The Viscount's Masochistic Secret
The night before, Minwoo had used his glow stick to hypnotize Viscount Selton and force a confession.
"There wasn't even a shred of falsehood in what you told me and Aisha earlier?"
"...There was."
As expected, Viscount Selton had been lying. Minwoo made him spill every last detail.
"Explain exactly where and how you lied. All of it."
Viscount Selton's eyes glazed over under the hypnosis, and his mouth slowly opened.
"Lately... the part about the territory's people suffering severe damage because of Line... that wasn't a lie, but it was exaggerated. They're not suffering to that degree."
"Line? Oh, right, that beastkin's name. Hmm... And? Anything else?"
"...No."
"What? Nothing else?"
Minwoo scowled deeply, glaring at Viscount Selton. This wasn't quite what he'd expected. He'd been sure the viscount was hiding some other scheme... but that was the only lie?
Minwoo thought for a moment, then asked a different question.
"Fine, even if it wasn't a lie, is there anything you're hiding or omitting?"
"...Yes."
"Oh? What's that?"
"I... used the territory's people as an excuse to ask you to capture Line... but I actually have another purpose."
"Which is?"
"I... love Line. I want to capture her... and make her mine."
"Ah, so that's it... you lecherous bastard..."
Now that he knew the viscount's true feelings, Minwoo grinned wickedly.
"But that's kinda weird. How'd you end up falling for that woman? Have you even met her?"
"I... was kidnapped by Line when I was a child."
"Ha..."
What followed was a surprisingly entertaining story. The man before him, the current Viscount Selton, had been kidnapped by Line as a boy. But Line hadn't done him any real harm and released him after just one night, so it never blew up into a big incident. All Line had done was rape the young Viscount Selton for that one night. For her, it had probably just been an act of revenge against his mother. In reality, for the boy on the cusp of sexual awakening, that memory became a massive trauma.
But as the years passed and he grew older, that trauma awakened a twisted sexual impulse deep in Viscount Selton's subconscious. He ended up developing a masochistic fetish.
"So what, in the end? You want to bring that woman here so she can rape you like back then?"
"Yes."
"Aigoo..."
Seeing Viscount Selton nod so bluntly without a hint of shame under the hypnosis, Minwoo made a disgusted face.
"What am I supposed to do with this perverted noble geezer..."
Though the truth was quite different from what he'd imagined—and left him pretty baffled—Minwoo soon came up with a good idea.
"That Line woman... is she pretty? How does she stack up to Aisha?"
"...Lady Aisha is beautiful, but to me, Line is prettier."
"Oh-ho... that's some welcome news."
Everyone has their tastes, so Minwoo wouldn't take the viscount's word at face value, but at least it sounded like she was on Aisha's level beauty-wise.
"Perfect timing. I had something I wanted to experiment with anyway, and now I've got the ideal subject. As soon as we catch that Line woman, time to run the test."
Minwoo flashed another sleazy smile.
...
Line slowly opened her eyes. An unfamiliar room. She was lying on a massive bed. The interior was luxuriously decorated. To her, who'd spent decades basically roughing it outdoors, the atmosphere felt oppressively uncomfortable instead.
"Where the hell... ugh..."
A sharp pain stung the nape of her neck. In that instant, Line recalled what happened before she lost consciousness.
"That woman... who the hell was she?"
A stranger... definitely not human, but a beastkin like her. Different tribe, but... insanely strong. She'd subdued Line in an instant, without giving her a chance to react. The soreness in her neck suggested she'd been struck there and knocked out cold.
Line checked her body first. No injuries, nothing bound. Not even anyone watching her. The door might be locked, of course, but a wooden one like that? She could smash through and escape easy.
"For a kidnapping, this is way too sloppy. Makes me uneasy instead..."
Was it a ploy to lower her guard? Or confidence that they could recapture her no matter how far she ran? Either way, it didn't sit right.
"And this place... don't tell me it's that guy's house."
As far as Line knew, there was only one house in the territory with decor this fancy: Viscount Selton's mansion, home of the territory's lord. The son of a bitch who'd killed her mother.
Now it clicked. She'd been caught by the viscount after all.
She figured it was coming sooner or later. Up till now, she'd caused all sorts of trouble in the territory just to survive. Weak as she was, petty revenge was all she could manage. But after so many years, it had become mere habit—nothing else to do.
The fact that she hadn't been caught yet was the real mystery. The Empire showed no mercy to non-human criminals. If Viscount Selton had wanted, she would've been handed to the imperial guards and executed ages ago.
But for some reason, she was still free after all this time. In a noble-ruled territory, security was handled by the lord's private soldiers unless the Empire was called in. And those soldiers? They tried to catch her, sure, but they avoided hurting her. Subduing a beastkin without injury was damn tough. Naturally, capturing her turned into a drawn-out hassle.
Year after year like that... before she knew it, Line realized she'd outlived her own mother. By beastkin standards, she'd passed the halfway mark of her lifespan.
But now it was over.
"That woman, then... must've been from the Empire. Impressive skills."
That was it. No big emotions. She'd never clung to life anyway. Just, so it's time to die.
"But sitting here like a good girl? No thanks."
Whatever the reason for leaving her unbound and unattended, she'd make them regret that carelessness.
With that thought, Line tried to get up from the bed.
No, she tried.
"Eh...?"
The moment she went to throw off the covers, a strangely nostalgic scent tickled her nose. It had been there since she woke, but her nose had grown accustomed, so she hadn't noticed. Lifting the blanket unleashed a stronger wave, making her finally aware.
A scent she didn't remember... but felt deeply familiar. Warm above all, longing... the kind that made her want to embrace it without thinking.
That scent held her feet in place. And then the door opened.
"Oh... you're awake, Line. Thank goodness."
"You... Viscount Selton?"
Viscount Selton, entering through the door, spoke to her in a gentle tone, as if they'd always been like this. He approached her side and placed a hand on her forehead—like he was checking on a lover or wife, completely at ease. It was so natural that Line blanked out for a second.
"Wh-what...!"
Too late, she swatted his hand away from her forehead, but the viscount just kept talking like it was nothing.
"Hmm... no fever, good. Anywhere else hurt?"
Normally, Line would've dodged or subdued him before he got close. She sure as hell wouldn't let him touch her. But she couldn't move. More precisely, no hostility toward Viscount Selton rose in her at all.
And that fact hit her like a shock.
'Why... why am I like this?'
The scent she'd been vaguely noticing grew even thicker. Just inhaling it calmed her, made her want to let everything go. And soon, she pinpointed the source.
The scent was coming from Viscount Selton's body. That's why it wafted strongly when she lifted the blanket. The bed she lay on was the one he normally slept in.
'But why... why does it feel like this? He's just... the bloodline of those I hate... and what's with him acting all chummy?'
She'd found the source, but that was all. Why did Viscount Selton smell like this? Why was it shaking her emotions? No clue.
Of course not. There was no way for her to know Minwoo had implanted a hypnotic suggestion, making her perceive the viscount's scent as her dead mother's.