Chapter 5. Corporal Punishment
“What do you think you’re doing?”
As I looked down at her from above, Seria flinched in surprise.
“If you’re going to make such a fuss, at least take pride in your own work.”
“……”
Seria looked up at me silently.
“What’s your problem?”
“I am Siegfried.”
She spat out each word deliberately, chewing on them, but unlike before, her confidence was gone. Her voice trembled faintly.
“Siegfried. It has a nice ring to it.”
The meritorious house of the empire. Vermut. If you asked who held the greatest power in the empire after the emperor, there was only one answer: the Siegfried family.
The founding emperor always had a Siegfried at his side. The emperor’s right hand, his strongest ally. The previous emperor had sought a marriage alliance with the Siegfried house to solidify his imperial authority even further.
But the Siegfrieds had other ideas. Ships passing in the night. The current emperor, sensing their ambitions, drew his sword first. Seria had merely been the trigger.
Stupid bitch.
If she had acknowledged the emperor’s marriage to the current empress and stepped aside, both her family and she would have been safe. The villainess retreats, and the two live happily ever after. The story would have ended with that neat little sentence.
Too late for regrets over her foolish actions now. No matter how quickly regret comes, it’s always too late.
“You are no Siegfried now.”
At my words, Seria’s body trembled.
“I, I……”
“Should I drag you to the Siegfried mansion for you to believe it?”
Seria jerked her head up to look at me.
“Is that even possible?”
Tsk.
“You idiot.”
Snap! I flicked my fingers.
Mana wrapped around Seria’s body. I lifted her up and tossed her onto the bed. Ropes from the guest room sofa flew over, binding her arms and legs.
“Did you think I’d actually take you there?”
“Kyaaak!”
The emperor’s words echoed in my mind. He wanted her to suffer. I had no intention of following his whims exactly, but today, Seria had done wrong.
“I am extremely angry right now.”
It was due to the character trait attached to his enlightenment and results-oriented nature: [Perfectionist]. Morris Dmitry couldn’t stand anyone messing up his house.
Images of the broken items scattered inside flashed through my mind. The fact that I’d wasted mana on something so trivial only fueled my rage.
“Damaging things in the Dmitry household is the worst crime imaginable.”
“L-Let me go!”
No matter how much Seria writhed and twisted to free herself, the magically bound ropes held firm.
“Since yesterday’s punishment wasn’t enough, I suppose I’ll have to add more.”
“I-I told you! I’m a Siegfried!”
I stared piercingly into Seria’s defiant eyes.
“Looks like I need to drill your new position into you again.”
I tore the clothes from her bound wrists and ankles.
Riiip!
“Hyaat!”
As her maid uniform ripped open, her voluptuous breasts spilled out. Prominent pink nipples stood out against her snow-white skin.
“What the hell are you trying to do?!”
Instead of answering, I trailed my fingertips over her breasts. The soft texture of her skin tingled against my fingers.
“Hngh.”
After savoring the feel of her skin for a moment, I looked down at her from above. Her maid uniform was completely shredded, leaving her stark naked. Curves of her breasts, her smooth yet toned abs, neatly trimmed pubic hair, and the deeper, intimate areas beyond.
I slowly scanned her body. It lived up to her title as the empire’s finest flower. Who could resist a woman like this?
Hm.
Part of me wanted to shove mana into her head right now and tamper with her subconscious.
Too risky.
One mistake, and she’d be permanently disabled. And the emperor would erupt in fury. Changing her perception would mean she no longer felt pain, after all. My head could roll if I wasn’t careful.
Why did I hate Seria? She was the emperor’s token of trust to me—a poison, a bomb.
“Haa, I didn’t want to resort to this.”
I cut and braided a leather strap from the wall into an improvised whip. Thin cords whipped through the air following my hand.
Seria’s eyes quivered.
“Y-You, th-that……”
She stammered, unable to form words.
“No need for words.”
Whish!
The leather whip cracked through the air. This wasn’t just to inflict pain. I intended to give her deep pleasure alongside it.
Why pleasure? Simple. Because of [Sexual Sadism], Morris Dmitry’s trait. It was why I’d become the empire’s top torture expert. If I didn’t vent it, I’d lose control.
Whip torture was the trickiest for me. Without precise control, it was just pain.
“Brace yourself.”
Seria squeezed her eyes shut. I brought the whip down on her breasts.
“Ngh!”
Her curvaceous breasts jiggled softly. Seria glared at me, lips pressed tight.
“Insolent.”
Whish! Crack!
“Khngh!”
Each lash left red welts on her skin. Her body jerked with each moan.
“Wait, haaah!”
Smack!
As the red lines deepened across her body, doubt crept into Seria’s eyes. She couldn’t understand it. It wasn’t just pain.
“Nghaa.”
