C55 — [2. 18 – The Rose Manor]

“Ahem …… Norman.”

 

Jiu Shu spat out the soft jelly-like substance in his mouth, his blue pupils reflecting the object of punishment, and his hair was soaked with the slippery liquid, sticking wetly to his cheeks.

 

 

Inside the room, the monster that couldn’t control its huge figure froze the moment it heard Jiu Shu’s voice.

 

 

The tentacles that were already wrapped around Jiu Shu’s body also tied a dead knot in panic, and the soft and slippery limbs became even more intimately entwined.

 

The tightly wrapped Jiu Shu on the bed seemed to emit an uncomfortable groan.

 

“!!!”

 

Norman looked at his lover’s breathing that was somewhat disturbed, especially the watery light in those clear eyes, and his body color became even more pink.

 

 

He tried to explain that he didn’t do it on purpose, but he could only make a thin sound that humans couldn’t hear.

 

 

To make sounds that could be heard by humans would hurt their eardrums, and in the face of his beloved Jiu Shu, he didn’t dare to make that kind of sound.

 

 

In the end, it could only grow more tentacles in the silence of the room, trying to untie the knots.

 

 

However, the more they tried to untie, the more the tangled limbs disobeyed, rubbing back and forth in a chaotic manner.

 

 

Even though His movements were very light, the skin of his neck and wrists that was exposed to the material of his clothes still left light red marks, and he slightly lost his composure and narrowed his eyes, the corners of his eyes seemed to glow a slight reddish color.

 

 

Numerous pink limbs nervously secreted moist liquid that emitted the heavy smell of seawater, but also soaked Jiu Shu.

 

 

Seeing this, the grotesque and bloated monster that crowded the room seemed to have become even larger due to its growing panic.

 

 

The color was also getting darker and darker, almost enveloping the entire room in His pink translucent body.

 

 

It was only when Jiu Shu shouted somewhat helplessly to stop, that he was at a loss to stop his useless efforts.

 

 

“Okay, that’s it for now.”

 

Hearing Jiu Shu’s voice, Norman shamefully shrunk his swollen and ugly body a bit, not daring to look at the expression of his beloved in his arms.

 

 

He was actually not prepared to meet his lover.

 

 

This horrible appearance now made him suffer and feel inferior, even though he knew that his lover probably wouldn’t care, he still couldn’t help but subconsciously avoid him.

 

 

Especially since He had done another unforgivable thing, binding His beautiful lover with those disgusting tentacles, it was unforgivable.

 

 

The tentacles in the room began to grow dim again.

 

Jiu Shu looked at these trembling tentacles on his body, and knowing that the object of discipline was beginning to fall into low self-esteem again, he softened his voice a lot, “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean to do it, as long as you came back.”

 

 

“I just want you to know that I miss you, and I’ve been sad to be away from you for the past few days.”

 

 

Inside the room, the monster, who had fallen into a guilty mood, suddenly became transfixed, his translucent body trembled, revealing a confusion of emotions.

 

 

The moonlight outside the window spilled inside, refracting a pinkish glow in the room littered with translucent matter, dreamlike but no match for the half-lustre in the eyes of his lover.

 

 

No matter how many times, Jiu Shu’s undisguised love and thoughts for Him would flatter Norman to the point of being overwhelmed.

 

 

The satisfaction of having a lover who loved him as much as he did was enough to fill all the insatiable possessiveness He felt for his lover.

 

 

As the recipient of that affection, He had no idea how to respond, nor did He know how to be worthy of this love that He had never dreamed of receiving.

 

 

Did a monster like Him really deserve all this love?

 

 

Norman thought in a troubled way.

And as Jiu Shu looked at the tentacles swimming restlessly around the room, he could see the inferiority complex of the object of discipline, and understood that what He needed now was the affirmation of His lover.

 

 

So then he narrowed his gentle eyes and gently stroked the color-changing tentacles in his hand, rubbing them lightly against his cheek.

 

 

“It’s cute, the current Norman is really cute, I think I’m falling in love with you more and more.”

 

The bloated monster seemed to be a bit incredulous, but after timidly looking towards Jiu Shu and seeing the undisguised love in those azure pupils.

 

 

Norman’s horrifyingly huge body then began to constantly change colors, emotions of love and inferiority and guilt intermingling together.

 

 

It finally stopped at a shy and joyful red that was almost crimson.

 

 

Even though he still felt that this body was ugly, he couldn’t help but reveal his innermost emotions in the face of his lover’s sincere affection.

 

 

Jiu Shu looked at the tentacle in his hand that had turned red, the smile in his eyes deepened, and he soothingly kissed the soft and cold touching limb lightly.

