Chapter 6. The Poisoned Chalice

Her condition was terrible.

Having been tormented by the man in bed until dawn, Renie was weighed down by both sleep deprivation and fatigue. She wanted to do nothing and rest thoroughly on a day like today, but she couldn’t.

Because a hunting schedule had been set.

The temple had been bustling since the crack of dawn to head to Sperr Mountain on the outskirts of the Holy City. That meant Renie had to leave her bedroom without getting a wink of sleep.

In fact, most of the preparations had been completed yesterday, so all that was left was the journey. The actual purpose, hunting, could only be done after arriving at Sperr Mountain, so they had to leave quickly to carry out the schedule.

The ordeal occurred on the way to Sperr Mountain.

Since it was a rough mountain path rather than a paved road, the carriage shook constantly. Her condition was already poor, and with the added motion sickness, she turned deathly pale as if she would collapse at any moment.

Eventually, she couldn’t go on and expressed her desire to rest for a bit. She didn’t like the idea of delaying the schedule because of her, but she felt it would be even more of a nuisance if she ended up vomiting in the carriage.

The carriage stopped, and Renie got out with a face as white as paper. Still, stepping on stable ground calmed her churning stomach a bit.

She sat on a dark-colored rock and looked around. Everyone was taking a short break, either watering the horses or inspecting the carriages.

In the distance, she saw Khan on horseback. Dressed casually for hunting, he was listening to something one of his subordinates was telling him when he suddenly raised his head. Renie, realizing he was about to look at her, quickly turned her gaze away.

Strangely, even though she wasn’t looking at him, she could tell he had dismounted. The moment she recognized that Khan was approaching her, her heart began to pound heavily.

“Your Holiness.”

Just then, she heard a voice calling her from a different direction. Startled, she looked to where the voice came from and saw the Holy Knight Reuben standing there.

He gave a brief, informal greeting.

“Sir Knight. What is it?”

“I came to deliver this.”

He held out what he was carrying. It was a canteen for traveling.

“Your complexion is very poor.”

“Ah...... I’m a bit carsick. Thank you.”

The unexpected kindness brought back memories of the other day. When he had sought her out in the dark of night and seriously asked if she had any worries.

Feeling his concern for her, Renie unknowingly lowered her guard. She opened the canteen he offered and took a few sips of water. Thanks to that, the nausea that had been troubling her seemed to subside a little.

Both last time and this time, Reuben was the only one in the Holy City who understood her weary heart. Looking back, she regretted sending him away so coldly last night. He had come to her because he was worried about her well-being.

“......How are your younger siblings doing?”

As if to repay his kindness, Renie spoke casually.

As far as she knew, Reuben was the eldest son of a family with many younger siblings. To be more specific, he had a sick mother lying in bed and three very young siblings. Despite growing up in such impoverished circumstances, he had become a First-Class Holy Knight, earning him a reputation as a somewhat legendary figure even in the seminary.

Perhaps it was because of such harsh family circumstances that he was able to rise to a high position. His resolve and mindset would have been different from those of the unremarkable noble children of the royal capital.

Perhaps it was quite unexpected for him that she remembered his family situation, as Reuben was silent for a moment before nodding with a faint smile.

“They are well. Too well, in fact. They cause trouble whenever I take my eyes off them, honestly.”

His usually impassive face transformed into one of mild distress for the first time in a long while. That face, revealed like the peeled skin of a fruit, was probably Reuben’s true self. Hearing his honest confession, she could tell how much he loved his siblings.

“Still, you care for your siblings very much.”

“......”

“When they grow up, they will all be truly grateful to you.”

Reuben looked at her silently. He didn’t open his mouth, but she felt like she knew what he was thinking. It was probably something like, ‘It’s been so long since we’ve had such a casual conversation.’

Renie, who had been smiling faintly at him, belatedly remembered Khan, who had been trying to approach her. She quickly turned her head and saw that Khan was unexpectedly still standing in the same spot as before. However, his gaze was still fixed on her.

His blood-red pupils were like a wildfire. They seemed as if they would devour and swallow not only her but everything around her. The threatening intensity was palpable even just from meeting his gaze, so Renie stood up abruptly.

“I, I think we should depart now.”

“Yes. I will instruct them to prepare.”

Renie thrust the canteen back at Reuben as if to get rid of it and hurried back to the carriage. Even as she sat there blankly, her stomach churned with the worry that Khan might open the door and enter as he pleased.

Fortunately, no such unpleasant incident occurred until they arrived at the hunting grounds.

Getting out of the carriage, Renie swallowed her queasy feelings and approached Khan. In any case, as the leader of this group, she had to explain the hunting grounds and the hunt itself.

Khan, who had followed her carriage, remained on his horse. As Renie approached, he looked down at her expressionlessly.

Just as she was finishing her explanation, Khan suddenly yanked hard on the reins.

The black horse, snorting, turned its head nervously, and Renie almost collided with him.

Barely stepping back, Renie looked at him with a clearly surprised gaze. At that moment, Khan jumped off his horse and stood before her. With the giant of a man standing in front of her, the sun was blocked, and she felt a chilly sensation.

“If it’s an animal, can we catch anything?”

He, who had been listening silently to the explanation, asked only that abruptly. Compared to his casual tone, the content felt like he had some ulterior motive.

Renie looked into his deep red eyes to discern his intentions. He met her gaze confidently, as if he had nothing to hide.

As the two stood facing each other silently for a long time, a growing murmur arose from the surroundings. Renie had no choice but to nod. No sooner had she finished her answer than Khan grinned.

“Your Holiness, you will accompany me.”

“Yes? No, I......”

The moment she tried to refuse, Khan’s eyes flashed sharply. The glare, reminiscent of the violent dawn, made her involuntarily shut her mouth. Khan embraced the stiffened Renie and arbitrarily placed her on the horse. Suddenly, her vision became higher, startling her, and she hastily hugged the horse’s neck.

“I, I can’t ride a horse, Your Highness!”

“There’s no need to worry.”

Khan stepped onto the stirrup and instantly took a seat behind Renie. He leaned her upper body against him and firmly grasped the reins. Then, without warning, he kicked the horse’s flank.

