Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Desire
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“Still... still far off?”
Adella's voice cracked faintly. Her breathing echoed irregularly in the narrow prison cell.
Cold air brushed over her sweat-drenched skin each time, making the fine muscles around her collarbone twitch and contract visibly.
Her naked body, visible through the iron bars, looked far more precarious than when she was armored in steel and leather.
Instead of answering, I slowly shifted my gaze. Whether due to the effect of [Persuasion (Lv.1)], or the terror of death clouding her judgment, she didn't avoid my blatant stare. No, she froze, unable to look away.
The emperor's instinct—no, the habit ingrained in Batanias's memories of indulging the flesh—stirred. It was too stimulating a sight to hide behind the pretext of medical observation.
The stark marks of a rough linen tunic lingered on her shoulders. The boundary between her sun-tanned skin and the hidden white skin created a strange contrast below her collarbone.
Beneath that, her breasts rose defying gravity, tracing unexpectedly soft curves unlike her apparently firm, muscular build.
A faint scratch mark near the side of her right breast. Probably from the connecting rings inside her armor. That red mark struck me as oddly erotic.
With each breath, her ribcage swelled, subtly altering the volume of her breasts. We were close enough for me to make out every fine hair around her areola.
On the underside of her left breast, near the ribs, there was a small black dot.
That spot stood out sharply on her white skin, vivid as if dabbed there by a brush.
“Huuuh.”
Adella let out a short breath she couldn't hold back. Her abs rippled like waves. The skin around her navel pulled taut with tension.
She clenched her fists hard. Nails digging into her palms until they turned white. Her eyes trembled with a mix of shame and anxiety.
Just a bit more.
My desire whispered. I wanted to stare just a little longer like this. Prolong this defenseless state under the excuse of an examination.
I wanted to touch her breasts. Squeeze them hard once. Maybe if I persuaded her more? Claim it was necessary for a proper check?
But at the same time, my 98 deaths issued a warning. Cross the line here, and I'd die. Excessive greed brings ruin. Eleven chances aren't many.
I bit the tip of my tongue lightly to reclaim my reason. Now was the time to play the role of “competent ally,” not “crazy perverted emperor.”
“Looks like there's still time.”
I slowly raised my head and spoke. My voice stayed deliberately calm, laced with relief.
“The veins under your arms aren't swollen, no red spots on your chest. A heartbeat like this seems due to tension, not poison.”
Adella's shoulders slumped visibly. Tension flooding out, her legs wobbling, she staggered back a step.
“Really?”
She asked again. Her eyes sought confirmation.
“Yeah. Luckily, the amount you ingested must've been minimal. Or your metabolism's strong enough to withstand that level of poison.”
I released my grip on the bars and stepped back to sit. As the distance between us grew, relief spread across her face.
“But don't let your guard down. Head to the medic right now. Tell him exactly 'Formless Venom of the Amethyst Spider.' Demand the antidote. Medic Jason should know it. Purple glass vial, stored deep in the warehouse.”
I added specific details. A ploy to build trust.
Of course, I had no idea if Medic Jason even had it or if the vial was truly purple. But the emperor's poison compendium in my memories described it that way.
Adella stood dazed for a moment, then snapped to attention, hurriedly gathering her scattered clothes. Her hands moved frantically. She yanked the tunic over her head upside down and snatched up armor pieces haphazardly.
It was a shame to see her nakedness vanish beneath scraps of cloth again, but I didn't let it show. Her hands still trembled faintly as she tied the tunic straps.
“Don't forget, Captain.”
As she grabbed her breastplate and turned to go, I added in a low voice.
“Don't trust anyone on the way. Until you reach the medic, drink nothing. And down the antidote right there on the spot.”
Adella paused. She brushed back her disheveled hair and glanced back at me. Her flushed face had paled, but her eyes burned clear.
She pressed her lips tight, then parted them. No words of thanks. Instead, she gave a short nod of the chin. Silent affirmation. Then she pivoted with a soldier's crisp precision.
