The Special Underwear Set
Was it because my expression had hardened? Rene whined, “But… you told me to choose what Master likes.”
There had to be a limit. Who the hell told her to pick an eighty-silver bottle of liquor?
I ignored her words and the blame-shifting attitude that came with them. Normally I was the one striking up conversation while she stayed quiet, but right now I was the one with nothing to say.
No, fuck. Just how much did we spend today?
The realization that I had blown several thousand dollars in a single day on clothes and food left me dizzy. I had received ten gold as an advance payment for training her. In that sense today’s spending wasn’t catastrophic, but… future expenses were inevitable. Training room rent, food costs, all of it.
I’d have to tighten the purse strings for a while.
Maybe she noticed my foul mood. “Maaaster~ Are you angry with me?”
Rene slipped her arm through mine and acted cute. Her face was faintly flushed from the wine, and those crimson eyes—more beautiful than rubies—were stunning. But the woman clinging to me was nothing more than a money-devouring hippo. Someone who could casually drop a fortune in a few days?
I needed to finish her training and sell her off as fast as possible.
“Master, don’t be maaad~”
The lisping tone she rarely showed, the sweet herbal scent rising from her body, and the faint trace of alcohol mixed together and stirred my instincts. She rubbed her breasts against my arm, pouting.
“Eiiing, Master~ If you stay angry I’ll get scared~ Hmm? Please don’t be angry~”
Not wanting to look petty in front of a slave, I answered curtly.
“I’m not angry.”
“Maaaster~ You are angry~ You’re already planning how much you’re going to torment me in the training room! I know exactly what you’re thinking!”
Was it the alcohol? The timid little herbivore who used to shiver during training seemed to have found some courage. It was honestly a little cute.
I smiled at Rene, whose eyes had gone half-lidded.
“You’re right. And I need to inspect today’s purchases.”
She tilted her head, not understanding. “Purchases?”
I leaned in and whispered directly into her ear.
“The special underwear set.”
Her face flushed scarlet. “Pervert…”
We hailed a carriage on the main avenue and returned to the association. She must have been exhausted; she leaned against me and fell asleep. Had the day worn her out that much? Now that I thought about it, she had looked sleepy that morning too.
—Softly… softly.
Rene slept with her cheek pressed to the carriage window. I studied her sleeping face. Snow-white skin. Ash-gray hair. Not a single blemish. Lips as red as ripe cherries. If a goddess existed in this world, she would surely look like this. The thought came unbidden—she was that beautiful.
Precisely because of moments like these, management had to be strict. A trainer’s job wasn’t simply striking and penetrating. This peculiar, one-of-a-kind profession was closer to that of an artist or master craftsman. It was a noble calling: planting one’s own philosophy and expertise into a beautiful woman.
I gently brushed her hair behind her ear and observed her more closely. Perfect material. The highest-grade material capable of changing my entire life.
Looking at her, I decided we would skip training today. She belonged to me now. The image of Rene stepping onto the auction block bearing my name rose in my mind, and a smile tugged at my lips.
You will become the best. I’ll make sure of it.
The carriage came to a stop with a creak. I shook Rene’s shoulder.
“Wake up.”
“Mmm…”
She opened blurry eyes.
“We’ve arrived.”
“Mmm… so sleepy…”
Rene rubbed her eyes. I stepped down from the carriage and offered her my hand.
“You should sleep in your room.”
She timidly took it. I watched her carefully in case the alcohol made her stumble. Sure enough, she swayed.
I caught her waist in a firm grip.
“Ah!”
I couldn’t allow a single scar on that white porcelain skin.
“Th-thank you.”
“You’re quite drunk. Watch your step.”
With my hand still at her waist, I guided her toward the training building.
—Click.
She looked exhausted and started toward her own room. I called out quickly.
“Miss Rene, wash up and go straight to bed. We’re resting from training tonight.”
No matter how tired she was, she still had to wash. I couldn’t risk blemishes on that flawless skin.
“Yeees~”
I felt relieved watching her walk steadily to the bathroom. Good. I wouldn’t have to wash her myself.
That was when I noticed the dining table. Two plates had been set out—soup, a simple salad, and what looked like a cheese-and-tomato flatbread. Complimentary maid service, apparently. I smiled bitterly at the dinner that had been delivered.
Since it had gone cold, I scraped the food into the trash, washed the dishes so they’d be easy to retrieve, and left them neatly on the table. That should make it convenient for the maid to collect.
After clearing up, I settled onto the sofa and opened Prosexer’s Fifty Training Methods.
Before long Rene emerged from the bathroom. Seeing her shuffle sleepily toward her room, I decided the day’s work was finished.
The next morning I woke Rene from her lie-in and we ate breakfast together.
“We missed training yesterday, so we’ll begin right after the meal.”
“Yeees…”
She looked like her head was pounding from the hangover. Frowning deeply, she spooned soup into her mouth.
Once we finished eating, I told her, “Go wash before we start training.”
