Pinky woke up with the Queen on his chest.
She was drooling slightly, a peaceful smile on her face. Her arms wrapped around him like he was a pillow.
He stared at the ceiling.
He felt... nothing.
Not anger. Not sadness. Not even fear. Just a vast, empty void where his emotions should have been.
The mask was gone. His virginity was gone. His mission was a joke. His entire life had led to this: being a demon's plaything.
He thought about Zilvie.
Silver hair. Determined eyes behind her cracked mask. The promise they had made as children. She was supposed to be the one he showed his face to. The one he gave himself to.
Not this.
Never this.
Shame flooded through the emptiness. He had failed. Failed his village. Failed his parents. Failed his teacher. Failed Zilvie.
The Queen stirred, yawning. "Good morning, my love."
Pinky didn't respond.
What was there to say? Even if he could speak, what words could possibly matter now?
***
Time passed.
Days. Weeks. Maybe months. Pinky stopped counting.
He stopped resisting.
What was the point? The Queen was too strong. Escape was impossible. Lyriel was still in the dungeon. Everything was hopeless.
She made him bathe with her. Washed his hair. His body. He didn't fight it. Just stood there while she cleaned him.
At night she wanted sex. Sometimes she climbed on top like the first time. Sometimes she made him get on top. Sometimes other positions. She was learning. Getting better at it. She moaned louder now. Came faster. Always said she loved him.
Pinky never said it back. Never made sounds. His body responded but his mind stayed empty. He didn't feel pleasure anymore. Didn't feel anything. Just... existed.
The Queen noticed. "You don't enjoy it," she said one morning. She was lying next to him. Both naked. Her hand traced patterns on his chest.
Pinky didn't respond.
"Am I doing something wrong?" she asked. "The books say men love this. But you just... lay there."
Some nights, after she fell asleep, Pinky would lie awake and stare at the ceiling.
The tears came sometimes, in the darkness. Silent. Invisible. The only emotion he could still feel.
***