Hidden Agendas (1)
Unia dreamed that Hyunwoo was seated upon a throne. At his side sat Dana, wearing a tiara with regal grace. Unia felt a pang of envy toward Dana, who had become Hyunwoo’s wife. She kept her feelings hidden and looked up at him.
“What did you summon me for?”
Hyunwoo rose from the throne and approached her. With a gentle smile, he said, “Be my surrogate.”
The space around them suddenly transformed into a lavish bedroom. Before she knew it, she and Hyunwoo were entwined on the bed. His manhood was firm, and the sensation was intense—far more satisfying than she had ever imagined. She felt blissfully happy.
But after Hyunwoo finished, her lower belly began to swell unnaturally. Severe labor pains soon wracked her abdomen. Gasping for breath, she looked at him. He was smiling brightly. The bedsheets had turned crimson from the blood flowing from between her legs. Only then did Unia realize she was giving birth.
“Hyunwoo’s child…!”
Overjoyed at the thought of bearing Hyunwoo’s baby, she pushed through the pain and focused on the delivery. Sweat poured down her face like rain. At last the child was born. With a joyful heart, she looked at Hyunwoo.
He was staring between her spread legs with a vacant, dazed expression.
“What’s wrong…?”
She noticed there was no sound of a baby crying. Sensing something was wrong, she slowly raised her upper body and peered down between her thighs. The sheets were soaked in blood, and…
A fist-sized baby dragon had unfurled its tiny wings and let out a piercing roar: “Kyaaak!”
“Kyaaah!”
Unia, who had been slumped over the saddle, suddenly convulsed and nearly fell. The man holding the reins quickly grabbed her back and pressed her down.
“Stay still.”
“Wh-what?! Where are we?”
Unia looked around in panic. The man chuckled at her erratic behavior.
“Had a nightmare?”
“Ah…”
Unia finally realized she was awake and let out a sigh. They were traveling along a narrow path through a dense pine forest. The man rode the horse while she lay draped over it like baggage, her arms bound behind her back.
“Damn it. What a ridiculous dream.”
“Comfortable riding like that?”
“Screw you. It’s your fault.”
Unia scowled and grumbled. Every step the horse took pressed painfully against her stomach, and the constant swaying made her dizzy.
“How much longer are we traveling?”
Her stomach churned; she wanted to get off. Struggling to lift her head, she saw the sky tinged with sunset.
“It’ll be night soon. We should find a place to camp.”
“Quit your yapping. I make the decisions, money girl.”
“Since when am I ‘money girl’?”
“Because I’ll get a nice pile of coin when I sell you off. Figured ‘money girl’ sounded better than just calling you a bitch. Don’t you think?”
The man laughed as he guided the horse at a leisurely pace. Unia wanted to kick him in the back of the head with her heel, but being unable to only made her more frustrated.
On the first day he had captured her, while camping in the mountains, he had introduced himself as Ritonovitch. He had also said, “I’m taking you to the Cluiston family—they’ll probably pay more.” Then he added, “If you don’t like that, there’s another option. I won’t force you to choose it.”
“What’s the other option?”
“O pella il sex.”
“What does that mean?”
“Five blowjobs and one round of sex, and I’ll let you go free.”
At first the proposal had seemed absurd. But after hearing about his past, she could somewhat understand why he had made it.
“Ever since I was little, people mocked me for my ugly face. I never had any friends. Men treated me like a slave because my face looked like one, and women avoided me, saying I looked like a troll monster. But I wasn’t lonely. Swords became my friends instead of people. That’s right—since no one was around, I had plenty of time. From the age of seven, all I did was train with a sword. At ten, I killed my first person. The bastard tried to rape my mother. He thought a kid and a widow were easy targets.”
When she had replied with the empty remark, “You must have been a filial son back then,” he only chuckled instead of answering.