 

 

“!”

 

 

His lover’s gentle kiss traveled from the tentacle all the way to the sensory nerves of His entire body.

 

Norman’s body completely turned into a ball of scarlet, slowly trembling in the room like flowing red jelly.

 

 

Jiu Shu’s blue eyes curved slightly and he decided to strike while the iron was hot.

 

 

“You read the letter, so that means you agree right? Don’t leave without saying goodbye in the future, I’ll really get angry if there’s a next time.”

 

 

Jiu Shu said, wrenching his arm slightly away from the tentacles wrapped around his body and reaching out to the object of discipline in front of him that was as tall as the ceiling, as if asking for a hug.

 

 

“Come and kiss me if you agree.”

 

 

Jiu Shu could tell that the current object of discipline wanted to be close to him, as evidenced by the tentacles on his body that he couldn’t unravel anyhow, but low self-esteem prevented Him from asking for it at all.

 

 

A kiss would probably solve that problem.

 

 

Tick-tock-tick-tock-

 

The room was becoming more and more humid, and the floor had grown mold and mildew from the soaking.

 

 

The ghastly monster with a bloated and grotesque body was crammed into the bedroom that was cramped for its size, and its scarlet color was so horrifying to outsiders that even a single glance would cause them to faint from fear.

 

 

While to the blonde youth lying on the bed with a smile, it was as if the monster in front of him wasn’t strange, but his closest love.

 

 

As if the monster was also intoxicated by that smile, he subconsciously moved closer, wanting to give his lover a kiss as he did when he was in human form.

 

 

But he forgot that he didn’t have lips, and His mind went blank as he pressed half of his body against the edge of the bed, like a large translucent ball of water, almost wrapping Jiu Shu’s entire person into it.

 

 

Jiu Shu couldn’t help but reach out his hand and touch the semi-solid soft substance in front of him, his fingers slightly sinking into it, bringing a wet and slippery strange touch.

 

 

His blue eyes were filled with soft affection, and Norman looked more and more mesmerized as his entire body became softer and softer.

 

 

The tentacles on Jiu Shu’s body loosened considerably as well, and he sat up smoothly, gently embracing the indeterminate mass of monsters before him, branding a kiss on top of the soft, slippery surface of the scarlet color.

 

 

“I love you, always.”

 

Rustling-

 

 

The tentacles that had relaxed in the quiet room began to move again.

 

 

This time, however, they just gently encircled Jiu Shu and pressed him against their translucent body, swirling with red light, as if in response to the intimate kiss.

 

 

But He still didn’t make a sound, or perhaps it had been made but the human couldn’t hear it.

 

Jiu Shu was thoroughly soaked by the liquid on the surface of Norman’s body, soaking wet as if he had just gotten up from the bathtub, but he didn’t seem to care about Norman’s slightly awkward kiss or His silence.

 

 

He just gently narrowed his eyes and a small smile appeared on his cheeks.

 

 

“I hear you, and I know you love me very much, you always have.”

 

 

Rustling-

 

 

Norman, who had been speaking words of love inaudible to humans, paused, hugging the love of his life in his arms tighter and tighter with growing fascination, intimate as ever.

 

 

He seemed to have forgotten the inferiority complex that this body brought.

 

 

Jiu Shu knew He hadn’t completely forgotten.

 

 

It was only temporarily eased by his soothing presence, and if a way to restore it was not found, His emotions would only become lower and lower.

 

 

Luckily, there was already a clue at the moment, and Jiu Shu planned to study it while pacifying the object of discipline in the meantime.

 

 

Thinking like this, Jiu Shu looked down at the tentacles wrapped around his body, pressed himself against the soft body of the object of punishment, and briefly stated his thoughts.

 

 

His article had already been published in the newspaper, and it should work soon, so at least the object of punishment’s body wouldn’t metamorphose further towards the original novel’s description.

 

 

And they could definitely find a way to reverse it before it all got worse.

 

 

“Come with me to do the research starting tomorrow, don’t be afraid, I’ll cure you.”

 

 

The monster in front of Jiu Shu seemed to nod meekly, and the whole room rippled with pink waves with it, in a very understandable mood.

 

 

“Rest first then, you’ll need to be refreshed for tomorrow.”

 

 

Jiu Shu said, his eyelids barely open.

 

 

Perhaps the soft, bulky body of the object of punishment was too cozy, Jiu Shu soon fell asleep against Him.

 

 

And after he fell asleep, Norman carefully placed Jiu Shu on the bed, only a few tentacles were still subconsciously grasped in the hands of Jiu Shu in dreamland.