Hee-ing! The horse let out a loud cry and galloped into the hunting grounds where a path had been cleared beforehand. Startled by the sudden turn of events, Renie had no choice but to tightly grip Khan’s forearm that encircled her waist.

“What are you doing......!”

Renie, noticing that the others had disappeared from their sight, urgently demanded. He only slowed the horse’s pace after they had reached the deep mountains.

Renie, who had been clinging tightly to his arm like a lifeline because she couldn’t keep her balance, belatedly realized her actions and let go of his arm as if shaking it off.

“Let me down.”

Despite Renie’s protest, Khan remained unmoved. Clop, clop, clop, the horse walked slowly as if obeying its master’s will. As they moved further and further away from the starting point, Renie grew increasingly anxious. Wherever this place was, being alone with this man was not at all pleasant.

“Let me down, I said let me down......”

A hand that suddenly reached out from behind blocked Renie’s lips.

“Shhh.”

The man’s hot breath landed on her ear. In the meantime, the horse stopped, but Renie couldn’t move an inch, as if chained.

Khan’s hand that had covered her mouth slowly moved down. The hand that had slipped inside her robe grasped her breast. At the raw touch, Renie hunched her shoulders, trying to protect herself.

A chilling suspicion suddenly arose. Could it be that the reason he had brought her to this secluded place was to continue the acts of last night?

Despite her doubt, her anxiety grew.

“The knight who was with us earlier.”

He whispered, rubbing her nipple through her clothes.

“What’s his name?”

Renie bit her lower lip and tightened her grip on the saddle. She wanted to twist her body, but being in an unstable position on the horse, she couldn’t attempt it rashly. If she resisted to shake off his hand, she would surely fall off.

Someone who had ridden horses often would have landed skillfully, but for Renie, who hadn’t, this was a very precarious position.

“Huh?”

“W-why are you asking that......”

While barely managing to push away his sinister touch, Renie’s mind became incredibly confused.

If the knight from earlier was Reuben, then why was he asking for his name? Because this man was a demon, an endlessly cruel demon to her, she couldn’t easily answer even a trivial question.

Khan, who had been openly fondling her breast, slowly lowered his hand. The hand that had traced her navel as if tickling it soon reached her crotch, which was spread wide apart with the saddle in between.

“You remember, don’t you?”

He gently rubbed her crotch, then lifted his hand and licked his middle finger lengthily. Then, he suddenly slipped his finger inside her underwear and nibbled at the protrusion between her labia.

“Ugh......!”

“The one I filled to bursting with my cock all night long.”

“D-don’t, stop it!”

“I even shot a load of cum inside you, me.”

How could he say such things so nonchalantly? It was a vulgar conversation that made her fear someone might overhear.

Renie shook her head, clutching the back of his hand.

“Please, not here. What if someone sees......”

“Does that knight know?”

The topic she thought had passed like the wind returned. She didn’t know why he kept bringing up Reuben, but with a vague unease, Renie resolved to keep her mouth tightly shut.

“Does he know that you and I fucked all night long?”

His mocking voice sent shivers down her spine. Renie let out a slightly quickened breath and just gripped his arm.

“Who said anything about killing? Why aren’t you answering?”

His monotonous voice couldn’t have sounded more menacing.

“You won’t talk?”

Khan chuckled, realizing she had forcibly closed her mouth.

“Haa. You’re being annoying.”

He withdrew his hand that had been stroking her swollen clit, which had been stimulated all night. Khan, who had sucked his slightly wet fingers as if licking honey, firmly grasped Renie’s chin. Her gaze was fixed straight ahead.

Renie felt Khan moving behind her. But since she was looking straight ahead, she couldn’t see what he was doing. A strong wind blew. Swish. Countless leaves on the branches rustled finely, making an eerie sound.

Whizz!

Something flew into the side of her vision. At first, she thought it was an arrow. But only after it flew past did she realize it was a spear. A spear, thrown like an arrow. By the man behind her.

What immense power.

Before she could even feel the chill, a sharp scream of an animal pierced her ears. The sound echoed loudly through the secluded mountains.

A deer, which she didn’t know when he had spotted, had fallen powerlessly, struck by the spear he had thrown. Bright red blood gushed like a fountain from its torso pierced by the long spear. The gruesome scene reminded her of the carnage in the carriage she had once dreamed of.

Renie involuntarily frowned at the cruel scene of a life fading so vainly.

But then.

“......!”

It was definitely a deer just a moment ago.

But the moment she closed and opened her eyes, the one struck by the spear and lying fallen had changed into someone she knew very well. The target, instantly covered in blood and dying, was none other than Reuben.

Her heart sank.

Reuben, who had been trembling violently as if convulsing, soon went limp as if his breath had been cut off. The crimson blood flowing from his body soaked the green grass.

Renie covered her mouth with her hand, a chilling malice gripping her heart.

“No way......!”

Just a moment ago, Reuben had handed her a canteen. Why on earth was he lying there?

No, why was he dying?

“Why, why did you do that to him......! Let go, let me down, now!”

Renie went into a panic and tried to get off the horse, shaking off his hand that held her. The fear of falling to the ground had long since been erased. She was only filled with an earnest desire to save Reuben as quickly as possible.

Reuben’s eyes, slowly losing their vitality, looked very much like her own in the dream. That’s why she was scared.

It was as if it wasn’t Reuben who was dying, but herself.

“Let go, I said let go! You bastard!”

No matter how much she struggled, Khan absolutely wouldn’t let her go.

Renie’s eyes grew hot with tears. It was a situation where every second counted. If she was even a little late, Reuben might really, really die...... His hand suddenly blocked her vision.

Renie scratched that hand frantically enough to draw blood. It was to get him to let go of her. Soon, the hand released her on its own.

The surroundings brightened, and the full view was revealed. Renie barely let out the breath she had been holding, as if she had seen it wrong from the beginning. Reuben’s figure had changed back into a deer.

The deer had already breathed its last, foam of blood at its mouth. But perhaps because she had seen the lingering image of dying Reuben, it didn’t strike her as so shocking. She was only filled with relief that Reuben wasn’t dead.

As if proving it, tears streamed down Renie’s cheeks.

“Ha.”

A snort of disbelief came from behind her. He grabbed Renie’s chin hard enough to hurt and turned her to face him. The moment he saw her tear-stained eyes and cheeks, his face twisted like shattered glass.

