🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 39
“What are you doing?”
Belakshina backed away cautiously. But in such a confined space, escaping Aavalkin was of course impossible.
“Education.”
Aavalkin walked toward Belakshina in a threatening manner.
When he stood right in front of her—when his shadow fell over her head—only then did Belakshina truly realize how large and powerful Aavalkin’s body was.
And how helpless she herself was.
“Do you understand now? Your position.”
Belakshina didn’t want to admit that she had been overwhelmed and frightened.
So she glared at him even harder.
“Do you enjoy bullying powerless people?”
Aavalkin spoke in a cold, mocking tone.
“Do I look like I’m enjoying this? That can’t possibly be what you think.”
Beneath his icy voice burned a quiet, intense anger.
Aavalkin stepped closer—one more step.
Feeling threatened, Belakshina instinctively stepped back, and he closed the distance again.
She was being driven further and further into a corner.
Like prey being herded by a predator, Belakshina kept retreating exactly where Aavalkin pushed her, until her knees hit a large armchair and she fell into it.
Now only a few steps separated them, and there was nowhere left to run.
At this point, Belakshina couldn’t help but ask:
“W-why are you angry…?”
Her voice came out softer than intended, and Aavalkin’s gaze softened slightly as well. Not enough for the anger to disappear—but enough to ease a little.
“Because I found out what you were planning.”
“……!”
Belakshina made the face of someone caught doing something clearly wrong.
‘I was caught trying to run away.’
If that was the case, then his anger made sense.
Their marriage. All agreements and respect started from there.
Aavalkin had paid a large sum to marry her, and although various incidents had followed, Belakshina had seemed to reach some level of agreement.
And yet she had tried to run away just days before the wedding.
At this moment, Aavalkin had every right to be angry with her.
“I see you know what you did wrong.”
Belakshina lowered her gaze anxiously.
“I’m sorry… but put yourself in my position. Could you endure it? I was supposed to become an empress, but suddenly I became a slave, sold for money, forced into marriage…”
“Stop.”
Aavalkin cut her off sharply.
“Be quiet. That’s where my mistake began. Thinking I could understand you, endure you, treat you well, and that things would somehow change—that was my first mistake.”
“……”
“Let me ask you instead. Have you ever once cared about what I think or feel?”
Belakshina clenched her dress tightly and bit her lip.
An unfamiliar emotion struck her conscience, and she felt a pain in her chest. Aavalkin quickly closed the distance again.
“Have you ever thought about it?”
“I haven’t!”
In the end, Belakshina frowned and painfully admitted her own hypocrisy and selfishness.
“Not once. I… always thought only of myself.”
Aavalkin exhaled deeply, placing a hand on his hip and lowering his head.
It wasn’t surprising. He already knew what kind of woman she was.
And yet, he couldn’t escape the sense of defeat that pierced his chest.
“I don’t know how to control you.”
Aavalkin paced around anxiously, one hand on his chin.
He recalled many things from his time leading soldiers—lazy men, troublesome rebels, sly schemers stirring discord, foolish soldiers who caused accidents while spacing out.
He had trained all of them into proper soldiers.
But those experiences were useless here.
“I can’t whip you.”
“W-what?! A whip?!”
Belakshina was so shocked she curled up on the armchair like a startled cat, pulling her legs up.
“A-are you insane? You can’t hit me! No! If you hit me, I’ll die! I’ll die! If I die, I can’t marry! You’ll be throwing away ten thousand gold!”
“I know that, so shut up.”
Aavalkin shook his head irritably.
He had never seriously considered using a whip on her. Not because she was a woman, but because using a whip on a woman was practically equivalent to killing her.
“…If I can’t train you like a soldier, then I’ll have to train you like a child.”
“What do you mean?”
Belakshina grew uneasy, unable to guess what he was thinking.
And Aavalkin knew she needed a clear, undeniable punishment.
“Bend over.”
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her, forcing her to kneel and lean over the armchair. At that moment, she understood what he intended.
“Don’t tell me you’re—?”
“Yes. I’m going to spank you.”
Belakshina thought she misheard.
Spank her like a misbehaving child?
She screamed in shock.
“Are you crazy?! How can you do that? A gentleman never lays hands on a lady!”
“There are no gentlemen in this room. And certainly no ladies.”
He sat down, pulling her over his lap. Belakshina shuddered in humiliation.
“You think you’ll get away with this?”
“I’m surprised you’re still talking like that.”
“I said no! Let me go!”
She struggled violently, trying to escape, but there was nowhere to run.
“Stay still. Even seven-year-old children endure this.”
“But I’ve never—!”
“That explains why you’re so ill-mannered.”
Aavalkin raised his hand, then let it fall lightly onto her covered backside.
“Eek!”
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“It does hurt!”
“It can’t. You’re wearing too many layers.”
He was right. She was wearing undergarments, petticoats, skirts, and layers of fabric.
“Do you regret it?”
Belakshina nodded weakly.
Aavalkin’s expression softened slightly.
“If you do this again, it won’t end with just one strike.”
“Eeeh…”
Even so, Belakshina clenched her fists, enduring humiliation and shame.
“Does it hurt that much?”
“It hurts terribly.”
In truth, it barely hurt physically—but emotional pain was another matter.
“Aaah!”
She exaggerated her suffering, both from pride and humiliation.
Aavalkin hesitated.
He knew she needed discipline, but perhaps he had misjudged her fragile body.
“Wait here. I’ll call a doctor.”
“W-what? A doctor?!”
“You said you were hurt.”
Belakshina’s eyes widened.
“Are you insane?! No!”
A doctor would mean someone inspecting her—specifically, her backside.
“You’re trying to kill me from shame!”
“People don’t die from shame. But untreated injuries can cause complications.”
“You can just transform into a unicorn and heal me with magic!”
“Here? You want to destroy the house?”
Belakshina’s head spun.
Maybe she shouldn’t have exaggerated. Should she admit she wasn’t hurt? But that would be humiliating…
“Fine! Destroy the house!”
“……”
Aavalkin sighed.
Belakshina muttered weakly.
“But doctors are usually men…”
“A female assistant will examine you. The doctor will stay behind a partition and only diagnose.”
“R-really?”
She finally relaxed a little.
“Then… I’ll comply.”
She reluctantly nodded.
‘How am I supposed to explain this…’
She would never say she was punished for trying to escape before her wedding.
She would just have to say she fell.
Sigh… what a fate.
“Ugh… I want to die…”
At that moment, Aavalkin stopped walking.
“…Die?”
Belakshina had only muttered it to herself, but Aavalkin heard it differently.
‘Again. She said she wants to die.’
His eyes turned cold.
All he wanted was for her to stop trying to die.
Just to stay alive.
Yet she kept betraying him.
“You really are pushing me…”
Step by step, Aavalkin approached her like something rising from a bottomless swamp.
“Stop thinking nonsense. You will not leave this room until the wedding begins.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
He restrained his anger with difficulty.
Gripping the armchair tightly, he trapped her within his arms.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Then his gaze swept the room.
Now that his senses were sharp, simply locking her in wouldn’t be enough. Curtains tied in knots, a letter opener on the desk, even the poker by the fireplace—everything looked dangerous.
“Not a single thing…”
Winter-sky-clear, Aavalkin’s eyes were slowly swallowed by darkness.
