Chapter 18: Hold Me Hostage

But as funny as Luca thought it was, he knew that they needed to get a little serious, especially when someone had a arrow sticking out of her booty

So, to do so, he exhaled and raised his hands before saying,

“Alright, everyone just…calm down, okay?”

Both sisters flinched, clearly expecting an attack.

But instead, his voice came out gentle.

“There’s been a huge misunderstanding here.”

The sisters exchanged nervous glances but said nothing.

“Yes, I’m human.” Luca continued calmly. “And yes, I know that’s unusual for you. I get why you’re scared. But whatever this ’sex demon’ nonsense is…” He waved a hand dismissively. “…I promise, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t come here to harm anyone.”

Luna frowned slightly, still skeptical but…hesitant.

“Then…what did you come here for?”

“To help.” Luca said simply. “But before we get into that…” He looked pointedly at Lulu, who was still clinging to her sister’s leg. “…your sister needs treatment. Right now.”

“Treatment?” Luna blinked.

“Yes.” Luca stepped closer, tone firm now. “If you keep her like this, that wound’s going to get a lot worse.”

Luna’s eyes widened slightly, her concern overtaking her suspicion for a moment.

“W-what do you mean? What could possibly happen? It’s just a flesh wound right?”

Luca knelt slightly, pointing toward Lulu’s butt.

“Well, the truth is you got lucky.” He explained. “The arrow’s tip is small, and it only pierced the fatty area of her butt, so there’s no major damage. Best case scenario, really.”

Lulu whimpered. “It doesn’t feel like a best case scenario…”

“But…” Luca continued seriously. “If she keeps moving up and down like that with the arrow still inside, it’s just going to tear the flesh more and more.”

“If you don’t pull it out soon, her whole butt’s going to swell up. The wound will bruise, turn blue, and get infected.”

Lulu’s face went pale. “I-Infected? My cute butt?”

“Yup.” Luca said, deadpan. “One cheek will be completely swollen and purple like a rotten fruit, while the other one stays perfectly normal. You want that?”

Lulu’s eyes went wide with horror.

“NO! No, no, no!” She screamed, shaking her head rapidly. “I don’t want a big blue butt! I like my butt the way it is! It’s soft, round, and even!”

“Then stop wiggling!” Luca said. “The more you move, the worse it gets!”

Lulu immediately froze like a statue, not daring to even breathe too hard.

“I’m not moving! I swear I’m not moving!”

Luna’s expression twisted between worry, confusion, and exhaustion. She looked down at her pathetic sister before glancing back up at Luca.

“Then what are you saying?” She demanded, though her voice trembled slightly. “Are you saying you can help her? You can heal her wound?”

Luca let out a long, tired sigh before saying,

“No, what I’m saying is that you two have three options right now.” He began counting on his fingers. “Option one—you both try to run away right now. Maybe back to your little village or whatever.”

“But if you do that, she’s going to move around a lot more, which means the arrow’s going to dig deeper into her butt and cause way more damage.”

“NO! NO! DON’T WANT GO GRIND MY BUTT UP!” Lulu gasped dramatically.

Luca continued without acknowledging the outburst.

“Option two—you go fetch your villagers and get some help. But that would mean leaving your dear sister here, alone, with me…the so-called sex demon.”

That made Luna’s lips tighten and her grip on the dagger tremble. He wasn’t wrong—she couldn’t possibly leave Lulu behind.

Luca smiled faintly.

“Or option three…” He spread his hands calmly. “You can let me help. Unlike you two, I’m a little more prepared when it comes to situations like this. I can clean the wound, pull out the arrow, and patch it up properly in about a minute with the medicine I have on hand. It’s not a big deal.”

He lifted his hands slightly in a peaceful gesture.

“So, what’s it gonna be?”

Luna hesitated, eyes flickering between him and Lulu. She wanted to refuse, to tell him to leave them alone—but when she looked down at her sister, whimpering and clutching her bleeding butt, she knew she couldn’t just do nothing.

Still, she needed to be sure.

Her gaze lifted again to Luca, searching his face for something—anything—to give her a sense of what kind of person he really was.

But no matter how long she looked, she couldn’t read him.

His eyes—those dark, deep eyes—were completely unreadable, like a still lake at midnight. Usually, emotions showed through one’s gaze, but his revealed nothing.

It was unnerving.

And yet…strangely comforting at the same time.

The truth was, the only reason she felt this much fear was because he was human—something no female elf had ever seen in person for a long time.

And, of course, because of those dreams…those strange, lewd, vivid dreams that had haunted her and the other villagers for over a week.

If not for those, she might not have found him so terrifying at all.

In fact, there was something about him, his voice, his posture, that didn’t feel threatening.

He was calm. Grounded. Almost…approachable.

And when she thought about the other elf men in the village—so arrogant, so self-absorbed, constantly showing off their supposed ’grace,’ she couldn’t help but think that Luca was…

…well, better. More real.