“Is that knight so precious that you cry?”

His tone was flat, but it felt menacing, like a reprimand. It was probably because of the anxiety that the previous scene might become real depending on her answer.

Renie wiped her cheeks and shook her head hastily.

“No. It’s not that, I was just so surprised. Even if it wasn’t that knight......”

It wouldn’t have been strange for her to be angry at him for showing her such a cruel hallucination. But he was too cruel, and she was too weak. She knew well that he was a man capable of turning ominous hallucinations into reality any number of times.

Renie had already realized that no matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t get off the palm of his hand.

“I would have reacted the same way no matter who it was. I mean it.”

She quickly murmured to emphasize that she wasn’t crying because Reuben was dead. For some reason, his red eyes seemed colder today. Her heart pounded, worried about what bizarre thing he might do next.

Khan slowly twitched his eyebrows.

“I expected as much to some extent.”

“......”

“But why am I so angry?”

His lips wore a smile, but strangely, his eyes were cold. With a face that showed his amusement had completely faded, he turned his horse’s head.

That day, the Ferno delegation’s hunt ended with the death of a single deer.

Contrary to her fear that a brutal massacre might occur, it was a rather fortunate outcome. The animals had escaped the demon’s ruthlessness, and Sperr Mountain also retained its natural, fresh scent, untouched in its primeval state.

Nevertheless, Renie couldn’t easily shake off a strange unease.

It was a truly unsettling hunt.

________________________________________

Renie listlessly looked up at the golden door with ancient script embossed on it.

She wanted to turn back and return to her bedroom with all her heart, but that was impossible. If she did, she could clearly foresee her life becoming difficult starting tomorrow.

Her life wasn’t easy even now, and if it became even harder than this...... Just imagining it made her feel suffocated, so she lowered her head.

‘Come to my bedroom at night.’

When they reached a safe point in the hunting grounds, Khan commanded in a voice that no one else could hear. And he helped her off the horse with a cold touch, as if dismissing her.

After that, until they returned to the temple, he didn’t look at her even once. No matter how she saw it, it could only be perceived as anger.

She was quite exhausted from being tormented for two days in a row, so she wanted to rest as soon as she returned to the temple. But she was afraid that something irreversible might happen if she refused his command, so she ended up forcing herself to walk.

The scene she had witnessed in the mountains during the day repeatedly played in her mind.

The deer, convulsing with foam at its mouth before finally stopping breathing...... The fear that she might end up like that held her ankles like the scythe of the Grim Reaper.

She lifted the round doorknob and let it hit the door, making a knocking sound. Knock, knock. The sound echoed in the empty hallway. A cold wind brushed past her. It felt like the man’s permission, so Renie cautiously opened the door.

It was a little cold inside. But at the same time, it was hot. The space where the man was always managed to evoke those two opposing sensations. It was probably due to the sinister aura emanating from the demon himself.

She forced her feet into the interior, which was larger than her own bedroom. The room was quiet, but not completely silent. Occasionally, she could hear the clinking of a glass.

Moving her feet stealthily like a petty thief, she found Khan sitting at a table by the window. He held a clear crystal glass in his hand. Seeing the purplish liquid sloshing inside, she guessed that it was the source of the mysterious sound.

Khan, who had been staring blankly at the picturesque rear garden, turned his head towards Renie, who had appeared from the darkness.

“Welcome.”

Unlike his usual demeanor of readily smiling, there wasn’t even a flicker of emotion on his lips today. That reaction seemed to indicate that he was quite displeased, so Renie swallowed hard.

Khan was wearing only a nightgown. The clearly defined outline of something already hard and swollen was visible between his spread legs. He downed the remaining alcohol in one gulp and then languidly flicked his fingers. It was a gesture for her to approach.

“Sit.”

Renie glanced around cautiously, trying to sit opposite him. Then Khan laughed as if amused and waved his hand.

“Who told you to sit there?”

“......”

“That’s not your seat.”

Khan, with the glass to his lips, casually gestured to the floor.

Renie’s fingertips twitched and curled. So, he was telling her to sit on the floor? She was angry at his treatment of her as less than a dog, but as always, she had no choice but to silently obey. Considering that he didn’t usually act this harshly, it was clear that he was in a very bad mood.

Not feeling well, she wanted to return as quickly as possible, so Renie acted obediently. As she slowly knelt down, Khan stroked her head as if praising her. Renie had to bite her lip hard to endure the humiliation.

Suddenly, the glass was held out in front of her nose.

Renie inadvertently took it but didn’t drink, looking up at him instead. Khan, who had slowly propped his chin on his hand, stared intently at her as if watching her reaction.

His gaze was truly heavy. ‘Aren’t you going to drink?’ It felt like he was asking just that.

“I, I don’t drink alcohol......”

Like lust, drinking alcohol was also forbidden by the commandments.

She already felt guilty enough just by the fact that she was committing acts with the man that she shouldn’t. That was the conscience of a cleric who had vowed to dedicate her life to God.

But she couldn’t bear to remain still while watching the demon’s eyes become fierce like those of a twisted person.

With trembling hands, she brought the glass to her lips. A pungent smell stung her nose. She carefully let the liquid flow into her mouth. The taste of alcohol, which she was trying for the first time in her life, was bitter and astringent.

He was truly evil. He made her cross all the proper boundaries set by God on his own, eventually staining her with the color of corruption.

“Drink it all.”

Khan rubbed Renie’s earlobe.

Despite his forceful command, Renie, unable to handle the bitter taste she was experiencing for the first time, gave up without even drinking half. The purplish liquid, more than half remaining, sloshed in the glass. Khan clicked his tongue and snatched the glass from her hand, emptying it into his own mouth. Then, he grabbed Renie’s nape and kissed her lips.

“Mmph!”

Her mouth was forcibly opened, and the alcohol flowed thickly between their locked lips. He stirred his tongue, forcing her to swallow the alcohol. Renie unknowingly gulped it down.

His lips, which had been sucking hers deeply, parted, and he looked at Renie. The hand that had been around her waist was now caressing her buttocks.

The man, who licked his lips as if savoring the taste, pulled Renie closer and sat her on his lap. Sitting astride him with her legs wide open, as if they were about to have sex, was deeply embarrassing.

