An Encounter That Should Never Have Happened (5)

I'd be lying if I said my heart wasn't pounding.

The elf was beautiful. Even viewed as dispassionately as possible, there was no denying it.

But I couldn't let myself be deceived by a devil's whispers.

If I lost control for a moment and gave in to desire, I would be breaking the promise I'd made to Ashley.

This is a war against the elf. Get a hold of yourself.

Losing my chastity would be the same as losing the battle. What face could I show Ashley afterward?

For her sake—and my own—I couldn't surrender.

I gripped the edge of the desk until my fingers ached, clenched my teeth and raised my chin.

“Take good care of you? Do you think you have any right to ask favors when you're about to be punished?”

“Ah… I'm sorry…”

Her expression changed in the blink of an eye.

She reached for the strange underwear.

I let out a breath of relief and shut my eyes.

Don't be fooled by her appearance.

She wanted to turn me into her toy. If I yielded, I'd spend the rest of my life as a puppet dancing at her command.

I had a will of my own. I wasn't going to abandon it and live as an elf's plaything.

I would resist her until the end and somehow drive her from this house. I would make the humiliations she demanded so unbearable that she stopped thinking of me as a toy at all.

Don't underestimate me.

“I'm dressed, Master.”

I opened my eyes at her sweet voice.

And sighed.

What on earth is that?

The outfit was scarcely an outfit.

A scrap of cow-patterned fabric covered the bare minimum below her waist. The upper piece consisted of narrow strips framing her nipples, emphasizing them rather than concealing her breasts. It could hardly be called a garment.

Who made this? What kind of lunatic would make this?

Simply putting it on seemed enough to strip a person of two grades of dignity.

The only part I could accept without argument was the headband with its little cow ears.

“Honestly…”

Whether she was truly embarrassed or merely pretending, the elf blushed and covered her chest with her hands.

“I've never worn something like this before…”

She turned her face away.

The performance was excellent. If I hadn't known what she was really like, I might have believed she was an innocent young lady from some fairy tale.

But I knew better.

I beckoned with as much authority as I could summon.

“Come here.”

“Yes…”

She approached obediently.

I held up the pill.

“Open your mouth.”

Her lips parted, and she extended her tongue.

I placed the pill on it.

Before I could draw my hand back, her lips closed around my fingers.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

Her tongue brushed against them.

“Mmm…”

Then she began to suck on my finger, behaving as though this were perfectly natural.

I pulled away at once. A strand of saliva stretched between us before breaking.

The elf swallowed and opened her mouth again to show me that the pill was gone.

“I've swallowed every filthy thing Master gave me…”

It was one pill!

I wanted to say so, but arguing over that would only ruin the atmosphere I'd worked so hard to create.

Instead, I picked up the iron bucket and set it on the floor.

At last I understood why Dremes had included it.

“Kneel. It's time to milk you.”

“M-Master? Surely you don't mean…”

“What? You don't like it? I promoted you from a sow to a dairy cow, and you're still dissatisfied?”

“I…”

She bit her lower lip.

“I'm not an animal…”

What now?

For a moment I could only stare.

Then I remembered the whip.

Ah. Perhaps this is my cue.

“You say you aren't an animal?”

I took the narrow whip from the box and considered where it could be used without doing serious harm.

Her upper body seemed too exposed; even a careless strike might break the skin. Her back and legs seemed no better.

That left her buttocks.

There was enough flesh there, I thought, that a bruise would be more likely than a cut.

I didn't want to hurt her. But if I failed to play my part now, I had no idea what she might do.

“Then I'll ask you again.”

I stepped behind her and brought the whip down.

Slap!

She jerked in surprise.

“Ah!”

“Do you still insist you're not an animal?”

“I-I'm not an animal…”

Reluctantly, I struck her a second time.

“Ah, damn it!”

“Still not?”

“N-no… I am… I am an animal…”

She cried as her buttocks reddened where the whip had landed.

I was relieved she'd answered.

Striking someone was entirely unfamiliar to me. I had been afraid she'd keep refusing and force me to continue.

“If you've finally understood, get on your knees. We'll begin.”

“Y-yes…”

She knelt in front of the bucket and leaned forward, resting her upper body over its opening.

I set the whip aside and lowered myself against her back. Facing her directly was too frightening; this seemed the least daunting arrangement.

Taking a breath, I reached around her to begin the procedure.

The position left me embracing her from behind.

She gave a little shiver and blushed.

“Master… How embarrassing…”

“Be quiet.”

