Chapter 845
Chapter 845
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 845
Chapter Title: The Tyrant for You
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Linda's stomach churned.
Unpleasant memories surfaced. Memories from her previous life. Back when she was in high school, she'd been through something like this. Forced to swallow a filthy drink. The girls watching her, their gazes laced with mockery.
Grip.
It was Mura who grabbed Linda's trembling hand.
Tears welled up in Mura's eyes as she spoke.
"There's no choice. Linda. Just this once.... Once we get past this, it'll be okay."
No choice.
This was unavoidable. Her opponent was someone who'd assaulted a marquise's wife and, far from facing condemnation, had received apologies from both the marquess and his wife. It was incomparable to that situation from her past life.
A baron's daughter and the daughter of a crumbling count's family? She could probably kill them with a flick of her finger.
Thud, thud.
Among the five debutante ladies, the first to step forward wasn't Linda or Mura. It was a young lady with black hair and a somewhat broad face. She gripped the tip of her shoe and dipped it into the glass. She filled it with the liquor mixed with Princess Ernel's urine. After a brief hesitation, she gulped it down straight from the shoe.
Hehe.
Ernel laughed in satisfaction. A few other ladies besides her chuckled along. At least it was some small mercy that not many joined in the laughter.
"Congratulations on your debut, young lady."
"...Thank you, Princess Ernel.... May I put my clothes back on?"
"A debutante's ritual is just getting started. Stand off to the side."
"...Yes."
Ernel's gaze shifted to the remaining four ladies. Another one stepped toward Ernel.
Linda felt the pressure bearing down on her.
What should she do?
If she gave in here, things would get easier. She knew that from her past life experience.
This was a kind of initiation rite—a ceremony to root out any dissenters. Fail to comply, and you'd be marked as an enemy. And once Ernel had you in her sights, death was all but certain.
'I don't want to. Why should I toss away my dignity just to amuse that woman...! But if I don't...'
Linda's eyes turned to Leila. Simply because they shared blood and a surname, Leila would end up marked by Ernel too.
Linda finally understood why Leila was so different from the original story. She'd already surrendered to reality, compromising and yielding.
Leila's eyes were telling her: Just endure it. Stay calm, bury your emotions, and don't give Ernel any reason to dislike you.
Mura's hand slipped away from Linda's. Before she knew it, Mura was the fourth in line, approaching Ernel. Mura wiped her tears with the back of her hand. That resolute attitude made her seem several times tougher than Linda herself.
Tears spun in Linda's eyes. The situation terrified and infuriated her, but there was nothing she could do.
-Want me to help?
A man's voice echoed in her mind. It carried an odd weight. The voice of that finicky ancient spirit, who only piped up when he was bored or in the mood.
-The barrier here is suppressing my power, but a spirit like me isn't going down to something this trivial. My strength hasn't fully recovered, but I can still help you. Kill all these women here, or grab you and bolt.
Neither option was a good one.
Kill Ernel? That would make enemies of the emperor and the northern grand duke. If they caught her, it'd be torture until death.
Flee? She'd be marked by Ernel. The Valentine count's family would be torn to shreds, and she could end up tortured to death just the same.
"Quite bold, unlike your looks, Lady Ju-rang."
"Th-thank you, Princess Ernel."
Mura's turn was over.
Now, only one remained: Linda. Every eye in the room turned to her. Linda stepped forward on shaking legs.
-Idiot. I said I'd help.
'...The idiot's you. Your power alone can't fix this mess. If I rebel... it won't just be me—Sister Leila will die too.'
Three weeks.
In that time, she'd grown attached to Leila.
The cool exterior hid how well Leila looked after her. Even if it was self-serving, the affection had built up. There was no undoing it now. Linda didn't want to see Leila tortured, cursing her name.
-Hah.... I can't comprehend it. Why put up with the humiliation?
'You don't understand the human world.'
-...Tch. Just one thing: I'm disappointed in you.
'......'
Linda gripped the tip of her shoe and dipped it into the glass, lifting it up. The slightly yellowish liquid reeked of harsh alcohol rather than any stench.
Enduring Ernel's mocking stare, she brought the shoe to her lips. The liquor flooded her mouth. It burned. The strongest she'd ever tasted, past life or this one.
Thank goodness. It drowned out any urine flavor.
"Leila Valentine's sister, right? Such beautiful sisters."
"...Thank you, Princess Ernel."
Ernel clapped her hands. Every lady in the banquet hall followed suit.
"Well, with that, the debutantes' initiation rite has taken its first step. Shall we move on to the next stage?"
First step.
This was only the beginning.
Ernel wasn't lenient enough to let it end there.
Linda and the other four debutante ladies went pale.
At Ernel's command, they were forced to sing and dance. It might sound ordinary, but all five were completely naked. Even among women, being the only ones exposed in a crowd was mortifying.
And as time dragged on, the depravity only ramped up.
Crawling on all fours for races. Mura, lagging behind, licking Ernel's feet or chugging penalty drinks. Losing arguments with Ernel and taking the whip. In any game against Ernel, defeat was mandatory.
"Haa. That was fun."
Ernel said. She summoned maids to bring incense burners. Thick smoke snaked across the ceiling from the burners. It was drugs.
