"Ugh!... What happened... my head..."
Dr. Linda stirred, her mind shrouded in a thick fog. She blinked slowly, her gray eyes trying to focus on the ceiling of the hospital room. The last thing she remembered was... what? A wave of vertigo washed over her, followed by a strange, deep-seated exhaustion.
And something else. A lingering, bone-deep satisfaction that felt both foreign and intimately familiar.
'I need a vacation; performing that surgery must have taken more out of me than I thought.'
She pushed herself up on her elbows, her body feeling heavy and wonderfully relaxed. She scanned her clothes, finding nothing out of place.
"Oh, you are awake," Alex said. He tried to keep his voice steady, but it came out as a shaky whisper. "I was worried."
Dr. Linda turned, following the source of the sound, her eyes locking with Alex. He was sitting on a chair by the window, a safe distance from the bed, trying to look casual and failing spectacularly.
His face was pale, and he wouldn't meet her gaze for more than a second. The faint, sweet scent of what she could only describe as 'aftermath' clung to the air, a ghost of a forgotten dream.
"How... How long was I out?" she asked, her throat a little dry.
"Just a few minutes," Alex said, finally meeting her eyes. "You just... collapsed. I called for a nurse, but they said you just needed rest. Stress, they said."
His Charisma was still working on her, weaving a subtle web of trust and concern. But it was different now. It wasn't just the surface-level attraction anymore. It was deeper. A connection had been forged in the dark, secret space between her unconscious mind and his willing body.
She felt it.
"I... I see," she said, her professional demeanor finally clicking back into place, though it felt like wearing a coat that was now a size too small. "Well, I apologize for the unprofessional display. As I was saying, I need to check your mana channels."
She stood up, her legs a little unsteady. She smoothed down her skirt, her fingers brushing against the fabric where, in a reality she couldn't quite grasp, it had been bunched up around her hips.
'There's no way...' she thought, a flicker of insane, impossible possibility crossing her mind. 'No... it was just a dream. A stress-induced hallucination.'
But the lingering warmth and the pleasant ache in her groin told a different story.
She picked up her chart, her movements precise, a desperate attempt to anchor herself in the familiar world of medicine.
"Please, lie down on the bed," she said, her voice a little too crisp.
Alex obeyed, lying back on the pillows, his heart pounding like a drum.
'Hey, Lily, are you there?' he called out inwardly.
[Always,] Lily replied, her mental voice a smug purr. [Enjoying the aftermath?]
'Shut up,' Alex shot back. 'She's going to check on my mana channels, but I don't have mana to begin with, thanks to that curse.'
[Oh, don't worry about that,] Lily said. [It's not like you don't have mana at all. You do have it. In fact, you have a lot of it. The problem is your mana is... well, it's tainted by the curse. So instead of flowing properly through your channels, it's more like... locked in a cage. And when you attempt to cast a spell, the curse will force your body to draw life force instead of mana to power the spell. That's why it's a 'curse.']
'That's... surprisingly helpful,' Alex thought, a sliver of hope piercing through the cloud of shame. 'So when I cast a spell, no one will notice that I used my life force instead of mana?' The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
[Exactly,] Lily confirmed. [You just have to avoid using magic next to someone blessed by the gods or with a high enough 'Divine Sight' skill. They would be able to see the curse.]
'Divine Sight...' Alex repeated, the words sending a shiver down his spine. 'So there are people who can see what I am?'
[Oh, yes,] Lily said, her tone grim. [Rare, but they do exist. But again, since we are one, our soul is stronger. You might not be as visible to them as you think. The most they would see is that you are some poor guy who is cursed. They would never know you're a human/succubus hybrid.]
'Okay... I can work with that,' Alex thought, a plan forming in his mind. 'So, what do I do now? Just lie here and pretend to be a nobleman with amnesia?'
[For now, yes,] Lily said. [But remember, the daily quest is coming. You need to find a steady supply of... nourishment. Your family is a good start.]
'Fuck you,' Alex thought, but his heart wasn't in it. He was too busy trying to process the new information.
While Alex was having a mental conversation with Lily, Dr. Linda had finished preparing her tools.
