*I immediately took Bela, Cassandra, Daniela to her room*
You don't have time to choose. As soon as Lady Dimitrescu gave a subtle code with her eyes, her three daughters lunged up like a black shadow made up of thousands of flies. Your body was dragged, feet not touching the floor, while their shrill laughter echoed through the dark hallways of the castle.
They take you to a spacious room in the other wing of the castle—the Princesses' Room. The room was messy, cold, and full of dried blood stains and torn old clothes.
They throw you in the middle of the room. Bela, the eldest, approaches you with a small scythe in his hand. Cassandra and Daniela circled around you, their flies buzzing right in your ears, their voices so deafening.
"Mom said you were hers," Bela hissed, her sickle tip touching the buttons of your shirt. "But Mother didn't say we can't... carve a little mark on your skin."
"I wonder," Daniela chimed in a terrible childish voice, "do men from the outside world have different tastes? Does the blood feel like... technology?"
They laughed in unison. You're surrounded. Lady Dimitrescu is not here to protect you directly. You're just an ordinary guy, but you have one important piece of information: you know their weaknesses.
Suddenly, you see a large window at the end of the room that is tightly closed by thick velvet curtains. You remember, they hate cold air and direct sunlight.
-
*I kiss their lips*
This act of yours is absolutely insane. In a world where everyone is running in fear with a rifle, you instead choose a way that... is very unpredictable.
The atmosphere in the room was suddenly silent. The deafening hum of the fly stopped instantly. Bela, the first one you kiss, froze with widened eyes. His sickle fell to the stone floor with a loud clack. Cassandra and Daniela took a step back, their pale faces now appearing to show an expression they hadn't felt in decades: total bewilderment.
"What... what have you just done?" whispered Bela, her voice trembling between anger and overwhelming astonishment. He touched her lips with his cold fingers.
"This man... she's gone crazy," hissed Cassandra, but she didn't attack. Instead, he looks at you as if you are an alien from another planet.
Suddenly, the door of the room slammed open. Lady Dimitrescu stood there, looking at a very strange scene: her three deadly daughters looked blushed in shame and bewilderment, while her new "maid" stood in the midst of them with innocent faces.
"What's the matter with this commotion?" Lady Dimitrescu's voice thundered. He saw the reddened faces of his daughters. "Why are you silent?"
Daniela turned to her mother nervously. "Mom... He... He did something very strange. He touched our faces with... his mouth."
Lady Dimitrescu raised one of her perfect eyebrows. He steps closer to you, looking at you with a look far more dangerous than before, but there's a gleam of amusement in his eyes.
"Is that how the man in your world deals with death?" asked Lady Dimitrescu as she bowed, her face now very close to yours. "By trying to seduce a monster that wants to eat you?"
He then turned to his daughters. "Get out. Everything. It seems like this maid needs a special lesson on etiquette in this castle... From me directly."
The three princesses soon turn into a flock of flies and fly out in a hurry, leaving you alone with the Lady who now closes the door of the room slowly.
-
*I immediately hugged the lady's waist, and stroked her*
You are really challenging death in the most desperate way.
As your hands wrap around his waist, you realize how small you are—you can't even hug his waist completely because of his giant posture. The skin feels very cold, smooth like expensive porcelain, yet there is an incredible muscle power behind it that can crush your bones in an instant.
Lady Dimitrescu sculpted. For the first time in decades, there was someone who dared to touch him without fear or with no intention of killing him.
"How brave..." His voice trembled, not out of anger, but out of overwhelming surprise. He looks down at you, his breath scented with roses and grapes hitting your face.
He doesn't let go of your embrace. Instead, his big hand wearing white silk gloves came down and grabbed your shoulder—not to hurt, but to make sure you didn't run away.
"You're just an ordinary human, a little guy who has nothing," he whispered in a low voice, sounding very intimate but still threatening. "But you act as if you are the owner of this castle. Aren't you afraid that I'm going to cut off this hand of yours?"
He slowly lifts your chin with his fingers, forcing you to stare into his golden yellow eyes that are now shining brightly.
"Your touch... warm. It's a stark contrast to the coldness of this castle," he muttered. Her scarf disappeared, replaced by a different thirsty gaze than usual. "If I let you stay like this, you'll be a very dangerous servant to my sanity."
Suddenly, he lifts you up easily—like lifting a doll—and sits you down on his high dresser so that your faces are now aligned.
