The Child was always lonely.
Mother locked The Child inside the house to hide the signs of abuse, and The Child, who loved her, didn’t even know what it meant to resist.
In a space devoid of sunlight, filled only with the smell of alcohol and dim lights, The Child grew up gazing only at the mirror.
The face in the mirror resembled the beautiful Mother more than anyone else in the world. Every time The Child saw that reflection, she would lose herself in the illusion of seeing her Mother.
Whenever her reflection smiled, The Child became enchanted by the fantasy that Mother was kindly smiling back at her. At some moment, The Child began to have conversations with the mirror.
“Today… Mother hit me with a golf club again… I wish she had at least hit me with her hands… then I could touch her more…”
In reality, where no answer would come, The Child continued to talk to herself.
But one day, a sound broke the silence.
[Hello?]
In the dark dawn, at a sinister hour before sunlight touched the ground.
The Child had found her first friend.
*
Lying in bed, I stared at the ceiling. A darkness even thicker than yesterday pressed on my heart. It was hard enough to die, but I could endure this time. After all, I was not alone now.
I slowly got up and called for the servant. Today, it should be Luna. She was a simple and innocent girl; usually, her dullness was bothersome, but today, it felt welcoming.
“Luna, is it possible to eat some meat…?”
I gave her a longing look and spoke to her as usual. Luna flinched at my desperate expression but quickly nodded her head in response. Her naive reaction seemed particularly lovable today.
The meat that Luna brought was quite appetizing. The large plate was full of glistening meat, and the soup next to it looked warm.
I picked up the knife and fork to slice the meat. The thick cut, full of juice, was cut smoothly, and the savory smell tickled my nose. After taking the first bite, the crispy yet tender texture of the meat naturally brought a smile to my face.
I took a piece of meat on my fork and held it out toward Luna.
“Have a bite too, Luna. Ahh~”
Luna visibly panicked and took a step back. She probably hadn’t eaten such quality meat before. Eventually, unable to resist my persistent offer and the delicious smell of the meat, she leaned forward.
I bent down to feed her the meat. At that moment, my knee hit the table, causing it to tip over, and the steaming soup spilled all over Luna.
“Ahhh!”
A sharp scream erupted from Luna’s lips. The maid outfit was thick enough that I worried about burns, but the sudden situation startled her, and she fell backward.
“I-I’m so sorry, Luna!”
I hurriedly took out a handkerchief and handed it to her. Luna seemed worried about whether she would get burn marks as she frantically wiped the soup off her body.
While she was greatly flustered by the situation…
I stealthily hid the knife I held under my pillow.
*
“Dammit. No way.”
A curse escaped from Iris’s contorted face. Hatred and contempt, along with deep shame, spread through her black eyes.
“…Is that how you speak to a superior?”
Iris flinched at Viviana’s cold voice but didn’t back down, instead raising her voice even louder.
“Master, you should order me properly. Do I look like someone who would say sweet things?”
“No.”
“I absolutely will not. It goes against my nature. You might as well kill me, Master.”
“Then let’s see if you can try dying first.”
“…”
Iris was left speechless by the deadly aura that seeped into Viviana’s voice. Memories flooded back of the time she mistakenly called the pet concubine a whore and was beaten mercilessly by the lady until finding a spot that wasn’t bruised became a challenge.
[Did I tell you to hurt her? Did I tell you to call her a whore?!]
Viviana’s rage was something Iris had never witnessed before.
In the end, Iris sighed and accepted her fate.
When a superior says to do something, you have to do it. Though part of her wanted to quit on the spot, the reward she was receiving was too great.
Originally, she couldn’t leave due to the contract she signed…
“Remember this: The moment Tina sheds a tear, you must make her the happiest person in the world.”
“…Ugh, what a fuss.”
With a face as if she were dying, Iris clutched her head in despair.
“Enough talking. I’ll exempt you from training in exchange.”
“…Yes.”
Ultimately, acknowledging reality, Iris looked at the clock. It was already time for her to serve the pet concubine. However, perhaps due to the harsh criticism she had thrown out before, her heart felt uneasy.
“…I guess I’ll go now.”
“Okay, but if you see anything strange about Tina, report it immediately.”
Viviana turned her gaze away from Iris as she departed and imagined her pet.
A lovely face, cheeks tinged with embarrassment, and that shy, sweet smile were more feminine than any woman she had ever seen.
Did she really say she was tired of that bottom?
“Yeah, right.”
Was that even a sensible thing to say?
Viviana recalled the addictive texture that felt like a drug and opened and closed her hand. Even if she touched that tempting white bottom millions or even billions of times, she would never tire of it.
That delectable bottom she touched every night. The feeling of it fitting perfectly within her hand. It hadn’t even been a day since she last touched it, but already she felt withdrawal symptoms.
Yet saying she was tired of it was merely to force down the mask that Tina wore.
Asking to touch her chest was for the same reason. It was to wound Tina with words that seemed to demand only her body and to strip away the mask she was wearing.
…Of course, her personal desires were also a little mixed in.
“Just a bit more.”
She felt they were getting closer to the final destination. Instinctively, she sensed that Tina’s mask was on the verge of breaking. Once that happened, just like when Mardian was kidnapped, her true self hidden beneath that thick mask would be revealed.
