Chapter 7. Baron's Daughter (7)
Chapter 7. Baron's Daughter (7)
I explained it step by step.
Why I couldn't take the money.
Anna, who had been listening quietly, nodded.
"I get what you're saying."
"Thanks for understanding."
We mixed our bodies once more.
A lot of time had passed.
The church bells nearby rang out midnight.
It was time to go home.
But Anna didn't let me go easily.
She brushed my hair back with a comb.
She even applied some fragrant oil.
I felt just like a doll.
"Hmm..."
Anna's gaze was loaded with meaning.
When I tilted my head, she immediately spilled the reason.
"No matter how I think about it, you don't seem like serf blood."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Anna pointed at my face.
"Just looking at your face, you could pass for some duke's young master, right? And your father. James, was it? He doesn't look anything like you?"
Now that she mentioned it, yeah.
My dad, who threw drunken tantrums every day.
Not a single resemblance to me.
Not his face, not his puny build.
"Maybe your mother had an affair with some noble."
My head got all jumbled.
I don't know if it was Anna's silver tongue, but it sounded way too plausible.
Come to think of it.
Dad never once treated me warmly.
Whenever our eyes met by chance.
I could feel the hatred and resentment.
Maybe it's because I'm not his real kid.
My head got all jumbled.
I shook my head to clear the thoughts.
Pondering wouldn't solve it.
I left the bathroom.
Clara guided me out of the Lord's Manor.
I trudged home.
Dad was awake.
He gave me a grumpy glance, then tilted the booze bottle to his mouth.
"The lord seems real interested in you, huh?"
"Uh, yeah. Something like that."
I gave a vague answer.
Couldn't exactly say I'd been banging the lord's daughter like rabbits.
Dad was misunderstanding.
Thinking I'd become the baron's boy toy.
The fancy term is male pet, right?
No intention of correcting him.
Maybe that misunderstanding would keep him from beating me from now on.
"Pathetic little shit."
The cursing started.
As usual.
But he didn't hit me.
Looks like he's scared of the baron after all.
A month passed.
It was time for Anna to get married off.
But she was still hanging around the Lord's Manor.
Because the Earldom of Count Abilark had been invaded.
The attackers were the heretics settled to the west.
Dweys was at the front lines.
Sure, he had an ugly mug and stank to high heaven, but when it came to raw power, he didn't lose to anyone on the continent.
The defense was a success.
But total repulsion would take time.
Naturally, the wedding got postponed.
This was a problem for Hans.
He'd been banging Anna regularly, and most times, he'd creampied her.
The odds of pregnancy were sky-high.
Her periods had stopped too.
Anna was freaking out.
She'd been prepared for pregnancy.
But she never imagined the marriage to Dweys would get delayed.
When could they even tie the knot?
Maybe next year.
Dweys was the eldest son of the count's family.
He had to handle postwar cleanup, so it could take that long.
Of course, Anna and Hans kept meeting.
Every time, they banged.
And in a fuck-it-all mood, he'd cum inside.
"No bruises?"
Anna asked.
She was on top of Hans, rhythmically shaking her hips.
"Yeah, Dad thinks I'm hooking up with the lord or whatever."
Anna giggled at Hans's reply.
"Crazy."
"But hey, what if you're really knocked up?"
"Dunno."
No plan at all, this girl.
Hans trembled with anxiety.
But he reached up and grabbed Anna's tits.
The more they fucked.
The deeper the affection grew.
Call it pussy-whipped.
Time dragged on endlessly.
One month passed, then two.
Even in the heat of midsummer, the two devoured each other's bodies.
And finally, autumn arrived.
A rare bumper crop.
Golden wheat fields.
But Baron Kargon's face was grim.
"What the hell happened?"
The baron pointed at his daughter's belly.
It was swollen enough that she couldn't hide it anymore.
"..."
Anna stayed silent.
If she pointed to Hans.
He'd definitely be executed.
She wanted to save him somehow.
The baron ground his teeth.
He was boiling inside.
His precious daughter, raised like gold and jade, knocked up with some bastard's seed.
The baron raised his hand high.
But he couldn't bring himself to hit his pregnant daughter.
Of course, he had no intention of dropping the interrogation.
He summoned and grilled everyone staying at the Lord's Manor one by one.
At first, there was a hush-hush vibe.
But with the intense questioning.
The whole truth came out eventually.
Yannick showed up.
It was routine.
But today, he brought a ton of soldiers.
Cold sweat poured down.
Anna wouldn't have spilled.
Probably one of the maids or soldiers cracked under harsh interrogation and ratted out my name.