She wasn't the only person embarrassed.

Here I was, with the elf in ridiculous cow-patterned underwear, preparing to make use of a witch's lactation medicine.

And I was doing it in the very office where portraits of my ancestors hung.

What would they think of me?

I could name five offenses against the dignity of House Deharem without even trying.

Yet all of it, absurdly enough, was meant to protect the family.

I nearly wanted to cry.

With only a vague memory of Beynon's obscene stories to guide me, I applied light pressure to her breasts.

“Ah…”

She gave a soft involuntary sound.

The softness felt more pleasant than I cared to admit; I almost wanted to keep touching her. If the woman in front of me hadn't been this elf, perhaps I'd even have enjoyed our closeness.

But I couldn't forget what she was.

“You're shameless. Do you enjoy even this?”

“N-no…”

I increased the pressure, gently kneading her breasts and brushing a nipple with my fingertip.

Will that work?

I watched her face from the side.

Her mouth fell slightly open. Her eyes grew heavy-lidded.

“M-Master… I'm sorry… If you touch me like that…”

Then pale drops of liquid appeared.

It worked!

I had no idea how Dremes had made the medicine, but the effect was real.

I continued cautiously. The milk began to run, though at first there was too little to collect properly: it mostly trickled over my hand before reaching the bucket.

“You've scarcely been touched and already you're producing milk. You really are a hopeless sow.”

“Th-that…”

I didn't give her time to finish.

I lightly pinched a nipple. She jerked with a startled cry, and a stream of milk struck the bottom of the bucket.

“Ah!”

“No—there isn't even a cow here,” I muttered.

The medicine truly did make her produce milk like a cow.

Each time I repeated the brief pinching and pulling motion, more splashed into the bucket. She trembled and begged me to stop in a breathless voice.

“P-please… Stop…”

I couldn't tell how much of her reaction was acting.

Either way, the procedure was working. I went on a few more times, then decided that it was enough.

I released her and stepped back.

The bottom of the bucket held a visible quantity of milk.

To my surprise, I felt a strange sense of accomplishment.

Perhaps I should raise a few cows on the estate.

What an idiotic thought.

I shook it off and looked down at the elf.

Some strands of her silver hair had caught against her lips. Still leaning forward over the bucket, she breathed through parted lips while the medicine's effect had not quite ceased.

Surely this is enough.

I wiped my stained hands and clicked my tongue.

“Go now. Your punishment is over.”

“Ah…”

At the word over, she quickly stood.

Her breathing gradually steadied. Then she looked at me with an oddly deliberate expression.

“Master… Could you say that again?”

“…Are you deaf? I said your punishment is over.”

“Over…?”

Why was she asking?

Wasn't she satisfied?

I kept my face calm while my mind raced.

There was nothing left in the box that I dared use. No further punishment I could invent.

I crossed to the chair before my desk and dropped into it, trying to look imperious.

“Bring me the bucket. I'll have a drink.”

She straightened and stared at me.

“And then?”

“What do you mean?”

“After you drink the milk I made?”

“That's all. Then the punishment will be over.”

The light seemed to leave her red eyes.

“Ah…”

Her shoes clicked across the floor without an order from me.

“You had better drink it yourself.”

Something dangerous had entered her gaze.

The atmosphere changed so completely that every instinct I possessed screamed at me to run.

With each step she took, the room seemed to grow darker.

But I couldn't move.

I sat in my chair as rigid as a stuffed doll.

“You're not supposed to lie.”

Her steps stopped.

“Master told me it would be a severe punishment.”

I swallowed.

“I should have been punished much more…”

She caught the back of my chair, bent down and stared into my face.

Her silver hair brushed my cheek.

“It seems punishing me is such a bother to Master.”

I couldn't answer.

My voice had deserted me.

Deep inside, an ancient fear told me that defying this creature would be fatal.

“How strange. Continuing to suppress your sexual desire can't be good for your health.”

Her voice seemed to settle directly into my thoughts.

A stray drop of milk fell against my lips.

“Master. I'll leave it at that for today, but remember this.”

She took my hand and guided it to her abdomen.

“This is where Master should satisfy his desires.”

She spoke with the certainty of a queen delivering an absolute command.

If I rejected her even now, I might truly die.

Perhaps the only reason she hadn't already attacked me was that she was still observing the pretense of being my slave.

I had no wish to discover what would happen when that pretense fell away.

“…I'll remember that next time.”

I had no choice but to admit defeat.