From that point on, she intended to shower Tina with all her love.
Tina was struggling for some reason to reveal her true self to the world. So, Viviana resolved to help her realize that she didn’t need to wear a mask. That her true self was far more attractive…no, lovable.
She didn’t want to torment Tina.
But to allow Tina to live her true self in the world, she had to shatter her heart thoroughly at least once.
“It’s all for you… Just once, will you put everything down for me, Tina?”
Imagining her pet concubine’s bottom, Viviana continued to fondle her hands in the air.
*
“Hello, Iris.”
The one sitting on the bed greeted me.
She still wore a warm smile for the person who had called her a whore yesterday.
But perhaps it was just my imagination, her smile seemed a bit weak. Her already fair skin looked even paler today. Looking at that smile evoked a sense of unease within me.
‘Was it because of the things I said?’
Though the command to hurt was from my Master, calling her a whore was entirely my own discretion.
It was true that she took advantage by selling smiles and seduction to others, but saying such a thing was undeniably wrong.
Yet, once the words were out, I couldn’t take them back. Iris decided to think positively.
‘I can just apologize later.’
She only needed to shed a single tear. After that, all she would have to do was to treat her kindly. Although Iris wasn’t a generous person, for some reason, she felt a desire to see a smile on that young lady’s face.
“Could I ask you for a bath?”
While Iris was lost in her thoughts, she cheerfully made the request.
She had previously playfully shown her naked body. Just recalling that made my heart race.
To frivolously show such a sensual and risqué body to others, perhaps as her Master said, it might be time to correct her habits.
With a gentle smile, Iris nodded her head.
Bathing was one of her rights.
Iris left the pet concubine behind and headed to the bathroom. She filled the large tub with warm water and sprinkled some aromatic candles and flower petals that were good for skin care.
Normally, she would have rushed it, but due to her guilt from the harsh words from before, she took extra care this time.
Having finished preparing the bath, Iris returned to find the young lady.
The young lady silently followed her out as they walked down the long hallway together.
Today, an awkward silence hung in the air. Iris thought about whether she should say something, but the first to speak was the pet concubine.
“I’ve thought about what you said, Iris…”
“…”
“Perhaps… I really might be a whore.”
With a light smile, the young lady began to speak.
Seeing her weak smile made Iris’s heart skip a beat.
She wanted to say that her words from yesterday were a slip of the tongue, but it was still a time to be harsh with her, so Iris kept her lips sealed.
“Thank you for preparing the bath.”
They soon arrived at the door to the bathroom.
The young lady tried to close the door as she entered, but Iris instinctively reached out to stop it from shutting.
It felt like she had to hold her back. Her gaze looked so dim that it seemed as if she would sink into the darkness at any moment.
The young lady looked at Iris with surprise before breaking into a playful smile.
“Oh, do you want to see me naked again?”
Iris took a step back in surprise at the unexpected remark. In that brief moment, the young lady grinned and closed the door.
Iris remained dazed at the door for a moment before shaking her head and stepping back.
‘…Well, it should be fine.’
Seeing her play around showed that she still had some energy left. Perhaps there was no need for worry.
Iris stayed by the door, a few steps back. Guarding the pet concubine was one of her duties, after all, even while bathing, she had to keep a lookout.
Ten minutes passed, then twenty.
Before I knew it, thirty minutes had slipped by, and Iris began to feel a strange unease.
It wasn’t that a long time had passed. The young lady usually took about an hour for a bath, and Iris herself also spent around thirty minutes bathing.
However, the bathroom was unusually quiet. There had been sounds of splashing water at first, but afterwards, not a single sound could be heard.
Usually, the young lady would have said something by now, but for some reason, there wasn’t a single sound.
Iris knocked on the door twice, feeling an ominous chill.
No answer came back.
Thinking that perhaps she couldn’t hear, Iris knocked louder this time, but still, there was only the unsettling silence in response.
A sudden chill began to wrap around her body.
“Young Lady, are you okay?”
This time, she spoke directly, but still, only foreboding quiet met her ears.
Her heart began to race.
Without thinking, Iris immediately tried to open the bathroom door, only to find it locked from the inside.
“…I’m coming in.”
Iris made a decision and prepared to force the door open.
She broke the doorknob and kicked the door hard. With a loud crash, the tightly shut door swung open, releasing a thick fog from the hot bathroom.
As the mist cleared, the interior of the bathroom slowly came into view. Several scented candles flickered, emitting a subtle fragrance, but between that sweet scent, a strong, metallic smell of blood tickled her nose.
Iris immediately fixed her gaze towards the bathtub.
And.
“Ah, aaah…”
Her eyes widened in shock and began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck.
Inside the tub lay the pet concubine, eyes closed, quietly reclining. At first glance, she looked peaceful as if she were simply asleep. The sight of her loveliness resembled a beautiful painting.
But Iris had no choice but to scream in terror.
“No, no!!!!!”
The water in the bathtub was horrifically stained red.
With a mixture of despair and shock clouding her gaze, Iris, overcome with painful screams, rushed towards the young lady.