Moans leaked from her clenched lips. The strange pleasure amid the pain slowly eroded her.
The whip tore fiercely into her flesh, then caressed it softly. Pain and pleasure in endless cycles. It wasn’t about swinging hard; it was technique. Like the traveler’s clothes stripped not by harsh winds, but the blazing sun.
Like towering waves crashing, conflicting sensations battered her body. Sweat beaded on my skin as I whipped, and her body thrashed ever more violently.
“Haa, haa.”
She panted roughly. Her face flushed far redder than her whipped breasts.
A technique I’d honed over three years of torture.
I placed my finger on one of the whip’s welts.
“Hngh!”
A chill magic clung to my fingertip. Cool energy soothed the burning wound. By now, she’d feel relief mingled with that odd pleasure.
“Getting it now? Even as I ravage you like this.”
‘You can’t do a thing about it.’
I whispered softly into Seria’s ear.
“I…… won’t submit.”
Even gasping from the pleasure coursing through her nerves, her eyes didn’t dim. Tears welled from enduring the pain-pleasure loop, yet she refused to admit defeat. The resolve befitting the duke’s eldest daughter.
With that spirit turned inward, the emperor might have made her empress.
“A pity.”
At my words, Seria smirked.
“Even the empire’s top torturer can’t break me?”
She thought she’d won. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the type of master to overlook a servant’s mistakes.
“Guess this was too mild for you.”
I hadn’t expected her to crumble easily.
“If you want harsher punishment.”
I set the whip aside.
“I’ll oblige.”
Mana concentrated at my fingertips, extending like threads.
“What if I flipped your personality entirely?”
I pressed my finger to Seria’s forehead. Mana danced as it burrowed into her.
“Wh-What are you doing?!”
Feeling the alien mana invade her, Seria thrashed.
“Better stay still if you don’t want permanent damage.”
I meant it. This was trickier than it looked.
“St-Stop! Stop it!”
I ignored her trembling cries and finished the work.
Confirming the magic had taken hold, I pulled my finger away.
“You think I’d do something boring like personality rewrite?”
I smirked down at her.
“I added an extra constraint.”
“Wh-What?”
“The magic I planted in your head will detect your emotions and report to me. Whenever you have insolent thoughts from now on.”
“Kyaaak!”
The mana stone in her choker glowed, and Seria convulsed.
“A mild shock will course through you. You know how it feels by now.”
“W-Wait…… nghm.”
The mana stone glowed again. Seria bit her lower lip with a lewd moan.
“Already feeling it? Born pervert, huh.”
“I…… hngh!”
Her breath, heated from the whipping, grew even rougher.
Zzzzt!
“Haaangh!”
“I’ll leave you like this until you remember your place.”
“Wait, I-I’m sorry…… hngh, I’m s-sorry. Please……”
But she twisted again with another moan.
“No reflection today, I see. You still haven’t come to your senses, so you’ll stay bound for the day.”
“W-Wait! Hey! You bastard Dmitry…… ahngh!”
I left the guest room, Seria moaning dazedly behind me.
The moans continued for a long while before finally quieting down after quite some time.
“Finally quiet.”
I closed the book. Thanks to [Bookworm], Morris’s trait, I got irritable if I didn’t read at least one book a day. My eyes ached.
‘When will she realize her position?’
Today’s punishment was for her own good. She needed to grasp as quickly as possible that she was nothing now.
Of course, smashing my things pissed me off too, but fleeting anger passed in an instant.
The emperor’s command to make her suffer. If I didn’t deliver proper pain?
“Haa.”
Who knew where his wrath would turn.
‘Might even come my way.’
I muttered softly.
“Status window.”
The titles were achievements I’d earned over three years in this world. And those traits. Morris’s damn traits had bound me to this character.
Especially Perfectionist and Sexual Sadism. Those made me the empire’s torture maestro.
‘That’s why the emperor sent her to me.’
I was grateful it gave an outlet for this urge. I used to smash enemies who opposed me to vent it.
No need for a while now.
“Fuu.”
I flipped the book I’d speed-read with mana-enhanced brainpower and snapped my fingers. An image of Seria’s room appeared before my eyes. A magic mimicking modern CCTV.
I gazed at Seria, still bound to the bed. Voyeurism wasn’t my hobby.
‘Can’t have her harming herself.’
If despair drove her to suicide? Unthinkable.
Bound and panting faintly, Seria seemed unconscious, eyes closed. Even then, she twitched intermittently. Lingering pleasure, or perhaps impious thoughts.
Tsk.
I hadn’t expected it to be easy. Part of me wanted to discard her. If I could.
As I rubbed my throbbing head.
Knock knock.
“Master, it’s Sebastian.”
A deep elderly voice came from beyond the door. Earlier than expected.