Khan drank his alcohol just fine in that position. He was still roughly fondling her buttocks, so to a third party, Renie would have looked like a whore entertaining the man, not a Pope.

“......Hng.”

Renie, who had been struggling to somehow compose herself, suddenly gasped as a strange thrill ran down her spine.

Unknowingly, the inside of her abdomen began to feel hot. To be precise, the intimate area between her spread legs.

Renie rolled her eyes in embarrassment. Khan smiled thinly, as if he had expected such a reaction, and rubbed Renie’s buttocks. She wanted to remove his sticky touch, but she couldn’t because of the strange reaction her body was showing.

Was it the alcohol? But even so...... Now that she had tasted lust, she was remarkably aware that her body was becoming aroused.

“Renie.”

Khan’s voice was laced with laughter.

“Have you ever masturbated?”

“Wh-what? Ugh.”

“I’m asking if you’ve ever stuck your hand between your legs.”

The fingers that had been persistently rubbing her buttocks slipped further down and tapped the twitching hole. Even though it was covered by her clothes, her body shrank at that simple touch. Every time something touched her sensitive lower area, her toes curled, and a flushed breath escaped her involuntarily.

Because of that, all she could do was twitch her body instead of answering.

Of course, even if she were in her right mind, it wasn’t an easy question to answer.

Khan carried her in his arms towards the bed. After throwing Renie down as if discarding her, he emptied the rest of the alcohol into his mouth and then flung the glass away. Clang. The sharp shattering sound pierced her ears painfully. The man’s red eyes became even darker crimson.

Khan, who had climbed on top of her, leisurely took off his nightgown. Even in the darkness, the intricate black tattoos delicately embroidered from his wrist to below his thick chest were clearly visible. It served to further enhance his fierce aura.

“Shall we see how well you can fuck yourself?”

Khan, who quickly turned the helpless Renie into a naked figure without a single thread on her body, firmly grabbed her calves and spread her legs apart so she couldn’t close them. As she had already noticed from her thoroughly wet underwear, her vagina was glistening with moisture.

He slapped her vulva with a sharp sound.

“Ahng!”

Renie unknowingly squeezed her lower muscles. Every time her naked body trembled, love juice gushed out as if she were urinating.

More than anyone else, she herself couldn’t adapt to her body responding to his touch as if it had been waiting.

He grabbed Renie’s hand that was clutching the sheet and led it to her soaked vulva. She inadvertently touched her clit and, terrified by the fiery pleasure that seemed to devour her, tried to pull her hand away, but Khan wouldn’t let her.

“Hng, ahng......”

Her eyes felt like they would burst. A suffocating frustration rose with the increasingly intense heat. She wanted to escape somehow, but he held her body still, preventing her from moving at all.

More than that, she craved the pleasure that had run down her spine when he had touched her clit a moment ago. Renie, who had been panting repeatedly like someone who had forgotten how to speak, blinked and then instinctively moved her hand slightly.

When she very timidly touched the engorged bud at the top of her parted labia, her back immediately arched like a bow.

“Heeuh!”

“Look at your hole gaping. Are you begging for my cock?”

Khan muttered lewdly, witnessing the excitement fluid gushing out and wetting her hole.

At this moment, she didn’t even have time to recognize his mockery. The moment she touched her clit, all the heat spread coolly, and a pleasure unlike anything she had ever felt before poured over her. It was a fleeting sensation, making it even more agonizing.

“Ah, haa...... Uhng!”

While intuitively knowing there was something in the alcohol this man had given her, Renie couldn’t make any protests. She was just preoccupied with rubbing her flushed clit and vulva. Her toes curled, and Renie twisted her body with a moan. Her dignity as the Pope had long since fallen to the ground and was rolling around with the dust.

Even though she knew the man’s gaze was fixed on her vulva, she couldn’t stop masturbating. She was completely lost in a trance. With two fingers pressed together, she drew circles, repeatedly stimulating her vagina. Her panting moans continued, on the verge of stopping, heating up the bedroom.

“Why don’t you try putting your fingers in too?”

He murmured, his eyes fixed on Renie’s hand that craved pleasure.

All reason had flown away, and the instinct that had taken its place faithfully carried out what he told her to do. She thrust one of her fingers, which had been rubbing heatedly up and down, into her softened hole.

“Hee, uhn......!”

Tsk-tsk, the wet sound overflowed as she inserted about two knuckles, indicating how full of liquid she was inside. Her sticky inner flesh welcomed the strange intrusion, deliciously clamping down on her finger.

Khan couldn’t take his eyes off the lewd scene of the Pope pleasuring herself beneath him. Rather, he kept smiling because this was the sight he so desired, her writhing in the mire of lust.

Her body, finally honest about its pleasure, satisfied him immensely.

Renie had already inserted another finger and was rapidly scraping her vaginal walls. Recalling the times his cock had dug into her inside, she tried to imitate him. Strange moans, like whimpering cries, never ceased from her lips.

“The believers should see this sight.”

Khan, who had been watching her dissolute masturbation with sticky eyes, whispered lowly.

“This vulgar sight of Her Most Holy Pope, unable to get enough of a man’s cock, using her own hand to fuck her pussy.”

“Ugh, ahng, uhn......!”

“Ah, aren’t they religious fanatics? Won’t they even lick your pussy like a dog, saying this is God’s will? Convinced that this water is holy water.”

Khan chuckled crudely and suddenly lowered his upper body. As his breath touched her groin, which was burning with heat, Renie gasped and stiffened.

“That won’t do. It’s all mine.”

Khan pressed his lips onto her vulva and sucked it deliciously. Renie didn’t know whether to close or open her legs. He sucked up all the fluid like ambrosia, making slurping sounds, and then rolled his soft tongue around her clit.

“Uhn, aah!”

The sensation of his tongue rubbing against the sensitive bud where all her senses were concentrated, and his teeth biting down hard, was so ecstatically chilling that it gave her goosebumps.

He spread her helpless legs over his shoulders and then ravaged her vulva. He thickened it with his fingers, rubbed it with his tongue, bit it with his teeth, calmly melting her away.

Like a lump of salt dissolved in water, her entire body went limp. Her crotch was already as soaked as if a bucket of water had been poured over it.

