The sensation of soft jade warmth in one's embrace should be a heavenly enjoyment for any biologically functional male.
But for Leo at this moment, this soft body tightly pressed against his chest, emitting a faint floral fragrance, made him tremble and feel uneasy more than the coldest viper.
His body became incredibly stiff in an instant, his arms suspended in mid-air, neither daring to push her away nor daring to embrace her back. He could clearly feel the girl's breathing, slightly quickened from excitement, and the heartbeat of that heart wildly pounding for him, transmitted through thin fabric.
'Stay calm... Leo, you must calm down...'
'Angering her now is absolutely not wise. I'm not facing an ordinary high school girl, but a genuine magus... a superhuman existence who can easily crush me with unnatural power...'
Leo desperately warned himself in his heart, forcibly suppressing the fear and escape instinct surging within.
He stiffly twitched the corners of his mouth, squeezing out a smile that seemed as harmless as possible.
Rin buried her face deep in Leo's chest, greedily inhaling the scent that made her soul intoxicated. The bright lake-green eyes were filled with pink heart-shaped effects flashing uncontrollably, like two burning ghost fires, incinerating all her rationality.
After a long while, she reluctantly lifted her head, her flushed cheeks carrying a hint of satisfied blush, and spoke softly in an almost delirious tone of obsession:
"You're awake... my Leo~."
This gentle whisper struck Leo's heart like an invisible heavy hammer.
'Only hers... huh?'
'Indeed, things have developed to the worst possible state.'
Leo's heart turned to ice, but the smile on his face didn't dare waver in the slightest. He knew that from the moment this 16-year-old girl brought him back to this mansion, he had already lost control over his own body.
"G-good morning, Tohsaka."
He responded in a hoarse voice.
"Don't call me Tohsaka!"
Rin's brows furrowed slightly, seeming extremely dissatisfied with this form of address.
She extended a slender index finger, gently pressing it against Leo's lips, her movements intimate yet carrying an irresistible forcefulness.
"Call me Rin... just like I call you Leo! From today on, you can only call me that..."
Her voice was soft, yet carried a power unique to magi that could influence others' will.
Leo felt his tongue as if bound by some constraint, unable to produce any other name besides "Rin."
'...Suggestion magic? Tsk, using it for such troublesome purposes...'
"O-okay... Rin."
Seeing Leo's appearance of complaining in his heart but with a body that obeyed very obediently, Rin's face immediately bloomed with a brilliant smile.
That smile was pure and beautiful, enough to make any man fall for her.
However, in Leo's eyes, behind this smile lay a boundless net woven from magic and desire.
"Good boy."
Rin satisfied patted his cheek, then slid off him like an elegant cat, standing up with light movements.
"You must be hungry, right? I've prepared breakfast for you in the dining room downstairs. Hurry and change into your clothes and come down. Don't make me wait too long, okay~"
As she spoke, she took out a brand new set of men's casual clothes from the nearby wardrobe, the style and size perfectly matching Leo, as if custom-made for him.
'Even clothes prepared... when did she...'
Leo's heart sank even faster.
This meticulous "care" was precisely proof that she had already viewed him as a possession and made thorough preparations for this "keeping."
Under Rin's gaze filled with anticipation and surveillance, Leo didn't dare delay at all, quickly changing into the clothes.
When he stepped out of the bedroom, Rin was already waiting at the door like a wife waiting for her husband to come home, standing prettily.
She naturally extended her hand, linking it through Leo's arm, pressing his soft body tightly against herself, leading him downstairs.
The Tohsaka mansion was a typical Western-style mansion, luxuriously and elegantly decorated.
Long corridors were carpeted in dark red, walls hung with valuable oil paintings, and the air was filled with the scent of ancient books mixed with faint magical potion.
However, Leo had no interest in appreciating any of this. His gaze swept like radar across every window and door on both sides of the corridor.
The windows were thick double-glazed glass, with magical runes imperceptible to the naked eye inscribed on the frames, flickering with faint ghostly light.
The doors were thick solid wood, their handles ice-cold and piercing, similarly emanating magical aura.
His heart sank deeper and deeper into the abyss.
In the dining room, a sumptuous breakfast was already laid out on the long table.