 

 

The gesture was full of fondness.

 

 

Norman’s heart softened, his color vaguely had the tendency to turn pink again, in order to let his lover sleep more peacefully he pressed himself closer.

 

 

The huge translucent body was almost as if it was going to bury the entirety of Jiu Shu into it, and he could clearly feel his breathing.

 

 

This kind of feeling as if completely possessing his lover made Norman incomparably satisfied, satisfied to the point of almost happiness.

 

 

Looking at Jiu Shu’s quiet sleeping face, Norman, who didn’t need to sleep at all, seemed to feel a little tired as well, and surprisingly, he also sank into dreamland.

 

 

As He entered the dream world, the entire manor became even more silent, with a vague cold mist filling the air.

 

 

And in his sleep, Norman seemed to see some broken images, some memories that didn’t belong to him.

 

 

His beloved Jiu Shu wasn’t there, only his once pale self.

 

Angry beyond control because of Julie’s words, he searched for a way to return to his youth, after trying a divine sacrifice held in his own blood, he changed back to his younger self.

 

 

And then step by step, he died.

 

With Reid and Julie’s calculations and the betrayal of the butler’s servants on the estate, he was accused by all of murdering countless, even no amount of pleading helped.

 

 

He was imprisoned.

 

 

Finally, in the gloomy castle, no longer able to hold a ritual to prolong his life, he walked down a deserted corridor, bent over in pain, spat out blood and entrails, and slowly collapsed.

 

 

The wall to his side was left with the bloody marks of his struggle.

 

 

And then his body was found, abandoned in the mountains outside the manor.

 

 

The site of the altar that he loathed the most.

 

 

His blood seeped into the ground, his flesh and bones rotting, and he was taken by scavenging ravens to the altar beneath the mountains.

 

 

Falling into the deepest part of the well hole just as he had as a child.

 

He in the dream let out a howl of agony, struggling to escape this most fearful, deepest darkness, yet no matter what He did He could not escape.

 

 

He was trapped in this horrible darkness in a monstrous position.

 

 

Unspeakable pain caused Him to begin to frantically gnaw on His body until He finally became more and more massive, so massive that it occupied the entire hollow in the center of the mountain range.

 

 

The resentment and pain grew equally with each passing day over the decades-long period.

 

 

It wasn’t until a human broke in and opened the door, in the endless fog, that He finally saw the light.

 

 

He returned to the manor He once owned, a place shrouded in fog.

 

 

But facing the monster He had become, He was still in immense pain, and His numb consciousness made Him continue to devour His body over and over again.

 

 

Until a cacophony of voices and out of nowhere, strangely warm emotions came to His ears.

 

 

He opened His eyes and saw an embraced self.

 

And a beautiful lover.

 

 

Why did the other self have no pain, no wailing, no endless madness?

 

 

Why did the other self have a lover who loved him dearly?

 

 

If the other self was devoured, would that beautiful lover become His?

 

 

Splash-

 

 

The sound of water in the room woke Norman up from his sleep, and He looked around somewhat dazedly, realizing that a light mist filled the room, but it dissipated after a few moments.

 

 

It seemed that He had just had a dream.

 

 

Norman vaguely remembered it being a very depressing dream, but He couldn’t recall the content.

 

 

Norman was in a bit of a trance, wondering why He suddenly had a dream.

 

 

Since turning into a monster, He had never needed to eat or rest again, but just now He actually did fall asleep.

 

 

Norman was inexplicably a bit uneasy in his heart, and the walls in the room became extremely humid, as if he was trying to remember that disturbing dream from last night.

 

 

Just then, as if sensing something, Jiu Shu held in His arms gently tightened his grip on the tentacles in his hands in his sleep, intimate and warm.

 

 

Norman was soothed.

 

 

The warmth and love made Him forget the uneasiness brought on by the dream, and He guessed that perhaps He was too afflicted and had a dream that He couldn’t remember.

 

 

Then Norman just watched Jiu Shu’s sleeping face until he woke up early the next morning.

 

 

The first thing Jiu Shu saw when he opened his eyes was the object of discipline refracting a seven-colored light in the room, as if a large mass of semi-solid liquid was solidifying in the room.

 

 

“Good morning, Norman.”

 

 

Jiu Shu gently kissed the massive object of discipline beside him, the wetness making his smile deepen.

 

 

A light pink color swam around the room, and several pale pink tentacles handed Jiu Shu toiletries, and thoughtfully circled his waist gently to prevent him from sitting uncomfortably.

 

 

Jiu Shu blinked and didn’t refuse.