But still, he was human. The sex demon of their dreams. And she didn’t know how to trust him.

So she took a deep breath and asked,

“But…how can we trust you? What you’re saying might sound reasonable, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re not supposed to be here. You shouldn’t exist in our forest at all.”

She steadied her dagger again.

“So, give me one reason—just one—that I should trust you. That I can believe you won’t harm me or my sister.”

Luca paused, his expression thoughtful. He could easily have shown her the seal the elf elder had given him—proof that he’d been accepted by their people.

But the moment he did that, he’d also have to tell her the truth: that the elder had passed away. And that would break them.

He imagined these two crying in the middle of the forest, wailing in grief, and then trying to drag him back to the village in tears.

The image was…not ideal. Especially if the other elves saw him walking in with two devastated women. It would make everything ten times worse.

’No, better to save that truth for when everyone was gathered.’

So he folded his arms and said simply, “There’s really nothing I can say right now that’ll make you believe me.”

Luna’s grip on the dagger tightened instantly, her face hardening again. But before she could say anything, Luca went on casually.

“But I can give you another option.”

She blinked in confusion, while he pointed toward the blade in her hand.

“You can put that knife right against my neck and hold me hostage the entire time I’m treating your sister.”

Both elves froze.

“Yeah.” Luca said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. “If you keep the blade there, I can’t do anything. If I so much as breathe wrong, you can slice my throat open.”

“…Seems like a fair deal, doesn’t it?”

Luna stared at him, stunned.

“…You’re…offering to let me hold you hostage?”

He nodded with a small shrug.

“Sure. I mean, you don’t trust me, right? This way, you’ll have total control. And I get to fix her up before her butt turns into a medical emergency. Win-win.”

Luna blinked, utterly lost for words.

What kind of human was this? Normally, anyone in his position would try to talk their way out, beg, or defend themselves. But this man was offering his neck as collateral like it was nothing. He didn’t even look nervous.

She didn’t know whether to call him brave, stupid, or insane. Maybe all three.

Lulu, meanwhile, tugged at her sister’s dress with watery eyes.

“Luna, please! Just do it!” She begged. “It hurts so much! And if he tries anything weird, you can just…finish him off right there! It’s perfect! It’s a win-win!”

Luna looked down at her sister’s desperate face, then back at Luca, who was watching her patiently, as calm as ever.

There was no malice in his expression. Just quiet confidence.

Finally, she sighed and gave a small nod.

“Fine…” She murmured reluctantly. “But don’t—please don’t make any sudden moves. I really don’t want any blood on my hands.”

“Fair enough.” Luca said simply.

Luna then took a deep breath before cautiously moving towards Luca. When she was within arm’s reach, she suddenly rushed forward, pressing the blade to his neck and stepping behind him in one swift motion.

“Alright.” She said nervously. “Now…move forward. Slowly.”

“Fine.” Luca muttered, taking a few steps forward as instructed.

For a moment, everything seemed to be going smoothly.

But then he stopped abruptly and turned his head slightly toward her.

“W-What are you doing?!” Luna gasped, immediately pressing the blade closer. “I told you to move forward! Just move! Don’t make any sudden movements!”

Luca, however, just sighed and gave her a look that was half-amused, half-disappointed.

“This won’t work.”

“What do you mean it won’t work?!” Her eyes widened in panic. “Don’t tell me you’re going back on your word!”

She instinctively took a half step back, ready to strike if needed.

But Luca raised his hands in surrender.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant. I mean your technique.”

“What?” She blinked.

“The way you’re holding the knife right now.” He said casually. “It’s terrible. You’re standing too close, your grip’s too high, and your weight’s on the wrong foot. If I actually wanted to, I could disarm you in less than two seconds.”

“E-Excuse me?!” Luna’s ears twitched in bafflement.

“I’m serious.” He said with a straight face. “You’re not even protecting your sister properly.”

“The way you’re standing right now, if someone attacked, your knife would slip and you’d probably stab her instead of me. You might as well hold a spoon to my neck.”

Her mouth fell open in disbelief before she exclaimed,

“Are you criticizing my hostage technique right now?!”

“Yes.” Luca replied flatly. “It’s awful. Honestly, I’m kind of disappointed. Here I thought forest elves were supposed to be graceful warriors. But you’re making me wonder if all those legends were just fairy tales.”

Luna’s face flushed bright red, her lips tightening in outrage.

“Y-You?!” She stammered. “My technique is perfectly fine! I’ve trained for years with—”

But before she could even finish her proud declaration, Luca suddenly moved.

It happened so fast that Luna didn’t even register what had occurred until she found herself staring at her own dagger—now no longer in her hands, but between his fingers, held effortlessly right in front of her face.

“See?” He said casually, a faint, teasing smile on his lips. “Didn’t even take me a second to disarm you. And here you are, telling me you’re supposed to be protecting your sister.”

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