Sea Monster Stew Chapter 15

 

Biche stared up at him with terror-filled eyes as he climbed on top of her.

“It seems I’ve been too soft on you until now.”

Hildert swiftly stripped off the maid’s uniform top, damp with cold sweat.

 

Once her undergarments were removed in one go, her voluptuous breasts were revealed before his eyes. 

 

Watching Biche tightly squeeze her eyes shut, Hildert swallowed a cold smile.

“Don’t be afraid.”

As he brushed aside the locket necklace resting on her rounded breasts, Biche, pinned beneath him, flinched.

“Didn’t I tell you? One cannot satisfy their desires with something base and filthy.”

He lowered his gaze to her pink nipples, stiff with tension. 

 

His eyes, roaming over her naked white body, were filled with greed, yet his expression remained cold. 

 

He flipped over her trembling body in an instant. Biche pushed against the bed with her elbows, desperately trying to get up.

“Please…”

“Stay still.”

Hildert pressed down firmly on Biche’s back with his broad palm. 

 

He slowly ran his hand up along her trembling spine. 

 

Each time she flinched, the movement of her vertebrae was starkly visible.

She’s so thin. He frowned, gathering magical power in his hand. 

 

A circular magic circle slowly ignited in a purple hue on Biche’s back. 

 

Feeling the heat, Biche’s body stiffened rigidly.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“I told you to stay still.”

His eyes filled with exhilaration as he gathered the heat emanating from the magic circle into one spot. 

 

Hildert smiled with satisfaction, then glanced at Biche’s face, which was limply turned to the side. 

 

She was blankly blinking her unfocused eyes, half her face buried in the bed.

She didn’t seem to be crying, yet he strangely felt as if she were. 

 

Hildert thought she looked as if she were already dead.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

The moment he gently stroked her slackened lower back, Biche’s body, which had been still until then, stiffened rigidly. 

 

Her neck tensed as if she had resolved herself. Hildert instantly grasped her intention.

‘How foolish!’ He hastily shoved his fingers between her slightly parted pink lips. 

 

Biche’s teeth, which had been about to bite her tongue in her dazed state, sank deeply into his finger.

Teeth marks were left on his finger, but that was all. 

 

He couldn’t possibly be injured by the dainty marks left by her jaw and teeth. 

 

Biche tightly shut her eyes and let out a sob mixed with a moan.

“When did I permit you to die?”

Hildert pressed down firmly on Biche’s tongue with his finger. 

 

The deeply inserted finger struck her uvula, making her gag, but he paid no heed to her pained, choking sounds.

“You’ve exhausted what little patience I had left.”

Without hesitation, he channeled more magical power into the magic circle. 

 

The mana pierced into her rigidly stiff body, seeping into her blood vessels everywhere. It scoured through her veins and plunged deep into her turbulent heart.

Simultaneously, a pounding heartbeat pulsed against Hildert’s other hand. Hildert glanced down at his hand, which trembled with a faint vibration. A red heart was twitching in his grasp.

It was Biche’s heart. 

 

If he squeezed his hand now, Biche would lose her life. 

 

He stared intently at the twitching heart, then slowly clenched his fist.

For a moment, the breaths of both individuals halted. 

 

One from a spine-tingling pleasure, the other from a pain so intense it made their body rigid.

The former was, of course, Hildert. The euphoria of having her heart in his hand made his head spin.

Lost in the surge of desire, he unconsciously tightened his grip. 

 

A choked, gurgling sound burst from her mouth, where her tongue was being pressed down by his finger.

“Breathe properly through your nose.”

Hildert whispered in a husky voice, gently stroking her tongue. 

 

The heart of Biche held in his other hand slowly faded from view.

As long as the magic circle engraved on her back remained, Hildert could now grasp her heart anytime, anywhere. 

 

Even if Biche were to run far away from him…

He rubbed the underside of her tongue, wet with warm saliva, and smiled with satisfaction.

“Ghk, khuk, ug…”

“If you promise not to bite your tongue again, I’ll pull it out then.”

Biche rolled her unfocused eyes and stared blankly up at him. 

 

A vivid emotion swirled in her pupils, bringing them into sharp focus. 

 

Hatred and resentment directed at him were clearly felt in her tear-filled eyes.

Hildert suddenly grew curious about Biche’s past. 

 

‘How did a mixed-blood from the distant Helio Empire get captured by pirates and end up in his hands?’ Only now did a cruel curiosity arise.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Kisa glared at Hildert’s firmly closed door. ‘How utterly disgusting. Just when does he plan to come out!’

“How can he be so lost in lust that he even skips the officers’ meeting!”

“They say a late-onset lecher is the most fearsome.”