 

 

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he wiped his cheeks with the towel handed by a tentacle.

 

 

Then he gently pinched the tentacle as it was about to leave, and the soft touch under his hand made him smile.

 

“Norman is so cute.”

 

 

 

A light red glow began to flash around the room, and Norman seemed a little happier, but out of the reserve of an older person, He tried to smooth out his emotions so that the color wasn’t too striking.

 

 

“Thanks Norman.” Jiu Shu added.

 

 

Then he began to take off his pajamas in preparation for a change of clothes.

 

 

Long fingers opened the buttons on the pajamas, and Jiu Shu just removed the top from his body, revealing a slim but muscular upper body.

 

 

Immediately, the room began to refract red broken light.

 

 

Jiu Shu was flashed by the red light for a moment, his movements paused, and he laughed out softly.

 

 

He’d changed clothes in front of the object of discipline a couple times now, and his previous expression was clearly subdued, but he turned out to be actually quite shy.

 

 

“Get me a shirt, Norman.”

 

 

The laughter in Jiu Shu’s voice seemed to make Norman blush even more, trying desperately to get a grip on his emotions but unable to do so as the color of the tentacles deepened.

 

 

Jiu Shu took the clothes from the tentacle and changed into a white shirt, then put his fingers on the pants.

 

 

“……”

 

Raising his head, Jiu Shu looked at the object of punishment who had buried most of his body into the wall, not daring to show his head, and finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

 

 

“Watch it if you want to, Norman.”

 

 

His voice was so gentle that it seemed to be dripping with water, and Norman’s color became deeper and deeper.

 

 

Jiu Shu had reason to believe that if the curtains hadn’t been closed tightly, even from outside the castle he could have seen the red light filtering through.

 

 

In case the teasing went too far, he quickly changed his clothes anyway and didn’t continue.

 

 

Returning to his usual seriousness, he picked up his notes on the table and began to analyze his current situation to the object of discipline.

 

 

“According to my research, your current situation is related to the god that your family has been worshipping for generations, as I believe you have long since associated with.”

 

 

Norman did his best to nod seriously as well, his bloated body rippling out in waves, vaguely tinged with an undiluted red color.

 

 

There was some laughter in Jiu Shu’s eyes, but he calmed down for a moment as he took out the book of sacrificial rituals and asked Norman if he had ever read the book.

 

 

How much did he know about the god recorded in it.

 

Norman looked at the thick book that had appeared countless times in his childhood, and after a moment of silence, he took a pen with his tentacles and wrote out many words on the paper.

 

 

Of course He had read the book, and had even thought of burning it at one point, but after the death of His parents, the book had been hidden somewhere, and He hadn’t been able to destroy it completely.

 

 

And of that deity, Norman did know well.

 

 

[My parents, the last Count and Countess, they once said that one day the god will truly descend, and at that time, the Augustus family will be brought to true glory].

 

 

When he wrote the word descending, Norman seemed to pause slightly, and last night’s dream seemed to flash before his eyes, but He couldn’t see it clearly.

 

 

[They are madmen.]

 

[That god, doesn’t exist.]

 

 

“Perhaps, He exists?” Jiu Shu looked at Norman and said softly.

 

 

He knew that Norman must have long ago connected the changes in his body with that god, he was just hesitant to admit it out of his aversion to god.

 

 

Norman fell into silence, He seemed to recall those bloody images from his childhood, and the color of his body gradually changed to a restless gray-black.

 

 

Seeing this, Jiu Shu could only stop asking, and picked up the tentacle beside him and gently rubbed it a few times as a soothing gesture.

 

 

Norman’s tentacles slowly wrapped around his palm, encircling half of his arm as if starved for skin, and he still moved to gently caress it until Norman’s mood stabilized.

 

 

The childhood of the object of discipline had a significant impact on him, and his inferiority complex and lack of love couldn’t be changed. Jiu Shu could only try to soothe him as much as possible.

 

[If He really exists, then I will pray for His forgiveness]

 

 

Norman suddenly wrote down these words.

 

 

Jiu Shu was slightly taken aback and looked up at the object of discipline in front of him that had regained its translucent color and was flashing with a seven-colored light.

 

 

He knew how much the punishment object hated the god.

 

 

[As long as He can return us to our old lives, I can accept any punishment no matter what.]

 

 

In order to be together with Jiu Shu, it didn’t matter if he begged even more humbly, even if it was that god that he hated the most in this life.

Jiu Shu looked at the slightly tightened tentacles of the object of punishment, his eyes gentle, “There’s no need to beg from Him.”

 

 

“We’re just doing a study.”

