"My incubus has been with me for a month, but he still won't let me touch him. What could be the reason for that?"

I type my questions into the customer service feedback form and wait for a reply. The customer service representative replies at once in a very helpful manner.

"Dear customer, our incubi are all very eager to stick to their owners like glue! I'm afraid your issue might be due to a malfunction on his end.

"We can apply for your incubus to be replaced with a new one instead, and he will arrive in a week."

I look at Riven Sterling, the incubus whom I had made tailored specifically to my tastes. After a moment of thought, I decide that maybe I can just wait and observe for a while longer. If he still doesn't change for the better, then I can perhaps send him in for repairs.

After all, Riven is just too perfectly aligned with my tastes. I can't bear to give him up.

However, at the family dinner, I quickly realize that Riven is having a reaction toward my younger stepsister, Teresa Ashford, who is sitting across from me.

It's only then that I recall that Teresa is the one who opened my parcel the last time Riven arrived at the doorstep.

That night, I contact the customer service representative again and say, "You said that the new replacement would be arriving in a week, right? Please send it out, then. Thank you."

Riven Sterling's eyes were red-rimmed, and his brows were deeply furrowed as if he was in great pain.

His health had been declining over the past few days. He sat on the edge of the bed, panting heavily while I flipped through the incubus manual.

"Well, it says here that we just have to…"

I cleared my throat awkwardly and continued, "You'll feel better after that."

I reached my hand out and touched his collar, revealing the small, bright red mole nestled between his collarbones. The mole rose and fell as he panted, and he looked extremely alluring.

I was just about to touch it when Riven pushed me aside harshly.

I saw that my wrist had turned red, so I frowned at him slightly.

Riven still wouldn't let me touch him.

"Sorry, it's my instincts," Riven said, his eyes rather cold as he looked at me. "I'm going to take a cold shower."

After watching him disappear into the bathroom, I grabbed my phone and called customer service again.

Riven was a brand-new incubus that had just arrived a month ago. I had spent a great fortune on him, customizing and tweaking him to my tastes. I had even waited a full year for him to finally arrive at my doorstep.

Interestingly enough, while incubi were supposed to feed and obtain satisfaction from inhaling their owners, Riven simply wouldn't let me touch him at all.

"Why is my incubus acting differently from the others? I can tell that he's suffering, but he just won't let me touch him."

I waited for the customer service representative's reply while listening to the sound of the shower in the bathroom.

"Have you already bonded with him, Ms. Ashford?" the representative asked.

I had already read the manual. Of course, I wouldn't have made a silly mistake like that.

"I've already bound him to me the very night I brought him back," I answered.

There was a long pause before the representative finally replied, "I'm sorry, Ms. Ashford, but this problem shouldn't have happened. Our incubi are all well-trained to be extremely clingy with their owners. They would also want to be glued to their owners at all times."

I was starting to get anxious.

"Are you saying that I'm lying about my situation now?"

The representative patiently replied, "Please don't worry, Ms. Ashford. How about you return your incubus to us, and we will send out a new one to you as soon as possible? The new one should arrive in about seven days."

As soon as the words appeared on the chat screen, the bathroom door opened, and Riven walked out with just a white bathrobe thrown over his shoulders.

Water droplets slid down his well-defined chin and dripped onto his chest and abs before being absorbed into the bathrobe.

I gulped softly.

Riven was exactly my type. He was supposed to be custom-made for me, but he ended up being faulty instead.

"Let me observe him for a while longer. If he doesn't improve, then I'll consider your offer," I replied.

From what I gathered, I understood that the customer service was implying that they would just scrap him, and I thought that it would be quite a pity.

"Understood, Ms. Ashford. Feel free to ask me any more questions if you have them later. Thank you!"

I then turned off my phone.

Riven's pale face and red-rimmed eyes were making me feel sorry for him.

I spoke. "I just asked customer service, and they said that something like this has never happened before…"

I felt my heart aching as I looked at Riven. Why was he sick all of a sudden? He seemed perfectly healthy to me.

Riven's hands suddenly froze whilst he was drying his hair. His eyes were dark and empty, and there was no emotion in them whenever he looked at me. He certainly wasn't acting like any of the incubi I'd seen in those advertisements, whose eyes would lit up as soon as they saw their owners.

"If you still can't accept me a few days later, I'll bring you in for servicing," I said.

Riven seemed to sigh in relief and nodded.

I felt a slight pang of resentment. After all, he was exactly my type, but I could only stare at him without even laying a finger on him. It was truly unbearable and tested my patience.

I decided to get up and leave the room instead.

The reason why I even bought an incubus in the first place was because I liked it.

Dad suddenly called me then, and I answered the call rather impatiently.

"Tracy? Your grandma's missing you again. When are you planning to come home?" he asked.

I knew that this was just an excuse. Obviously, he was the one who missed me more than Grandma did.

Dad was my biggest, number-one fan. He doted on me a lot, and at times, it felt as though going a few days without seeing me would cost him his life or something.

I massaged my temples and said, "Fine. I get it. Later, I'll—"

I turned around just then and stopped short. Riven was already starting to pack.

I asked him, "Do you like going back to the Ashford villa?"

I hadn't even hung up on the call before Riven began packing. I noticed Riven's hand freezing for a split second, but he said nothing in response, and I didn't think too much about it.

I really didn't want to go back to the villa, but I couldn't stand Dad's constant nagging and moral blackmail.

"Grandma's not going to be around any longer. Is it wrong for me to ask you to come home and see her more often?"

So, I hadn't even left the villa for three days before I was summoned back there again.

As soon as I arrived, however, a young woman ran up to us.

