Elves are naturally very proud, and when born into royalty, it goes without saying.
Moreover, as the chosen ones of the World Tree, they have a strong belief in their superiority over humans.
To them, humans are no different from talking monkeys.
Because of this, even the Lace of elves living on the Rave continent, the Lace tribe, has lived in isolation, only having minimal interactions with humans.
It is in such a context that Tiffany, the princess of the Lase tribe, was sold to the wealthy and vulgar human, Kralus.
So, who is Kralus? A man born to commoners who made his fortune in the money-lending business, Kralus is a miser.
He will do anything for money, having stained his hands with dirty deeds and come this far.
There is a story that illustrates Kralus’ character.
His factory is located in the hottest region in the world, Ankus, where the temperature is beyond imagination.
When many workers collapsed from heatstroke, the media began criticizing him heavily.
There were calls to continuously use magic to lower the temperature.
In response, Kralus, after retreating to a small room and deep in thought, said:
“The cost of calling an ambulance is cheaper than using magic!”
This was truly the statement of a man obsessed with money.
Everyone shook their heads in disbelief at his words.
Anyway, this man, Kralus, bought an elven slave, so what happened next was inevitable.
“Dance.”
“What did you say?”
“Since we are in a peaceful era, the entertainment industry will thrive. If an elf princess joins a circus, it’ll surely be a hit, right?”
This was what he said at their first meeting.
To Kralus, everything in this world was divided into two categories: “Does it make money, or not?”
Tiffany, stunned and furious, couldn’t believe his audacity.
“Dance? Me? The princess? Even my mother, the Queen, has never given me such ridiculous orders. And besides, even a queen can be refused if the order is unreasonable, as is common knowledge among elves. I won’t do it! I am Tiffany Lase, the princess of the great Lase tribe!!”
“Punish.”
“Ahhhh!!”
Punish.
This was the cruel punishment inflicted on a slave who resisted their master’s command.
When the slave resists, the master can deliver a shock equivalent to 1 million volts.
“Ahhh! It hurts! It hurts so much!!”
The pain that seared her body was beyond description.
Tiffany, like a cockroach poisoned by poison, rolled on the floor.
“Punish.”
“Ahhh!! Stop!! Stop!!”
“Punish.”
“Stop!! Please!! It hurts too much!! Please stop!”
“Lower beings must be disciplined through pain. I will continue to punish you until you correct your tone. Punish.”
“Please stop!! Please! It hurts so much! So much!”
“You’ll say ‘Master’ from now on, won’t you?”
“Ugh!! Ugh!!!”
“Master”? To call someone “Master” was an unbearable humiliation for a princess! Didn’t she even betray her mother to avoid calling her twin sister, Titania, queen? How could she bow to such a vulgar human as her master? This… this was…!!
“Punish.”
“Ahhh! Stop, Master! Master!!!”
“Now you understand.”
As Tiffany’s body burned like a roasted fish, her royal pride shattered.
More than the humiliation of calling a vulgar human her master, she was overwhelmed by the sensation of the pain ceasing.
“Please… don’t punish me again… please…”
“That’s up to you. Punish.”
“Ahhhh! Why?! I didn’t even resist this time! Why?!”
“It’s to engrain in your mind that I decide when to punish. If you don’t immediately obey me in the future, I will punish you right away. Do you understand, elf?”
“Y-yes, Master. I understand, Master… sniff… sniff…”
From that day forward, a harsh training regimen began.
Just as lions or elephants are tamed by humans, the elf princess, possessing immense magical power, was being turned into Krlrus’s pet.
Sometimes she was starved for an entire month, and other times she was tortured for hours on end.
After being thoroughly broken to the point where resistance was impossible, she was assigned to work in a circus.
The grueling days of training to perform before an audience continued, and six months had passed.
By then, Tiffany had completely forgotten her identity as a princess.
The day of the circus performance, advertised with the tagline, “An elf princess joins the circus?! Come see for yourself!”, had finally arrived.
Tiffany opened the show that day.
“Hello, everyone~!”
An elf in a bunny girl outfit waved her hand in an awkward and vulgar manner.
The crowd erupted in laughter.
“Hahaha! What is that? So gross~!”
“Is she really a princess?”
“I heard elves are too proud to do anything they don’t agree with.”
“Then maybe she’s doing it because she wants to.”
“What a peculiar taste!”
Despite the mockery, Tiffany danced as she had been trained.
She placed her hands behind her head and swayed her hips seductively.
“Hahaha!”
“That’s just disgusting.”
“Wow… I’d rather die than dance like that.”
“Keep dancing, you stupid elf!”
“Y-Yes! I’ll dance more~! Watch the foolish princess Tiffany, who betrayed her own people and became a slave to humans, perform for you!”
Tiffany danced with tears of blood in her eyes as the ridicule continued.
“Hey, did you hear? That elf was a princess but betrayed her queen mother.”
“I heard that too. That’s why the Lase tribe was wiped out, right?”
“But why did she betray them?”
“Who knows? Betrayed them only to become a slave.”
“Maybe she secretly wanted to be a slave all along?”
“That makes sense.”
“She’s a pervert, then.”
“So this elf finally got her wish, huh?”
“Wow~ lucky her~”
“Keep dancing, princess! No, slave!”
“Ahahaha!”
Amidst the jeers and laughter, the sight of an elf dancing seductively became a spectacle not just for the circus audience but one that would be broadcast live worldwide in the future—a future that Tiffany could not have imagined on that day.
“Nooooo!!! No! No! That’s not true! It’s a lie! A fake video! Don’t believe it, everyone! I didn’t betray my mother! I didn’t dance like that! It’s true! It’s true, I swear! Hic… sob…”
Tiffany wept as she shouted words of denial to no one in particular.
Everyone else remained silent, staring at her with blank expressions.
Her voice was completely hoarse by now.
“Hic… Sob… But… but he said he’d punish me if I didn’t! Master said he’d punish me! Do you know how much it hurts? It hurts so much, you can’t even endure it! And besides… my mother was wrong too! Saying she would pass the throne to Titania instead of me! What was I supposed to do with my pride?”
“Heh… In the end, you wiped out your own tribe. Doesn’t that mean your mother’s judgment was right?”
“Shut up!”
Tiffany lashed out harshly at Lesia’s mocking words.
Jeanne, a knight, gently placed a hand on her weeping companion’s shoulder and tried to console her.
“Calm down, Tiffany. We know. There’s no way that’s real. It’s probably a fake video fabricated by the demon Lesia. We believe you didn’t perform such a vulgar dance. You’ve always been a proud and noble elf.”
But the consolation did not reach Tiffany’s heart.
Instead, it stirred up her deep-seated insecurities.
“Shut up! What do you know?! Do you know how painful Punish is?! Do you even understand how terrifying a slave’s brand is?! Damn it… All this humiliation for dancing once…”
It was practically a confession that the video was real.
“Haah… I’m so humiliated… How am I supposed to live now? Damn it, what am I supposed to do?! I thought I’d kept it hidden so well all this time… Damn it… This is driving me insane! Just kill me already!”
“Heh.”
Lesia chuckled and offered some form of twisted comfort.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re still better off than her.”
He pointed his finger toward Jeanne, the proud knight. Jeanne broke out in a cold sweat and asked hesitantly:
“W-What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. Soon, the world will see the most shameful knight in the history of the hero’s party.”
“Wai—!”
Before Jeanne could stop him, her own dark past began to play.
The scene shifted to five years ago when she was 22, during the downfall of the Grave Kingdom under the Empire’s attack.