Suddenly, she thought she sensed a presence outside the curtained bed, but her mind was so confused that she didn’t have the chance to confirm it. Renie reacted helplessly to Khan’s touch, like a pebble swept away by the waves.

Khan brought her legs together and lifted them up. Below her tightly pressed thighs, her plumply closed labia were visible. He swept his middle finger from the bottom up over her vagina. His finger became shiny with moisture. Khan licked it and then reinserted it, thrusting deeply inside.

“Haaahng, ahng, ah!”

The speed at which she became aroused was twice as fast as usual. The pleasure that gnawed at her inner walls surged like a wave, rendering her helpless. Just before she reached her climax, he abruptly pulled out the finger he had deeply inserted. Renie involuntarily let out a sigh of disappointment.

Khan repeated this pattern of stopping just before her climax several times. Her body, drenched in ecstasy and burning hot, made Renie snap in a nervous tone.

“Wh-what, hng, what are you......”

“Why, are you so itchy for a cock that you can’t stand it?”

It was about time she developed some tolerance, but she still found his blunt way of speaking difficult to adapt to. Of course, adaptation was a secondary issue; her pride, which didn’t want to obey his wishes, was the biggest problem.

Even though she had already been subjected to his will, she still had her pride...... She didn’t want to lose her mind, intoxicated by this lewd act.

But her unusual physical state was crushing that pride to pieces. Her insides burned as if she had swallowed fire. A dizzying frustration made her want to gulp down cold water immediately, but she knew well that wasn’t the fundamental solution.

Pleasure. She needed pleasure.

As if proving it, her vagina repeatedly relaxed and contracted, seeking the thick, hard rod.

“Come up here if you want to eat.”

Khan raised her upper body and then lay down on his back instead. On his thighs, which he patted, a piece of flesh that was far too large to be a human cock dangled, its head pointing towards the sky.

Renie unknowingly swallowed hard. Her throat felt parched, as if a fireball had been shoved down her esophagus. As she hesitated, Khan languidly grabbed his cock and shook it up and down. His reddish glans twitched, oozing pre-ejaculate.

“I’ll fuck your pussy to your heart’s content.”

Her eyes met his, urging her on. Looking into his deep red eyes, she felt as if her reason was being grabbed and dragged away. In other words...... a bewitching feeling.

“Hurry. It’s just us here. No one knows. What we’re doing.”

Khan seduced her with a suggestive tone.

Renie, her mind blank, groped her way towards him. Pleased that she was being obedient, Khan caressed her cheek as she approached. It was the attitude of someone dealing with a well-trained animal rather than a person.

“......Heeuh.”

Khan sat her on his waist so that she faced away from him.

He greedily rubbed his cock between her luscious buttocks, then aimed at her vagina and mercilessly pulled her down by the waist. The pulsating thick rod slid into her tight interior in an instant.

“Aahng!”

Normally, she would have been in so much pain that she couldn’t speak, but today, only the pleasure of scratching an unbearably itchy spot was vivid. Her whole body tingled as if a fiery snake was slithering down her spine.

Khan also groaned heavily at the inner flesh that clamped down on his cock, biting it painfully.

“Khut...... You’re just squeezing my cock.”

“Ahng, hah......ah!”

“You like it that much? Huh? You’re dying to have my cock in your lower hole, aren’t you?”

Khan grabbed Renie’s waist and forcibly made her move up and down. Every time the shaft half slipped out of her gaping hole and then thrust deeply in, a wet, squelching sound echoed as it stirred the fluids.

As he, who had been lying down, raised his upper body, his broad chest and Renie’s back, as thin as a piece of wood, pressed tightly together. The demon’s body temperature was so hot it felt like it would cause burns.

Khan groped the hole that was twitching and biting his thing with his fingers, then parted her pubic hair and rubbed her clit. Renie, who had been holding onto his thighs, couldn’t hold on and leaned her upper body back. She ended up in his embrace.

Despite the overwhelming pleasure, she couldn’t stop swaying her hips. Her lewd movements were cast in black shadow on the curtain.

“Uhn, ahng, ah, heeuh, huh......!”

Stars burst before her eyes, her vision distorted by intense pleasure. She felt like she was going mad. It was as if the reason that controlled her pleasure had crumbled, and she felt good. Every time his thing thrust deep inside, goosebumps prickled all over her body.

Suddenly, Khan laughed.

Even in her dazed state, the laughter that seemed to penetrate so deeply felt unsettling. In that instant, he suddenly reached out and pulled back the curtain.

Since she was lying on her back with her legs wide open towards the outside of the bed, the scene of her naked body and her and his genitals lewdly intertwined in intercourse was revealed without any obstruction.

It wouldn’t have mattered if no one was there, but someone was in the darkness.

“......!”

A light was lit in the darkness.

The identity of the person revealed by the lamp someone had lit was none other than Reuben. With a rope around his mouth and kneeling on the floor, Reuben’s and Renie’s gazes met in the air.

He and she froze simultaneously.

“......Ah! Hng, heeuh, stop, aah!”

But Renie’s petrified state didn’t last long. It was because Khan started thrusting his cock at a rapid pace.

Khan lifted Renie’s thighs higher to make it more visible to Reuben. Thanks to that, the scene of the rugged man’s cock heatedly thrusting into her narrow hole was revealed without any reservation.

“Hng, no, uhng!”

Since when had he been watching? When she was under him, pleasuring herself between her legs? Or when she had crawled towards him like a whore on her own?

No matter when it started, the scenes that flashed through her mind were nothing but lewd things she couldn’t bear to see with her own eyes.

“St-stop, please, ah, aah......”

The excitement that had been heating her entire body vanished like being washed away by water at the appearance of someone she should never have encountered here. No, her insides were still hot, but her mind had frozen over, incredibly cold. The sudden embarrassment and confusion quickly extinguished the heat.

Renie struggled to get away from Khan. Nevertheless, Khan clung to her tenaciously like a beast mating with a female, stirring her inner walls with his massive cock.

Her body shook, and her vision blurred, but Reuben’s shocked brown eyes were clearly visible.

That made it even more miserable.

Reuben, who had been frozen in shock, recognized her resistance and tried to get up immediately. Khan, seeing him, scoffed.

“Biron. If that bastard comes over here, you’ll die, you know.”

