Chapter 4
Tantan.
That was the name I gave the entity.
It was meant to remind me what lay beneath that painstakingly fashioned beautiful skin.
Yet the more Tantan interacted with me, the more its mannerisms and expressions resembled those of a living human.
But there was always a scent about it.
Faint and cool, like old wood in late autumn mingled with cold incense ash.
Every time I smelled it, a fine prickle crept across my scalp.
As for the toys Tantan had given me, I still hadn’t dared touch a single one.
Because I had seen what could happen.
Inside an S-rank instance, a player once picked up a copper coin dropped by an entity.
The instant the coin landed in his palm, the man’s entire body was flattened.
Like a mosquito casually slapped dead in someone’s hand, his skin and bones were crushed into a paper-thin sheet.
Now Tantan nudged the pellet drum toward me and said, “Wife. Play.”
Trembling, I pretended not to hear.
It moved the cloth tiger closer to my hand. “Play.”
It repeated itself several times, but I remained terrified and pretended to be both deaf and blind.
Tantan didn’t seem disappointed.
Perhaps it hadn’t learned the expression for disappointment yet. Or perhaps it simply couldn’t feel it.
It only lowered its head into my lap and nuzzled against me.
Its snow-white hair spilled over my knees, long lashes lowered.
At that moment, an absurd realization came over me.
Was it… acting spoiled with me?
An SSS-rank entity whose true form stood three meters tall and could literally scare me to death was lying across my lap, demanding affection.
Just then, the door curtain lifted.
A line of young servants filed in, each carrying a lacquer-red tray laden with food.
They all kept their heads lowered and mouths shut, yet snickering came from somewhere.
Hee-hee-hee… hee-hee-hee…
The tiny, furtive giggles circled me like sidelong glances.
Goose bumps crawled from my arms to the nape of my neck. Without realizing it, my fingers clenched around strands of Tantan’s hair.
Tantan seemed to notice something.
Without even raising its head, it waved a hand. “Leave.”
Every servant froze in an instant.
Then the color visibly drained from their bodies. They grew thinner and thinner until they became sheets of yellow paper that fluttered out the door.
Paper figures.
Every one of those servants had been a paper figure brought to life.
I went numb with fear and nearly fainted again.
But with no servants left to wait on us, Tantan had to do everything itself.
It went in and out, again and again, the skirts of its bright red wedding robes flitting past the doorframe.
Its expression stayed aloof and serene, yet both hands were loaded with dishes like a waiter’s.
After watching it shuttle back and forth enough times, most of my fear faded.
The corner of my mouth even twitched.
Soon the entire square dining table was covered with food.
I swallowed and remembered to flatter it first. “Um, Husband, you’re so thoughtful. Thank you… B-but I’m not actually very hungry.”
That was a lie. I hadn’t eaten in two days.
But if I didn’t dare touch the toys it gave me, how could I dare eat its food?
Tantan tilted its head. There was no impatience on its refined face as it picked up a piece of red-braised pork and held it to my lips.
When I refused to open my mouth, it kept the chopsticks suspended there without moving.
…Fine.
Resisting an entity meant death, and being poisoned meant death. I might as well die with a full stomach.
I gritted my teeth, steeled myself, and opened my mouth to snatch the meat.
The sauce was rich, and the meat melted on my tongue.
It was far too delicious.
My eyes stung. I nearly burst into tears on the spot.
After that, I needed no feeding. I grabbed the chopsticks and began wolfing down the food on my own.
Halfway through the meal, Tantan extended an index finger and tapped its cheek. “Mm…”
With my cheeks stuffed full, I glanced at it and assumed it was warning me that I had rice stuck to my face.
I wiped my cheek with my sleeve. There was nothing there.
A little later, it tapped its cheek again. “Mm-mm…”
Confused, I wiped my face once more. Still nothing.
“Mm-mm-mm… my wife.”
By the third time it tapped its cheek, I couldn’t be bothered to respond.
If its face was dirty, then it could stay dirty. Why would an entity care about appearances?
Besides, I had discovered a plate of exquisitely delicate pastries that tasted especially good.
Beside the plate, their name had been written in tiny, flowerlike calligraphy: Jade Cream Pastry.
I ate four in a row.
When I reached for a fifth, a pair of bamboo chopsticks beat me to it, deftly lifting the last pastry from the plate.
My chopsticks closed on empty air. I looked up.
Tantan had taken the Jade Cream Pastry and brought it to its lips.
It held the milky-white pastry gently between them.
Half remained outside, while the other half rested between its crimson lips.
Fine sugar dusted it like a thin layer of frost. Against that cool, beautiful face, the sight was indescribably—
Me: “…”
So it was trying to seduce me.
As expected of an SSS-rank entity. Too dangerous!
When it saw my chopsticks frozen in midair, Tantan slowly leaned toward me.
Its sleeves brushed the bowls and plates with a musical clatter as that faint scent drew closer and closer.
Soft. Cool.
Ahem. Anyway… the pastry was very sweet.
But I definitely wasn’t eating one that way again.
After eating and drinking my fill, I was rubbing my stomach when—
Tantan suddenly looked toward the window, as if it had noticed something stirring inside the instance.
In that instant, I once again felt the crushing pressure of an SSS-rank entity rolling off it.
Only a moment later, Tantan withdrew its gaze and turned back to me.
Its palm settled atop my head and stroked me twice.
“Wife. Home. Wait.”
I nodded hurriedly. “Go take care of your business, Husband! I’ll stay home and behave. Be careful on the way!”
Tantan watched me silently for a while longer before finally turning and leaving.
The moment I was alone in the room—
my obedient expression vanished.
Run.
It didn’t matter how gentle or thoughtful Tantan was, or how much it resembled a “husband.”
How could an entity truly regard a human as its wife?
This was nothing more than a game of captivity it had begun on a whim.
Once it grew bored—once it grew hungry—
I would be the first thing it ate.
I had to run.