Seeking Adelia (3)
I grumbled as I sat tied to a chair with both arms bound behind my back. “Throwing me straight into prison without even a greeting the moment we meet? That’s a bit much.”
Still, I had expected this kind of treatment, so it wasn’t particularly difficult to endure. The posture was uncomfortable, sure, but I chose to view it positively—as strength training.
The room was chilly, furnished with nothing but a square table, two chairs, and a club leaning in the corner. This was clearly an interrogation room. The real question was what would come after the interrogation. I hoped to meet Adelia as quickly as possible. She was the only reason I had come; I had no intention of wasting time on anyone else.
“Kang Hyun-woo!”
The iron door suddenly burst open with a bang. I turned to see Adelia, dressed in her white uniform, rushing inside. She planted herself directly in front of me, eyes wide, staring intently as if confirming it was really me. Her shoulders heaved with ragged breaths—she must have run here in a hurry.
“Just what is going through your head, coming here alone without a shred of fear?”
“You’re asking because you don’t know?” I snorted in reply. Then I rose from the chair, leaned in until our breaths mingled, and spoke in a low voice. “You already know exactly why I’m here.”
“……!”
Adelia staggered backward, visibly flustered. Her trembling eyes darted about as she chewed her lip, until sudden anger flared across her face. She closed the distance in two sharp steps, seized my collar roughly, and yanked me forward until our noses nearly touched.
“Don’t you dare smirk like you’ve beaten me!”
“I wasn’t smirking. I’m simply waiting for a proper answer.”
“A proper answer? Here’s my answer.” She glanced toward the soldiers waiting by the door and shouted, “Take this bastard to the torture chamber at once!”
Torture chamber? I had suspected as much, but it seemed my hope that Adelia would gladly cooperate had been misplaced.
Dragged down to the underground torture chamber beneath the prison, I had my upper garments stripped away. My arms were hauled up and bound tightly with ropes hanging from the ceiling, leaving me stretched out like a man awaiting execution. Throughout the entire journey, Adelia’s eyes had burned with pure venom. Now she snatched a whip from the wall, tested its tension with a sharp tug, and glared at the soldiers.
“All of you, leave and return to your duties. Until I call for you, none of you are to approach the torture chamber.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Understood!”
Once the soldiers had filed out, Adelia locked the iron door with three heavy bolts. My gaze remained fixed on her. I was curious how she would act, and a faint tension tightened my muscles.
“Didn’t I tell you before? That I would drag you to the torture chamber and beat you half to death.”
“Congratulations. It worked out just as you wanted.”
“You’d better steel yourself from here on.”
Adelia moved behind me. I felt her eyes on my bare back as she raised the whip.
“I am a knight who always keeps her word!”
Crack!
She lashed my back without the slightest hesitation. I hadn’t truly believed she would do it. Caught off guard, I nearly let out a sharp cry. The pain was sharp and intense. Wait, this woman is serious?
“You wretch! Did you really think things would go your way?! A worthless bandit daring to make a proposal to me! Did you actually believe I would accept?!”
Crack!
Once the whipping began, it did not stop.
“Don’t get cocky just because you won one or two fights against me! That was nothing but luck! If I had faced you seriously, someone like you would be nothing!”
Crack!
“Stealing my treasured sword—how I have resented you for that!”
Crack!
“Someone like you deserves to die!”
Crack!
“Because of you, my head has been throbbing like it would split open this entire time! You are a demon sent into this world solely to torment me!”
Crack!
Each strike sent electric jolts through my entire body. As the lashes accumulated, my skin split open and blood trickled down my back. It burned as though I had suffered a severe scald, yet I did not let out a single groan.
Patience. What I needed now was patience.
The golden orb had remained completely silent. If Adelia truly intended to harm me, it would have warned me of the danger in advance. Yet from the interrogation room all the way to this torture chamber, the orb had stayed quiet. Because of that silence, I still clung to the hope that I would receive a favorable answer from her.
“Everything that has gone wrong in my life is because of you! So take responsibility!”
Crack!
Only after delivering a full ten lashes did Adelia finally stop. Breathing hard, she wiped the sweat from her brow and let out a long, satisfied sigh.
“Haa… After spitting out everything that had been bottled up in my chest, I finally feel refreshed.”
“Heh heh. Feeling better now?” I hung my head, voice tired, yet still managed a smirk. Adelia approached with a pleased expression, folded her arms, and stood before me.
“In our fight, I have won. Correct?”
“Looking at the current situation, you’ve definitely won.”
“Not just looking at the current situation—I have won perfectly. Perfectly.”
“Fine. You won perfectly.”
“Not ‘fine,’ say it properly.”
“All right. You won.”
“Good. That is the answer I wanted. It makes no sense for a mere bandit like you to defeat someone who has walked a brilliant path her entire life.”
Her shoulders shook as she giggled, then she threw her head back and laughed loudly. I had thought her strange ever since she declared that because I had seen her naked, she should see me naked too, but today she seemed even more unhinged.