His low muttering voice was savage like a wild dog’s growl.

No sooner had that command ended than a hand emerging from the darkness forcibly pulled Reuben down to a sitting position. Once her eyes adjusted somewhat, she could see who the owner of that hand was. It was the aide who always attended to Khan’s side.

Khan’s aide being here. And to make matters worse, standing guard so that Reuben couldn’t move as he pleased. That meant this absurd situation unfolding right now was entirely Khan’s intention.

It was horrifying for the scene of her lovemaking, and moreover, an unwanted sex scene, to be revealed in real-time to another person. Especially since that person was the only knight who had cared for her and worried about her. Furthermore, he was also a former close friend with whom she shared past memories.

Her already bruised pride was completely shattered and collapsed in an instant. Renie sobbed uncontrollably, begging him to stop.

“Uuhng, hah, ah, please, please, Khan......”

However, Khan didn’t even pretend to listen and teased her by rubbing her nipples with his fingers. Hng, hng. Only desperate sobs escaped Renie’s lips.

Bloodshot veins stood out in Reuben’s eyes as he took in the entire scene without missing a thing. His whole body trembled like an aspen leaf. Unable to contain his rage, he heaved, then lowered his head in utter despair, unable to watch any longer.

“Hey, Sir Knight. You should watch properly.”

As Khan whispered in a voice filled with laughter, his subordinate Biron grabbed Reuben’s head and forced him to look straight ahead. It was a heartless touch.

“The sight of the Pope you so revere being fucked by me.”

“N-no, don’t look, please, ah, uhng!”

“Among your commandments, there’s one that forbids lust, right? But does it even matter? Even the Pope is like this, hoo, squirting like a bitch while being fucked by a man.”

Renie desperately tried to cover their joined lower bodies. But Khan slapped her hand away and instead gently scratched her clit. A tingling ecstasy made her pant like a cat, her chin jutting out. A strange feminine nasal sound echoed endlessly.

“Do you like it that much, Renie?”

“Heeuhng, ahng, ah, no......”

“I’ve been fucking you every night, but it’s still tight. How much more do I have to fuck you for it to loosen up? Or should I feed you that bastard’s cock too? Maybe that’ll stretch it out a bit?”

Khan held Renie’s chin and whispered, licking her earlobe.

Realizing that his gaze was fixed directly on Reuben, she turned pale and shook her head. Khan chuckled, revealing his perverse side. He clearly seemed to be enjoying this sickening situation.

“Do you know that bastard’s hard? Watching you get your pussy drilled by me.”

He pointedly mentioned it, as if telling him to look directly. Renie’s tear-filled eyes involuntarily slid down and landed on Reuben’s fly.

Just as Khan said, his fly was indeed bulging as if something had been stuffed inside. Probably inside there...... Renie squeezed her eyes shut in revulsion at seeing something she shouldn’t have.

“I thought it was just loyalty, but it seems there was some affection too. Or did watching me fuck your lower hole make you horny?”

“Hng, heeuh......”

“Or were you two originally fucking each other crudely? Huh? Not caring about forbidden commandments and deliciously swallowing that guy’s cock with this hole?”

“No! We, we’re not like that. So please......”

She should have realized it when he persistently brought up Reuben in the hunting grounds. She should have noticed that the result of avoiding his persistent questions wasn’t just him being in a bad mood.

But Renie, as foolish as ever, had brought the situation to this point. Something that would have been horrifying even in a nightmare was actually happening.

“Do you want me to let that bastard go?”

Khan asked, fondling her breast. Renie nodded her head urgently, as if her life depended on it.

He grabbed Renie’s pelvis and turned her to face him this time. The cock deeply embedded inside her scraped against her inner walls as it turned, making her let out a suppressed gasp.

He lightly tapped Renie’s buttocks that were pressed against his thighs.

“Then you’ll have to cheer me up properly.”

“......”

“Flatter me.”

“H-how......”

“That’s for you to figure out. I don’t care. Whether that bastard sees us fucking all night long here or not.”

Renie bit her lip. She felt a gaze from behind her.

Since the curtain was drawn back, whatever she did would be clearly visible to Reuben. Tears welled up in her eyes at the truly humiliating situation, and she sobbed.

“Won’t you do it?”

Khan, realizing she was hesitating, muttered menacingly. Renie roughly wiped her face and then timidly began to move her hips.

She absolutely didn’t want to show Reuben the act of pleasuring herself. But more than shame, her immediate priority was to get him out of here. She didn’t know why Khan had brought him all the way here, but if Reuben continued to stay, something ominous felt like it would happen. It was her instinct warning her.

Above all, Reuben’s helpless appearance endlessly amplified her anxiety.

Reuben was a First-Class Knight of the Holy City. For such a person to be captured so helplessly like a prisoner, and to be suppressed without being able to use any strength, was too much. It wasn’t that Reuben was weak, but proof that the Ferno people, no, these demons, were absurdly strong.

And the leader of such beings was this man lying beneath her.

“Heeuh, ahng.”

The heated atmosphere from before Reuben appeared had long since vanished.

Renie had no choice but to devote herself wholeheartedly to the grinding in a desperate attempt to survive. The pupils of Khan’s eyes, which she glanced down at, were coldly extinguished. The excitement of intercourse had already faded, but his cold gaze continued the act to see how she would act.

Khan deliberately glanced outside the curtain from time to time, as if doing it on purpose.

That looked exactly like the Grim Reaper’s gesture that would snatch Reuben’s life away, so Renie squeezed her lower muscles tightly each time. As if noticing her desperate movements, Khan chuckled softly.

For a long while, she struggled but still swayed her hips in a somewhat flirtatious manner.

Perhaps her coquetry wasn’t too bad, as Khan, with a noticeably relaxed expression, sat up. Renie’s round breasts pressed against his chest and were crushed. When she lifted her arms and embraced his thick neck, his smile deepened.

“You’re being cute.”

“Hng, let him, let him go......”

“Should I suck your nipples? You like that, don’t you?”

“Khan, please, please Reuben...... Uhng.”

“Tighten your pussy a bit. Like that. Haa, damn it.”

Khan, as if he hadn’t heard Renie’s plea at all, continued his thrusting while saying whatever he wanted. He laid her down on the bed and, with her slender legs wrapped around his waist, slammed his cock down quickly.

