Chapter 10. Hunter's Wife (3)
Chapter 10. Hunter's Wife (3)
"Yes, ma'am."
I decided not to hide it anymore.
Bruno and Helen.
The two of them were pretty decent people.
But they weren't running a charity.
If I kept hanging around just eating their food, I might get kicked out.
So I had to prove my worth.
That's why I'd deliberately shown them my magic.
Besides, if I was going to stay here and practice magic from now on, I couldn't hide it forever anyway.
The magic I could currently use was just Fire and Stun, only two spells.
I wanted to learn more magic.
But the situation wasn't allowing it.
So I needed to master at least these two.
There was only one way.
Steady practice, nothing else.
"You're far more impressive than I thought."
I smiled awkwardly and shook my head.
Our eyes suddenly met.
Honey was practically dripping from Helen's eyes.
"Just wait a bit. I'll set up a fantastic dinner for you."
"You don't have to do that."
I tried to dissuade her.
But Helen was unstoppable.
She went outside.
And came back with a big hunk of meat.
It was pork.
Seemed like she'd brought it from the workshop.
It smelled great.
Smoked, maybe?
There was a subtle woody aroma.
With dried herbs slathered thickly on the surface, it looked like it'd be delicious even just sliced up raw.
Helen sliced the meat thin.
Surprisingly, it was the pork belly cut.
When she cooked it in the frying pan, it gave off a bacon-like smell.
She added vegetables too.
Picked fresh from the garden next to the Cabin.
Meat and veggies.
A combo that couldn't fail.
Helen and I sat facing each other at the table.
The perfectly cooked meat sizzled on the plates.
"I'll dig in, ma'am."
"Hehe.. Eat up and enjoy."
Dinner began.
I wrapped the hot meat in lettuce to make a ssam.
I desperately missed ssamjang.
But this was a medieval world.
I couldn't expect that kind of thing.
How long had it been since I'd had pork?
My tongue felt like it was melting into goo.
"Here, have some booze too."
Helen filled my glass to the brim.
It was the mead from yesterday.
The sweet fragrance paired perfectly with the pork.
I started feeling the buzz gradually.
Helen's face flushed pink too.
She'd occasionally brush her hair behind her ear.
It somehow looked seductive.
I deliberately looked away.
No.
I couldn't use booze as an excuse to screw my benefactor's wife.
My mind loosened by the alcohol.
A phrase suddenly popped into my head.
[Sometimes you have no choice but to take what's someone else's.]
Wait a sec..?
Maybe 'someone else's thing' meant a married woman?
The guess quickly solidified into certainty.
Yeah, this phrase definitely referred to sleeping with another man's wife.
And right now, in front of me.
Sat an alluring married woman.
Moreover, she clearly had feelings for me too.
Her husband was off far away.
No one was likely to visit this remote Cabin.
It was practically a meal served up on a platter.
But I wasn't into it.
My lifesaver.
I didn't want to cowardly satisfy my lust while he was away.
I shook my head.
This wasn't about satisfying lust.
It was to learn magic.
If I hooked up with Helen now.
I could reunite with Lieselotte.
If I learned new magic from her, I'd get even stronger.
No. Absolutely not.
No matter what, I couldn't NTR my benefactor's wife.
I steeled my resolve.
No matter the temptation.
I absolutely wouldn't have sex with Helen.
Before I knew it, the meat was gone.
My belly was full, but that just made the booze go down even better.
"Wait a sec. I'll bring out some snacks."
Helen brought out nuts.
Almonds and peanuts and such.
We kept drinking with those as anju.
I suddenly looked up.
The married woman Helen.
She was drinking expressionlessly.
She somehow looked sad.
"Sniff.."
Helen suddenly burst into tears out of nowhere.
Booze habits, maybe.
"Are you okay?"
"Okay? No. I'm not okay."
Helen slowly raised her head.
Tears streamed down both cheeks.
Her lips trembled too.
"Please save me. Please.."
"..."
Save her, just like that.
I was flustered.
"What do you mean? You seem really drunk. You should get some sleep.."
I couldn't finish my sentence.
Because Helen had jumped up from her seat.
And started stripping off her clothes like crazy.
She was naked in no time.
I involuntarily gulped dryly.
Definitely not drooling.
It was a well-balanced figure.
Slender yet toned.
Especially her legs and arms—they had impressive muscle for a woman.
Of course, what drew the eyes most were her breasts.
J-cup, at least?
You could feel the massive weight.
Yet they weren't sagging much.
Probably thanks to innate elasticity plus relentless training.
The areolas were light brown.
A color that matched her healthily tanned skin perfectly.
Tears still flowing down her cheeks.
They dripped down.
Trickled along the curve of her breasts.
And finally beaded on her nipples.
A sensual, breathtaking sight.