Her footsteps were far quicker than when she'd entered. One hand clutching her bundled armor, the other gripping her sword hilt tight, she dashed into the darkness.
Clack clack clack.
As the fading footsteps quieted, the prison cell wrapped itself in silence once more. Only a few faint sweat stains dotted the floor.
I leaned back against the wall and drew a deep breath. Her lingering scent of skin and sweat swirled in my nostrils.
“Phew.”
A sigh of relief escaped me. I'd survived for now. And I'd made her owe me one.
The complex emotions one feels toward someone who's seen their most vulnerable side. Shame, relief, a strange bond. Whatever brew they made, time would tell.
My stomach growled again. The cooled stew bowl on the floor caught my eye. Poisoned food. Untouchable.
“Damn, starving again today, huh.”
I let out a hollow laugh and stared up at the ceiling. A real spider might be crawling somewhere in those web-covered corners.
“Survive out there, Captain. It's the only way you'll bring me some food.”
Dawn's chill crept in silently, filling the cracks in the stone floor.
The damp prison air sharpened into a honed blade, grazing my skin. Cold particles seeped from unseen ceiling fissures, flooding my lungs and forcibly rousing my dulled senses.
I opened my eyes to the sight of a water droplet on the bars succumbing to gravity, plopping to the floor. That tiny splash struck the heavy silence like a blow to the eardrums.
Clank. Clank.
A regular vibration transmitted from the end of the corridor. The metallic scrape of something approaching through the dark. Heavy armor joints meshed with mechanical regularity.
Orange torchlight flickered, shoving a long shadow into the cell first.
Silver armor. No helmet, but his neatly combed blond hair and icy blue eyes masked emotions more solidly than any helm could. Duke Karls.
He halted right before the bars. His unmoving gaze looked down, devoid of any warmth. Even contempt seemed a luxury; his eyes were utterly parched.
I rolled my stiff neck and slowly rose. The chains scraped the floor with a metallic rasp.
“Why'd you come?”
My hoarse voice croaked out. My throat felt raw.
Karls didn't reply. His lips stayed sealed, only a faint twitch in his jaw muscles.
He unhooked a thick leather pouch from his belt and tossed it roughly through the bars.
Thud. The pouch landed at my knees amid rising dust.
I untied the strings. Inside were hard brown lumps. Hardtack chunks dehydrated to stone-like solidity, and a bundle of jerky smoked until it blackened.
No wafting steam from stew or soft bread's warmth. Even sniffing yielded only faint hints of sawdust and dry salt.
I picked up a piece of hardtack. Its rough surface scraped my fingerprints. Chewing this would take teeth-breaking resolve.
“Too many rats around, it seems.”
Karls's low voice dropped from above.
“No hot meals from now on.”
His eyes fixed on the dry rations as he continued.
“Too many hands between the kitchen and here. Easiest path for poison. These dry rations are military emergency stock from my office safe. Untouched by anyone.”
His tone was purely bureaucratic. Not mercy for a prisoner, but an administrator blocking variables from a captive dying on his own terms. I pressed a finger into the jerky. Rock hard.
“Well, shortest case... only four days left.”
He added. Four days. Time until Queen Helena arrived. Survive that long, and his responsibility ended. Cold line drawn.
I gripped the jerky tighter. Ninety-six hours. Time to endure gnawing these lumps.
“Water?”
Without it, these dry foods would shred my throat.
Karls fell silent briefly. His gaze flicked to the corridor, then back to me.
“The Patrol Captain will bring it herself.”
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
“Water drawn straight from the upstream river outside the castle, not the palace well. Since you saved her, she won't kill you. She can't abide owing debts.”
With that, Karls turned away without a backward glance. His silver cloak snapped sharply in the air. His receding figure loomed like a massive steel wall. Seamless, impenetrable.
I shoved the jerky into my mouth and bit down. Crunch. The sound of my jaw joint echoed, slicing the silence.
“We'll see about that. I'll make you pay dearly for these rocks later.”
I muttered into the void. No response, of course.