“Ugh, ah, aah, heeuhng!”

He drew his cock out long and then inserted it deeply, as if grinding his red flesh. His strength was so great that each time he thrust in, her womb echoed loudly as if it would tear. At the same time, he thoroughly licked her breasts, making Renie moan and writhe.

But she couldn’t completely lose herself in the act. It was because she was unbearably bothered by Reuben’s presence in one corner of the bedroom.

“Ahng! Ahng, ah, hng, Khan. Ru, Reuben is......”

“Shut your mouth unless you want to ruin my mood again.”

Khan, who had been moving his hips gently, suddenly opened his eyes fiercely and covered Renie’s mouth with his hand.

After thrusting in the missionary position for a while, he twisted his lips and suddenly turned Renie’s body to the side. Renie, who had tightly gripped the sheet at the sudden change of position, was immediately terrified when she realized that Reuben was now directly in her view.

“No! Don’t, ha, uhng, don’t...... Ah!”

“Khut, your pussy’s sticking to me...... How can you say you don’t like it while doing this?”

While her body was shaking, her eyes met Reuben’s several times.

This time, Reuben’s gaze was clearly visible. Confusion, surprise, and...... contempt. Her heart froze like an ice block. Receiving such a look from the only person who had cared for and worried about her was undeniably unbearable.

“No, really...... I said no!”

So, unintentionally, a more vehement resistance than before burst out. Her shrill voice echoed through the bedroom.

The man, who had been holding her waist and rubbing his lower body against her as if he would never let go even if she struggled, stopped abruptly.

“......You don’t like it?”

His low voice sounded ominous. Renie trembled and looked up at him. With a face that had completely lost its joyful expression, Khan caressed her cheek.

“Because that bastard is looking at us?”

His touch was gentle, but strangely, it only made her feel scared.

“Biron.”

Khan grabbed her chin, making her look only at him, and then murmured lowly.

“Gouge out that knight’s eyes.”

In that instant, Renie was so stunned that she couldn’t understand what she had just heard. The ringing in her ears stopped, and when she belatedly understood, she twisted her body hastily. A cold dread sank into her chest.

“Ah, no...... No!”

Reuben was a knight who wielded a sword. For such a person to lose his sight was the same as losing a decent livelihood and a promising future at the same time.

Renie struggled to shake off Khan, who was binding her, and reached her hand out of the bed.

Similarly, Reuben’s expression hardened upon hearing Khan’s command. The moment his eyes wavered with fear, something moved swishingly in the darkness faster than light.

“Aaaargh!”

A moment later, Reuben’s desperate scream echoed through the bedroom. It was a scream mixed with pain, despair, and the denial of an unbelievable reality.

Renie’s hair stood on end at the echoing sound. Liquid poured out in the deep darkness. After a moment, a bloody stench wafted intensely.

Reuben, who had hunched his upper body, trembled violently. Blood slowly spread from the floor where he had lowered his head.

Renie trembled and covered her mouth. The scene she had seen in the mountains flashed across her retina. That dizzying scene where the spear-pierced deer had turned into Reuben and then back into a deer.

That had been a hallucination, but this was not. Everything happening before her eyes was real.

Pale as a ghost, Renie pushed and clawed at his chest, even kicking him with her feet as she struggled. Her face was deathly pale at the cruel atrocity unfolding before her eyes.

“Let go of me!”

“Renie.”

“You, you crazy bastard. What are you doing? What is this, why, why......, let go of me, I said let go!”

Khan looked down at her silently and then casually released her hand. Renie immediately got out of bed and ran to Reuben.

She was naked without a single thread on her body, but she was in no state to think about getting dressed and covering herself. She knelt down before Reuben and checked his condition. He had his eyes tightly shut and was unable to breathe due to the extreme pain.

Even in the darkness, she could clearly see that his face was covered in blood.

“Sir Knight. Lift your head, just a little. Hng, Reuben, your eyes, your eyes...... What to do......”

In a situation that was no exaggeration to call a nightmare, even a name she hadn’t uttered in years involuntarily escaped her lips. Panicked, Renie cupped his face in her hands and then flinched when she discovered the blood sticking thickly to her hands.

She hastily tried to use her holy power. She now knew that the holy power she had wielded was actually the power of a demon and not originally hers, but the situation was so urgent that she couldn’t bear not to try anything. If, by any chance, the holy power manifested, she might be able to heal his eyes even a little faster.

But unfortunately, the holy power didn’t manifest at all, and his wounds remained as they were.

It was Reuben who was hurt, but it felt like everything was collapsing for her. It was all her fault that he, a promising Holy Knight, had suffered this. Her interactions with him had provoked Khan’s, that demon’s, anger. And it was clear to anyone that it was related to Renie.

This couldn’t go on.

“A physician, we need to go to a physician. Quickly, Reuben. Please, wake up......”

Renie murmured rapidly, as if begging. She tried to lift the knight, who was exhaling in intermittent breaths, but a hand suddenly reached out and wrapped around Renie’s waist, pulling her back.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Khan, who had followed her off the bed, was already close by. He pulled Renie’s hand away from Reuben and dragged her back to the bed. Renie, resisting being dragged, let out a voice filled with anguish at this whole incomprehensible situation.

“Why are you doing this, why!”

“......”

“It was enough if you just tormented me, it was enough if you just made things difficult for me. Why...... why did you lay a hand on him. Why......”

“Do you really not know why you ask?”

Khan’s gaze, fixed on Renie who was shouting with tear-filled eyes, was sharp.

“You smiled at that bastard.”

“......”

Renie unknowingly wore a blank expression.

What did this man just say?

Smiled? Because she smiled...... he said that’s why? It was a very simple sentence that was easy to understand, but it took her a very long time to comprehend.

When she soon understood him, she truly felt as if everything was becoming dizzying.

Renie’s face crumpled completely like a piece of crumpled paper. His erratic morality had pushed her patience to its limit.

She shook her head, her face filled with shock.

“Crazy, you crazy bastard...... You really are insane.”

Khan twitched his eyebrows as if telling her to continue. Seeing his nonchalant attitude now made her blood boil in a different way. A feeling of outrage she had never experienced in her life surged within her.

