Sea Monster Stew Chapter 17

“Where does it hurt? Here?”

He pressed his body against hers, gently tracing the wound on her lip with his finger. 

 

From the continued stimulation, she could feel her body heating up against her will.

Just as her whole body stiffened with tension and excitement, a terrible pain shot from the brand. 

 

Biche desperately pushed at his shoulders, trembling in agony. 

 

He bit her nape lightly.

“Where does it hurt, huh?”

The man rubbed his lips against her temple and asked in a muffled voice. Biche covered her tear-filled eyes with one arm and shook her head. 

 

She didn’t want to say it was because of the shameful brand on her back.

“Enough… Just get out of here. Go away.”

The man, who had been quietly waiting for her answer, suddenly sat bolt upright. 

 

At that moment, a heavy, clattering sound reached her ears.

“Kyaaah—!”

A shrill scream echoed from outside the bed curtains, and bright white sunlight poured down abundantly over the man and Biche.

Biche, who had grown accustomed to the darkness, squeezed her eyes shut in surprise at the sudden sunlight. 

 

The man wrapped one arm around Biche’s head and pressed it firmly against his chest.

“How insolent, daring to spy on the master’s bedroom?”

“You’re one to talk, daring to sneak onto Lord Hildert’s bed! Guards—!”

“Quiet!”

Soon, the sound of a sharp blade cutting through the air and a shrill scream echoed through the room.

Biche was puzzled by the man’s tone, which carried the authority unique to those in power. 

 

She lifted her head from his chest and cautiously opened her eyes. 

 

The first thing that entered her blurry vision was a large, severed section of the bed curtain.

“Ah, the curtain…”

“We can just hang a new one. Why the fuss?”

 

Biche pushed away the man’s shoulder, who had retorted curtly, and looked outside the severed curtain. 

 

Under the window, from which warm sunlight streamed, a familiar shaped like a teddy bear lay powerless and sprawled.

“To think one remained… Damn, I still lack training.”

The man clicked his tongue as he carelessly leaned the longsword he was holding against the bedpost. 

 

Biche, only now noticing the sword she hadn’t known was there, jumped in surprise.

“When did you bring that?”

“I brought it in with me from the start, why ask now? Then again, it was dark inside the curtains, so it’s understandable you didn’t know.”

“Is that your sword?”

“It’s not the one I usually use, but… well, yes, it’s mine.”

“No, why would an assistant have such a huge weapon…”

Biche, who had been chattering, felt the man’s gaze piercing down at her and quietly closed her mouth. 

 

It might have been different in the darkness enclosed by curtains. But enduring his gaze directly under this bright sunlight was torture.

 

Moreover, she was completely naked, without a single stitch on. 

 

The desire and emotion reflected in the man’s pupils were so blatant that she almost felt being thrown in front of Hildert would have been preferable.

“…Seems you’re hurt in more than one or two places.”

The man slowly swept his rough fingertips over various parts of her body. They were all places bruised blue from failing to withstand the force of Hildert’s strong grip. Unable to bear the stinging, she twisted her body and let out a low scream.

“Ugh—! D-don’t touch…”

“Obviously. Your master isn’t a man suited for gentle, precious caresses.” The man whispered in a low voice. 

 

And with his thick, calloused hand, he slowly swept down her side. 

 

Biche’s sensitized body trembled pitifully.

“He’s never done this for you, has he?”

“Mmm…”

The man clamped his teeth down on her nape. Then, he sucked hard on the tender skin.

“Mmm, ah… Wait…”

As Biche shook her head wildly and pushed against his broad shoulders, the man grabbed her wrists and pressed them firmly into the bed. 

 

Startled by the unfamiliar sensation she was experiencing for the first time, Biche trembled pitifully, gasping for breath.

He tormented her, grinding his solid teeth into the defenseless, tender flesh. He soothed the sore spots with the tip of his tongue, covered in tiny bumps, then began torturing her with his teeth again.

“Ah, wait, mmm…”

He finally sucked on her skin with a loud ‘pop’. 

 

The hand that had been skimming perilously below her chest moved down along her waistline.

As his thick fingers gently probed between her legs, Biche gasped for breath and struggled again.

“Ah, don’t, not there…”

“Not there, what?”

The man licked her neck and tightened his grip on her buttock. 