Then, the maids didn't simply leave—they dragged Mura away with them. Ernel made no move to stop it. Linda felt a pang of envy mixed with relief for her.
"Next up, round two? Oh, Lady Linda's exempt."
At Ernel's gesture, the other ladies sprang into action. They seized the three excluding Linda and hoisted them onto a table.
Ernel grinned wickedly and picked something up.
A thick black dildo, molded after a man's cock.
Smack.
Ernel planted a kiss on the tip. It looked practiced—obscenely so.
"Sadly, you lot don't measure up, so you'll make do with this dildo. Hehehe."
Ernel approached one lady. Between legs pried apart by the others' hands, she ground the dildo against the lady's slit.
"N-no.... P-please don't, Princess Ernel...!"
"Such impudence. But it's your first offense, so I'll let it slide. Only once, mind you. Talk back again, and your house falls—your partner becomes a pig."
"Hiiiik...."
Plunge.
The dildo speared into the lady's pussy. Her hymen tore, blood trickling to the floor.
"Aaaah! Aaaaah!"
Ernel ignored the screams, pistoning the dildo back and forth. The louder the cries, the more she delighted.
'She's insane...!'
Linda staggered back without thinking, only for someone to grab her shoulder. Leila.
"S-Sister!"
"You did great, Linda. Just nail the finale, and everything falls into place."
"Wh-what finale...!"
"You and Mura are a cut above those girls. Lucky you—born a beauty."
Leila fell silent.
Ernel, having deflowered them all with the dildo, smirked in satisfaction.
"That wraps the debutante rite. Lady Linda, hang tight. Now, shall we kick off our banquet proper?"
"Yes, Princess Ernel."
The ladies chorused.
The maids got to work, and the banquet hall's center parted, revealing something in the floor. A glass-walled arena.
Inside stood a woman. A towering muscular barbarian over two meters tall. Even her hefty tits looked chiseled from muscle. Abs carved sharp, thighs rivaling a horse's.
Linda's eyes widened at the barbarian's groin. A massive cock hung there, like a man's.
"No need to gawk. Black mages cooked her up that way."
Leila said flatly.
The maids moved next, herding four commoner women into the arena. All ugly as sin.
"Begin."
Ernel commanded. The female barbarian clashed with the four commoners. Numbers meant nothing. She crushed them effortlessly. Then came the rapes and murders.
Ernel laughed like it was the best show ever. The other ladies watched rapt. Even Leila, whom she'd trusted, stared unblinking at the arena.
Madness.
This banquet hall brimmed with it.
"Lady Linda Valentine."
Maids approached Linda. She jolted. Fear filled her eyes as she stared them down.
"Linda, go on. It'll be safe. Tip? Just enjoy yourself. Feels amazing. This secures our house for thirty years."
Leila smiled. Dragged from the hall by the maids, Linda couldn't make sense of it.
Linda walked the corridor with the maids before entering a room alone. They didn't dare cross the threshold.
"You're here."
A black-haired man with black eyes sat there. Linda knew him at once. The tyrant emperor, Eugene Bellakaros.
Her gaze flicked beside him. Mura sprawled on the bed, disheveled. Gasping raggedly, tongue lolling, face in bliss. White fluid smeared between her ass cheeks.
"Your Majesty...."
Linda pieced it together.
"Don't stand there gawking. Come to Us."
"Y-Your Majesty. I..."
"Greetings are done. We know all about you."
The emperor beckoned. Crushed by his charisma, Linda shuffled into the bedroom. The vast bed held not just Mura but a scatter of other beauties.
"Up close, you're even more appealing. Heh."
His hand seized Linda's plump breast. Her mind sharpened. This could be her shot.
"Nngh, Y-Your Majesty."
Her breast kneaded, heat bloomed through her body. The response was alarmingly intense.
"What? Speak."
"I-I have info Your Majesty might fancy. It'll let the empire advance even faster."
The emperor eyed her face, then dropped the kneading hand.
As someone who'd slaved for the empire in the original novel, dangling the empire bait worked like a charm.
"The empire's progress. Intriguing. You get three minutes."
Linda's mind raced. Three minutes from the emperor—no room for drivel. She needed something to hook him deep.
"...Your Majesty. Know there's a mana mine buried somewhere in the empire?"
"We know. Slaves are already mining it. Absolute secret. How'd a little thing like you learn it?"
"Y-You already knew?!"
"Raising your voice to Us... Impudent."
"S-sorry."
"Forgiven."
"......"
Linda's eyes darted. Why does he know? That mine shouldn't surface for years.
She pressed on: lake treasures, plain ruins, massive hauls. The emperor yawned inwardly.
"All old news."
He drawled, bored. Linda knew he meant it.
'What now? What now? This isn't how I pictured it.'
Panicking mute, the emperor's hand stirred. One kneaded her potion-plumped breast; the other trailed her thigh to her pussy.
"Hnght!"
His finger brushed her folds. Pleasure flashed through her skull from that alone. Soon, it teased her clit.
"Y-Your Majesty. Interested in Marquis Coxsten's weakness? I know it!"
Marquis Coxsten. Rival always at his throat—bound to pique him.
"Marquis Coxsten? Died a year back."
"...Pardon?"