Cutting Out the Rotten Flesh - 9
"...Pardon?"
The situation wasn't easy to grasp. I needed more explanation.
"W-Well, I'm probably not quite enough for you, right?"
Something felt off about her tone. It might have been my imagination, but it seemed like she was waiting for me to say she was insufficient.
"Tell me more details."
Yeonhyeon hesitated for a moment before calmly opening her mouth.
"There was... some talk at the responsibility council."
"What kind of talk, exactly?"
By now, Yeonhyeon was a member of the council herself, in her own way.
"As a way to apologize and all... they said maybe it would be good if I became your slave."
"Hmm..."
"To atone, and to make sure you could fully trust Seven Seed... they thought this might be the best way..."
But no matter how I looked at it, she didn't seem to want this solution herself.
'Is her influence in the council even weaker than I thought?'
This wasn't good. Yeonhyeon wasn't someone I could blindly trust, but among the people I'd met, she had the most human touch. If even she was being treated like a disposable sacrifice without a fight, I might have to rethink my plans from the ground up.
"Were you forced into this?"
I furrowed my brow deeply and gazed steadily at Yeonhyeon. If that was the case, I might need to stick around here longer. Hell, I might have to dismantle the entire council—
"N-Not quite to that extent."
My concern wasn't entirely unfounded, but it didn't seem to be the whole story either.
"The council members think you don't trust us. And to build that trust, one of us needs to become your slave..."
"Hmm."
It was a reasonable doubt. A natural, even necessary, line of thinking.
But I hadn't expected it to lead here.
"No matter how we thought about it... we couldn't come up with an alternative. One that lets you trust Seven Seed completely, atones for our rudeness... and minimizes the damage to us."
That was pretty persuasive.
Now it was my turn to decide.
And my decision was already made.
"It's fine."
"Pardon?"
"I'll trust you, Yeonhyeon. So you don't have to do anything like that."
"But even if you trust me, the others..."
I glanced at Chaeyun without thinking. For some reason, she seemed to know more about this kind of thing than Yeonhyeon or I did.
"Is there a way to prove someone else is a slave?"
"Not entirely impossible, but... realistically, no."
"Be more specific."
"Once Yeonhyeon becomes your slave, forcing her to 'prove' it would be... extremely rude."
"More concrete examples."
"Making her do something she'd never do in her right mind... or blindfolding her and having her pick out her own location—"
"Pointless."
"Exactly. Plus, these 'verification procedures' are really meant for catching women pretending to be slaves."
It sounded like a process to confirm "this is my slave" in situations where the master wasn't present, if someone falsely claimed to be one.
"When both a man and woman claim 'I'm her slave and she's mine'... verifying that's tough. Really tough."
That was fine by me.
"Just say she's my slave. No contract."
"Th-That's absurd! If we accept that kind of favor, how could we ever repay—"
"What repayment now? Anyway, this seems settled for the moment."
There was a brief commotion, but it wasn't as serious as I'd feared. If she was thinking, 'Hing hing... To earn Sunwoo's trust, I have no choice but to offer my body...' all I had to say was, "That's not it."
"Now, the real question I've been dying to ask—what about you?"
Chaeyun smiled without batting an eye.
"I'm just offering to become your slave as an act of atonement."
"Were you pressured too?"
"I can't say there was zero pressure... but unfortunately, I'm not kind enough to be pushed into something I truly hate."
This one was tricky in a different way. Specifically, I couldn't figure out why she was doing this.
"What do you want?"
"Isn't it normal for someone who committed a wrong to become a slave to seek forgiveness?"
"Is it?"
It felt like mild gaslighting, but with no knowledge to counter it, I couldn't argue.
"So, you want to be my slave... is that it?"
"Yes. Not forcing you, of course, but I'd be grateful if you accepted."
"..."
Honestly, it didn't sit right. I still hadn't forgotten what she'd done. Considering how rotten Seven Seed's council was, conflict was inevitable sooner or later, even without her.
But she was the one who'd started this mess.
I couldn't see her in a good light.
"Don't overthink it. Just enjoy it, right?"
"Enjoy it..."
Well, I'd long since set aside any notion that sex had to be with someone I loved. But this woman?
"Hmmm..."
I eyed her heaving, ample breasts. I wanted to touch them.
"Personally, I wanted to express my gratitude and respect to you... with this body."
"Why?"
"You could have killed us without a second thought, right? Wiped out every last one in Seven Seed. Without mercy."
She was right. It was just a matter of whether I did it or not—I could have erased them effortlessly.
"It wouldn't have been strange. And if that had happened..."
Chaeyun gave a bitter smile.
"I probably couldn't have forgiven myself."
Separate from how flawed her character was, she seemed to have some sense of responsibility toward Seven Seed. In fact, with anyone else, even a minor flaw would have been enough for her to mercilessly cut them down. There were plenty of accusers, but almost no substantial, worthwhile complaints.
No matter how much I disliked her, I couldn't condemn her based on baseless slander.
"Well then..."
"You seem to... cherish your slaves quite a bit?"
"Where'd you hear that?"
"Whatever Yeonhyeon saw and heard, I could hear too."
A bit irritating, but not incomprehensible.
"Honestly, it's not wise."
"How I treat my slaves isn't something for you to advise on."
"Even for stress relief, you need to distinguish between disposable fucktoys and cherished pets."
"So you'll be the disposable one?"
"Of course. From that perspective... your dislike of me could even be an advantage. No guilt when you handle me roughly."
I sighed and shook my head.
"That doesn't work as well as you think."
"It will with me."
Chaeyun knelt before me. Her massive breasts jiggled.
"Here, the collar. Something I've had for a while—honored to prepare it for this."
"..."
"This leash connects to my neck, and this one to my breasts. Want to test them?"
I took the leashes from her hand and yanked the one roughly.
"Hrgh!"
Pulling the neck leash hard jerked her body forward. Just adjust the angle a bit more, and her mouth would meet my cock.
"This... is fun."
"Hiii!"
Yanking the breast leash upward pulled her nipples and tits taut. Her nipples weren't small, but not enough to hold those breasts fully. It looked painful just to watch.
"You're well-prepared, and honestly... I don't hate it."
"Th-Thank yooouuu..."
Her composed expression from seconds ago twisted in pain.
I smiled faintly, like a cruel child squashing a bug.
"If you just want to fuck me, you don't need to be a slave for that."
"Yes..."
"If you're scared of the other Seven Seed members, don't worry too much. I'll protect you from death or injury, at least."
"Still... I want to be your slave."
"...Then we need to move somewhere else."
"Do we?"
Her bold words made me lose my reason for a moment.
"No, but Yeonhyeon is right here—doing it out in the open—"
"We should. If we're pretending Yeonhyeon is your slave, others need... evidence that she's in your arms, right?"
Persuasive.
I had no choice but to apologize to Yeonhyeon.
"Sorry, just a sec—pretend you don't see anything?"
"Yes..."
And I yanked Chaeyun's collar hard.
"Well, not the best show for an audience, but..."
After that orgy in the bathhouse, my resistance to performing for others had dropped quite a bit.
I smiled down at Chaeyun's lascivious body.
Now, this body would be mine.