 

Kneading the soft flesh like dough, he left his marks on her tender skin at will, then slowly moved his hand upward.

His hand, lightly tracing up her spine, encountered Hildert’s brand. 

 

The hand caressing her skin stopped abruptly.

 

A suffocating silence hung in the air for a moment. 

 

After staring intently at Biche’s tense face for a while, the man suddenly flipped her over. 

 

Pinning her struggling body down firmly, he took in the dark red brand covering her back.

Of all times, the surroundings had brightened, making the brand on her back clearly visible. 

 

Biche trembled from the throbbing pain in her back, and unable to bear the insane shame, she squeezed her eyes shut.

“I, I told you not to…”

 

“…Hildert’s work?”

The man whispered softly and pressed down hard on the brand with his finger. Her body automatically flinched.

“It hurts…!”

The moment she felt the sharp pain, the tears she had been holding back burst forth. 

 

She felt the finger tracing the brand twitch.

“I told you not to do it!”

The tears she had been holding back streamed down her cheeks. 

 

No matter how she pleaded, he insisted on handling her body as if it were his own, exactly like Hildert.

It felt like reliving the experience of being oppressed by Hildert. 

 

Not only was she subjected to her monstrous master, but now she was being treated like this by a man who had completely forgotten her. 

 

Her life was not just terrible, but disgusting.

 

Kisa looked down at the crying woman with a bewildered expression. 

 

Curled up in a ball, she looked just like a small animal right before being devoured.

Black magical power surged from the magic circle covering the woman’s back. 

 

It was Hildert’s magic, filled with extreme selfishness and cruel desire.

‘A binding spell? Or… just to inflict pain?’

‘Could this insane discomfort be defined as another emotion?’

 

It was the question he had endlessly agonized over while the woman and Hildert remained in the room. 

 

In truth, Kisa had vaguely sensed the answer to this question.

 

This was jealousy. The sharp pain as if his heart were being gnawed. 

 

The astringent, bitter taste felt in his mouth as he swallowed dryly. 

 

The maddening emotion that paralyzed his mind. A terrible sickness that only fools chasing the immature desire called love should suffer.

Even as a pirate who could live as he pleased, he was the commodore of the Great Pirate Fleet. 

 

For the sake of Captain Hawk, he had to abandon trivial desires and emotions.

He had to be prepared to sacrifice his body and mind at any time. 

 

Not just in battles where bullets and blades flew, but he had to dedicate his entire life to Captain Hawk.

Human affection or love? For him, the admiral of the 2nd Ship and a proud pirate, it was the most useless emotion in his life. 

 

At least, there had been a day when he thought so.

That was until he saw the woman’s green eyes in the freezing cold pond.

Now, the man of the past was gone, and only a fool, helplessly fallen into foolish emotions as potent as poison, remained. 

 

Unable to see even an inch ahead, he hovered around the woman and had become a lovesick fool like the Vice-Captain.

There had been times he wished the woman would disappear before he fell deeper. 

 

Those were the days when he couldn’t sleep, lost in thoughts of the green eyes he had met in the pond.

This woman, who made him feel like a foolish child, needed to disappear as soon as possible. 

 

Kisa was afraid of this woman who made him weak. 

 

Even if it meant disregarding the Captain’s orders, he wanted to eliminate her from his sight.

“…Wh-what are you doing?”

He cupped her slender neck in his two hands. 

 

Compared to his large hands, it was absurdly weak and thin. 

 

One good twist, and it seemed her bones would break and she would die before he even exerted full force.

“What are you doing? Let go.”

There had been many opportunities to kill this wide-eyed, innocent woman. Hildert couldn’t focus solely on his woman all day, so he could have killed her at any time, disguised as an accident.

‘The fact that I didn’t, must be because I’m a coward.’

Kisa removed his hands from the woman’s pale neck. 

 

He moved away from the coughing woman and plopped down heavily on the edge of the bed.

‘Since I don’t know what spell Hildert cast, I’ll just have to kill her once the nature of the magic circle is identified. Then, I must not hesitate like I did now…’

Making foolish excuses to himself was useless. 

 

Kisa decided to accept that he was a coward and a fool. No matter what excuses he piled up, the answer was ultimately one.

He would not be able to kill this woman who had entered his heart.