From the Tip of the Tongue of the Lowliest Maid - Chapter 174

This work contains scenes of sadistic coercion and hardcore depictions of BDSM. Reader discretion is advised.

“Why are you afraid of me, Rzel. You must not be.”

“Hht….”

“Is there anywhere he hasn’t touched?”

Arzeletta did not answer, but that silence itself was the clearest answer of all.

The expression disappeared from Theogrim’s delicate face. In that moment, he was terrifying—like an object wearing the shell of a human.

“Hm? Is there any place you didn’t show him? Is there anywhere you didn’t let him knead or rub himself against?”

“Theo, please.”

“So that’s what this is about, isn’t it? Because your bodies touched, you’ve gotten confused, haven’t you, Rzel.”

Theogrim looked over Arzeletta’s body as though inspecting every corner. Arzeletta flushed furiously, trembling and fidgeting, unable to control herself. Her lashes, soaked heavily with tears, felt unbearably heavy.

“…Damn. And I’ve been saving you all this time.”

“……!”

“With what heart do you think I’ve been protecting you…. How is this fair, Rzel? If I’d known it would come to this, I should have made you mine from the very beginning.”

Theogrim’s hand seized her gleaming thigh. At that moment, there was no trace of the gentle, intellectual Del Rose seen in the holy paintings scattered throughout the city.

“Ah, Theo…!”

The hand against her skin was large and hot. The one she had pursued her whole life with desperate longing suddenly felt so unfamiliar.

She hated this rough, violent side of Theogrim. She hated the filthy words he spat out over her body. Arzeletta sobbed as she spoke, trying to hide herself beneath the veil of her long black hair.

“Don’t do this, Theo. You weren’t like this. You’re a great man. Respected by everyone….”

“You stop it, Rzel. If even you see me that way, then what am I supposed to do?”

Theogrim growled low in his throat. Arzeletta’s tear-filled eyes trembled.

“If even you treat me like that disgusting Del Rose, then what do you expect me to do…!”

“……”

“Even if the entire world judges me however they please, Rzel, you’re the one who must see the real me. We’re the only ones who truly know each other.”

“……”

“This is proof of that. We promised!”

Theogrim turned his face. Even in the dark, the scar twisting his profile stood out clearly. Arzeletta drew in a sharp, ragged breath.

It was the same kind of wound carved into her own back. The fire that burned the face of the angel so highly praised had been the same fire that burned her wings.

“You said you heard my voice. You said you saw the madness I was doing, Rzel. But you, in another man’s bed, crying so beautifully like this—”

“That’s not what it is, Theo.”

Arzeletta shook her head. Theogrim’s words were not lies, but neither could she affirm them completely.

“I cannot love anyone.”

Even when she had sighed in Ragnar’s embrace with aching sorrow, this had been the one unyielding command that ruled her.

“I was destined to love you. I have never once gone against that prayer. My fate is only one. So…”

“Rzel.”

“So… please let me meet the Lord. Just once. Please…!”

“And so, Rzel, right now you look as though you’re sad because you love me…!”

“……!”

“Your prayer sounds like a curse!”

Arzeletta’s breathing grew shallow. Her eyes, filled with her master, trembled beyond control. For a moment, she forgot how to respond.

Theogrim was crying.

Those noble violet eyes, praised by the entire world, now held a despair so deep it was impossible to believe.

“For the past ten years, there hasn’t been a single moment when I wasn’t in pain with you!”

Clang—his perfect mask shattered. With his broken face, he shed tears of blood. The searing drops fell directly onto Arzeletta’s exposed bare skin.

Theogrim raised a hand to his flushed cheek. With his excitement, it felt as though the scar throbbed again.

“Uht…”

“Theo…!”

Arzeletta, watching him, did not know what to do and called out to him. Theogrim seized her wrist once more.

“I’ll make you forget, Rzel.”

“……!”

“It’s because you’re too innocent. That’s right… Arzeletta. You’re too pure. That’s why Ragnar’s touch lingers on you, isn’t it? Hm? If I touch you again, it’ll be fine. You’ll return to the way you were. Back to the way you were when you knew only me….”