Chapter 201 - Discipline
"Then, I'll wait in the living room."
"Sure."
"If anything happens, scream right away. I'll intervene immediately."
"Got it."
Isolet sent the sharply tense girl outside, then glanced at me with lingering eyes.
"Frey."
"........."
As the door closed, Isolet, who had been lying on the bed, called my name in a low voice.
"Come hither."
"...Ugh."
My emotions were churning wildly, so I'd planned to just leave, but her voice from behind held me back. It was the softest tone I'd heard from her in quite some time—since I'd utterly disappointed her.
"What."
I forced my expression to harden and looked at her. Isolet stared blankly at me and said,
"Dost thou not desire to ravish me?"
"The mood's broken."
"...Is that so."
The atmosphere had grown even more awkward from what happened earlier. Our conversation stuttered along in fits and starts, unable to flow.
"Where's my little brother?"
"He went out. Said he'd meet a friend briefly."
"A friend?"
"Kania's little sister."
I'd been worried since my brother wasn't home, but it seemed he'd just stepped out. If I were him, I'd do the same if I knew I was staying here.
"She seemed troubled. Debating whether to even see your face..."
"Not interested."
I let out a small sigh and turned to leave the room, ignoring Isolet's continued nonsense. But,
"Frey."
"What now."
She called my name again, forcing me to turn back once more.
"'Tis been ages since thou last came here. In the old days, thou visited oft..."
"What're you trying to say?"
"Canst thou not return to the Frey of those days?"
She gazed at me steadily, then whispered softly,
"Lately, memories of thy childhood keep surfacing. And so..."
"Why keep beating around the bush..."
Frustrated by her endless vague talk, I strode toward her to demand what she really wanted. But,
"...Eek!"
Suddenly, Isolet grabbed my arm and slammed me onto the bed.
"Guhk... W-what the hell?"
It was so abrupt I hadn't braced myself—I was pinned helplessly. Strange, though. It felt like crashing onto a rock, not a bed. Tears nearly welled up.
"Urgh..."
Well, she was scouted as vice-captain of the Imperial Knights despite being a woman. Her strength was no joke.
"Misjudge me not, Frey."
As those thoughts raced through my mind, Isolet spoke in a cold voice.
"No matter how ill I fare, suppressing thee is child's play."
"........."
"And one cannot strut through life so arrogantly forever."
With that, she gripped my arms with brute force and shoved them toward the bed.
"Thou may not know it, but... in this world, positions can reverse in an instant."
True to her words, our situation had flipped completely from moments ago.
"Those thou tormented may torment thee in turn. Those thou oppressed may oppress thee."
"Hey..."
"And those I crushed may crush thee."
She seized my chin with her other hand and lifted it.
"Dost thou still not grasp it?"
Her expression darkened as she continued.
"If thou truly comprehendest not, I can teach thee directly."
"W-wait a sec..."
"Why hesitate? Didst thou not beg but moments ago? 'Just once,' thou said."
With that, she yanked off my outer coat and tossed it aside.
"Very well, I shall grant it. But with thee pinned beneath. Ravished by force."
"W-wait..."
Then she began unbuttoning my shirt one by one.
"Let go, damn it?"
"Nay. Thou hast treated women thus with brute force ere now. I merely follow suit."
I wanted to stop her, but overpowering her—whose strength rivaled top powerhouses—would require the Hero's Power. I was already debilitated by accumulated penalties.
"Ugh..."
"Resist not, Frey."
But using the Hero's Power now would make me vomit blood on the spot. And if Isolet, already in a fragile state, saw that up close, my worst fears might come true.
"Urgh..."
I twisted desperately to escape the bed, but she bore down with full force. No chance. How did such fragile limbs produce that monstrous strength? Still baffling.
"Be still."
"Ugh..."
Finally, she undid my shirt completely.
"Look at thee, like some wench. Insolent brat."
"Ugh..."
"Good."
She stared down at me—grimacing from the impact and relentless pressure—as she kept me pinned mercilessly.
She gripped my arms, bent back toward the bed, even tighter and leaned her face toward mine.
"...Gulp."
For a moment, her sky-blue eyes met my silver ones.