I frowned and quickly stepped aside, casting her a cold glance.

It was my stepsister, Teresa Ashford. She looked at me with an aggrieved expression on her face and spoke in a high-pitched voice.

"You're finally back, Tracy! Did you know how much I missed you over the last couple of days?"

I found it a little hilarious. Even though Dad loved me very much, transferred all of the shares to his company under my name, and swore that he couldn't live without seeing me again every other day, that didn't stop him from marrying another woman and having another child.

I disliked Teresa not because of Dad, but because of how fake and pretentious she was.

I had caught her trying to sabotage me many times in the past, and she hadn't even managed to straighten her face each time I caught her red-handed.

She didn't feel awkward when I barely acknowledged her. Instead, she turned to address Riven behind me with a huge smile on her face.

"Hello, Riven! Aren't you tired of carrying so many things for her?"

Teresa then shot me a reproachful look and said, "How could you do this to him, Tracy? Riven is your incubus, not your butler! How could you make him do such tiring work?"

I scoffed. "Are you going to do it, then?"

Teresa's expression froze for a second. Riven just looked at me with a dark look in his eyes, but he didn't say a thing.

I felt irritated and headed straight for my room. I didn't want to deal with Teresa and her fakeness at all.

That was why I never noticed Riven smiling and nodding at Teresa behind me.

At dinner, Dad didn't look pleased when he saw that Riven was seated next to me at the table.

"He's just a toy. Why are you bringing him with you wherever you go like he's your baby?"

Riven stiffened next to me. I simply looked at Dad with a helpless expression on my face.

Before I could defend Riven, however, Teresa shot to his defense first.

"Dad! You can't say that about Riven! He might be an incubus, but he still has his dignity!"

Riven stirred. I turned my head around and looked at him.

His eyes were fixed on Teresa unwaveringly, and they were filled with emotion.

I scrutinized him closely with a frown on my face. Was I imagining things? Why did it look as though Riven's eyes were sparkling when he looked at her?

This was interesting. I had spent a fortune on Riven, feeding him and clothing him, showering him with all sorts of luxuries, and granting his every request.

After all that, he still told me that he couldn't accept me touching him, and I never laid a finger on him.

However, none of that seemed to matter compared to a single line Teresa said in his defense.

Teresa was still being her annoying self and chattering non-stop at the table. I soon got sick of her voice and said, "Can you just shut up?"

The table fell into an awkward silence at my words.

Dad frowned and looked at me, wanting to tell me to behave properly. Meanwhile, Teresa's mother, Gwen Whitmore, continued eating her dinner as if nothing was happening at all.

Teresa looked at me with an aggrieved expression. Then, she looked at Riven with tears welling in her eyes.

Then I heard the clatter of utensils against the plate. Riven's cold, aloof voice sounded across the table.

"Can you not be so aggressive with your words?"

Everyone at the table was shocked. After all, nobody had ever dared to talk to me that way ever before, not even my family members.

Dad slammed his hand on the table and jumped to his feet, his face red with anger.

"Tracy Ashford! Look at how much you've spoiled him! I've never ever seen an incubus speak to his master like that!"

On the contrary, I wasn't mad at all. I just looked at Riven thoughtfully.

Riven had been acting indifferently with me ever since I bought him. He acted like an emotionless robot whenever he was with me.

I thought that it was just his personality, but I realized that it wasn't the case anymore. Something felt off.

Wasn't he overreacting a little too much? I had simply chided my stepsister at the table.

Riven always looked at me with dark, hollow eyes, but I could clearly see the sparkle in his eyes every time he looked at Teresa.

Dinner was unpleasant. That night, Dad refused to let Riven sleep in the same room as me.

"Starve him for a night. Show him who's boss!"

I didn't dare to tell Dad that Riven had never been fed like that ever since his arrival. I also did not disclose that it was because he simply refused to feed.

It was just too embarrassing to admit that.

I got up in the middle of the night feeling thirsty and went downstairs for some water. However, I suddenly heard movement from the room next to mine.

I froze.

Was that a woman's voice coming from Riven's room?

I walked closer to the door, my eyes slowly turning cold.

I hadn't been hallucinating. It really was Teresa's voice, and it was exceptionally clear in the quiet of the night.

"Thanks for speaking up for me at the table, Riven. You probably don't know this, but nobody in this household is ever on my side. I purposely came here to thank you."

The voice Riven replied her with was gentle and tender, and I had never heard anything like that before.

"Tracy has quite a terrible personality, but she's not a bad person at heart. If she tries bullying you again, you should stand up for yourself and fight back. She can't do anything to you anyway."

A hint of mockery flashed in my eyes. Riven had only lived with me for a month, and yet, he sounded as though he knew me very well.

Right at that moment, I suddenly realized that Teresa was the one who had opened my parcels for me a month ago when he arrived in the box.

It finally dawned on me that I hadn't received a faulty or malfunctioned incubus from the company. It was just that my incubus had already fallen in love with someone else before getting bound to me.

No wonder Riven never let me touch him like that.

I recalled the conversation I had with the customer service representative. So, I went back into my room and brought the chat back up.

"My incubus still hasn't recovered yet. I don't think I want to send him in for servicing anymore. Please just replace him instead."

The reply was almost instant, as usual.

"Understood, Ms. Ashford. I'll put in the order for you and send out your new incubus tomorrow. It should take a week for him to arrive."

After thinking for a bit, I asked the customer service representative another question.

"Then what do I do with this current one?"

This time, the customer service representative took a long time to respond.

"You don't have to worry about it, Ms. Ashford. Incubi who are returned faulty or with negative reviews will be recollected when we have the time before getting resold for a lower price."