“Also… can you satisfy my need, too?”
The voice of the Prince was soft, tinged with a hoarse resignation of someone pushed to the brink, yet laced with a barely perceptible cunning.
Upon hearing this, Astreia, who was about to carry this peerless work of art to the bath for a ‘ritual’, suddenly froze.
She slowly lowered her head.
In those violet magic eyes burning with desire, a flicker of surprise flashed.
She hadn’t expected that this plaything, already bound in chains of shame, would dare make a request of her.
But then, that surprise was swiftly replaced by a denser, more dangerous amusement.
The Witch Queen suddenly felt that such a Prince—a little fox who, even when cornered, still thought of biting back—was a thousand, ten thousand times more interesting than a mere obedient plaything.
The pleasure of conquering a soul that knows how to resist far surpassed toying with a thoughtless shell.
“Hehehe…”
Astreia’s lips curled up as she bit the ear of the beauty in her arms, teasingly.
“My little Prince, what kind of need do you want me to satisfy?”
Wendy’s face remained buried in the witch’s neck, his scorching cheeks pressed against her cool skin, greedily drawing in a moment of clarity.
“Since… since it’s supposed to be equal…”
The Prince’s gaze drifted evasively to a classical painting on the wall, his voice as faint as a dream.
“Can you… can you also use magic to conjure some clothes and put them on?”
Astreia raised an interested eyebrow, signaling him to continue.
It seemed Wendy had used all his strength to force those shameful words out of his throat.
“For example… reverse bunny girl?”
***
Meanwhile.
Several miles away, inside the opulent manor of the Veid Family, rivaling the royal palace itself.
The underground treasury blazed with light.
Laxana Ke Cain stood, hands on her hips, surrounded by piles of gold and jewels, her face twisted in disgust as she shouted at the soldiers.
“Careful! That’s a Mithril Goblet personally forged by the Dwarven King, enchanted with a Temperature Control Spell Array! Do you think your filthy hands that have hauled moldy sacks are worthy to touch it?”
“And you! Yes, you! Put down that staff inlaid with a ‘Sea Siren’s Tear’! If you break it, even selling you as a mining slave in the Northern Region for a lifetime wouldn’t pay the price!”
Miss Klein’s commanding voice echoed through the vast treasury, exuding the authority and exacting standards of the royal capital’s premier magical family.
General Sera had no interest in these shiny trinkets.
She simply carried out Wendy’s orders with unwavering loyalty, meticulously sorting, packing, and sealing all account books and secret documents related to family dealings and official bribery.
And just as Laxana was about to explode over a soldier knocking over a solid gold unicorn statue—
A sudden, indescribable sensation surged from the depths of her soul without warning.
It was not magic.
It was not a curse.
It was a kind of… empathy.
The illusion of icy, fine-grained metal chains slowly dragging across her bare skin.
“Mm~…”
Caught off guard, Laxana couldn’t suppress a stifled moan from escaping her throat.
Her legs went weak, her strength seemed to drain away, and her body toppled forward—only just managing to steady herself against a gem-filled chest and avoid a public disgrace.
“Miss Klein? Are you alright? Are you feeling unwell?”
A nearby scribe responsible for recording the treasures asked with concern.
“I’m—I’m fine!”
Laxana practically ground her teeth to keep her voice from trembling.
Only her cheeks flared bright red, as if scorched by fire, the heat rapidly spreading to her ears and down her slender neck.
“The air in the treasury is too stuffy! I’m… going out for some fresh air!”
Throwing out the words, she didn’t dare look at anyone, fleeing the treasury in near panic.
Damn it!
Damn it! Damn it!
That cunning villain!!!
He actually sent me away just to do such… such shameless things in the royal palace!
Laxana hid in an empty corridor corner, pressing her back hard against the cold stone wall, trying to quell the heat inside her with the chill.
She gasped, her chest heaving violently.
But the sensation transmitted through the Empathic Link not only failed to fade—it grew clearer, more… vivid.
She could almost “feel” a pair of delicate hands adjusting those cold chains on herself—no, on Wendy’s body.
Every tremor of skin.
Every held breath.
The utter shame of being forced into the gaze of another.
The helplessness of being treated as a work of art and sculpted at will.
And…
And deep within, that twisted, voyeuristic thrill—blended with humiliation and madness.
These complicated, contradictory feelings surged into Miss Klein’s mind like a tidal wave, shattering all the pride and understanding she had built over twenty years.
“Ah~”
Laxana could stand no longer, sliding down the wall to the floor.
She hugged her knees, burying her burning face in her arms, her body trembling uncontrollably.
What… what are they even doing?!
This feeling… this feeling is too—
Too indecent!
Too…
…envying.
A complex fire of jealousy, shame, curiosity, and longing erupted in her heart, threatening to incinerate her sanity.
Why?
Why is it that savage Astreia, and not me?
Why does she get to toy with Wendy so wantonly?
Clearly… clearly, I was the one who established the Empathic Link!
I should be the one with priority!
Laxana pressed her lips tight, her teeth nearly drawing blood.
A surge of wild impulse overtook her—a desire to rush back to the royal palace, kick open that damned door, and point at Astreia’s nose, demanding loudly:
“Why wasn’t I invited to the party?!”
But in the end, the last remnant of pride befitting the heir of the Klein family and the dignity forged by years as a Grand Mage suppressed her madness.
No.
Now is not the time.
Astreia’s power is too strong. If I go now, she’ll just toss me out like a chicken.
I’ll wait…
I’ll wait until I find that Forbidden Codex and complete the Eternal Spell…
Then, the three of us together…
Heh heh…
In the dark corner, Miss Klein’s lips curled into a sick, dangerous smile.
Wendy Bucaike.
Just you wait.
Next time, it will be my turn to ‘serve’ you well through this link…