When She Erred, the Spanking Was Too Weak
I returned to the mansion. Seria, who had arrived ahead of time with Baekseol, was working under Sebastian's instructions. She now seemed quite accustomed to her maid duties.
"Seria."
I called out to her. Seria, who had been sweeping with a broom, turned her gaze toward me.
"What is it, sir?"
Her tone had become quite polite. Not just to me, but to Emir and Baekseol as well. If I had to pass or fail her, she'd pass.
If only she hadn't raised her hand.
What a shame. If she'd just held back her anger, it would have been even better. Still, I would have called her aside anyway. That was the whole point of this stroll.
The reason I'd brought Seria along. The reason I'd gone with Baekseol despite knowing she'd provoke Emir. The reason I'd excused myself claiming a stomachache. All of it was to create an opportunity.
An opportunity to train Seria.
Can't you just make up some excuse?
Morris wouldn't tolerate that. That damn perfectionist. Whatever. It was a shame for Emir, who had been purely looking forward to the walk. That's why I'd forced down her tasteless food and called it delicious, then escorted her personally after sending everyone else away.
Morris's subconscious kept nagging me because I couldn't bear the guilt toward Emir. I worried how she'd interpret my awkward attempt at atonement. But this body of Morris's couldn't endure otherwise—it just went ahead and did it. No regrets about what was already done. The issue was how to handle things going forward.
More importantly, I looked down at Seria before me.
"You dared to lay a hand on Lady Solarion."
"I'm sorry."
Seria bowed her head. Her platinum blonde hair cascaded downward.
"Do you think I called you here myself just to hear a mere apology?"
"You mean..."
"Follow me. It's time for punishment."
I led Seria to my bedroom. I didn't grab her wrist or use magic to drag her. She simply followed behind me. Her expression wasn't good. Her face clearly asked, Why?
"Undress."
I said to Seria as we entered the bedroom. This room would become the main stage for her training from now on. Well, it wouldn't be the only place for punishments.
"Don't want to strip? We could always go down to the basement dungeon. But if we do, you'll end up naked whether you like it or not."
The Dmitry family's underground dungeon. If she wanted to go that badly, I wouldn't stop her. The vicious criminals I'd tortured in the past were still rotting away down there.
Watching that wouldn't be so bad for Seria.
Seria slowly removed her maid uniform. A gesture she'd grown familiar with. I watched as her naked form gradually revealed itself.
"Leave your underwear on. It's more beautiful that way."
I stopped Seria's hands as she moved to remove her panties and bra too. Sometimes, it was better when those thin, delicate silks still veiled her body.
On her pure white panties, just below her navel, the translucent yin gate was still vividly etched.
And today, I intended to awaken its potential.
Has it been a week since I inscribed the yin gate?
The timing was perfect.
Once I'd confirmed Seria had stripped down to just her underwear, I sat on the bed.
"Is that enough undressing?"
Seria asked me. But I shook my head.
"Lie down here."
I patted my thigh.
"Pardon...? Lie down?"
"Do I need to say it twice? Lay your belly across my lap and stretch out."
Seria's face bore a question mark, but she obeyed. Her expression still held hostility toward me, but thanks to losing our previous bet, she didn't voice any complaints. The woman, clad only in her underwear, lay prone across my knees.
Seria's white buttocks came into view. They were so firm and elastic, they defied gravity even in this position, rising in perfect circles.
"From now on, confess your wrongs."
"Confess... my wrongs?"
"Yes. You need to understand for yourself what you did wrong and why you're here receiving training from me."
"Well..."
Seria hesitated for a long moment before cautiously opening her mouth.
"I... I dared to raise my hand toward Lady Solarion."
"And?"
"I... dared to..."
Was there still some pride left? She couldn't bring herself to say the next words.
Slap!
I struck Seria's buttock with my palm.
"Eek!"
Having lightly infused my palm with mana, Seria's eyes widened in surprise as I hit her.
"Say it. What did you do wrong?"
"I... I, a mere object... threatened a person."
"Smart girl."
I gently stroked Seria's buttock, now red from the single strike.
"Hiiik!"
Her body, sensitive to mana, slowly absorbed the mana from my hand.
"Then what's next?"
"R-reflection."
"You know it well. How will you do it? Tell me how you'll atone for your wrongs."
Seria lifted her head and glanced back at me and her own butt. She'd caught on.
"Until I truly repent my wrongs... I will gladly accept Master re-correcting me."
"Good. Then confess your wrong, and swear you'll never do it again. Your punishment ends there today."
"Understood."
Seria bit her lips tightly. Anger, humiliation, the pride of being a person—complex emotions must have been surging through her.
"Say it."
I commanded her.
"Today, I... toward Lady Solarion..."
Slap!
"Hiiik!"
"Say it."
As I struck her buttock, it rippled with elasticity.
"Raised my hand to threaten her."
Slap!
"Eut!"
