A Small but Certain Happiness (2)

Ashley was just as embarrassed.

The voice from the elf's choker had been broken by gasps and breathless sounds of pain and pleasure. There was little doubt it was the sound of the elf during sex with Theorad.

Why would she play something like that for someone else?

Ashley couldn't comprehend the display. It made standing there excruciatingly awkward.

Yet beneath her embarrassment was an emotion she liked even less: envy. The elf had been intimate with Theorad in a way Ashley herself had not.

Ashley wanted the elf to say something, anything, to break the silence. But the elf was so overwhelmed by her own mistake that she couldn't speak either.

The quiet stretched between them, heavy with what both had heard.

“Lady Ashley!”

Havid arrived like a sudden rescue. His tailcoat fluttered as he hurried across the grounds. He placed one hand over his chest and bowed with practiced elegance, a gold-rimmed monocle glinting over one eye.

“What an honor to welcome you personally to the manor,” he said. “But… I wish you had informed us in advance. We could have arranged a proper reception.”

Ashley had her reasons.

If she announced her visit ahead of time, the elf might prepare another scheme to keep her from Theorad. She had chosen to come without warning precisely to avoid that.

She couldn't explain any of it in front of the elf. Instead, she offered Havid a bright smile.

“Thank you, Chief Chamberlain. But I hardly deserve a grand reception.”

Then she found a convenient change of subject.

“I don't think I've seen you wearing that monocle before. Is it new?”

“Ah, this?”

Havid touched the frame with obvious delight.

“I bought it with money the master gave me. In a way, you could call it a present from him! And when he saw me wearing it, he said I looked quite distinguished.”

He went on about Theorad with all the enthusiasm of an adoring parent. Almost every sentence seemed to begin or end with “the master.”

Ashley didn't mind hearing Theorad praised. She listened attentively, offering little responses at the right moments, and so Havid kept talking.

Nearly ten minutes passed before Havid remembered his duties.

“Oh! My apologies. I've kept an honored guest standing outside while I rambled. Please allow me to show you to the drawing room.”

“Thank you. I'd be glad of that.”

“Of course. We'll see to your case as well. This way, my lady.”

With an amiable smile, Havid led the way. Ashley knew the manor well enough to find the drawing room herself, but she wouldn't slight his hospitality by refusing.

The elf followed them.

The shame of the recording still burned in her cheeks, but she had no intention of yielding her rivalry with Ashley.

Havid opened the drawing-room door.

“Please sit. I'll have the servants bring refreshments and inform the master you've arrived.”

“Very well.”

He bowed and withdrew.

Ashley sat at the table. The elf followed her inside but remained standing beside her chair, as though assigned to keep watch.

The other servants went about preparing refreshments. The elf did nothing except stare.

“You.”

Ashley looked up at her, displeasure plain in her blue eyes.

“Will you leave me alone? I came to see Sir Theorad, not you.”

“So did I.”

The answer was immediate and unyielding.

She sees him every day. Must she take this time away from me too?

Ashley's fingers tightened in her skirt.

“You really are selfish.”

“If selfishness gives me what I want, I'll be selfish again and again.”

“Is that what they teach in brothels?”

The elf's expression hardened. Her blood-red eyes narrowed, cold as a predator's.

“Be careful what you say. I devote myself to Master alone.”

“Even a prostitute has a first customer.”

“My lady.”

The temperature of the room seemed to change. A suffocating pressure spread through the air, and servants carrying refreshments began to cough and struggle for breath.

Ashley lowered her gaze without flinching.

“So this is how you behave. Did you threaten Sir Theorad this way yesterday?”

The implication was unmistakable: the elf might have obtained sexual access through intimidation.

She wanted to strike back. For an instant Ashley's words made her so furious that she almost forgot where they were. But she didn't lay a hand on Ashley. The secrets Ashley knew—and the measures she had taken to expose them if harmed—constrained even the elf's overwhelming power.

Then the door creaked open.

Theorad entered, neatly dressed as ever.

“Sir Theorad!”

Ashley greeted him with open delight, but he barely managed to respond. The elf beside her looked furious.

What happened now?

Before he could ask, the elf lifted her skirt.

Black, ruffled underwear was plainly visible beneath it.

“Master… these are the panties I'm wearing today.”