Golden-toasted bread, perfectly fried sunny-side-up eggs, bacon, milk, and steaming black tea. Everything was as exquisite as a work of art.
"Sit down quickly. I made all of this with my own hands."
Rin pressed Leo into the main seat, while she sat beside him, her beautiful eyes never leaving his face for a moment.
He mechanically placed food into his mouth, tasting nothing.
After the strange and silent breakfast ended, Leo took a deep breath and decided to make one final attempt.
"Um... Rin, thank you for the hospitality."
"But I think... I should probably take my leave now."
He spoke carefully, observing Rin's expression closely.
Sure enough, the moment she heard the words "take my leave," the sweet smile on Rin's face froze instantly.
The silver cutlery in her hand collided with the white porcelain plate, producing a crisp sound.
Clang—
The air in the dining room seemed to freeze at that moment.
"...Take your leave?"
Rin tilted her head, and a flash of ice-cold light appeared in her lake-green eyes—the kind that made Leo's hair stand on end.
The flickering pink hearts now looked more like marks of some curse.
"Where are you going, Leo?"
"I... I still have some personal matters to handle..."
Leo pressed forward with his excuse.
"Are you going to find other women?"
Rin's voice grew increasingly cold. "...Those crazy women who, like wild dogs smelling blood, want to tear you apart? Do you think I don't know? While you were unconscious, I already investigated... those 'troubles' you caused in the previous city."
Leo's pupils suddenly contracted.
'She investigated me? How did she manage that? Magic?'
"Leo—you're far too naive."
Rin stood up and slowly walked behind Leo, placing both hands on his shoulders. She leaned forward, bringing her lips close to his ear, her warm breath brushing against it, yet her words were like the Siberian wind.
"That face of yours is the greatest source of disaster in this world."
"You're like premium wagyu dropped into a pack of starving wolves. Wherever you go, you cause frenzied fighting and slaughter... You can't protect yourself at all."
Her fingers gently traced across Leo's cheek, from the beauty mark at the corner of his eye all the way down to his chin.
"But I'm different."
"I'm strong enough. I can protect you. I can give you a safe, peaceful world."
"So here, you don't need to wear that ridiculous hood anymore, don't need to fear anyone."
"You only need to... stay by my side, only look at me, and that's enough."
Leo felt a bone-chilling coldness surge from his tailbone straight to the crown of his head.
He suddenly stood up and rushed toward the massive floor-to-ceiling window leading to the courtyard beside the dining room.
He wanted to escape. Even if there was only a sliver of hope, he wanted to flee this cage called "love"!
However, the moment his hand touched the cold glass, a tremendous repulsive force erupted violently.
Boom!
An invisible magical barrier sent him flying back, and he fell messily onto the carpet.
"It's useless."
Rin walked slowly to stand before him, looking down at him with pity in her eyes, and something far more immovable—her absolute resolve.
"This entire mansion, from the basement to the roof, is equipped with the Tohsaka family's hereditary defensive barriers and binding spells. Even a first-rate magus couldn't easily break in from outside."
"And someone like you, who knows nothing of the magical arts... naturally can't get out from inside either."
She crouched down and gently stroked Leo's hair, her tone so tender it was as if she were soothing a frightened small animal.
"Don't be afraid, Leo... I'm doing all this for your own good, to protect you."
"You belong to me. I absolutely will not... give you to anyone."
Despair.
Unprecedented despair, like a tidal wave, completely submerged Leo.
He slumped on the ground, looking at this girl before him—smiling sweetly, speaking the most tender words of affection, yet doing the most terrifying things—and for the first time, he deeply understood just how terrifying a curse this demonic charm he possessed truly was.
It was at this moment that Leo's peripheral vision seemed to catch sight of a blurry red figure standing at the highest point of the mansion's roof, far away in the courtyard outside the window.
It was a man in a red coat, white-haired and dark-skinned, wielding black and white dual blades, observing everything inside the mansion with eyes completely devoid of human emotion—cold and sharp.
That gaze held no admiration or obsession whatsoever, only pure assessment and vigilance, as if evaluating a dangerous object.
Leo's heart suddenly clenched.
He recognized that figure.
It was Rin's Servant, the Heroic Spirit Emiya, Archer.
A... powerful guardian who would absolutely never be bewitched by his face.