novelraw Chapter 43: Lust Sense...?
Chapter 43: Lust Sense...?
Back in the capital, the rain had finally begun to ease.
I stood at the window of my study, watching the last of the downpour drip from the eaves. Behind me, a stack of reports sat on my desk, each one detailing the situation at Ravenhold. The numbers weren’t good.
According to the scribes in the communication hall, they were recording reports from the capital in real time through the radio.
The situation was dire.
But Edward was holding the line for now. But he was buying time, not winning.
Hopefully, Anastasia and Rerick will be able to make a difference. All I need to do is wait for the results the next day and plan accordingly.
The system notification from last night flickered in the back of my mind. The Incubus Path. The Romance Tree. Skill points.
I hadn’t looked at them yet, too tired after everything with Faye, too focused on the immediate crisis. But now, standing here in the gray morning light, I knew I couldn’t afford to ignore them.
[System Access: Romance Tree (Incubus Path)]
[Available Skills]
Lust Sense (Passive) (1/5 Levels): Allows detection of arousal, attraction, and emotional vulnerability
Draining Kiss (Active) (1/10 Levels):
Minor stamina/mana drain during intimacy
Presence of Vice (Aura) (1/3) Levels): Increases others’ impulsiveness towards the Incubus
I looked over each option, reading them carefully. I’d already had my fair share of bricked and powerful builds in my previous life, back in a game I used to play.
I wasn’t particularly interested in its story or mechanics, but the sheer euphoria of seeing high damage numbers, learning skills, and optimizing them was enough to hook me.
This shouldn’t be a problem, then.
The question was which one to take first. I had one skill point to spend, and each of these could be useful in different ways.
[Lust Sense] would give me information. Knowing who was vulnerable, who was attracted to me, and who might be manipulated or recruited. In a political landscape like this, information was power. But it was passive. It wouldn’t actively change anything.
[Draining Kiss] was more direct. Stamina and mana drain during intimacy... that had combat applications, didn’t it? If I could weaken an enemy just by getting close enough, no, that was probably wishful thinking.
The skill said "during intimacy," not "during combat." Still, the stamina transfer could be useful. I’d certainly felt tired enough last night to appreciate anything that helped me recover faster.
[Presence of Vice] was the most dangerous. Increasing impulsiveness meant making people act on desires they might otherwise suppress. That could be useful for recruitment, for negotiation, for... other things. But it was an aura. I couldn’t turn it off easily, and the last thing I needed was every servant in the estate throwing themselves at me.
Although... it could definitely be useful when paired up with [Lust Sense]. Guess I already found my first basic setup to grind for.
But even so, I still need to decide which one to choose first.
I tapped my fingers against the windowsill, thinking.
In the novel, the original Cassian had never had access to anything like this. He’d relied on fear, skill, and brute force. But I wasn’t him, and this was my advantage.
Information or action?
I re-read the descriptions, trying to anticipate what the coming weeks would demand.
The crisis in Ravenhold. The generals I needed to keep loyal. Faye’s shifting personality. And the system’s optional tasks.
[Lust Sense], I decided finally.
Knowledge was the foundation of every other strategy. If I could sense what people wanted, what they were vulnerable to, I could exploit it without wasting time on guesswork.
It’ll definitely be outside my comfort zone, though, being more proactive in political schemes, but I can’t really grow if I stay too attached to comfort.
[Skill Learned: Lust Sense (Passive) Lv. 1]
[Range: 10 Meters (Unlimited for Targets You’ve Been Intimate With)]
[Emotional/Physical detection threshold: Basic]
I closed the window and turned back to the room.
And immediately noticed something different.
Faye was still asleep upstairs, but I could feel her presence, a faint warmth at the edge of my perception. Not her location exactly, more like... an impression. A sense of contentment, of exhaustion.
I focused on the door, and there was another warmth beyond it. One of the servants, pacing in the hallway. Nervous and anxious. Waiting to knock but afraid to interrupt.
I could feel the warmth pooling low in her belly just from standing outside my door. The way her thighs pressed together whenever she replayed the scene in her mind. The red that had crept up her neck when she’d carried those sheets to the laundry.
[Lust Sense] even let me glimpse fragments of their memories, though only faintly, and only those tied to lust.
She was young. Pretty, from what I recalled. And right now, she was trying to compose herself, trying to forget the way Faye had looked this morning, all tousled hair and swollen lips and that unmistakable afterglow.
The servants talked. They always did.
And apparently, watching their duke take a woman to bed had stirred something in more than a few of them.
This skill was going to be dangerous. Not because it would show me things I didn’t want to see, but because knowing about this kind of attraction came with... implications.
I shook my head, I was starting to sound like a generic creep with the way I was describing things...
But, this was definitely... useful.
I could already see the applications. In negotiations, I’d know when someone was lying or when they wanted something from me. In battle, I’d sense enemy morale, their fear, their desperation.
In—
A knock came at the door.
"Your Grace?" The servant’s voice was trembling slightly. "A message has arrived from Ravenhold. Lord Edward requests immediate communication."
I crossed the room and opened the door.
The servant, a young woman I didn’t know by name, stepped back quickly, her eyes downcast in what should have been deference. But [Lust Sense] showed me the truth beneath the pose.
Her breath caught the moment she saw me. Her pulse spiked. Her fingers tightened around the edges of the message she was holding, knuckles going white.
I filed the information away and took the message from her hands.
"Thank you. That will be all."
She nodded, a quick, jerky motion. "Yes, Your Grace."
She turned to leave, and I watched her go. Not because I had any intention of acting on what I’d sensed, but because I needed to understand the full implications of this skill.
Every servant who passed me in the hall. Every noble at the conclave. Every soldier who saluted.
I would be able to feel their desires. Their vulnerabilities. Their secret, hidden wants.
For someone still politically inept like me, this was everything...