The resentment that had been building up inside her for a long time welled up from within. Renie glared at him as if she would kill him and shouted,

“How can you do that to a person for such a reason! You psychopath! You’re not sane!”

In the middle of her protest, Khan’s hand reached out.

Noticing that he was trying to forcibly drag her again, Renie slapped his sharply angled cheek.

Slap!

The sound of her palm making contact with his cheek echoed loudly. She was so filled with rage that she couldn’t see anything else. Even if he strangled her like last time, she couldn’t possibly endure this anger today.

Khan’s face, which had turned halfway, slowly returned to its original position. That languid movement tightened the knot in Renie’s chest.

“You need to choose your words carefully, Renie.”

“......”

“When have I ever tormented you?”

He suddenly reached between Renie’s legs. Renie flinched in surprise and flapped her body. Two fingers dug into her still-wet hole, stirred inside, and then came out.

Khan held his damp fingers in front of her nose and whispered,

“I’m cherishing you like this.”

The corners of his mouth curved in a disgusting smile. Meanwhile, the smell of blood grew stronger. Reuben’s screams had already stopped. The moment she realized that, a cold chill ran down her spine.

She tried to turn her head urgently, but Khan grabbed her wrist.

“If you ever defend that bastard in front of me again.”

“......”

“Next time, it’ll be your neck.”

His ascetic face smiled innocently, as if nothing was wrong.

“Not yours, that bastard’s neck.”

He added, caressing Renie’s trembling shoulder.

He was wicked. There was no other way to describe the man. How could he throw someone’s life into the gutter in an instant and then smile so calmly? She felt as if her own ethics as a human being were completely shattered.

Soon, Renie realized she was thinking absurdly. He wasn’t a person, he was a demon. She was judging such an evil being by her own standards, so there was no way she could understand him. He just seemed utterly atrocious.

Khan pulled her wrist. Renie, her face pale, hesitated at his gesture to lead her back to the bed.

So, he wanted her to leave Reuben in that state? In such an injured condition? Was he insane? If she treated him even a little faster, she might be able to save his eyes. So, this wasn’t the time to argue with Khan like this.

But the cruel warning that he would slit her throat this time made her hesitate to act. Even though she knew it was a matter of urgency, she was afraid of provoking even greater anger and hesitated.

Responding to Khan’s demands like this might be the quickest way to calm the situation.

However, leaving Reuben like this was a deep concern, and the time to make a decision was short.

Renie shook off the hand that held her and was dragging her. Before Khan’s chilling gaze could return, she prostrated herself on the floor and pleaded.

“Please, please.”

She swore she had never begged even the Lord God like this.

But as always, in a situation pushed to the extreme, she couldn’t assert her pride even a little. If abandoning this pride was the way to save someone, she had to do it a hundred times over.

“Let Reuben go, please......”

Knowing his pitiful family situation and how 힘들게 he had climbed to his position, she couldn’t possibly ignore him. If she abandoned him like this, his life would truly be over.

From the beginning, she shouldn’t have reacted to Reuben’s kindness. She shouldn’t have deviated from the formal master-servant relationship between the Pope and the Holy Knight. She should have drawn a clear line from the start so that he couldn’t care about her. For her sake, and for his sake.

With her face buried on the floor, she couldn’t see what expression Khan was making. But she could feel the temperature in the room drop sharply through her skin. It felt as if the cold was scraping her skin.

That didn’t mean it had actually gotten colder, but rather that the aura of the man standing still had become noticeably ferocious.

“Haa.”

A deep sigh landed above her head.

“Renie.”

At the sound of her name, she lifted her head creakily like an un-oiled machine. Her tear-stained face was pitiful. Khan, who had knelt down, caressed her cheek with a much more relaxed expression.

“You really have a remarkable talent for driving me crazy.”

His gentle touch instantly turned coercive, and he fiercely grabbed her chin.

“You foolish woman.”

His eyes, like embers, were threatening. As she trembled at his gaze, Khan’s eyes slid past her shoulder. Behind her......

Realizing where his gaze was directed, Renie tried to stop him urgently.

But before she could even attempt it, she heard the sound of a sharp blade cleanly cutting through living flesh. Something fell behind her and rolled with a thud.

Even though she hadn’t seen the scene with her own eyes, she could easily guess what had happened. Her legs froze in terror at the horrific situation. She couldn’t move at all, as if placed in a biting cold wind.

Above all, this time, there was no scream.

The moment she realized what that meant, Renie’s body collapsed along with her reason. She didn’t dare to look back. It was as if her cruel imagination had finally become reality.

She clutched her head and sobbed. A long time ago, memories with Reuben, now distant, flashed through her mind like a dying lantern.

“Why are you crying?”

But Khan didn’t give her even a moment to feel that sorrow.

His strong grip dragged her roughly. Her vision shook wildly, and Renie found herself lying on the bed.

“What’s so important about one person dying?”

Those words were the final nail in the coffin, piercing Renie’s heart heavily.

He was really dead? Reuben?

Why did he have to die? Why, I was so stupid......

Struck by shock and guilt, she gasped for breath, unable to breathe properly. Her vision was blurry. Even in this state, the stench of blood wafted endlessly from outside the curtain. That foul odor was stubbornly etched into her mind, making it impossible to forget Reuben’s end.

Her legs spread apart, and the thick rod was thrust into the narrow gap once more.

The intercourse that followed was utter violence. The heated excitement had completely subsided, and only pain remained vivid.

Khan, as always, possessed her to his satisfaction. While occasionally letting out moans due to unavoidable physiological reactions, Renie couldn’t swallow her tragic tears.

In the dark hours before dawn, when even the moon was hidden by clouds.

After the intercourse ended, a blanket was placed over Renie’s naked body, which was soaked in sweat. She slowly blinked her eyes, which held no trace of life. Tears that hadn’t yet dried flowed down like streaks of blood.

The bedroom reeked of a nauseating mixture of blood and the scent of night-blooming cereus.

Throughout their coupling, Khan never stopped smiling. Truly, he showed no remorse for killing the innocent Reuben with a single stroke. He even seemed to be in a good mood. That laughter continued to claw at Renie’s heart. It was terrible and cruel.

Renie closed her eyes and curled up her body.

She only had the thought of wanting to die.