Sumeragi had a meeting with government officials this morning. That meant, for the first time since I moved into this mansion, I had a few hours of free time without her direct supervision, or so I thought.
Kageyama was busy handling documents in the office, and Natsu was being punished by draining the demon bathtub for trying to steal food stocks from the fridge. I walked alone through the city center, pulling my hoodie up to conceal my face.
I wanted to buy something. Something real.
"She's given me everything," I whispered to myself. "A soft bed, good food, even that embrace last night..."
My face flushed at the memory of the bathroom incident. I felt indebted. I wanted to buy her a gift, a token to show I was a 'dog' who knew how to be grateful.
I stopped in front of a small, elegant jewelry shop. Behind the display glass sat a jasmine-shaped brooch made of silver with a tiny gemstone in the center. It was beautiful. Just like the scent of her body.
"Excuse me... may I see that?" I asked the shop assistant.
The assistant was a young girl, perhaps my age. She offered a warm smile, a genuine one, the kind of smile I hadn't seen in a long time since entering Sumeragi's world.
"Of course, sir. This would suit your lover perfectly. Would you like me to try it against some fabric so you can see the shimmer?" the girl asked politely.
"Ah, yes... please do," I replied, feeling a bit awkward.
The girl provided excellent service. She even joked about how lucky the woman receiving the brooch would be. For a moment, I felt like a normal human again. Talking to a regular person, in a regular place, without the shadows of death or demonic contracts.
I bought it using the allowance Sumeragi had given me. I walked out of the store with a small velvet box in my pocket, feeling proud. I wanted to see her smile when I gave this to her.
That evening, I waited in the mansion's living room. The atmosphere was deathly silent; only the ticking of the wall clock sounded like a countdown.
Click.
Sumeragi entered. She looked tired but remained elegant. She took off her coat and looked at me sitting upright on the sofa.
"Aqua-kun, you're not asleep yet?" she asked softly.
"Miss Sumeragi... I... I have something for you," I said, my hands trembling as I pulled out the velvet box. "I bought this earlier today in the city."
Sumeragi didn't take it immediately. She stood still, her yellow eyes staring at the box as if it were a cursed object. The room suddenly felt incredibly heavy, as if the oxygen had been sucked out.
"You went to the jewelry shop on District 4 Road at two o'clock this afternoon?" she asked flatly.
I flinched. "You knew?"
"I know everything about you, Aqua-kun," she stepped closer, taking the box but not opening it. "And I know that shop girl touched your hand when she gave you the change. She also laughed with you for seven minutes and forty seconds."
My heart stopped. A chill crawled up my spine. "She... she was just a shop assistant, Miss. She was only helping—"
"I don't like my belongings being touched by filthy hands, Aqua-kun," Sumeragi interrupted. Her voice was still gentle, but there was a very real madness in it.
She opened the box, looking at the silver jasmine brooch inside. Without expression, she crushed the box with one hand.
CRACK.
The silver metal was mangled, its small gem shattering into pieces under her nonsensical strength.
"Miss! Why?!" I screamed in horror. That was my money, my sincere intention!
Sumeragi dropped the remains of the gift onto the marble floor. She stepped forward, pinning me against the back of the sofa. She gripped my neck with one hand while the other stroked my chest.
"You think I need jewelry from the outside world? I only need your loyalty," she whispered, her eyes flashing crazily under the dim lights. "That girl... she has already received her punishment for daring to tempt what is mine."
"What do you mean...?"
Sumeragi pulled out her phone, showing a photo sent by her subordinates. That shop assistant... she was lying in a dark alley behind her store. There was no blood, but her body was twisted into an impossible position, as if a great force had crumpled her like paper.
"NO! SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!" I screamed, tears starting to flow.
SLAP!
Sumeragi slapped my cheek. Not too hard, but enough to silence me.
"Don't cry for another woman in front of me, Aqua-kun," she said, now hugging my neck possessively, resting her head on my shoulder. "I do this because I love you. I want to keep you pure from the rotten outside world. You don't need anyone but me. You must not give anything to anyone but me."
She picked up a small shard of the ruined silver from the floor, and with her sharp fingertip, she grazed my forearm, carving her initial: S.
"Aakh!" I winced in pain.
"Now, your gift has reached its proper place," she licked the blood seeping from the scratch. "Next time, if you want to give me something... just give me your obedience. Don't ever try to be 'independent' again, or I will destroy that shop and everyone inside it."
I slumped down, weakened. I looked at the crushed jasmine brooch on the floor, then at the wound on my arm. I realized one terrifying thing.
Sumeragi doesn't love me as a human. She loves me as an object. And objects have no right to have desires of their own.
"I understand..." I whispered through stifled sobs.
Sumeragi smiled with satisfaction, kissing my forehead gently as if she hadn't just committed a murder. "Good boy. Now, let's go to sleep. You have a lot of work tomorrow."