From the Tip of the Tongue of the Lowliest Maid - Chapter 32

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

Then, Arzeletta stopped struggling as a soft feeling wrapped around her lips.

Something moist opened her dry lips and gave her water to drink.

Firm yet gentle hands supported her body. Without resistance, Arzeletta wrapped her arms around the one holding her.

Water leaked from the corner of their touching lips. Feeling a finger wiping her lips, Arzeletta clung even more deeply.

The water was sweet and cool. One drink was not enough. It kept opening Arzeletta’s mouth and wetting her dry tongue and lips. Several times, over and over, until she wanted it.

This continued afterward as well.

For several days, Arzeletta leaned on the strong arms that lifted her and was given water and medicine. When Arzeletta refused the medicine she had to take, a soft tongue penetrated deeply inside her and finally made her swallow it all.

Arzeletta blinked her tired eyes. Her long eyelashes were heavily lifted. Except for the occasional red light that shone through, everything else blurred with light, feeling like nothing more than a dream.

If this were a dream, there was only one person she wanted to see.

“Theo.”

After drinking water for a long while, Arzeletta called the name of the one she longed for and smiled. It was a faint, transparent smile that seemed as if it could melt and disappear at any moment.

For a brief moment, strength returned to the arms holding her.

Arzeletta stretched out her arm and pulled him closer. She pressed her lips again to the one who had kept her breathing and drinking for several days.

It was a deep, long, and gentle kiss.

She woke up around the fifth day.

“……”

Arzeletta held the silk cloak covering her body in her hand.

The cloak, spread over the only old, single-layered blanket, was crimson.

“Exion…?”

She had no memory of what had happened while she was feverish.

‘Arzeletta.’

Except for the auditory hallucination of someone calling her name, and the cool, sweet taste of water touching her lips.

‘No way.’

It couldn’t be Exion.

“If you’re going to keep acting like this, why don’t you just leave the territory? If you like being tossed around by men that much.”

“……”

“Go to the capital instead. That would be better, wouldn’t it?”

Recalling the man who, in front of the knights, lifted his chin with his foot and had poured out aggressive words at her, Arzeletta shook her head.

It couldn’t be true.

Feeling as if she had awakened from a long dream, Arzeletta carefully folded the cloak.

Thunk!

“How long do you plan to laze around!”

Startled by the dull sound knocking on the doorframe, Arzeletta was surprised.

“The laundry is rotting and maggots are about to swarm!”

Arzeletta moved quickly. She tied up her hair and hurried outside.

The steward, chewing on leaf tobacco, scanned Arzeletta’s entire figure with a slick gaze. It was a familiar routine.

Seeing the more emaciated and pale Arzeletta, the man paused briefly and cleared his throat awkwardly.

Perhaps because she had been ill, something seemed different. Arzeletta suddenly felt more mature.

“…If you’re up, then get moving quickly. What are you doing?”

“Sorry.”

“If you slack off again, I’ll tie you up tight and give you away as a hunchbacked concubine.”

The man growled and shoved his face close. Arzeletta swallowed nervously and shrank back.

“Anyway, we’re short-handed today. Move quickly!”

Arzeletta looked at the basket piled high with laundry and set to work. The steward savored the sight of the servant girl’s one-span waist swaying before his eyes and licked his lips.

“If only it weren’t for that back, I would have given you the household to manage. Hm?”

Accustomed to his arbitrary evaluation, Arzeletta pressed her lips tightly together.

“Hey, after you finish work, you should go to the main street.”

“What…?”

“They say a wandering merchant came through. Seems all the girls are there. Today happens to be the day they pack up their stalls.”

Arzeletta took a small breath.

In this closed territory, the arrival of wandering merchants and bards was no small event.

They brought new stories, goods, and songs from other cities unknown to the people of the territory, and sometimes…

“Th-that.”

Without replying, Arzeletta took the laundry and ran off, while the steward left behind clicked his tongue in displeasure. His yellow eyes still held lingering regrets.

The wandering merchants… told strictly forbidden stories that no one in the Rosenburg territory would ever share.

That was exactly what Arzeletta needed most right now.