“Even after becoming an adult, women treated me like some hideous monster. No one ever spoke to me kindly. Everyone looked disgusted, cold, or indifferent. Even when I went to a restaurant, the waitresses would scowl before they even showed me a menu.”
“You’ve never been with a woman?”
“I’ve slept with plenty of whores. Money solves everything. No matter how haughty a woman is, she’ll spread her legs for coin in the end. Heh heh.”
He kept rambling.
“But I realized that love bought with money is trash. I started craving pure love without any price. I need a woman who can truly love me. Not a whore—an ordinary woman. But ordinary women all hate me.”
“How is what you’re asking from me any different from buying a whore with money?”
“What I’m asking from you isn’t pure love. You have value. You’re neither a whore nor an ordinary woman—you’re a knight. That’s your merit.”
Ritonovitch’s gaze swept over Unia’s bound body with obvious hunger.
“Tall, great figure. Classic sexy married-woman look. You should wear skirts instead of pants and let people enjoy the view.”
“Get lost. I already have a man.”
“Us commoners can’t buy a knight even with money. They’re haughty, stubborn, and proud. And because of that damn chivalry nonsense, they never let anyone touch them. It’s a real pain in the ass for an ugly guy like me.”
“Go seduce some other knight.”
“Weren’t you listening? I’ve told you several times—my face makes it hard to seduce even ordinary women. Do you really think someone like me could ever get a taste of a knight’s skin through normal means?”
He smirked.
“That’s why this is my chance. You’re a knight too.”
Unia replied curtly, “I only became a knight recently. Until not long ago, I was a commoner just like you. Go after a knight who was born noble, not some half-baked one like me.”
“You don’t like me either. You’re afraid of me.”
Before Unia could respond, he quickly added, “Don’t worry. I won’t rape you. I can’t become the same kind of man as the one I killed when I was young. And I’d rather take my time enjoying it peacefully until morning than rush through it while getting scratched and pinched. That’s how it’s always been with the whores I paid. I gave them money and received the best service. I’ll do the same for you. Besides, you’re merchandise—I can’t damage the goods. I’ll respect your will. O pella il sex. Don’t forget. Do it tonight and you’ll be free tomorrow morning.”
Unia laughed as if amused.
“Not bad. That patience and composure—does it come from your skill? You said you trained since childhood; maybe you polished your character too.”
“Hey, Sir Knight,” he said, tossing a log onto the campfire. “I may look crude and uneducated, but my heart is more delicate and gentle than anyone else’s. I also know how to exercise restraint. I can tell what should and shouldn’t be done. I’m not the type to live recklessly.”
With those words, Unia and Ritonovitch fell asleep on either side of the campfire. That was the end of the first night.
Back to the present.
After that, she had spent three days draped over the saddle from morning till evening. She was thoroughly fed up.
“Our lord will tear you apart.”
“That’s a scary threat. I’m shaking.”
“If you think it’s a joke, you’ll regret it, you ugly bastard.”
“You seem a lot more irritable than before, money girl. Don’t tell me it’s that time of the month?”
Ritonovitch snickered. A stream of curses poured from Unia’s mouth.
“Fine, let’s do it. O pella il sex—let’s do it. I’ll bite your thing clean off. Come on, you hideous freak. Hurry up and shove it in, damn it.”
Suddenly Unia’s head spun. Exhausted in both body and mind from motion sickness and prolonged captivity, she tumbled weakly off the horse. This time Ritonovitch failed to catch her in time.
Unia dreamed again. In the dream, she gathered thick branches and filled her skirt with them. After returning home and cooking a delicious meal with the branches, she didn’t eat it herself. Instead, she took it to Sky Chamber and gave it to Dana as a gift.
When Unia regained consciousness, the world was pitch black and Ritonovitch was staring down at her blankly. The flickering light of a yellow campfire illuminated his face. Seeing that monstrous visage in the middle of the night jolted her awake. Unia bolted upright.
“I… fainted?”
“Yeah. Don’t die. If you die, I won’t get paid.”