Chapter 4.2

As the curtain rose, the actors began their passionate performance. The plot was simple. 

It was the story of a protagonist, once a princess of a kingdom, who becomes a slave as a prisoner of war, endures hardships, and eventually finds true love, becoming the wife of a duke. 

While the female slave protagonist falling in love with a noble duke could be considered social climbing, she had originally been of royal birth as a kingdom’s princess, so it wasn’t truly a case of crossing class boundaries. 

Within the play, she eventually has her status as a princess recognized, becomes a noble of the empire, and then becomes the duke’s wife. 

It was just an ordinary play created for nobles who dreamed of moderate fantasy. 

But the problem arose during a particular scene. 

Slap- 

[Sob, p-please! Aaagh!] 

Slap- 

[How dare you try to escape on your own?! I’ll make an example of you today!] 

In the play, the female protagonist, while still a slave, was caught trying to escape and was being whipped while tied up. 

The sound of the whip striking on stage was incredibly vivid, as if it were happening right beside them. 

Gulp. 

As Erta was particularly immersed in the play. 

Tingle- 

“Mmph!” 

Suddenly, a tingling sensation spread from below. 

‘Huh?’ 

Erta involuntarily twitched her b*ttocks. 

What was that just now? 

For a moment, a strange sensation down there… 

‘I’ve been so strange lately.’ 

To be aroused by the sound of a whip to the point where her body responded automatically. Erta sighed inwardly, thinking her body was beyond salvation. 

‘To feel excitement from a scene like this, really.’ 

It was just a play, and not even a scene with s*xual intentions. 

Realizing that she had such a reaction to a scene without such intent made her feel somewhat guilty. 

For her next confession, it might be good to talk about these daily struggles, rather than just the desires she had been imagining. 

‘It’s really nice to have a place where I can comfortably share my thoughts.’ 

Slap- 

The slave trader on stage brought down the whip once more. 

Tingle- 

“Hnng…!” 

But again, there was a tingling sensation below. Erta bit her lower lip hard to suppress the escaping moan. 

Why was my body acting like this? 

It was troublesome. 

Above all, she was concerned about the person next to her. 

What if he heard? 

As she glanced slightly to the side, she saw Reitan Ephelmar focused on the play. 

He didn’t seem to have heard her moan. Relieved, Erta shifted her gaze back to the stage. 

Tingle- Buzzz- 

All at once, the space between her thighs began to tingle and then vibrate. 

“……!!” 

Startled, she crossed her legs tightly, squirming to escape the vibration, but the more she moved, the more intense it became, stimulating her entire womanhood. 

“Mmph.” 

Erta instinctively gripped the armrest tightly. Veins stood out on the back of her hand. 

As she continued to hold the armrest, her hands became completely pale, drained of blood. 

‘W-what is this?’ 

What made it worse was that the vibration felt below wasn’t the only issue. 

Suddenly, her n*pples began to tingle. After a few tingles across her chest, she felt something pointed rise up and scratch at her, as if rubbing against her. 

“Ah, ugh!”

With direct hits targeting sensitive areas both above and below, Erta could no longer concentrate on the play. 

She had no idea why this was happening. No one was touching Erta’s body. 

‘Who’s doing this…!’ 

Now the buds at the tips of Erta’s n*pples were being pinched repeatedly. 

Her toes curled involuntarily and she crossed her thighs tightly, but that only made the vibration between her legs more intense, causing her to lift her b*ttocks in small, jerky movements. 

She couldn’t even enjoy the pleasure washing over her. 

All she could do was tremble with her whole body to suppress the moans that seemed ready to escape her lips at any moment. 

“What’s wrong, Lady?”

At that moment, Reitan looked at Erta with a concerned expression and asked. 

Erta bit the inside of her cheek hard, desperately trying to produce a normal voice. 

“N-no. It’s nothing…, hng, nothing at all.” 

“…You don’t look well. Are you really alright?” 

“O-of c-course. I’m just… too immersed in the play….” 

Please, don’t ask any more. 

A scream echoed in Erta’s mind. 

If he questioned her further, she wasn’t confident she could answer properly. 

Cruelly enough, Reitan continued the conversation, accepting Erta’s claim about being immersed in the play. 

“Speaking of which, about this scene. The actor is quite good at portraying suffering. The immersion is quite impressive. Don’t you think it looks truly painful?” 