As they began to tremble...
"Ah, dost thou understand now, Frey?"
Isolet glanced sideways briefly, then spoke with cold sweat beading on her brow.
"Thou art not... steeped in lust."
"...What?"
"Thou simply relish dominating and subjugating others."
Her attitude shifted abruptly, and the force on my arms weakened.
"Even now, 'twas so. Thou begged to do me, yet when I turned the tables, thou panicked..."
"......"
"Thou lovest not the act itself, but merely bending others to thy will. Naught but an arrogant brat."
With that, she slowly pulled away from me.
"Ponder my words well."
She covered herself with the blanket and rolled onto her side.
"........."
Silence fell.
"What the...? Why suddenly..."
Befuddled by the turn of events, I spaced out. Then,
"...Ah."
I noticed the open door—and Irina, Lulu, and the saintess standing there, mouths agape. I swallowed hard.
"Fr... Frey?"
"K-kiing..."
"........."
Now I understood why Isolet's demeanor had flipped.
"........."
After Frey was dragged out by the group, Isolet lay buried under the covers for a long while.
"Ugh."
She'd lain still as a corpse for ages, then suddenly groaned.
"What... what in the world was that..."
Her face twisted in confusion and dismay—almost fear.
"What did I do to Frey..."
She muttered in a trembling voice.
"Have I finally lost my mind?"
When Frey had pounced earlier, she'd felt pure disgust and disappointment.
So why? Amid those intense emotions, why had strange feelings begun to bloom?
"'Just once, please'..."
"........."
By her standards, his feeble grip on her arms was nothing. Yet he pressed on, fumbling with her buttons using those slender fingers, oblivious. Thinking himself dominant with that bratty expression as he tried to subjugate her.
Looking up at him—arms loosely bound by weak force, deluding his frail body could pin and control her.
"Eut..."
For some reason, Isolet's heart had heated.
"Ugh..."
At first, she thought it mere anger or a urge to discipline. So when the chance came, she'd subdued him for that purpose.
But then... something went askew.
Frey's fragile expression as he was flung onto the bed. Not his usual arrogance or loathsomeness. Not the face he'd worn trying to assault her moments ago.
It was the face from childhood—defeated, rolling in the dirt after losing to her.
Just for a fleeting instant, as her power slammed him down, Frey had regressed to that boy.
From then, Isolet lost her reason.
To see more of that childhood Frey, she pressed the gasping boy relentlessly.
And the final expression on his relentlessly pushed face...
Total defeat. Utter submission to the woman before him. A vulnerability unimaginable from the arrogant Frey who trampled all underfoot.
"Haa..."
Why had her body ignited anew at that sight?
Truly binding his audacious arms with real strength. Truly crushing his frail form that dared pin her.
Watching his bratty face twist into fear—what emotion had surged in her?
As she stripped his shirt and leaned toward his face, what had she intended?
"I'm mad..."
No matter how she pondered, only one answer emerged.
Intentionally or not, she'd unconsciously tried to rape Frey.
"Impossible."
The shock was devastating for Isolet.
A knight of unyielding chivalry. A mentor of upright integrity. She who recoiled at mere talk of romance between man and woman, let alone sex.
Yet she'd nearly forced herself on a younger, fragile boy in a moment of unchecked impulse.
"Disqualified as a knight... as a mentor..."
Overwhelmed by conflicting emotions, she muttered,
"How shall I face him now..."
She touched her cheek.
"Ha."
It still burned hot.
"Frey's not the lustful one? Of course not..."
Her mind recoiled in disgust, but her body's reaction betrayed her. Isolet realized,
"...The one steeped in lust is none other than me."
Clutching the pillow like a lover to cool her fevered body, she squeezed her eyes shut and whispered his name.
"Frey..."
But it only overlapped with the scene, heating her further.
"Huaa..."
Moments later, Isolet's breaths grew even rougher.
Meanwhile,
"Haa..."
"What's wrong, Young Master? Some issue?"
"No... nothing..."
For some reason, Frey—dining with the saintess—sighed shortly and stared blankly into space.
"I haven't a clue anymore."
"...?"
As Frey recalled the earlier events, his expression grew ever more vacant.