Theorad stared, appalled. What was she doing?

“I couldn't greet you this morning, so I'm showing you a little late. I'm sorry.”

“This morning?”

“Yes. Because you make me show you my panties and inspect my pussy every morning.”

Theorad went rigid. There had never been such a daily inspection.

The elf lowered her skirt and gave him a pointed look.

“Isn't that right?”

He glanced between her and Ashley and grasped enough of the situation to know an argument was underway. Caught off guard, he nodded uncertainly.

“Ah… yes. I suppose so.”

He approached the table, pulled out a chair and sat down. The two women glared at each other with an intensity that made the room feel like a battlefield.

This is like sitting on a bed of nails.

Theorad resolved to keep the peace. He turned toward Ashley with a smile.

“It's been five days since I saw you at the castle. Thank you for coming despite all the preparations for your family's gathering.”

Ashley's expression softened immediately.

“I'm grateful you could spare the time. Has anything unusual happened to you lately?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” the elf answered before he could speak.

No one had asked her. She pulled out a chair and seated herself close beside Theorad.

Ashley's eyebrows twitched.

“What do you think you're doing? You're a slave. Don't interrupt when someone else is speaking.”

“You call me ‘a slave’ so casually. I was told you treated even servants and slaves with kindness. Were those rumors false?”

“Of course not. Regardless of rank, I—”

“And yet…”

The elf interrupted her deliberately, her mouth twisting into a smile.

“You speak to me with such contempt. It must be exhausting to live with so many contradictions, my lady.”

“Who are you to lecture me?”

Ashley bit back the rest of her anger.

She's provoking me on purpose.

The elf had nothing to lose by causing a scene. Ashley, on the other hand, wanted Theorad to see her at her best. If she lashed out, she would make herself look petty before him.

I have to endure it.

She drew a steadying breath and forced a smile.

“Forgive me. I only meant that interrupting another person is impolite, whatever one's station. I let my temper make my words harsher than they should have been.”

“Is that so?”

The elf's smile faded. Ashley had sidestepped the trap.

But the elf had another trick.

Without warning, she seized Theorad's hand with telekinesis and drew it forcibly against her own breast.

“Ah… Master…”

“E-Ashley! This is a misunderstanding!”

Theorad struggled to explain. His arm moved against his will as the magic made his hand squeeze the elf's chest. To Ashley, who could not see the force acting on him, it looked as though he were groping the elf in front of her.

The elf narrowed her eyes at the touch she herself had forced, enjoying the effect of her deception.

Ashley blushed, at a loss.

“Here? Right now? Surely this isn't the place for…”

“What on earth are you saying?” Theorad protested.

“Master likes my body so much that he wants to take me without even—”

“Elf!”

He raised his voice, then let out a controlled breath.

“Stop.”

The elf's performance broke. She turned toward him, startled and hurt by the sudden coldness.

“Why are you doing this? Making up things that never happened won't make them true.”

Her shoulders shook. She looked as though he'd betrayed her, but he continued.

“I'm saying this for your sake, not mine. What's the pleasure in winning something through a lie?”

She bit her lower lip. The telekinetic force released his arm.

Theorad drew his hand away, rubbing his wrist.

“I don't demand to see your underwear every morning. And I don't suddenly touch your breasts against your wishes. Am I wrong?”

“…No. You're not wrong.”

At least she'd admitted that much. He was relieved that Ashley could hear the truth.

Now…

He had angered the elf in front of Ashley. Perhaps he could soothe her by conceding something that mattered to her.

He remembered the contest they'd made of last night's sex. The elf had wanted to claim victory, insisting that his supposed use of pills and hypnosis meant any result should be called a draw.

Those pills had been ordinary headache medicine, and the hypnosis hadn't been real. But contradicting her would only humiliate her further.

“About last night…”

Theorad leaned close enough to whisper into the elf's ear.

“I've thought about it again. You won. I was already defeated when I resorted to those pills and that hypnosis.”

He hoped she'd be pleased.

Instead, the elf looked even more wretched. She remembered the humiliating sounds of her own voice that the choker had recorded, and his well-meant concession brought all that shame back.

“Stop…”

Her cheeks burned, and her pointed ears turned bright red. She averted her eyes and spoke in a voice so low it was almost lost.

“Please… stop it.”