A Captive’s Unexpected Devotion

My mood was truly foul at that moment!

Foul!

Foul!

Foul!

I hopped onto the bed, my heels drumming against the edge.

‘Senior Faein! Even though I had her bound in the dungeon, why did she remain so composed? Did she truly have some hidden card? Hmph! Impossible! I was certain she was just putting on a brave front!’

‘Yet, why were her methods for dealing with girls so incredibly varied and effective…’

Just then, a faint whimper reached me from the other side of my bed.

I lay back down, then rolled over, peering to the other side.

There, beneath my bed, Senior Loynin lay. She was clad in a somewhat revealing and slightly low-grade female warrior’s armor, her feet bent and bound together, with her hands tied behind her back.

“Oh? You’re still here?” I mused, resting my chin in my hand as I watched her with a hint of amusement.

“M-m-m-m-witch, release me…” Loynin stammered, her messy chestnut hair framing a flushed face. Her brow was slightly furrowed, and her fair body trembled with the ropes binding her.

“Silence, you wench!” I retorted curtly.

“Eh?” Hearing such an insult, Loynin’s face grew even redder, and her body visibly flinched. “Witch, you… you witch, you’ve killed so many of my comrades, captured the Guild President’s daughter, and now you’ve tied me up like this. What, what exactly do you intend to do with me?”

Seeing her so frail and frightened, my confidence surged!

Senior Faein had casually kissed and humiliated me, Suriya had played pranks on me, and my subordinates disrespected me. The accumulated resentment from the past few days demanded an outlet!

And this beautiful, though not quite goddess-like, senior before me, in her current state, seemed practically born to be bullied!

“I-I’m telling you, my father is an Imperial Minister! You, you must release me and the President and let us go back, or else I…” Loynin prattled on incessantly.

I couldn’t stand it any longer. “So annoying! Shut up!”

“Mmph…” Loynin tensed up completely.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door, startling me.

“Your Royal Highness.”

It was Suriya’s voice. I didn’t want her to know Loynin was here, so in a moment of desperation, I grabbed something from the bed and shoved it into Loynin’s mouth. I whispered into her ear, “If you dare make a sound, I’ll throw you into the Minotaur Pit on the eighth floor!”

“Mmph—mmph!” Loynin’s brow furrowed tightly, tears welling in her eyes, and she shook her head frantically.

“What? You don’t understand?”

“Mmph—” She was so terrified that she nodded vigorously.

I turned and crawled across the large bed to open the door for Suriya.

Suriya had come to take Senior Faein for interrogation, but I refused. Although Senior Faein was infuriating, I intended to interrogate her myself!

Otherwise, how could I settle the score for her stealing my first kiss and bullying me?

If I used Suriya’s methods, even if Senior Faein learned her lesson, it would only embolden Suriya.

Besides, I didn’t truly want Senior Faein to come to any harm.

After refusing, I joined Suriya for tea in the study. We discussed the casualties among the other Templars, the war spoils we’d seized, and how to prevent retaliation from the Templar Order. Only then did I see Suriya off.

Before I knew it, it was already the middle of the night. Although there was no distinction between day and night in the dungeon, time still passed.

Returning to my room, I suddenly remembered that I had been so engrossed in serious discussions with Suriya that I’d forgotten Loynin was still tied beneath my bed.

I went to check on her, finding her face flushed, breathing heavily, and her eyes glazed over with a strange allure…

Seeing her unusual state, I felt I might have gone a bit too far. So, I untied her. “Fine, I’ll have Beth Daisy take you out for a bath.”

I sat on the edge of the bed, helpless, and crossed my legs in front of her, just about to call for Beth Daisy.

But then, Senior Loynin suddenly knelt.

“Your Royal Highness, I-I-Inin knows she was wrong. Please, Your Royal Highness, punish me severely! Punish me severely!” She trembled all over as she spoke, even twisting her body towards me. If she had a tail, she would have looked exactly like she was wagging it.

“Eh? No, no way, I-I was just joking. Could it be, could it be that Senior Loynin, you’re really…”

I remembered her as a respected, intellectual senior in the academy, second only to President Faein, serving as the student council vice-president. But I never imagined her true nature would be like this.

“Yes! Yes! I-I am Your Royal Highness’s… captive… I beg you, Princess, do not spare me! Punish me with even more severe methods…”

“Eh? No, I’ve already forgiven you, alright? I’m letting you return to human territory, alright? Don’t come any closer!”

****