It felt just like striking jelly.
"I was wrong. I'm sorry."
Slap!
I struck Seria's buttock with mana-infused hand each time her phrase ended. Her buttocks jiggled, her body twitched. I could feel her belly and breasts trembling against my thigh.
"Don't dawdle. Say it."
Slap!
"I dared, as a mere object... to, hiiik! threaten a person."
Slap!
"I was wrong."
Slap!
"I'm, I'm sorry!"
The feel of Seria's buttock against my hand was soft. It burned hot. It had turned bright red. Each strike made it quiver faintly in my palm.
Like rote education, I made her repeat her wrongs endlessly through punishment, imprinting her position and errors into her.
Her bright red buttocks contrasted sharply with her white panties. The sight stirred a strange excitement.
And then, I noticed the yin gate on Seria's body glowing.
Its meaning was singular. Right now, Seria was feeling pleasure from this punishment.
Seria herself didn't know the yin gate was glowing. It was a mark only the inscriber could see.
If it developed further... others would be able to see the yin gate too. Her expression then would be worth watching.
Today was the premise for that. I needed to torment her until she burned with desire, unable to endure the rising excitement.
Once fully complete, she'd do anything to relieve that arousal.
Though it'd all be futile in the end.
Crack!
"I was wrong."
I struck Seria's buttock once more.
"Hah, haah."
As Seria trembled, breathing raggedly—
Knock knock.
"Master, it's Ellis."
The prepared guest had arrived. Seria's head turned toward the bedroom door. She shot me a pleading look not to open it, but I ignored her lightly.
"Come in."
Creeeak.
The door opened, and the red-haired maid, Ellis, entered. Her eyes shook momentarily at the sight of the punishment unfolding inside, but she quickly regained her composure. Was her head spinning from the lustful scent filling the room? Or had she desired a situation like this too? Her pupils were slightly dilated.
"You've tied your hair up."
She had her red hair in twin tails.
"Ah, yes... Master said it was a good handle— no, I mean, no."
"Hm, is that so. Very well."
I looked down at Seria. She was hiding her face, redder than ever. A natural reaction. No one had ever entered while this was happening before.
I'd brought Ellis on purpose. To deepen Seria's humiliation.
And to make her feel that sensation as pleasure.
"Did you bring what I asked for?"
"Yes."
Ellis had brought a towel soaked in cool water.
"Bring it here."
"Yes."
Ellis walked toward me. Her face said she feared she'd mess up and get ravaged again.
"If you spill it, I'll throw you out of the mansion. Don't even think about it."
"U-understood."
I took the towel from Ellis and draped it over Seria's wounded buttocks.
"Hngh!"
Ellis had brought mana potion made by refining mana stones—a favorite of mages, infused with dense mana.
What would happen if this water touched Seria's skin, which absorbed mana and grew aroused? She wouldn't be able to stay still from the pleasure.
"Ellis."
"Yes."
"Watch Seria closely until the end. If she thrashes, hold her hands."
"Understood."
I soothed Seria's injured buttocks with the mana potion-soaked towel as I spoke.
"Why do you think you're here?"
"Because Siegfried lost?"
"Or because the Emperor sentenced you to status execution?"
"No."
"Because you lusted after what you shouldn't have dared to eye."
"Because it was an object and a person beyond your station."
With each phrase I uttered, Seria thrashed to escape this pleasure. She desperately tried to avoid Ellis's gaze on her shameful display.
But she couldn't escape. She lacked the strength to break free from me and Ellis.
"For a wretch who's already crumbled once,"
"Even a normal life is beyond you."
"Having free will is beyond you."
"Coveting others' possessions so arrogantly is beyond you."
"So why not abandon everything now?"
"Offer all of yourself to me and submit. You'll find peace."
I whispered hypnotically at her side.
Seria wasn't the novel's protagonist. She was fated to lose in the story. She'd lose this time too.
Because she wasn't the protagonist.
Yet... why did her eyes still sparkle with life when she looked at me?
Contrary to my hopes, Seria's face was flushed purely from pleasure. She glared at me with defiant eyes.
"How tenacious."
That very resilience drew me in. Maybe that's why, while reading the novel, I'd secretly hoped for her happiness. Charging at the protagonist to the end without giving up, as the villainess.
But that was the novel. Things were different now.
If she held out too long and refused to submit, the impatient Emperor would reach out.
That couldn't happen.
Now that I know Seria is a half-transcendent.
I couldn't hand her over to the Emperor.
Seria felt humiliated by Ellis's arrival, but her spirit didn't break as I'd intended.
That's as far as we go today.
It would have been nice if it'd worked. But failure was fine. The yin gate had ripened nicely. I'd harvest it soon enough.
Not bad.
At that moment—
"Master, a guest has arrived."
Sebastian's voice came from outside the door.
"Who?"
"It's Cedric."
Cedric? Why was the Emperor's faction young mage here?