"What the fuck happened, Ren?!" Zaira snaps.

"W-We’ll talk later... that time you bought me ice cream, you told me you know how to use succubus healing magic... p-please heal Iris — I don’t know how much longer she can hold on..." Ren begs her, tears in his eyes.

Zaira doesn’t need to be told twice.

With Ren’s help, they strip Iris of her clothes, leaving her completely naked on her back across the floor.

The moment Zaira sees the wound, she nearly gags.

A deep gash stretches across Iris’s body, left open for more than half a day and already showing the first signs of infection.

A horrible smell rises from it, while pus and crusted flesh cling to the edges of the wound.

Even so, Zaira forces herself to endure it. Gathering every ounce of courage she has, she leans down and begins licking the wound, releasing the distinctive pink saliva produced by succubus healing magic.

The burning pain is so intense that even unconscious, Iris’s face occasionally contracts into faint grimaces of pain. And seeing that, both Zaira and Ren let out quiet sighs of relief.

Ren drags himself backward until his back rests against the wall beside them, then slowly pulls himself into a seated position. He lights a cigarette, never taking his eyes off Iris for even a single moment.

Normally, seeing her completely naked would awaken certain natural instincts inside him.

But right now, all he can feel is deep concern — and anger over what was done to her.

Meanwhile, Zaira kneels over Iris with her back turned toward Ren, leaning forward as she carefully licks the upper part of the wound near her shoulder.

Supporting herself on her arms, she keeps her body suspended above Iris’s without directly touching her, careful not to place too much pressure on her injured body and worsen her condition.

She has to run her tongue along the edges of the wound dozens of times before the first visible signs of healing finally begin to appear.

The process demands an enormous amount of energy from her, and yet she refuses to stop, continuing Iris’s treatment tirelessly.

An effort that does not go unnoticed by Ren’s watchful eyes.

"You’re truly incredible, Zaira... thank you so much for what you’re doing. I owe you my life."

"You shouldn’t even thank me. You and your sisters are blood of my blood. I’m not doing anything special — it’s what anyone would do to save a member of their family."

"Yeah... but honestly, I still haven’t fully processed the fact that you’re our cousin. Everything happened so suddenly. More importantly, though... you still haven’t told me why you came to this world."

"Oh wow, you’re right... how have I still not told you that...? Ah, that’s right — because the first time you asked me, Mia Valakis still hadn’t told you who she really was. And since the reason I’m here is connected to her, I thought it was better not to say anything. But now that you know everything, I guess I can finally talk about it openly. First of all, because Mia is my dearest friend, and I’d follow her even to the furthest edges of the multiverse if necessary. And second... because I got tired of being a princess."

Ren gives her a faint skeptical smile.

"Forgive me, but I find it hard to imagine getting tired of living in absolute luxury, waited on hand and foot from morning to night."

"Court life isn’t just that — especially not when you grow up in a nest of vultures like House Narkhalis. Has Aunt Eliss ever told you about King Azhelar Narkhalis?"

"A little, not much. I only know he was her father — which makes him our grandfather — and that he loved drinking heavily. But I’ve never seen him in person, so I don’t even know what he looks like."

"Yeah, he really is an old drunkard. My mother — your Aunt Vanya — told me he’s always been like that. Even so, he’s apparently a good ruler, though an extremely strict one. Unfortunately, he’s getting old, and he’s suffered from serious health problems for years now. Vanya should’ve inherited the throne as his eldest daughter, but for some reason that old man decided that once he dies, the crown will pass to me instead. And that... was the beginning of the end..."

Zaira takes a brief pause to recover her strength before returning to Iris’s treatment.

"My mother, my father, my brothers and sisters... even relatives I didn’t even know I had — all of them tried to sway public opinion in their own favor, accusing the king of no longer being in his right mind and presenting themselves as the next rightful ruler of Ravessia. I was only eleven years old when King Azhelar made that decision, and against my will I suddenly found myself at the center of a full-blown political war. Mia’s escape to Earth was the spark that finally gave me the strength to tell them all to go fuck themselves and escape that cage full of lunatics."

Zaira finally pulls her tongue away from Iris’s body. She has finished applying the healing saliva, and now all that remains is to wait for it to take effect.

Then she turns toward Ren and slowly crawls toward him.

"As absurd as it may sound, I’m still alive thanks to Raelor Valraen. In just two years, he saved me from two assassination attempts carried out by hired killers — the first ordered by a distant cousin of mine, and the second by none other than my uncle... my father’s own brother."

"That must’ve been terrible to go through at such a young age. I don’t blame you for running away from that place... and honestly, I’m not surprised when it comes to Raelor. He was an exceptional bodyguard and an incubus with a heart of gold. I still can’t understand what the fuck happened to him..."

Once she reaches him, she pulls away what remains of his shredded T-shirt, exposing skin ravaged by wounds and bruises.

"So now are you finally going to tell me what the fuck happened to you?"

"Axel Volkom — the vampire I told you about — fought Iris. She got the worst of it, and he kidnapped her to use her as bait and lure me out into the open. Thanks to Leon Thzraneel’s help, I managed to kill him... but as you can clearly see, we barely made it out alive."

"How’s he doing?"

"Right now? Definitely better than me. He’s slowly recovering his strength, and his wounds are healing. I have to admit that in moments like this, I really envy vampires for their regenerative abilities. He helped me carry Iris here, then went back home."

"I see..."

After pulling off his shirt, Zaira also removes Ren’s pants, then his underwear, leaving him completely naked.

She parts her lips, letting her tongue hang down, thick with dripping pink saliva.

"Now it’s your turn to be healed."