In reality, Erta was the one in more pain right now. Still, it was a tremendous relief that Reitan’s head was turned back toward the stage. 

It was fortunate enough that he wasn’t looking at her.

Buzzzz- Suck- Suck- 

The vibration continued below, while above, something was squeezing her br*asts as if a baby were suckling. 

In this situation, how could Reitan’s words properly register in her ears? 

“Ah, but I’ve heard there are people who prefer being whipped.” 

But Reitan continued with his words. 

On stage, slap- slap- the sound of the whip was still echoing. 

‘I’m going to, going to come…!’ 

Erta could barely hold on anymore. The direct stimulation combined with the auditory stimulus of the whipping sounds was driving her mad. 

Her climax was imminent. The delicate flesh near her cl*toris trembled. 

“Hng, ah!” 

Slap- Slap- 

Her vision blurred, and tears welled up suddenly. Her body shuddered as tears rolled down her face. 

Erta breathed in sharp, silent gasps as she felt the afterglow of her climax. 

‘This is terrible.’ 

After catching her breath and calming down somewhat, worry took over. 

She hadn’t been able to completely suppress her moans at the moment of climax. 

What if Reitan had noticed? 

Alarmed, Erta discreetly glanced to the side. 

But Reitan was still focused on the stage. 

‘Haah….’ 

Only then did Erta breathe a sigh of relief. And with perfect timing, Reitan turned his head and asked Erta. 

“By the way, Lady, what do you think?” 

What do I think about what? 

Erta didn’t understand what his question was about. He seemed to have said something earlier. 

Due to the intense stimulation above and below, she couldn’t follow the flow of their conversation. 

Knowing that delaying her answer would only raise more suspicion, Erta gave a vague response. 

“Pardon? Y-yes, I think so too.” 

“…Indeed, that’s what I thought.” 

He smiled gently and turned his head back to focus on the play. 

At any rate, it seemed to have gone over well. 

‘…It stopped.’ 

The vibration that had been tormenting Erta had ceased. 

As if it had never happened, both above and below were now calm. It was bizarre. 

‘It might suddenly start again.’ 

Erta could no longer concentrate on the play after this strange experience. 

It was natural that she couldn’t relax, fearing she might be tormented again at any moment. 

Clap, clap, clap, clap-

Before she knew it, the play had ended, and the curtain came down. The lights in the seats came on brightly along with the sound of audience applause. 

Erta could finally relax now. 

Once the play ended, she could leave her seat. There would be no more awkward situations like before. 

As the applause began to die down, Reitan’s gaze shifted from the stage to Erta. 

“I heard this is the most popular play these days. Did you enjoy it as well, Lady?” 

“What? Yes. I liked it.” 

“I hope the whipping sounds weren’t too loud and startling for you. Your complexion didn’t look good throughout.” 

Reitan looked concerned. He seemed to have noticed Erta’s strange behavior since the whipping scene. 

However, he had misunderstood, thinking Erta was frightened by the sound of the whip. 

Relieved, Erta quickly cleared her throat. 

“I-it was a bit overwhelming.” 

“I should have considered that you might be afraid. My thoughtlessness is to blame. I seem to always be apologizing to you, Lady.”

Reitan lowered his gaze with a face full of regret. His appearance resembled a painting of an angel seeking forgiveness from God. 

That face was truly deceptive. 

Reflexively, words of reassurance escaped her lips. 

“It wasn’t something you intended.” 

It felt as though she would be committing a grave sin if she didn’t say it was fine. 

For a moment she was captivated by his face, but Erta quickly composed herself. 

‘What good is being handsome? He’s an ascetic man.’ 

Good looks were useless. An ascetic man who wouldn’t properly share a bed was just all show and no substance. 

“Thank you for your understanding. However, I…” 

Reitan’s words trailed off. Erta waited for him to continue, feeling an inexplicable tension. 

Perhaps it was because he was looking directly into her eyes. 

Those deep green eyes seemed to see through everything. 

“It was an interesting time.” 

Even as he offered this brief assessment, Reitan didn’t break eye contact with Erta. 

As if suggesting that the object of his interest wasn’t the play, but Erta herself. 

“…I see.” 

Though it couldn’t possibly be true, it gave her a strange feeling.