humans.

And themselves, grotesque and floating within it.

How utterly hideous they were.

“Pitiful.”

So, when the sheep met someone’s gaze, they screamed.

They didn’t care about not being able to see the world with their own eyes.

What tormented them was recognizing their own form as reflected in the eyes of others.

The sight they perceived through those unseen eyes was a grotesque, four-legged creature with nearly flayed skin and dozens of inorganic, trembling eyeballs.

How could they not believe themselves cursed by God?

“All things are beautiful in their eyes, except for themselves. They rage and envy because they cannot be beautiful.”

And so, these pitiful sheep, believing themselves abandoned by the world and God, cried out in grief and resentment.

Why am I so hideous?

Why does my skin never heal, no matter how much my wounds recover?

Do your eyes also find me this grotesque?

Their despair and rage arose from recognizing their own miserable and grotesque forms.

Normal animals and humans had intact fur and skin.

Why, then, were they so repulsive?

Their jealousy of the ordinary beauty they lacked turned into their hunger and fury.

Why do I know this?

Because beauty shines brighter when one perceives what is lacking.

Recognizing what is absent is a kind of instinct for the Succubus Empress.

Desires and instincts born from absence, once fulfilled, can transform into beauty and ideals.

Loving beauty and being sensitive to it is natural for a Succubus Empress, so sensing such things unconsciously isn’t strange.

Or maybe, it’s simply that the old sheep is a monster, and I’m something akin to a monster myself, making it easier to understand.

“Ah, have you fallen into a good sleep with your full belly?”

As I walked lightly, I saw the flesh of the young and middle-aged sheep slowly rotting and decaying.

The transparent eyes of the dying sheep held me as their last sight.

“Is your belly full? Your belly is full, and it burst. That’s good.”

[Meehhhh…]

With the young sheep dead and the middle-aged sheep following, only the old sheep remained.

The old sheep had not completely died yet.

The pitiful old sheep stared at me with eyes full of sorrow and despair.

It had been that way from the start.

The young, the middle-aged, and the old sheep.

With their degenerated eyesight, they could only make out my silhouette at best.

Yet every sheep that saw me became captivated by me.

Even though I had only unveiled myself, the effect was this powerful.

Ah, my beauty is almost overwhelming.

“Oh, do you find me beautiful? Thank you. But it doesn’t make me happy. I’ve heard it so many times that it’s no longer new.”

[…]

Though it didn’t speak in human language, I somehow felt its intent.

Of course, it might have been my imagination.

“A lullaby before you die? You want to take in my beauty one last time?”

[Meehh…ehhh…]

I gently stroked the old sheep’s eye.

And then I squeezed it.

-Thunk!-

[….!]

The old sheep couldn’t even properly cry out in pain.

“No.”

[Meehh…eh?]

“Because you’re ugly.”

[…]

At those words, the old sheep’s eye trembled violently.

Ah, such grief I feel.

It’s a deliciously stimulating kind of grief.

“What are you so resentful about? You wallowed in vile jealousy, lamenting your hideousness, and selfishly raged and mourned. Then you took other lives. You even tried to devour and kill everything nearby just because you happened to lock eyes with them. Didn’t you think this would happen to you?”

[Meehh…! Ehh…!]

“Your outer self is hideous, and so is your inner self. Why should I bid you a beautiful farewell?”

I’m not fond of such stimulating flavors… but it’s like junk food.

Even if I rarely indulge, there are days—maybe five out of 365—when I crave it intensely.

And perhaps today is one of those days.

“Ugly sheep. Ugly sheep. Old and grotesque, hideous both inside and out.”

[Meehh…grrrkkk, grk…kk!]

“Burst and die from your stomach. Burst and die from your eyes. Burst and die from your flesh.”

-Thud!

“Your inner self is truly the ugliest. Don’t even take in my beauty. Just burst and die.”

-Thud! Thud!

As I infused excessive life energy into the old sheep, it let out a wretched scream.

Its regenerative powers couldn’t suppress the violent upheaval of life coursing through it.

Its blurry eyes swelled all at once and burst.

Though its stomach had already ruptured, it continued to swell further until it exploded completely.

Flesh and blood scattered everywhere, but that was fine.

Not a single piece of its hideous flesh landed on me.

Even as an old sheep, its vitality was truly immense.

Letting it wander aimlessly would have been a waste.

“Be grateful. Even though you were old and wretched, I’ll accept what you’ve left behind.”

Well.

Not that you’d hear it.

‘Drain.’

Countless life forces and energy floating in the air flowed into me.

Ah, I feel full.

So, so full.

It’s so overwhelming that even the succubus instinct escapes me unconsciously.

While energy and life force sustain me, they also feel oddly intoxicating, like alcohol or drugs, clouding my mind.

If I overindulge… it feels as though the succubus psyche takes over my body, surpassing human rationality.

It seems the wretched old sheep had far more energy than I expected.

“Haaah…”

It’s like eating greasy, calorie-laden food like pizza and fried chicken for every meal.

Without soda, radish, or pickles to balance it out.

Ah, so cloying…

“Ms. Jaehee!!”

A refreshing voice, just hearing it.

A voice with a teasing tone.

A face that’s cute and slightly absent-minded.

I hurriedly covered my face with the veil again.

Even though Senior Officer Dan is a high-level Awakened, it might still be difficult for her to endure seeing my bare face.

Is there anything disheveled about me?

My sleeve.

My hair.

My face, expression, and eyes.

Hmm, all good.

Turning around, I saw Senior Officer Dan, much smaller than me, bowing deeply at a 90-degree angle.

She looked like a penguin.

An Adélie penguin.

No, maybe an emperor penguin that hasn’t yet matured?

“Thank you! Thank you so much! I’m incredibly grateful that you came, even on such short notice!”

“Ah, the cloying feeling is gone.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing.”

I almost patted her head without realizing it.

If I had done that, the hideous flesh of the sheep on my hands might have made Senior Officer Dan retch.

Ah, I touched it needlessly.

Acting impulsively, I had grabbed and burst the old sheep’s eye.

Its outer and inner hideousness were just too much, and I couldn’t help myself…

Senior Officer Dan glanced at my hands, which were covered in blood, and quickly took out a handkerchief from her pocket.

“Um, excuse me, if it’s not too rude, you can use this….”

It was a clean handkerchief, one that looked like it hadn’t been used before.

Wait, it had been used.

It’s fine.

No, it’s good.

“Thank you.”

“Yes, ma’am…!”

When I smiled in reply, Senior Officer Dan bowed her head again.

She really did resemble a penguin.

Hehe, the cloying feeling.

I think I can take in more.