But my lust didn't surge much.
I was just curious why Helen had suddenly started crying, and why she'd stripped.
"Look at me.. please look at me.."
Her voice mixed with sobs.
Helen said that and slowly turned her body.
Her back, waist, and the beautifully shaped legs below came into view.
The well-developed lats caught my eye.
She could probably pull a high-tension bow skillfully thanks to those back muscles.
But what drew the eyes most..
Was the scar covering her back.
It looked like she'd been whipped multiple times.
Just seeing it was heartbreaking.
"..."
I was speechless.
Helen turned back around.
Her sleek, perfectly toned body made my heart race despite myself.
But more than that.
I was curious about the source of those hideous scars.
Who had done it?
I didn't want to admit it, but.
The only one who could beat Helen in this remote Cabin was one person.
The hunter Bruno.
"Did Bruno do that?"
"Yes.."
"Why on earth?"
"I tried to run away and got caught. He tied me to a post and whipped me for a week."
Run away. Whipping.
Words that fit a slave, not a wife.
I stood up from my chair.
And helped Helen put her clothes back on.
"Sit down first."
"Y-Yes.. yes.."
I sat next to Helen, shoulders aligned.
Better to talk side-by-side like this.
Than facing each other.
"I used to be a merchant's daughter. Lived in the city. My hometown is Port City Yohvin, on the southern coast."
Helen's story began.
I listened quietly.
It was a life with nothing to envy.
A harmonious family.
Not rich, but we could eat three solid meals a day.
Helen was the youngest daughter.
So she got all the pampering.
Time passed, she became a woman.
And married a hardworking employee at her father's shop.
They had a great relationship.
But the day she rode in a carriage with her husband to visit his family, she lost everything.
They ran into bandits.
He was Bruno.
Her husband was killed on the spot by a sword.
Helen was captured.
Bruno dragged her to his Cabin.
And made her his wife on his whim.
The start of hellish days.
She'd tried to escape.
But a city girl finding her way deep in the forest was a pipe dream.
She was out of breath up to her throat.
Her heart swelled like it would burst.
Her lungs burned like fire.
Her legs grew weaker by the minute.
Bruno, who'd caught her, flew into a rage.
He didn't hesitate with violence.
Helen was stripped naked.
Tied to a wooden post.
The whip flew toward her fully exposed back.
Skin tore, blood splattered.
She screamed until her throat burst.
But deep in the forest, no one came to save Helen.
In the end, she gave up.
She couldn't even end her own life.
She lived with an empty heart.
Bruno demanded sex every day.
But she never got pregnant.
Helen suspected it was Bruno's problem.
No matter how much they coupled.
Her body stayed ice-cold like a glacier.
It felt exactly like being a doll.
Time dragged on like that.
Her heart hardened like stone.
She just prayed each day would pass quickly.
And just yesterday.
Bruno brought some guy home.
'He's handsome..'
Ridiculously, that was her first thought.
She'd seen countless pretty boys living in the city, but none this handsome.
Her stopped heart started beating again.
Warmth returned to her corpse-cold body.
She'd never forgotten her dead husband, not even for a day.
But the moment her eyes met this man—who introduced himself as Hans—she could truly let go of her departed husband.
She'd thought sex was disgusting.
Just thinking about it made her nauseous.
Why did new life have to come from such a filthy act?
She'd pondered that sometimes.
But the moment she met Hans.
Her thinking flipped 180 degrees.
If it was with this man, she felt like she could do anything.
She threw him obvious flirts.
But Hans didn't bite.
That morning, she'd even worn a sheer slip that showed her skin, but he deliberately looked away.
Not just handsome—he had a good personality too.
A guy like this existed in the world.
Why hadn't she met him sooner?
Bruno had left for the city.
He wouldn't be back for two days.
She wanted to hook up with this man within that time.
Obvious seduction wouldn't work.
It'd fail.
Even if she stripped and threw herself at him.
It'd probably just gross him out.
So she had no choice but to approach with sincerity.
Once they hooked up just once.
Twice, three times would be easy.
Helen stripped off all her clothes.
Her dead husband and Bruno.
She'd never shown her naked body to any other man.
It was way more embarrassing than she'd imagined.
She wanted to crawl into a rat hole.
Her mind was a mess.
Sorrow and regret.
Embarrassment and anticipation.
A jumble of emotions she couldn't even sort out.
She showed Hans her back.
The vivid whip marks.
She heard Hans gulp.
Hans listened to her story calmly.
Was he that emotional?
Tears flowed down Hans's cheeks too.
His body trembled.
"You must have had it really tough."
"Yes, really.. really tough.."
Helen leaned against Hans.
And Hans embraced her.
Through their touching skin.
Their pounding heartbeats transmitted to each other.
What would happen tonight was obvious as day.