Rene flinched. As I watched her fetch fresh clothes and head for the bathroom, I added, “Oh, and make sure you wear the special underwear set. If you don’t, there will be punishment.”
She flinched again, came back out, retrieved a box from the luggage, and disappeared into the bathroom once more.
I was curious what exactly made the special underwear set so expensive.
“I already picked it out…” she muttered, then closed the door.
While she washed, I returned to the book I had been reading yesterday. My master’s writings contained the aesthetic principles I needed to follow.
I was still absorbed in reading when—
—Click.
The bathroom door opened. I turned my head, expecting Rene.
Her ash-gray hair was still slightly damp, gleaming darkly. A faint blush colored her cheeks. Those mysterious, beautiful crimson eyes. She wore a cute pink pajama set.
Rene approached hesitantly, looking embarrassed. I stared at her, entranced. Her lovely face and shy movements were utterly endearing.
I should wash up too. It was morning, after all; better to be clean before that kind of activity. I felt a bit grimy.
“I’ll go wash up as well.”
I stepped into the bathroom.
“Haa…”
I really shouldn’t let myself get emotional like this. She kept dragging emotions out of me.
Should I be gentle with her again today like last time? Or rough?
“Whew.”
For now, gentle was probably wiser… I needed a concrete schedule.
Since Rene had suddenly become mine, I had to redesign her entire training curriculum, but I had been too tired last night and fallen straight asleep. Today couldn’t be helped, but starting tomorrow I would build a proper long-term plan.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I couldn’t afford to waste it.
While soaping my body under the shower, I considered how best to prepare her today.
The moment Arthur entered the bathroom, Rene’s expression changed completely. She hurried into her room, pulled out paper and a pen, and spread them across the bed.
With this… and my blood, I should be able to create a scroll…
In her suffocating situation, Rene let out a deep, unconscious sigh.
“Haa…”
The newspaper I saw yesterday said I had gone to a resort, right?
They’re disguising it that way. The Imperial Intelligence Bureau must be searching for me.
They couldn’t let it become known that I had been kidnapped… If the papers had reported my death, I would have fallen into despair. That would have meant they had truly given up on me.
Claiming I was on a healing retreat was clearly an excuse to prevent rumors, since I wouldn’t be attending imperial functions. I understood it instinctively.
Brother is definitely looking for me.
The mere hope that the intelligence bureau had already begun moving brought her a sliver of comfort in this hellish place.
Father, Mother, and Brother are all searching for me! I can’t give up. Just hold on a little longer.
Hope. It breathed life back into Rene.
I must protect my virginity at all costs.
She didn’t know if it was possible, but she had to try.
Then, suddenly, he came to mind. He had been acting differently lately. The man who had always treated her like a monster, speaking crudely and violently, had been kind yesterday and today.
Or did it start the day before yesterday?
Gentle embraces, gentle words. He had even bought her a dress from the legendary Jean Jaro. It wasn’t custom-made, of course, but clothes from that prideful elf who dressed the Empress and highest nobility were not easy to obtain. His designs were expensive and reservations were always booked solid.
Every time they left a carriage, he stepped down first and offered his hand so she could descend safely. He had taken her to Leau de Beaujour, Bairen’s finest restaurant frequented by lovers. The food there rivaled the imperial palace’s—no, it was the kind of cuisine one would expect at an imperial banquet.
The Empire’s own dishes were rather modest by local standards.
Maybe… he really is a good person?
Rene shook her head violently.
No! Snap out of it! Have you forgotten what he’s done to you?
She had always hated slavery. Rene believed no one treated slaves with such care. Who would spend hundreds of silver on a mere slave?
Of course he saw it as an investment for training, but she had no way of knowing that. She had never been a slave before.
She had heard of the perverted profession called “trainer,” but in noble society it was considered a lowly, contemptible job. The truth, however, was different. Many nobles entrusted their slaves to famous trainers. Without demand, such businesses could never exist.
Still, it was awkward to explain these nobles’ deviant tastes to a princess, so everyone stayed politely silent. The fate of aristocracy—pristine in public, filthy in private.
And soon he’ll make me do those disgusting things again.
Just imagining what he might do to her later made heat rise across her body.
She hated the crude insults he usually hurled while doing it, but… the way he had touched her last time had felt… a little, truly just a little, good.
When he had forced her to climax, it was a warm sensation she had never experienced before. It was completely different from the cold, mechanical feeling of the tools.
An intense, first-time something. Warm and enveloping. Her whole body had trembled violently.
Every time his fingers or lips passed over her, it felt as though he were caressing her cells one by one. The climax that followed had turned her mind pure white and drawn out a tear she hadn’t even noticed falling. Rene still didn’t fully understand it.
That was the first time.
Tears that felt like they belonged to some deep, overwhelming emotion.
Even now she didn’t know what it was. That thing that tickled both her body and her heart—what exactly was it?
Still pondering, Rene waited for him to return.