Anyway, fucked situation.
I wanted to bolt.
But how do you shake Yannick on horseback?
"Uh... what's going on?"
Dad asked.
No point hiding it anymore.
I came clean.
"I've been secretly meeting the lord's daughter and we got intimate. She got pregnant in the process."
"You... you fucking lunatic!"
Dad lunged.
Fists and kicks flew.
I was soon beaten to a pulp.
Then Yannick strode into the house.
He kicked the door open and looked down at me sprawled on the floor, clicking his tongue.
"You know why I'm here, right?"
"...Yes."
The soldiers bound me.
And dragged me to the Lord's Manor.
No sign of Anna.
Probably sniffling somewhere.
Not that I could worry about her.
My own nose was three feet long.
Yannick and the soldiers hauled me to the basement.
The Lord's Manor really had a basement!
A single dangling torch dimly lit the dank, creepy space.
Iron chains on the walls.
Handcuffs and shackles at the ends.
I was chained up there.
My clothes had long been stripped off.
Soon the baron came down.
He glared at me with bloodshot eyes.
"Did you knock up my daughter?"
If I said yes.
I wouldn't escape death.
But I couldn't lie either.
The baron snatched a whip from the wall.
"Yes, I got her pregnant."
"You fucking dog!"
A roar, and the whip flew.
I didn't even see it.
All I felt was unimaginable agony.
"Gaaahhhhh!"
A clear welt on my chest.
Blood splatters flying everywhere.
It hurt so bad I thrashed, but the pain didn't fade.
"I'm gonna kill you real slow and gruesome. Peel off your flesh bit by bit, rub salt in it. Look forward to it. I'll have you begging for death soon enough."
Worst-case scenario.
Slow, torturous death.
Better to bite my tongue, but the gag in my mouth made that impossible.
The torch in the basement went out.
Pitch black.
The only sound was my groaning breaths.
Night fell, temperature dropped.
Shivering cold.
Soldiers occasionally came down and doused me with cold water.
That was torture too.
'Teacher... help me...'
Lieselotte's face came to mind.
She might pull me out of this shithole.
But no matter how much I prayed.
No response.
Meals were provided sometimes.
Spoiled oatmeal.
The smell alone made me gag.
But skipping meant another beating.
I shoved my face in the bowl like an animal and slurped it down.
Gotta escape.
But how?
Manacles fixed to wrists and ankles.
Rusty a bit, but no breaking them with brute force.
Pondered all day.
If death was set.
Gotta at least struggle.
One day, Yannick came down to the basement.
He hung the torch he brought on the wall, then strode over.
Clutching an iron club.
"Lord's orders: break one of your leg bones. Don't hate me too much. Your lust fucked everything up."
I was too stunned to speak.
He was the one who first brought me to Anna.
"Face full of complaints. Don't like that look in your eyes."
Yannick poked my chest with the club.
Reflexively, I grabbed it.
The chain on the handcuffs was long enough.
Then I chanted the incantation.
"Stun."
Bzzzt!
White lightning from my hand.
It conducted through the iron club to Yannick.
"Urk!"
Yannick crumpled with a groan.
But he didn't drop the club.
Muscles contracted from the shock.
Yannick passed out.
Thought he was dead at first.
But faint breathing.
I searched his body.
Chains on my hands and feet clinked.
What if no key?
Real trouble.
Sweating bullets, I frisked his pockets thoroughly.
Luckily, the key was there.
Unlocked the cuffs and shackles.
Freedom after so long.
Felt weirdly awkward.
Red marks on wrists and ankles.
Yannick down.
Kill him?
I could.
Drew the sword from his belt.
Noob with swords.
But looks high-end at a glance.
Couldn't kill Yannick though.
Never killed anyone in my life.
Gave up.
Stripped his clothes off first.
Size similar to mine.
Quickly dressed, grabbed the sword.
Don't know how to use it.
Better than bare-handed escape, though.
Climbed the stairs, opened the door.
Pitch black outside.
Nighttime.
Thanks to sneaking in and out for Anna meets, I knew all the secret passages.
Slipped out of the Lord's Manor safely.
Finally free again.
Too early to celebrate.
Yannick would wake up eventually.
Pursuit squad soon.
Probably on horses.
Can't flee on the main road.
"Whew..."
I eyed the forest.
Gotta cut through there.
Dangerous, but better than getting caught.
Prayed to a god I don't even believe in.
Please, no wolves.
Soon entered the forest.
Full moon night, bright.
But the woods were dark as hell.
Crunching fallen leaves, slowly pushed forward.