“If Moose finds out, she’ll unleash hell on the Vice-Captain!”

“Regarding Admiral Moose… She laughed heartily, saying she hadn’t thought the Vice-Captain had it in him, and didn’t say much else.”

“…But! For a man who holds the title of Vice-Captain…!”

“Even if he is the Vice-Captain, he is ultimately a man in his prime. Perhaps the Admiral could understand the Vice-Captain’s indiscretion with a broad mind.”

The castle’s butler parried Kisa’s complaints one by one.

“Even for you, Admiral Kisa, you shouldn’t interfere too much in the Vice-Captain’s private life.”

Feeling embarrassed by the unexpected criticism, Kisa coughed awkwardly and tried to play it off. But seeing the firmly shut door, his anger boiled over again.

Despite the sun being high in the sky, Hildert and his aide had not emerged from the room. 

 

Only the maid who had brought breakfast had come out with a flushed face. 

 

The firmly closed door showed no intention of opening except for that time.

He should have had enough by now! Time to come out! 

 

A scene of a woman shaking under Hildert’s massive body flashed through Kisa’s mind. Unable to contain his surging anger, Kisa finally resorted to impulsive action.

Clad in his giant’s hide, Kisa grabbed the doorknob, and the startled butler rushed to stop him.

“What are you doing, Admiral Kisa! You musn’t! If you disturb the Vice-Captain’s private life, even you, Admiral, will be in mortal danger!”

“Let go of me! I can’t take it anymore!”

Kisa roughly threw the butler, who was pulling at his giant-hide clad arm, to the floor. 

 

He grabbed the doorknob again and forcefully yanked the door open. 

 

The bedroom was dark because the windows were covered by curtains.

“They’re not here?”

Kisa strode over to the large bed with its curtains drawn back. 

 

His eyes flashed as he looked over the crumpled sheets and scattered cushions.

A tattered rag lying conspicuously at the foot of the bed caught his eye. 

 

The tragically torn garment was clearly the tunic dress the woman had been wearing.

“Lord Kisa! Lord Kisa!”

 

Squirrel familiars bounced up and down, capturing Kisa’s attention. Kisa grabbed the scruff of the one jumping the highest.

“Hey, where did the Vice-Captain go?”

“Lord Hildert went that way to wash up!”

The familiar gestured with its eyes over Kisa’s shoulder. 

 

Kisa turned his head towards where the familiar was looking. 

 

The door leading to the passage connecting to the large bathroom was slightly ajar.

“Is the woman with him?”

“Yes!”

“…Is she dead, perhaps?”

The residual magical energy of Hildert in the room stirred uneasiness. 

 

A faint but palpable killing intent and anger could be felt from it. 

 

He feared Hildert had finally drawn blood.

“No!”

At Kisa’s question, the familiars quickly shook their heads.

“Well, she was nearly at death’s door, but she didn’t die.”

“She was definitely breathing!”

“Lord Hildert wrapped the woman tightly in a blanket and strode into the bathroom passageway!”

“If the woman isn’t dead, that’s a relief,” said the butler, who had followed him in, looking pleased.

“Now the baseless rumor that any woman who shares a bed with the Vice-Captain is inevitably killed will disappear.”

Kisa, who had been staring blankly at the bed, spun around.

 

The butler swiftly blocked his path as he moved hypnotically towards the bathroom passage.

“You mustn’t! If you interfere any further in the Vice-Captain’s private life, even Captain Hawk will be furious!”

“Gaaah!”

Kisa stamped his foot in uncontrollable anger, shaking the objects in the room. 

 

The familiars’ shrieks and Kisa’s heavy footsteps surely must have pierced through to the bathroom ceiling.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The hot spring water drawn from the depths of Karabas shimmered with a blue emerald hue. 

 

This hot spring, a local specialty of Karabas, was commonly called Meltingschu.

This bath, a space thoroughly dedicated to Hildert alone, was now, for the first time, being used by none other than a lowly mixed-blood monster.

Hildert, entering the bath and parting the emerald water, sat leaning against the wall. 

 

He rested Biche’s limp head, lying in his arms, against his chest.

 

The warm, gentle water enveloped their two bodies. 

 

She, unconscious in his embrace, let out shallow breaths against his firm chest.

Hildert leisurely ran his hand down the curve of Biche’s hunched spine. 

 

Her long hair was scattered chaotically across the water’s surface around them.

As Hildert moved his hand along her petite shoulders, the corner of his lips twisted slightly. 

 

His brow, which had relaxed and become unusually smooth, furrowed again as usual.

“…Are you crying again?”

Even before he finished speaking, tears flowed from Biche’s eyes. 

 

Although he had no memory of splashing Meltingschu on her face, the area around her eyes was thoroughly soaked.