"Alright, Mr. Valerian," she said, her professional mask firmly in place. "I need you to relax. This might feel a little... strange."
She placed her hands on his chest, her fingers cool against his skin. He could feel a faint, tingling sensation as she channeled her own mana into him, probing his channels.
'This is it,' Alex thought, a knot of dread tightening in his stomach. 'She's going to find out.'
[Relax,] Lily said, her voice a calm anchor in the storm of his panic. [Trust me. Just let her do her thing.]
Dr. Linda closed her eyes, her brow furrowed in concentration. Her mana flowed through him, a gentle, inquisitive stream. Alex waited for the moment of discovery, for the gasp of horror, for the accusation that would surely follow.
But it never came.
"No damage to your mana channels," Dr. Linda said, opening her eyes. "But the flow is extremely weak. It's like a river that has been dammed up."
"That's... not good, is it?" Alex asked, playing the part of the concerned patient.
"No, it's not," Dr. Linda said, her expression serious. "But it's not surprising, given what you have been through. You'll need to undergo a course of treatment to restore it. I'll write you a prescription for some mana-replenishing potions. They should help."
Alex didn't know what happened before he woke in this world. And since he 'lost' his memories, Eleonora and Sera refused to give him a straight answer, just brushing it off as an 'accident.'
But now, with Dr. Linda's words, he had a clue, or at least Lily did.
[I think I know what happened,] Lily said, her mental voice a low, dangerous growl. [It's probably a mana burst. A common but dangerous magical phenomenon that can happen when someone's life is in danger. Their body releases all their mana in a desperate attempt to survive. It's a last resort that often leaves the caster drained, and sometimes, dead.]
'And that's what happened to me?' Alex thought. 'I had a mana burst?'
[It seems so,] Lily confirmed. [This perfectly aligns with your 'amnesia' cover. I guess this is the world's will trying to help you as much as it can.]
Dr. Linda finished her examination, her movements efficient and detached. But when she recalled her mana back, she failed to notice a tiny pink spark followed her back and seeped into her body.
Lily would never harm Alex, and she truly saw him as her partner and not some tool, but for the sake of her revenge and their survival, she had to... push him in the right direction, and she also had to make sure he always had a source of food, no matter how he felt about it.
"Alright, Mr. Valerian," Dr. Linda said, her voice crisp as she wrote on her chart. "Your vitals are stable. Your channels, while weak, are intact. But I need you to stay one more day or two for observation."
She finally looked at him, and behind those glasses, her gray eyes were filled with a new, complicated emotion. It wasn't just professional concern anymore. It was... a fascination.
She had the dream. Or was it a memory? The heat, the wetness, the overwhelming pleasure that had left her waking up feeling more sated than she had in years. And now, looking at the beautiful, vulnerable man in front of her, the dream felt... real.
"All come and check on you tomorrow," she said, her voice a little too steady. "And... I'll make sure to bring you a stronger potion."
She gave him a small, almost hesitant smile, then turned and walked out of the room, her heels clicking on the floor. She didn't look back.
Alex watched her go, a mix of relief and unease washing over him.
'That was... close,' he thought, letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
Lily didn't say anything, only keeping her eyes on the door where the doctor had left, her smile predatory.
...
Baam!
Dr. Linda slammed the door of her office, her back pressed against the cool wood as if to hold herself up. She swiftly locked the door, her hands trembling slightly. For a moment, she just stood there, breathing heavily, the professional facade she wore like armor finally cracking.
"Something happened to me."
She walked to her desk and slumped into her chair, her mind racing. The dream, the one that had been playing on a loop in the back of her mind since she woke up, came rushing back.
"Fortunately, I always wear my glasses," she murmured, her fingers tracing the frame of her glasses, then she injected a bit of her mana.
The next second, a small blue screen appeared in front of her.
"Show me that recording of the last hour," she commanded, her voice a little shaky.
The screen flickered to life, showing a recording of Alex's room. She saw herself walking in, talking to him, passing out, then...
"Oh!... O-oh... my..."
Her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes widening in disbelief.
"What a cute, naughty boy~."
...