40. Doll
It wasn't that Kalista didn't harm Daphne because she had 'positive' delusions. Kalista kept thinking about how to get rid of Daphne, but she couldn't come up with a good plan.
Still, her anger slowly built up, and when Asherad left, she struck Daphne in the face.
Daphne suddenly fell to her knees, covering her cheek with her trembling hand after being suddenly struck on the cheek.
In fact, she didn't even wonder 'why?'. Sadly, she had suffered so many times that she automatically did that as soon as she saw Kalista.
“What a piece of trash! Is there a limit to how dirty you can be? Mixing your bodies on the table?”
“...”
“Your bloodline doesn’t go anywhere!”
Daphne said nothing to that. My blood. Yes, that's right.
In the past, she used to get angry at insults to her mother, but now she just lets it go. She is a kind and affectionate mother to Daphne, but she can be a witch to others.
When Daphne didn't fight back, Kalista seemed satisfied. She tapped Daphne's head with her index finger as she knelt down.
“Hey, hey.”
“...”
“You’re not as stupid as I thought. You’re good at grasping topics.”
Kalista was accustomed to standing above others. She had a knack for distinguishing between a rebellious silence and a submissive silence.
Kalista snickered at the woman who was kneeling down in front of her and bowing her head. This woman was not even worthy of threatening her position.
“Yeah, so what is your role?”
"...”
“That’s right, you're taking over my role. His Majesty loves me.”
Kalista laughed bitterly and lifted Daphne's chin. She had beautiful blonde hair and powdered skin, but it was different from Kalista, who had been taking care of herself from birth. Kalista spoke excitedly to Daphne, who was opening her eyes wide.
“A lowly woman like you is just satisfying his desires. He does this because he can’t bear to hold me.”
Daphne had a stern expression. Every time she saw Kalista, she felt a strange feeling. She had felt the affection between Asherad and Kalista before.
And, didn't they kiss a while ago?
Kalista said with a smile.
“How can a man quench his rising lust? But Asherad is not a beast that would treat someone like me lightly.”
“...”
“Just give him your body. Then our love will be perfect.”
“...”
“You should know that you are a dog, not a human.”
Kalista turned around with a triumphant smile on her face as she watched Daphne's crumpled face. And Daphne leaned back against the bed, covering her slapped cheek.
If you get punished too much, hell isn't hell.
Tears fell from Daphne's eyes.
***
“Someone will come to teach you starting tomorrow.”
Asherad spoke as he looked at Daphne lying down. Daphne raised her head, but there was no strength in her face.
"Daphne."
Asherad called her name, urgently. Daphne nodded. Asherad felt something was wrong.
Daphne should have accepted him with bitter tears and trembled in pain. The sight of her trembling in pain always pleased Asherad.
But these days, Daphne acts as if she doesn't feel anything. So Asherad decides to touch the sore spot from last time.
“Tell me, ‘Brother.’”
“Brother.”
“Tell me, ‘Brother, please hug me.’”
“Brother, please hug me.”
Daphne repeated it like a doll. Even if the meaning of the hug had been sexual, Daphne would not have blinked.
It only took one time for him to stimulate her, and after that one time, Daphne became resistant and stopped responding to any negative stimulation he gave her.
He took Daphne's hand and kissed it.
Her face, which had gained some weight and looked nice, certainly had a good complexion, but somehow she looked more like someone dying than before.
“Learn at least one drawing.”
“...”
“Yes?”
Asherad forced Daphne to nod. Asherad climbed on top of Daphne, who was lying down, and kissed her cheek.
Daphne's face, looking up at him from her arms, seemed emotionless.
“Daphne, what are you thinking about?”
Daphne, who was lying under Asherad, recalled the day when Kalista came to visit her. Kalista said that Daphne was just a means to satisfy Asherad's desires.
Daphne believed everything Kalista said. It was true. It would have been impossible not to love a woman as beautiful as Kalista.
All this time, Asherad had been tormenting Daphne as if it were play. To Asherad, Daphne was like a dog. The only thing that was added to that was that she was a doll to satisfy his desires.
The man looking down on her was passionately in love with Kalista.
Although they are not related by blood, they were bound together as stepmother and stepchild, and will miss each other forever, unable to be with each other.
Asherad lusted after Kalista so much that he slept with Daphne.
The reason he caught her running away, even after returning to the battlefield, may have been because he wanted to punish the dog for running away.
Maybe Daphne had a pretty 'useful body' to satisfy his lust.
After much thought, Daphne decided to give up her life.
“Daphne, answer me. What are you thinking?”
At those words, Daphne opened her lips. Perhaps because she had not spoken for so long, the flesh that had been clinging to her fell off with a snap as soon as she opened her lips.
“No thoughts.”
“...”
“I don’t think about anything.”
Why on earth does it matter what I think? As he looked into those hazy eyes, Asherad suddenly kissed her. His closed lips opened, and hot flesh invaded her.