Her refreshed laughter soon faded. Adelia reached out, gripped my chin, and lifted it so I would look at her. After staring into my eyes for several seconds, she spoke in a calm, meaningful tone.
“Then now it is your turn.”
“My turn?”
“I have released the emotions I held against you. Now it is time to seek forgiveness from the gods. I require your help.”
Gods? Forgiveness? Help? What was she suddenly talking about?
While I stood there bewildered, Adelia did something completely unexpected. She boldly undid the buttons of her top and parted the fabric, revealing her chest. Smooth, porcelain-white skin filled my vision. Then her firm, rounded breasts came into view, crowned with delicate pink nipples that had clearly never been touched by another. They stood out like flowers in full bloom.
My eyes widened at the sight of her suddenly half-naked.
“What are you…?”
Without a trace of shame, she thrust her bare chest forward and looked me straight in the eye.
“I know you must be furious after being whipped by me. Release all that anger. I want you to strike me harshly with the whip.”
“What?”
“S-strike you?”
I could hardly believe my ears. What kind of game was this—trading lashes once each? I asked again, incredulous.
“You want me to hit you?”
“That is correct.”
She even raised both arms to untie the ropes binding my wrists and continued, “I am a guardian who upholds justice, and you are a thief who defiles it. For the one who should correct the world’s order to instead conspire with a criminal is a grave sin in the eyes of the god who governs law and order. I wish to receive punishment as atonement.”
I swallowed hard. So that was it. That was why the golden orb had remained silent. After enduring the pain, it felt as though spring had finally arrived. That said, while Adelia appeared to be seeking divine forgiveness with a pure and reverent heart, my thoughts were entirely different. It must have been the influence of Earth culture. Especially Japanese SM culture. To think a dignified female knight harbored a taste for both sadism and masochism… And she even had the sense to willingly submit to restraints.
My heart pounded so fiercely that I forgot the stinging pain in my back. Perhaps today I would awaken to an entirely new genre.
I tightly bound Adelia’s wrists to the rope hanging from the ceiling, then moved behind her and quietly picked up the whip. Her slender back was exposed as she hung there, and I could see her entire body trembling faintly. She must have been quite nervous.
I narrowed my eyes and declared with dark anticipation, “Don’t cry when it hits. If you’re scared, say so now.”
“It’s good that we caught him.”
Sinclair and Bellita were walking side by side toward the underground torture chamber beneath the prison. Smiles played on both their lips. The root cause of their commander Adelia’s long torment had finally been captured, and they expected that punishing him would allow the Lion Heart Unit to resume vigorous activity.
“Lady Adelia will finally be able to shake off her melancholy and rise again. Truly a fortunate turn of events.”
Sinclair’s expression was light and relieved as she continued.
“That Hyeonu fellow really is an idiot. To think he would infiltrate this place of all places. It was foolishness no three-year-old child would commit.”
“He conveniently got himself caught when we were in trouble. I almost thought he was running a charity.”
The pair descended the stairs, laughing as they mocked Hyun-woo.
“Lady Adelia must be giving him a thorough beating. She has been sharpening her blade against that Hyeonu for a long time, so she won’t show any mercy. She’ll handle him ruthlessly.”
“I can’t wait to see it. A sinner deserves to be beaten to death.”
“We’re almost there. I’m looking forward to whatever terrifying punishment Lady Adelia is inflicting.”
The closer they drew to the torture chamber, the louder and sharper the sound of the whip became.
Crack!
“Hngh!”
Crack!
“Aah!”
Crack!
“Kyaa!”
“Hmm?”
“Eh?”
As they walked down the corridor, the screams leaking from the torture chamber were not the expected male voice but a woman’s. Sinclair and Bellita tilted their heads in confusion.
Crack!
“Ugh!”
“What is that sound?”
“I’m not sure…”
A bad premonition gripped Sinclair. That voice was familiar. No matter how many times she listened, it was clearly Adelia crying out in pain.
“What in the world is going on?!”
Sinclair and Bellita rushed to the torture chamber. They peered urgently through the small window in the door and were struck by tremendous shock.
Crack!
“Kyaaah! Oh god Yurth! Please forgive the sins your servant will commit from now on! I, who should uphold law and order, have committed the evil of conspiring with a criminal!”
Adelia, naked from the waist up, hung with both arms tightly bound to the rope descending from the ceiling while Hyun-woo mercilessly whipped her.
“Th-this can’t be…!”
Sinclair’s mouth hung open; she could not close it. Her respected superior was being beaten like a slave—and by a mere bandit, no less!
“I-it’s impossible…!”
“Lady Sinclair!”
Unable to accept the shocking reality, Sinclair’s legs gave out and she fainted on the spot. Meanwhile, regardless of what was happening outside the door, the torture chamber continued to fill with heated gasps and the relentless sound of the whip.
Crack!
“Kyahng!”