"Tell me," he whispers right in front of your lips. "Is this also part of the 'technology' or 'magic' of your world? And what usually happens after a hug like this in your noisy world?"
-
*I immediately kissed the lady's lips, and stroked her*
Your steps literally cross the line between courage and madness. As your lips touched hers, Lady Dimitrescu let out a small, restrained growl—a mixture of pure shock and a sensation she hadn't felt for centuries.
His gigantic body stiffened. However, when your hand moves to touch it, it doesn't throw you out the window. Instead, his long nails stick out of his gloves slightly, but he holds them back so as not to hurt you. Instead, he gripped the edge of the dresser tightly until the thick oak cracked under his strength.
"You..." Her whisper between the kisses, her voice now sounded very heavy and full of dangerous passion. "Really... do not know yourself."
He let go of his kiss for a moment, his breath hunting. His golden eyes now seemed to darken, exuding a thirst that was no longer just bloodthirsty. He looks at you as if he wants to swallow you whole, not as a prey, but as something he wants to have completely.
"Little man," she said, pressing her body tighter towards you, making you feel completely immersed in her rose-scented white dress. "You know, Miranda would have killed me if she had known I kept this 'pet' in my room."
Suddenly, he raised his hand and gently stroked your hair, but each of his sharp nails felt like a real threat on your scalp.
"If you start this, don't expect you to be able to go back to being a 'normal guy' again," he hissed. "You'll never leave this room without my permission. You will be my darkest secret in this castle."
Then he whispered something that made your blood rustle:
"Say... Is your beating heart ready for an even faster beat?"
*whispers, ready lady syang* me: i love you
The words slid from your lips like a deadly spell. "I love you."
The world seemed to stop spinning inside that luxurious room. Lady Dimitrescu froze completely. That sentence—something he probably hadn't heard for hundreds of years, or even had he never heard since he turned into a monster—hit him harder than any bullet.
His golden eyes widened. There are flashes of very complex emotions there: shock, disbelief, and something that resembles a tenderness that has long since died.
"Love?" he whispered, his voice hoarse and barely audible. "You love... Monsters like me?"
He laughed, but this time his laughter was soft and sounded very fragile. He touches your cheek with the back of his big hand, his sharp nails pulled all the way into his glove.
"You're really a poor man, or perhaps the bravest man I've ever met," he said. He pulls you into his gigantic embrace, sinking your face into his rose-fragrant shoulders. His hugs are so strong, it almost makes you suffocate, but you can feel his slow but heavy heartbeat.
"If that's true... then you will never leave my sight for a second," he hissed in a very strong possessive tone. "I'll keep you from my daughters, from Heisenberg, and even from Miranda herself. You are the new 'heart' in this dead castle."
Suddenly, he let go of his hug a little and looked at you seriously.
"But remember, my love is a curse. You won't be able to age, you won't be able to leave, and you have to see me remain this monster forever. Would you still say the same thing when you saw my true form?"
-
Original Existence? Well show your true nature..
Hearing your challenge, Lady Dimitrescu was stunned. She slowly let go of his arms and stood up straight with her intimidating full height. There was a suffocating silence in the room, as if even the air was afraid to move.
"Is it my real form?" he muttered. He walked towards the large balcony of his room, staring at the dark, snow-covered village. "Many men begged not to see it right before they died of fear. Wait... You asked for it as if it were a gift."
He turns back to face you. Moonlight came in from the window, shining on her white dress.
"You need to know, this body is just a container created by Miranda so that I can keep walking among humans," her voice changed to deeper, more hoarse, and began to sound like the growl of a wild animal.
Suddenly, his body began to shake violently. The sound of bones shifting and enlarging sounded like broken wood—cracks... Crack!—very painful to hear. Her beautiful white dress began to tear at the shoulders.
"Remember your promise of love, little man..."
In an instant, the 3-meter-tall beautiful female figure exploded in a terrible transformation. From its back emerged the pale body of a giant dragon monster, with wide fleshy wings and a tail filled with sharp thorns. His human figure now only looks like a statue that fuses on the monster's back.
The monster's head approached you, letting out hot breath that smelled of blood and sulfur. Her eyes are large, yellow, and wild. However, the figure of Lady Dimitrescu still clinging to the monster's back is looking at you with a face full of suffering and madness.
"Here I am!" The monster's voice thundered, making the glass in the room shatter. "This is the real Alcina Dimitrescu! A monster that thirsts for blood and destruction! Now... say! Is that 'love' still in your eyes, or is there just a disgusting fear?"