Daphne opened her mouth slightly and accepted the kiss without responding in any way.
If he tells her to call him brother, she will gladly do so. Asherad seems to want to play with her shame and embrace her, but he is wrong.
The shame of having done something once disappeared. It was true that she had given up the self that didn't want to do it.
She just decided to stay true to her role.
Otherwise, it will fall apart even more.
Daphne looked at the man on top of her, her heart so broken that she didn't even realize it was broken.
Should I kiss you again? Should I squeeze your body again?
Should I have a meaningless affair and ask you to have a child?
It didn't matter either way.
However, Asherad came down from her, perhaps because he was dissatisfied with that resignation.
“What the hell is the problem?”
“...”
"Wake up."
Daphne got up from her seat. He stroked her hair, which had become disheveled from lying down. His delicate hands gently combed the blond hair that had fallen to her waist.
“I also take drawing classes well.”
“...”
"Yes."
As she said that, as if she were sighing, Asherad left the room. As soon as he left the room, the stewards who had been waiting rushed in.
“Your Majesty. Some of the remnants of the ‘Children of Shimer’ have been captured.”
Asherad frowned when he heard that. The children of Shimer were a disturbing move for the Peneus Empire.
When they talk about the 'anti-Emperor faction', they usually mean those who prioritize politics centered on the aristocracy, but they truly opposed the 'Emperor'.
The Emperor's seed must be plowed away. The Emperor has a dirty seed. The former Emperor is a hypocrite.
It was literally Asherad who inherited the shit that the previous Emperor had done. Their activities of distributing leaflets or spreading seditious rumors have not yet been made visible, but it was certain that wealthy forces were supporting them from behind the scenes.
Usually, Asherad would interrogate them. It was called interrogation, but it was torture. They were like annoying cockroaches. If it were the old Asherad, it would have been a dry matter.
“Kill him after barely letting him breathe. Cut off his head, behead him, and display him in the square.”
"Your Majesty."
“Should I do it myself?”
The steward shook his head at Asherad's question.
“You say the Emperor has another face? If so, you must show him. What kind of face does he have?”
Normally, after torture, the body would be buried somewhere. But putting it on display in the square was to show how the Emperor reacted to subversive forces.
“Let’s keep him alive for as long as possible, leisurely.”
It was a voice that was eerily soft. However, Asherad's eyes had an eerie light. Ioannis, standing next to him, sighed.
When the officials disappeared, Ioannis asked.
“That was a pretty radical approach for you.”
“Would you like me to let you join them?”
“Asherad. You seem upset.”
Asherad did not speak. Ioannis stayed by Asherad's side and looked at his face. His handsome face, dark eyebrows slightly furrowed.
“I didn’t say this to contradict what you said. Rather, it was something I wanted to ask of you.”
Perhaps because of those words, Asherad's face softened slightly.
“I’m just curious because your methods are so extreme. Why are you offended?”
Asherad looked down the corridor he had walked through without saying a word. Daphne's room was at the end. What was that annoying woman doing?
It was obvious. She would lie down again. Her blonde hair, which was combed neatly, would be disheveled again. If he gives her food, she will eat, and if he clothes her, she will wear it.
She won't ask for anything.
“Fuck.”
It was a curse that would not come out of Asherad's mouth. Ioannis's gaze turned to the end of the room.
“Asherad, I am...”
“Don't talk.”
“I think it would be a good idea to give that girl what she wants.”
“You’re being presumptuous, do you want to die?”
Ioannis stared intently at Asherad's face. He knew that even though he was cursing, he would not execute him.
That's what the comrades he met on the battlefield were like.
Even though he said he would kill him, he didn't even point the knife at him as a joke.
“I don’t know what you want, but if it’s love...”
“I told you it wasn’t like that.”
Ioannis paused for a moment at Asherad's vehement denial. He let out a small sigh and said,
“Yes, if you want to win her heart like before, then do your best.”
“...”
“You did that to those pig-like nobles, so why don’t you make an effort?”
At first glance, Ioannis seemed to be looking down on Asherad.
“You don’t have to abandon the things you love anymore; no one can stop you. You are now safe from what was destroying you.”
“...”
“You are free now.”
For some reason, those words shook Asherad's heart. The cautious boy who had quietly called Daphne and stroked her on an evening when no one cared had now disappeared.
Because the Emperor who tried to kill him is dead.
So what should we do...
“I just thought of it, but I think it was a very good thing that you brought Countess Leschi’s daughter to that woman, no, that young lady’s drawing class.”
“As if reading Asherad's thoughts,” said Ioannis.
“Just give her a variety of experiences. If you want to make a prison, make it as fancy as possible.”
It was profound advice.
“What a strange kid.”
A curse came out of Asherad's mouth without him knowing it. It was something that would never come out of his mouth, which only spoke of noble things.
But Ioannis smiled as he heard those words.
It was a phrase that Asherad often used on the battlefield.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment