The tongue and sharp, protruding canines it revealed seemed to be expressing the insatiable desire of the woman reflected in the mirror.
Furthermore, her bright red eyes, choked with tears, sparkled flirtatiously, as if endeavoring to arouse passion in whatever they looked at.
—This is... me...?
The figure of a succubus splendid enough to show herself anywhere without shame.
It took me just a little time to figure out that it was now mine.
And yet, it certainly wasn't with any bitterness that I recognized that fact.
After all, the alluring monster reflected in the mirror was so charming... and beautiful, that my "Hero" self could never have compared with her.
—If I'm... If I'm like this, even he will...
The lascivious and beautiful figure of a monster.
Men who would not be glad to be approached by such a woman were surely few in number.
Surely... surely El too would be delighted by such a form.
Surely he would fall captive to me.
Feeling that reaction, I directed a smile at Lady Druella, who stood quietly beside the mirror.
"Thank you very much... "
"I tried changing your clothes too as an extra, but... do you like them?"
"Yes... They're very sexy and... lovely... "
—Lady Druella flashed a satisfied smile at my cheerful response.
At the sight of my savior's delighted expression, I grew glad again myself.
My face split into a smile, but it was far from the one I had worn when I was a "Hero" to put people at ease and give them courage.
It was surely an expression befitting a succubus, mixed with powerful desire and even intoxication.
At the very least there was no longer even a fragment of my "Hero's" mask to be found in it.
—Aah... I'm so happy...
When I had been a "Hero," the expression I was making would have been unthinkable.
That alone was enough to fill my breast with delight.
In proportion to how far removed I was from the "Hero" that had been nothing but a heavy burden to the "Real Me," I felt a sense of liberation as if I were bound by nothing.
"Hee hee... With that look, I'm sure you'll soon fit right in in the world of monsters... Actually... how does 'our world' sound to you?"
"I think it sounds very... very wonderful... "
My new monster's body was quite well adapted to a sensitivity that I certainly could never have accepted when I had been a "Hero."
The feelings of pleasure that ran through me like electric shocks at the mere rubbing of my clothes against my skin had, in fact, become irreplaceable sensations that made feel alive.
El's face rose in my heart at each with each shock, and its presence went on uninterrupted.
I was able to think of the person I loved at all times.
That sensation was surely something I could never have understood when I had been a "Hero."
—But... now my heart was closer to that of a succubus, and...
My heart, liberated from the heavy burden of being a "Hero," was giving birth to a hallucination that I might go flying off to anywhere at all.
For me, feeling as if not only my mind but my body too had grown light, to continue thinking only of El might even be said to be a matter of course.
I mean, everything else was nothing more than fetters that had been binding me for such a long time.
My family, beginning with father, and my comrades in the Order of Holy Knights, and the people who had cheered me on... there was not a trace of any of them to be found within me.
What there was was a burning feeling of love for him, and nothing else.
"I'm glad to hear you say so... But you're still an infant who's only just taken her first step into this world... So... I'll do a good job teaching you a monster girl's ABCs, alright...? "
"Yes. "
I replied to Lady Druella's words with a speed close to instantaneous.
Of course, it wasn't as if I had no desire to show El this body at once, but Lady Druella was a kind lady who had patiently attended to me when I had worn the mask of a "Hero," and even foolishly tried to resist.
There was no way that she would ever do wrong by me. I was sure she must have some plan.
"What a good answer... Well then, first... why don't we begin your studies with the ways to please a man? "
—As she spoke, Lady Druella snapped her fingers...
As if in answer, two tentacles again slithered up from the surroundings.
A little thinner than my wrists, they wriggled, twisting and turning, and twined themselves around my arms like spoiled children demanding attention.
I found their winsome forms, which had been only objects of disgust just a short while before, to be sweet.
That feeling was surely not unrelated to the fact that these tentacles were making me feel good, and in doing so causing me to be reminded of El.
"Start by pleasuring those... As for the method... of course, you already know that, don't you...? "
—I answered Lady Druella's almost teasing words by quietly grasping a tentacle in each hand.
Those, their tips tapered to points, surely bore not the least resemblance to male genitalia.
An instant later, the tips of the tentacles swelled and rounded as if blood had concentrated in them.
Even I, with my meager sexual knowledge, knew enough to tell that they were imitating penises... no, cocks.
And... the succubus instincts that had taken root within me taught me what I ought to do to make them feel good.
"Now... For his sake... and for yours, complete your rebirth into that sexy new body of yours, alright...? "
I nodded my head once in assent to kind, lascivious Lady Druella's words, then slowly began to stroke the tentacles.
—There's no such thing as an absolute defense.