 

 

Jiu Shu was actually biased towards the punishment object being a part of that god, otherwise it wouldn’t be possible to explain why all the other Augustus members had died cleanly, and he was the only one who had died and turned into a heir of god.

 

 

Even now, he hadn’t experienced death yet, yet he had already turned into another form.

 

Thinking of this, Jiu Shu opened the system panel again.

 

 

He had already looked through the original content of Blood of Madness countless times, and the excessively obscure descriptions still left the specific abilities of this god’s heir unclear.

 

 

However, according to the description of His powers in the ritual ceremonies, this god possessed the ability to control time and space.

 

The ability in space wasn’t quite clear yet, but the ability in time had already been demonstrated by the rejuvenation of the object of punishment.

 

 

The object of the punishment probably possessed such an ability as well, he just hadn’t grown to that point yet.

 

 

The ability could be developed briefly though, allowing Him to reverse His body back to his original human form.

 

 

“That’s my plan, what does Norman think?”

 

 

Norman nodded even though he didn’t understand much about the occult side of things.

 

 

He would cooperate with whatever Jiu Shu asked for.

 

 

Jiu Shu curved his beautiful blue eyes.

 

 

It was just that there was still some uneasiness in Jiu Shu’s heart.

 

 

He didn’t know if things would really go so smoothly.

 

 

After all, according to the last world, the power of the plot was still very strong.

 

 

Especially since the original of Blood of Madness emphasized a kind of fatalism.

 

 

The scions who escaped the manor didn’t end up escaping the fate of death, having everything ended by the heir of god.

 

 

And he wondered if the Object of discipline could escape his fate of becoming a heir of the god.

 

He didn’t want to see the Object of discipline become that heir of god who had lost his mind and was trapped underground.

 

 

He looked at the system panel in front of him, and was planning to study the original content in detail to find a way out, when the system’s voice suddenly rang in his ears.

 

 

[Do you really think you can change his fate?]

 

[It’ll only get worse, it’s his destiny to become a monster, no matter which world line He’s in, He’s bound to become a monster ho ho ho!]

 

 

The system was still sneering, as if it wasn’t so hard to find a way to escape from the ban just to get a few words out of its mouth.

 

 

And Jiu Shu didn’t care, he didn’t even raise his eyelids, shutting the system down once again in a small dark room.

 

 

The system was so furious that it could only sneer in its heart.

 

 

It waited for this arrogant taskmaster to eat a dumb loss.

 

 

The reason why a god was a god was because He would become a god no matter which worldline it was in.

 

 

And once there was an abnormality in a certain worldline, the power to repair it would definitely appear.

 

 

The system didn’t know what form these restorative forces would take, but it knew that there would definitely be one.

 

 

 

Taskers who didn’t really know much about these things would definitely suffer!

 

 

The system was so sure of this, as if this would dissolve the depression and pain in its heart of being imprisoned and having to wait for death with its eyes open.

 

 

Rustling-

 

 

Norman looked at his suddenly dazed lover in front of him, and somewhat worriedly gently touched the back of his hand with his tentacle.

 

 

Jiu Shu came back to his senses and flashed a smile, signaling that he was fine.

 

 

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it.”

 

 

Jiu Shu said, kissing the wet, soft skin of the object of punishment.

 

 

In the next moment, the pink color of Norman’s entire body deepened, almost red, and He moved closer to Jiu Shu, pressing against his cheek gently.

 

Pleasure in an intimate embrace with the love of His life made the uneasiness left over from His dream last night dissolve completely, swimming around the room as if He were a large pink jelly.

 

 

No one noticed that as Norman’s blissful emotions deepened, a light mist seemed to gradually waft through the manor, just as it had appeared in his sleep last night.

 

 

And at that moment, somewhere in the farmhouse outside the manor house.

 

 

Julie was lying weakly on the bed, looking pale at her lover Reid beside her.

 

 

“It’s terrible, the old Count is a monster.”

 

 

“Do you believe me? Reid, I mean what I say ……” Julie was so weak that her voice was faint, and Reid sat holding Julie’s hand a little heartily, promising her.

 

 

“Of course I believe you, I just need more evidence, don’t be afraid, after a while the people sent by his majesty will arrive, at that time we will go into the manor to find the evidence, and give you justice.”

 

 

 

“Don’t go …… cough! Don’t go!” Julie seemed to become a little agitated when she heard this, but Reid only thought it was because Julie was frightened and held her in his arms for a long time to comfort her.

 

 

But he never agreed to her request not to go to the manor.

 

---

TN:

I don’t know how to fight but I can learn 😒